💡Subforum TTF Writing Weeks (like Fëanorian Week)

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Fëanorian Week, which is a week dedicated to creating artwork and fanfics about the Fëanorians, and it is hosted on Tumblr. My friends and I had an idea to host something similar here on TTF. And in order to get more people involved, we would have weeks for other Tolkien characters too, not just the Fëanorians.

The idea is that we would create a subforum dedicated to this, and anyone who's interested in writing anything for a particular character could post their fics and/or art there.

The mods are already on board with this idea, but we would like your suggestions on a few things:

1. What character(s) would you write about and/or create artwork for?
2. How many weeks should there be? Should there only be a few writing weeks during the year, and close the subforum outside of those weeks? Or should it essentially be an ongoing thing with a different character for every week of the year?

If you could please submit your answers this week, so before March 3rd, that would be great. That way we could get something up and running sooner.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

1. What character(s) would you write about and/or create artwork for?

Naturally, my main focus is on Fingon, and anything to do with the Finwians (specifically the Nolofinwians and the Fëanorians). It’s about all my brain has capacity for right now, based on how long it takes me to write for even just one character.

2. How many weeks should there be? Should there only be a few writing weeks during the year, and close the subforum outside of those weeks? Or should it essentially be an ongoing thing with a different character for every week of the year?

Having a different character for every single week of the year seems a bit excessive, and the excitement for these events could quickly wane as we jump from one character to the next from week to week. It would be a lot of pressure, perhaps nigh on overwhelming, to stay on top of things and produce content for each character within their allotted week (I’m not saying it is required to participate for each event). In addition, depending on how much interest is garnered for these events and how many people choose to participate, there could be many weeks with no contributions, depending on the character.

Perhaps having weeks dedicated to certain people groups, events, eras, etc. could work, since we’re considering widening this up to include everything from ME (LotR, TH, etc), not just Silm. My primary focus of contributions will be from Silm, but I know many others here on the forum write for vastly different eras and characters, and this is okay.

As for closing the subforum in the off-seasons, I would vote No. If a person really wanted to participate for a certain week’s theme but can’t finish their contribution in time, it would be disheartening if they could no longer submit it until the following year. It won’t hurt if people submit some late entries. The main idea is wanting to inspire people and make them feel welcome to create and post something at all, with the goal of trying to keep submissions focused to their specified weeks. I highly doubt we’ll see anywhere close to hundreds of people participating here like Tumblr has, so it shouldn’t be as hard to moderate the events.

Depending on how many different events we choose to have, and what their themes will be, it would be good to disperse them throughout the year, and then to make their dates known so people can plan ahead and prepare for them.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

And I agree with everything @Fingon_Findekáno said!

My writing is mostly devoted to Fëanorians and Finwians in general, but it'd be fun to write about 2nd and 3rd age events as well and this could become a motivation of sort to all of us!

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

1. What character(s) would you write about and/or create artwork for?

I'd mainly be doing things from the Silmarillion, though I might draw things from the other books too, if I get an idea.

2. How many weeks should there be? Should there only be a few writing weeks during the year, and close the subforum outside of those weeks? Or should it essentially be an ongoing thing with a different character for every week of the year?

I think there should be a few writing weeks spread throughout the year, so they can be like special occasions.
It doesn't need to be strictly closed outside of those weeks, as @Fingon_Findekáno said, as there won't be a huge amount of people participating anyway.

Some suggested categories. They are quite broad, due to the likely low number of participants. There will be overlap. E.g. you could put Legolas in the Teleri and Sindar week, but also in the Fellowship week (depending on what point in his life you're writing/drawing about).

1. Ainur and Vanyar week (Includes Valar, Maiar, Istari, and any purely Vanyarin elves)
2. Noldor week (Includes all Noldor, e.g. the Finwians and the people they marry)
3. Teleri and Sindar week (Includes all Light and Dark Elves of the third clan, but Avari can go here too if needed)
4. Hobbits week (Any and all hobbits)
5. Fellowship week (Anything regarding the members of the Fellowship of the Ring)
6. Men of the First Age week (Húrin, Túrin, Andreth, Haleth, Beren, etc.)
7. Númenorean week (All about Númenor, Númenoreans, and their descendants. Men of the Second Age in general can go here too)
8. Men of the Third Age week (Includes all Men mentioned in the Lord of the Rings: from Rohan, Gondor, etc.)
9. Dwarves week (Any and all dwarves)

