Yuletide Comment Call

[morbane]

With Yuletide just around the corner, I would like to propose a commenting challenge.

What: Comment on things, especially things you've been meaning to comment on, especially in Yuletide or in small fandoms
When: Now until whenever! But probably until nominations
Why: Every year, I see the following comments:

• There's so much fic in Yuletide! I can only comment on some of it, then I burn out.


• It's great that people read my small fandoms fic in Yuletide, but I write it all year, and I feel like no one reads it then.


• This person commented on three of my Yuletide fics! They must really like my style. But I was hoping they would come and read my other stuff, and they didn't.

A lot of people aren't big commenters, and that's OK. (And the kudos button has an honourable function too.) A lot of people are commenting just as much as they want to comment right now, and that is also OK. But a lot of us mean to comment more, but don't get around to it, so I figured we could use the extra push of a challenge.

Besides, if you poke around in small fandoms expecially, you might discover that a fic you've been meaning to ask for this year has already been written, and it's perfect - or, you might narrow down exactly what's missing in a fandom, so as to shape your requests.

So! Challenge!

Set a pledge for yourself, make a comment to this post describing it, if you want, or just come back and say how it went.
As an option for your pledge, tick off items from the list below (updated, with bingo option):

comment on 3 fics by the same author
comment on a fic in a fandom you mean to request this Yuletide
comment on a fic in a fandom you’ve previously requested
comment on a fic in a fandom you mean to offer this Yuletide
comment on a fic in a fandom you’ve previously offered
comment on a fic you first read over 1 year ago
comment on a podfic
comment on fanart
comment on meta
comment on a fanvid
comment on a fic from Yuletide 2014
comment on a fic from Yuletide 2013
comment on a fic from Yuletide 2012
comment on a fic tagged gen
comment on a fic tagged f/f
comment on a fic tagged m/m
comment on a fic tagged f/m
comment on a fic with a ship other than f/m, m/m, or f/f
make a comment of 100+ words
make a comment where you quote your favourite line
comment in an exchange that isn't Yuletide
comment in a fandom where there are fewer than 10 fics
comment on a work that has two of your favourite tags
comment on a fic that's over 5k
comment on a fic that's over 20k
comment on a fic with multiple chapters
comment on a fic about 2 of your favourite characters
comment on a fic in a New Year's Resolution collection (any)
comment on a work by someone who's given you a kudos or a comment
comment on 3 different fics in the same fandom
comment on a crossover
comment on 5 drabbles
make the first comment on a work
comment on a fic you've already commented on
comment on a fic in a Yuletide Madness collection (any)
comment on a fic tagged with Misses Clause challenge
comment on 2 fics in a fandom where each is from a different Yuletide subcollection
comment on a fic in the Yuletide bookmarks collection
comment on 2+ responses to the same prompt
comment on a fic in a fandom you don't normally read
comment on a fic you've bookmarked
comment on a fic in a series
comment on a fic you were surprised you liked
comment on a fic with more than 5 "additional" tags
comment on a WIP
comment on the first fic you read in a fandom
comment on a fic with multiple authors
comment on a fic mentioned on Fanlore
comment on a fic crossposted at tumblr
comment on a comment fic
comment on 10+ fics in a week
comment on a past gift

+bonus
comment on 100 works
reply to someone not the author

And, thanks to a tip from drayton, you can make yourself a bingo card at http://an.owomoyela.net/fun/bingo_generator, using the following comma-delimited list:

3 fics by the same author,a fic in a fandom you mean to request this Yuletide,a fic in a fandom you’ve previously requested,a fic in a fandom you mean to offer this Yuletide,a fic in a fandom you’ve previously offered,a fic you first read over 1 year ago,a podfic,fanart,meta,a fanvid,a fic from Yuletide 2014,a fic from Yuletide 2013,a fic from Yuletide 2012,a fic tagged gen,a fic tagged f/f,a fic tagged m/m,a fic tagged f/m,a fic with a ship other than f/m or m/m or f/f,make a comment of 100+ words,make a comment where you quote your favourite line,comment in an exchange that isn't Yuletide,comment in a fandom where there are fewer than 10 fics,a work that has two of your favourite tags,a fic that's over 5k,a fic that's over 20k,a fic with multiple chapters,a fic about 2 of your favourite characters,a fic in a New Year's Resolution collection (any),a work by someone who's given you a kudos or a comment,3 different fics in the same fandom,a crossover,5 drabbles,make the first comment on a work,a fic you've already commented on,a fic in a Yuletide Madness collection (any),a fic tagged with Misses Clause challenge,2 fics in a fandom where each is from a different Yuletide subcollection,a fic in the Yuletide bookmarks collection,2+ responses to the same prompt,a past gift,a fic in a fandom you don't normally read,a fic you've bookmarked,a fic in a series,a fic you were surprised you liked,a fic with more than 5 "additional" tags,a WIP,the first fic you read in a fandom,a fic with multiple authors,a fic mentioned on Fanlore,a fic crossposted at tumblr,a comment fic,10+ fics in a week


This list is obviously biased towards Yuletide, but I hope that's a feature, not a bug.
I'm happy to add things! Suggest things and I'll edit them in. Other feedback also welcome.

