I've done exchanges were you're matched up by the organisers, ones were you choose your top anon choices, and most recently one where AO3 does the matching. I've also been a graphics artist for exchanges where I was partnered up with a writer to create for their story and I've been an artist for Marvel Big Bang, which is collaboarative rather than an exchange.

I think I'd like to take part in a big bang as a writer some time, but exchanges with large word counts put me off. Even though I accidentally ended up writing almost 10k for an exchange once! When I have no idea what prompts I'm going to get, so no idea what the story will look like, I prefer a small min word count and then space to do whatever works. I also love the idea of Yuletide, giving space for the rare fandoms, but it looks so huge, complex, and intimidating :S

The scary part of exchanges for me are writing to a deadlines (because deadlines, argh!) and hoping my giftee likes whatever I make. Being a Marvel Big Bang artist helped with the second because I could show my parter works in progress and adjust according to feedback. The rest of the time I check out my giftee's AO3, blog, what have you to try and get a good idea of what they like.

So I find it really helpful for exchanges when people clearly lay out a bunch of likes and dislikes. Prompts are also helpful because they're good for sparking ideas - but I like to add, depending on how i'm feeling at the time, something like 'I would like anything regardless' or 'I would like anything except please not sad this time' or 'feel free to write whatever you like with any of these characters' so that the creator doesn't feel too much pressure if their muse goes off on a tangent.

A fun part is that I feel...more free to write outside of my comfort zone in exchanges. Maybe because I'm writing something that's specifically a gift for someone else? And playing the game of how many of a person's likes I can get into a fic without it being terribly shoe-horned.

What do other people like to see in exchange assignments? Most fun you've had in exchanges?

For recs I'm going to be a bit cheeky *grins* and link to these lovely gifts that I've received on AO3, some lovely things from exchanges here :D
For a self rec I'm still kinda proud of the one that got away from me; that was fun to write.

"I've been an artist for Marvel Big Bang". Boy, have you ever!! That kind of collaboration is The Best, because you can inspire each other. I can honestly say, without that video of yours, I might well have abandoned Seventh Crow.

Aww, you *hugs*. Without Seventh Crow I wouldn't have ever tried making a fanvid. After watching James Bond with your stories in mind I knew what I wanted to pull in and mash up, so even when it got hard I knew what it SHOULD look like. And i'm pleased I managee it - although there's tweaks i wish i could do better - but i'm not sure i'd do a vid again. I needed the two years!

I really enjoy the back and forth you get with it; the enthusiasm and ideas feeding on each other thing. (The Bowling Green Massacre was the first jointly written fic I've done too - I'd only done round robin style before. I was really nervy but it was so much fun!)

Edited 2017-10-21 05:28 pm (UTC)

Fandom is, by its very essence, a community activity where you come to play with others. So - I love, love, love exchanges. They're singularly motivating (Cool prompts! Deadlines! The shame of failure, the joy of success!) plus, you get two-for-one stories - one you write, a freebie back - and everyone else's on top. Exchanges can even get me back into writing in my first fandom on occasion, if someone drags me into one - if only to see whether I still have "it".

Part of what I like is the sense of community, and friendship. Knowing the person you write for can be both a bit daunting (there is some amazing talent in the comms I belong to) and extra-special! So, most of the exchanges I participate in is in those, or in small "friends" ones. The one time I participated in an exchange with a bunch of strangers my recipient took 6 weeks to acknowledge the gift, so no more of that kinda shit for me...

Also, from a pure writing standpoint, I like constructing stories out of the unexpected - weaving together snippets of prompts and my own ideas into something I wouldn't have come up with by myself in a million years. Possibly the best example of this came out of a series of prompts that had me howl in indignation at the mods because they hit all my "no go" lists, but then I found the twist that allowed me to do it. Baby!fic became mission!fic with baby, and one of my most successful one-shots was born (Silver Bells).

Best of all, I've gotten some amazing gifts over the years. Here, check these out!

PS: I've done three MarvelBangs, with the amazing Inkvoices as my artist, inspiration and crutch. What a singular experience that was! (see my comment above.)

Community, challenge, and auidence *nods*. On the last I think even if you have an impolite recipient (seriously, just acknowledge with a simple thank you and you will be a good recipient) that exchanges and events, with their noise and masterlists, get a bit more exposure I guess. Or at least a group of fellow exchange creators who are curious to see what everyone else came up with!

I don't like to go back to old fandoms for exchanges though for fear I can't pull them off anymore :S

I think the only exchanges I do nowadays are small ones, all run by friends or friends-of-friends. It's less pressure and there's more chance you'll get someone you're familiar with. So even if none of the prompts sing to you, at least you'll have an idea of what the recipient might like and can customize to that person's kinks.

I also find the smaller exchanges nicer because there's a lot more cheerleading/handholding. I signed up for a Leverage exchange this season (Eep!) and the mods have been SO nice about soothing my nerves and making me feel welcome. That's possible with a 20 person exchange, not so much with 50+.

The thing I like about exchanges is that it's nice to write for something other than a vacuum--I mean, yes, I know people will read whatever it is on Ao3, but writing for someone specific is nice. Also nerve-wracking, to me, but not because of anything the recipient or the organizers do, it's mostly to do with migraines. It's also really cool to get something someone wrote for you specifically. That's always awesome. I'm not doing Yuletide this year, which feels strange, but is probably a good move for me, migraine-wise.