Individual character days could be done as well, but these will probably have to be decided by the people who intend to contribute art/writing more regularly.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

1. Ainur and Vanyar week (Includes Valar, Maiar, Istari, and any purely Vanyarin elves)
2. Noldor week (Includes all Noldor, e.g. the Finwians and the people they marry)
3. Teleri and Sindar week (Includes all Light and Dark Elves of the third clan, but Avari can go here too if needed)
4. Hobbits week (Any and all hobbits)
5. Fellowship week (Anything regarding the members of the Fellowship of the Ring)
6. Men of the First Age week (Húrin, Túrin, Andreth, Haleth, Beren, etc.)
7. Númenorean week (All about Númenor, Númenoreans, and their descendants. Men of the Second Age in general can go here too)
8. Men of the Third Age week (Includes all Men mentioned in the Lord of the Rings: from Rohan, Gondor, etc.)

Thank you for these specific suggestions! I like how they cover pretty much any category of characters.

The mathematically perfectionist side of me wonders if they could be condensed into 6 weeks? That way we could have a writing week every other month.

I still want people to continue to comment what characters they'd specifically like to write about, though. Because if we don't see any interest in a particular category, we could drop it.

I'd primarily be focusing on Noldor, as you all know. I'm not sure I would write anything in the other categories.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

The mathematically perfectionist side of me wonders if they could be condensed into 6 weeks? That way we could have a writing week every other month.

Would this work?
1. Ainur and Vanyar week (Includes Valar, Maiar, Istari, and any purely Vanyarin elves, as well as the evil Ainur like Morgoth, Sauron, Ungoliant, Balrogs)
2. Noldor week (Includes all Noldor, e.g. the Finwians and the people they marry)
3. Teleri and Sindar week (Includes all Light and Dark Elves of the third clan, but Avari can go here too if needed)
4. Hobbits and Dwarves week (Any and all hobbits and dwarves)
5. Men of the First Age week (Húrin, Túrin, Andreth, Haleth, Beren, etc.)
6. Númenorean week (All about Númenor, Númenoreans, and their descendants. Men of the Second Age in general can go here too)
7. Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week (Includes members of the Fellowship and all Men of the Third age, from Rohan, Gondor, etc.)

Men of the First Age wouldn't need a gap month in between, since the category is not as large.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Would this work?
1. Ainur and Vanyar week (Includes Valar, Maiar, Istari, and any purely Vanyarin elves, as well as the evil Ainur like Morgoth, Sauron, Ungoliant, Balrogs)
2. Noldor week (Includes all Noldor, e.g. the Finwians and the people they marry)
3. Teleri and Sindar week (Includes all Light and Dark Elves of the third clan, but Avari can go here too if needed)
4. Hobbits and Dwarves week (Any and all hobbits and dwarves)
5. Men of the First Age week (Húrin, Túrin, Andreth, Haleth, Beren, etc.)
6. Númenorean week (All about Númenor, Númenoreans, and their descendants. Men of the Second Age in general can go here too)
7. Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week (Includes members of the Fellowship and all Men of the Third age, from Rohan, Gondor, etc.)

Men of the First Age wouldn't need a gap month in between, since the category is not as large.

Yeah, that works! I like it!

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Would this work?
1. Ainur and Vanyar week (Includes Valar, Maiar, Istari, and any purely Vanyarin elves, as well as the evil Ainur like Morgoth, Sauron, Ungoliant, Balrogs)
2. Noldor week (Includes all Noldor, e.g. the Finwians and the people they marry)
3. Teleri and Sindar week (Includes all Light and Dark Elves of the third clan, but Avari can go here too if needed)
4. Hobbits and Dwarves week (Any and all hobbits and dwarves)
5. Men of the First Age week (Húrin, Túrin, Andreth, Haleth, Beren, etc.)
6. Númenorean week (All about Númenor, Númenoreans, and their descendants. Men of the Second Age in general can go here too)
7. Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week (Includes members of the Fellowship and all Men of the Third age, from Rohan, Gondor, etc.)

Men of the First Age wouldn't need a gap month in between, since the category is not as large.

