Reversebang litmus test

[pentapus]

Hey, I wanted to gauge the interest in future rounds of treehouse reversebang?

(For anyone unfamiliar, that's where I make you a picture, and you write a story to that picture).

If anyone has suggestions for alterations to the format or for a different sort of exchange/activity/meme they'd like to see, I'd love to hear it. :) E.g. I've felt a few times that I've given a person a picture they find they cannot write to. I've been wondering whether I should 1) show the picture as a really rough sketch/several sketched options before finishing, 2) finish five pictures and let the five participants choose which one they want, and/or 3) make it clear that the picture could be ANYTHING and part of the fun should be getting something whacky and doing whatever the hell you want with it. Like: prepare yourself (or sign up only if that sounds fun?).

Comments

[pentapus]

All of the scenarios you mention are really one kind of 'out there', i.e. crack. There's other kinds of 'out there' that a writer might not be prepared for - e.g. a huge ensemble cast when they just write Sid and Geno, Sid or Geno kissing someone else, a picture of Sidney or Geno who has lost a limb or otherwise cannot play hockey (at least not in the NHL), a full costume AU or genderswap, or a scenario that requires research...

For example, the prompt I really wanted to draw was Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin winning the gold for Russia, i.e. a nationality-swap AU, but that implied a decent amount of Russia research +, you know, Alex Ovechkin. I ended up tentatively asking a few people how they felt about writing Russia and the answer was universally, apologetically "I wouldn't feel comfortable writing that with my level of knowledge." So I didn't draw it for anyone.

That's not a tragic outcome, but I feel like I was limiting myself because I wanted to have a guaranteed writable picture every time. Hence ideas like - letting folks choose from all the finished pictures or doing a few extra sketches to show around. Or letting people know they signing up for ANYTHING, and they get one caveat (besides fandom and character list). Because I REALLY like coming up with prompts. That's the main fun here for me. :)