And of course, the parent Yuletide collection is here.

Comments

[ardyforshort]

This is such a neat idea, thank you! I'll see how many items from the challenge I can tick off by the time noms roll around.

[morbane]

Awesome! Feel free to make up more, and I'll add them, too.

[isis]

Nifty idea - and it cries out for a bingo card!

[morbane]

I haven't dealt much with bingos before. But you can feed the list (or an adjusted version) into something like this:

http://osric.com/bingo-card-generator/

and make your own?

here are some cards...

[drayton]

traditional 5x5 card: https://drayton.dreamwidth.org/259.html

more challenging 6x6 card: https://drayton.dreamwidth.org/650.html

I copied comma-separated prompts into the generator at http://an.owomoyela.net/fun/bingo_generator and cut-and-pasted the resulting HTML to my journal.

Re: here are some cards...

[morbane]

Neat! I'll add a comma-separated list & that link when I update the list a little later.

[isis]

You have a typo in the comma-separated list - should be "make the first COMMENT ON a work" - but THANK YOU for doing this, and I'll see if I can get some interest among my flist to do a bingo-challenge!

[morbane]

Thanks for catching that. As you imagine, I did a global find/replace on "comment on " and it messed that one up. Fixed now!

Have fun with it!

[elf]

Love this! Will get a bingo card for myself later!

Other ideas:

* Reply to someone not the author
* Comment on a fic in a fandom you don't normally read
* Comment on a fic you've bookmarked
* Comment on a fic in a series
* Comment on a fic you were surprised you liked
* Comment on a fic with more than 5 "additional" tags
* Comment on a WIP
* Comment on the first fic you read in a fandom
* Comment on a fic with multiple authors
* Comment on a fic mentioned on Fanlore
* Comment on a fic crossposted at tumblr
* Comment on a comment fic

Center space text: Think About Commenting

Multiple comments (not sure if it's reasonable to include these in the main set):
* Comment on every fic in a series
* Leave 10+ comments in a week
* Leave 100+ comments

[morbane]

Awesome! I'll add those in shortly.

I admit I feel mixed about both "Leave 100 comments" and "Reply to someone not the author". One, for time commitment; two, because some authors and readers seem to dislike this scenario. OK if I put them at the bottom as bonuses?

[elf]

No problem! I realized that "leave 100 comments" is trouble to track (I wasn't going to include it at all, and then remembered you can get your comments emailed to you), and while I've loved comment exchanges with other readers, or between them on my fics, not everyone likes those.

If we had a way to set up a Comment Bingo comm/fest/exchange whatever, they'd definitely be on the "you can opt out of X options" list.

[morbane]

Well, I guess the nice thing about a make-your-own bingo card challenge is that you can opt out of whatever you like.

If I get around to making one for myself, I'll put "comment in an exchange that isn't Yuletide" in several extra times.

I like comments between readers in my comment section too, but one time that happened, people were practically apologising to each other and asking if I minded them cutting in, which indicates that's not really the norm.

[morbane]

Added (with caveats as discussed below).

[elf]

One more!

Comment on a fic in a Yuletide-eligible fandom that's not in a Yuletide collection

(hm, I wonder if that could be rephrased?)

[melannen]

I made a card, so I guess I'm in!

I used a list that was pretty heavily modified to match my particular ways for failing at comments. It's got some added, some edited, some gone from your list. The generator-formatted version is in my post, but here's the ones that I added or significantly altered:


a work you first read over 5 years ago
poetry or filk
from Yuletide before 2009
a comment of 6 or less words
work in an exchange you wrote for that isn't Yuletide
a work that you found via freeforms
fic that's under 500 words
that's under 100 hits
by someone who's given you a kudos or a comment this week
work you apparently kudos'd long ago but don't remember
work you bookmarked/rec'd but didn't comment on
an ongoing WIP
WIP that was last updated over a year ago, without asking for more
by a friend or neighbor
by somebody you've never heard of
in a language other than English
an explicit pwp
work you've had marked 'to read later' for over a month
fandom you used to be really into but aren't anymore
work by someone you really admire
positive comment on a work by someone you really don't admire
work that forever changed your perception of canon
work you would have otherwise skipped without reading
work you've re-read many many times
in a fandom you know only from fandom
positive comment on a work you liked but had some issues with
that was recommended this week
more than ten years old
somebody's first fanwork
comment, then rec
previous comment was over a year ago
a work by a mod or somebody else who labors behind the scenes

[morbane]

Cool! It's interesting to see your changes. Hee at 'fandom you know only from fandom'. Fandomception!

[sylvaine]

Thank you for the idea and the generator link! Definitely something I'll be playing with.

[morbane]

You're welcome! Enjoy.

[blueswan]

This is a wonderful idea. I've made a card and now I'm off to start filling in some spaces!

[morbane]

Great! Have fun.

[espresso_addict]

I'm in! I'm not good at bingo cards, so I'll just be trying to work my way through the list. Thanks for suggesting this.

[morbane]

any way you want to play is fine by me! have fun.

[kore]

This is still a great idea! (just saw it linked in Discord)