I like the variety and selection of weeks as you’ve arranged them! Great job, SRG! 😁

Next would be trying to decide when each event will be. February is just about over, so we’ve already lost two months of the year. Is there any one event we wouldn’t mind not doing this year, or do we want to squeeze them all in this year, then adjust spacing next year?

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I like the variety and selection of weeks as you’ve arranged them! Great job, SRG! 😁

Next would be trying to decide when each event will be. February is just about over, so we’ve already lost two months of the year. Is there any one event we wouldn’t mind not doing this year, or do we want to squeeze them all in this year, then adjust spacing next year?

We could just start the prompts like, in April or whatever. (Or March but I'd obviously not prefer that...) Nobody said Prompt 1 has to be at the beginning of the year.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Maybe we can skip the Ainur, squeeze the rest in, and space them out better next year.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Maybe we can skip the Ainur, squeeze the rest in, and space them out better next year.

I do kind of agree with skipping Ainur for now and just starting with Noldor, unless anyone here has a sudden, strong urge to write something for the Ainur.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Would it also be easier to standardize the weeks? Like always making the events be the second week of every other month (as an example)?

Maybe we can skip the Ainur, squeeze the rest in, and space them out better next year.

I’d be fine with this.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

I do kind of agree with skipping Ainur for now and just starting with Noldor, unless anyone here has a sudden, strong urge to write something for the Ainur.

We can start in April, too.

Like always making the events be the second week of every other month

Sounds good.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Would it also be easier to standardize the weeks? Like always making the events be the second week of every other month (as an example)?

Yeah, I think having it fall on the same week of every month would be good.

I'm thinking let's wait for more people to share their thoughts before we do any more detailed planning, since we need to know who all wants to be involved and what characters they want to write.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Suggestion for this year, each week starting on the second Monday of the month:

April - Noldor week
May
June - Hobbits and Dwarves week
July - Teleri and Sindar week
August
September - Men of the First Age week
October - Númenorean week
November
December - Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week

Suggestion for next year:

January - Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week
February - Ainur and Vanyar week
March
April - Noldor week
May
June - Hobbits and Dwarves week
July
August - Teleri and Sindar week
September
October - Men of the First Age week
November - Númenorean week
December

(the topic of this year's December carries over into next year's January, but that doesn't strike me as an issue)

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Suggestion for this year, each week starting on the second Monday of the month:

April - Noldor week
May
June - Hobbits and Dwarves week
July - Teleri and Sindar week
August
September - Men of the First Age week
October - Númenorean week
November
December - Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week

Suggestion for next year:

January - Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week
February - Ainur and Vanyar week
March
April - Noldor week
May
June - Hobbits and Dwarves week
July
August - Teleri and Sindar week
September
October - Men of the First Age week
November - Númenorean week
December

Looks good for this year’s lineup!

Quick question, though: Why is Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week listed two months in a row? I was also thrown off by the change of months for the second half of next year’s list. 😅

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Quick question, though: Why is Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week listed two months in a row? I was also thrown off by the change of months for the second half of next year’s list. 😅

We can skip January next year, but I was thinking about the years after that as well.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Suggestion for this year, each week starting on the second Monday of the month:

April - Noldor week
May
June - Hobbits and Dwarves week
July - Teleri and Sindar week
August
September - Men of the First Age week
October - Númenorean week
November
December - Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week

Suggestion for next year:

January - Fellowship and Men of the Third Age week
February - Ainur and Vanyar week
March
April - Noldor week
May
June - Hobbits and Dwarves week
July
August - Teleri and Sindar week
September
October - Men of the First Age week
November - Númenorean week
December

(the topic of this year's December carries over into next year's January, but that doesn't strike me as an issue)

Looks good to me!

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

We can skip January next year, but I was thinking about the years after that as well.

The logic of how the second half of next year works out, from July on, still escapes me at the moment, but I suppose there is not as much of a pressing need right now to determine it as hard facts yet. What’s important is this year’s calendar.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

The logic of how the second half of next year works out, from July on, still escapes me at the moment, but I suppose there is not as much of a pressing need right now to determine it as hard facts yet. What’s important is this year’s calendar.

I try to alternate topics which include 'mostly First Age characters' with those that would include 'mostly Third Age characters'.