I have trouble with prompts--both leaving them (how specific am I really supposed to be? I don't want to paint somebody into a corner with details, but sometimes 'whatever feels right to you' is zero help and then they'd just be left floundering in an ocean of possibilities, and it seems harsh not to have at least tossed them a life raft of any general concept I'd enjoy.), and getting them (because my brain tends to twist things and connect things and what seems like often, I'll be all set to work on something based on a prompt, but then things will evolve, and I'll still be writing the same thing but suddenly the fic that started with people chatting over coffee has morphed into a world domination scenario or, like, gladiatorial battles [which I really like, I'm totally stoked for Ragnarok], and I can't tell if I should put that aside and work on something with more coffee that other people would be able to tell sprung from the same prompt, or if I should just go with it--which is when the 'go with your muse' prompts would be helpful, I guess.).

I'm always stumbling upon fic that was written as part of a challenge, and then thinking 'When was that? How did i not know about that? Where do people even learn sign ups for this were open?' Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the fruits of their labor, it just seems like it'd be more fair if I kicked in, too, at some point, because I think the interactive part of fandom is pretty awesome and definitely rewarding, even if the interactive part is occasionally intimidating.

I also find prompting difficult! I think partially because the kind of prompts I respond to aren't necessarily the kind that other people do (like lyric prompts. I find them SO HARD), but mostly because sometimes the reason I prompt something is because I have such a clear idea of how that prompt should be used and then (obviously) someone sees it completely differently. Which is good! But I'm still like, but how did you get that from this?

And yes. WHERE DO PEOPLE FIND THESE EXCHANGES? WHERE?

I love seeing people leave lyric and quote prompts, like on promptathon, but I tend to admire and then have no idea what i'd do with them :/ Quote prompts are a bit easier than lyrics, but yes.

No! You were supposed to tell me!

But I very much agree with the quote/lyric thing--I sometimes get a very clear visual, just one image or some part of an emotion or scenario, when I hear or read something, so I'm never sure if I'm moving in the direction the prompter was aiming at.

I know what you mean about leaving prompts. I try to get around it by leaving a mix of specific and very broad. When it comes to people fulfilling them I actually love it when they go off tabgent though, that a nudge from me could make someone come up with this whole other idea. If it's me that's done it to someone else's prompt...it depends how far off tagent i've gone. I've used the thing and offered to write something else later if it's not what they wanted, i've used the thing and crossed my fingers, and i've abandoned works and started something else.

I have no idea where people find so many exchanges!

Edited 2017-10-21 09:16 pm (UTC)

That's probably the best way to prompt, you're right. *Something* you say should inspire something for the author. I haven't been in enough exchanges to know if I'd be a fan of whatever tangent they followed, but I do know I'm sort of fascinated when I'm reading other people's work and their prompt and it's wildly different than what came to my mind. I think that part's fun.

This is why I love promptathons and chatting to people about ideas, the way everyone thinks in different ways and they might say something that completely changes the way I was thinking about it :)

It's still Friday, yes? (NEXT Friday, but, eh.)

I can't do Other People's lyric prompts - which is funny, because I often get ideas for my own stories based on a song snippet I heard... Maybe it's because 99% of the time I don't know the song people are prompting? Or because some people get carried away and give, like, a WHOLE VERSE and then things get so specific how could you possibly have room for your own imagination to find a story?

I (harrumph) Very Often end up writing to my own prompts - probably because I had something in mind when the prompt bubbled up. :P

I've taken part in exactly one exchange - this comm's Secret Santa 2014. It was nerve-wracking because it was my first, but also a challenge I enjoyed, for the most part.

I've just signed up for this year's Secret Santa and am looking forward to it!

Yaaay! I'm glad you've signed up!

Aww :) And you came back to do it again, yay!

Whoo Whoo! I'm gonna cheerlead the hell out of you for this years! *g*

YAY Orcas!!!

This is my first. What can I say guys I'M NERVOUS.

WELCOME TO THE PARTY :D

Really?! I could've sworn... but no, maybe those were promptathons, which are a slightly different creature. Hmm.

ANYHOW... WHOOOOOOO! You will do fabulous! Let me know if you need a cheerleader! \o/

Thank you!!
Yeah, the others were promptathons. And even though I didn't write anything for the August one, I enjoyed them both immensely. :)

This year I signed up for a Leverage Christmas Exchange, after having so much fun writing in that fandom for a small Friends Exchange. And it's nerve wracking, but also pretty exciting! Like this exchange, it's a pretty small group and it makes me feel a little more comfortable, not having the pressure of this vast, huge fandom to deal with, but more like a cozy group of friends sitting around in your living room, swapping story ideas.

I think the worst thing that's happened to me in any recent exchanges is that I've gotten recipients who I greatly admire as authors and who I really look up to for the way they can craft stories. So it's a little intimidating for me to be the one to write something FOR those people! Luckily, you all are FABULOUS and very supportive. *g*

The BEST thing that's happened is I've stretched my wings a bit on trying new things AND I've made a few friends along the way, both very good things.

Sometimes I feel more pressure in a small exchange where I know people, I guess because making them happy matters more to me, but at the same time I feel less pressure in the actual writing part because I have a better idea of what people like.

Oh hell, yes, when you open your assignment and your brain just kind of stops, argh. But then it's also a little 'yay I get to give them something after all the joy they've given me, I hope' :)

Good things!