Finish It Fest! (1 May - 30 June of 2016)
May. 1st, 2016 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dialecticdreamer posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
allbingoMay is a strange month in my life: traditionally this was the month my family did the grand 'spring cleaning,' and finished projects which had been put aside for whatever reason. The most memorable element of the 'finishing up' season was the handmade lap desk my Grandfather was trying to repair for my grandmother, when one leg had split along the grain, revealing the wooden pegs used to pin parts together instead of using nails. My grandfather was an auto mechanic, NOT a carpenter, in any way, and watching him try and try and try taught me far more than anything he said aloud. When he regretfully admitted that he was out of ideas, my grandmother had him remove the legs from the lap desk and used it as an organizing tray on her dressing table.
Over the last year, I have, like many writers, accumulated stories which range from 'nearly done' to an impossibly persistent idea scribbled on the corner of a napkin. This month, we're going to use the bingo card format as a motivator, an organizer, and a brag sheet. My tasks are to set up the format, and provide the cheering and flag-waving as stories are finished. Posting them is always the author's choice in my bingo fests, but as a potential reader, please picture me with Oliver Twist's pleading expression and a toddler's grabby-hands gesture when I say I'd love to read your stories, too.
Well, I keep saying 'month.' The great news for those of us who are writing slowly is that this fest will run from today through the end of June (technically, from midnight local time on the first through midnight local time on the thirtieth of June), giving everyone TWO months to complete a bingo. My fest standards usually include any-five-random-fills, but this is a very different kind of bingo card: the randomity is encouraged.
You are generating your own card, first by sorting through the 'to be finished' pile, or the dusty corners of your computer files, or by pulling that notebook from under the edge of the bed, or whatever system you use. Me, I've got all three of those to sort through for unfinished items, plus a couple of other options. Feeling scattered is quite a literal state when I've had to put aside a story for some reason, so please, if you share that frustration, take heart. This bingo fest is meant to get things done, so I'm encouraging players to include handicrafts, and other hobbies which are sitting, incomplete, and begging for attention.
The public card:
This card is an array of six rows and six columns. The public card includes the numbers one through thirty-six, in random positions. There is no “free space' in the center, not merely because the center is four spaces, but also because creating the bingo card counts as a fill for the purposes of the bingo fest. That should be a happy little motivator!
So, your personal card is really just a numbered list, as abbreviated or detailed as you need. “Bil's moving day,” or “Storm series, story#, file name, location,” et cetera. But numbered lists are no fun, and part of my job as hostess is to add a little whimsy, a little fun, along with motivation. There are several ways to jump into this, especially when deciding where to start is a major stumbling block when facing what amounts to too many choices.
Staring at a blank page (which is in no way associated with either 'whimsy' OR 'fun'), is a problem I hope this format will help prevent. It can definitely help prevent wasting hours thumbing through the files to decide which to tackle next! All you need is an ordinary six-sided die. (If you don't own any, or can't remember where your board games are currently hiding, try this setup at random.org, which is set to roll two dice. Hit the 'go back' button, rather than your browser's 'back' button,' to choose from a large number of six-sided dice. Please don't blame me if you spend an afternoon exploring the site, though!
Getting started with so many options in play can be tough.
I'm encouraging players to avoid typing in their own bingo card prompts, because that takes time one could spend working on a fill. The option is there, though, and I won't judge.
{} You can simply pick the 'first' square on your card and find the corresponding number on your personal list. I would begin with number 8, the upper left square on the public card, because I read from right to left and top to bottom.
{} You can grab a die, and roll once for the row, and again for the column. Rolling a two and then a six would indicate number 26, while rolling for the column first, then the row, would highlight number 12.
{} Try using the Roman numerals to create a group, by working on all of the squares marked with III, or any other set. At least that way, the choices are cut down to one of six, rather than one of six times as many options!
{} Print out the public card and throw darts at it. (Actually, I laid it on the desk and dropped a penny on it, but the principle is the same!)
Why yes, I probably have more than thirty-six unfinished items, especially as this bingo fest invites creations other than writing. Item twenty-one on the unfinished list could be a story, poem, updating an index on my blog, a knitting project, or my first tie-dye project, which must be set, washed and dried. I encourage everyone to be very inclusive and wide-ranging for the next two months. Imagine the variety and entertainment when looking at the results of your finished, blacked-out card! Anything which is started during this fest, but must be set aside for more than a weekend, or set aside because real life has come stomping through your day, or week, with seven-league boots, should be considered (and included) on your bingo card. That includes anything which is started after which is the close of the “Finish It” fest.
Posting finished cards can happen anytime from today through the end of the fest, of course, and I will again offer a customized banner as an award. (A teaser about the banner: the theme is 'time,' and I am considering a Caribbean blue and turquoise color scheme.) Please, include a preferred color for your name when posting your bingo fill; customized banners are meant to be customized!
So, now that everything is spelled out, let's get started… or should I say 'finished'?
{}{}{} Author Notes {}{}{}
ANY six items are a "bingo." If you have one WIP short story, a half-finished poem, and a crocheted amigurumi hanging around, that's half of the bingo, right there, and you've got two months to deal with life's inevitable interruptions, which will probably net the other three.
Please, be creative with your list, especially if it motivates you to finish projects.
The code for the public card -- if the HTML deities are smiling upon me--
WOOHOOOOOOO! I did it! Someone schedule an ENORMOUS parade!
Deep breath-- sorry for geeking out, but that's what I've been looking up how to do all afternoon!
If I've forgotten or confused anything, PLEASE tell me. It makes my work as hostess better, and I don't want to discourage ANYONE.
Over the last year, I have, like many writers, accumulated stories which range from 'nearly done' to an impossibly persistent idea scribbled on the corner of a napkin. This month, we're going to use the bingo card format as a motivator, an organizer, and a brag sheet. My tasks are to set up the format, and provide the cheering and flag-waving as stories are finished. Posting them is always the author's choice in my bingo fests, but as a potential reader, please picture me with Oliver Twist's pleading expression and a toddler's grabby-hands gesture when I say I'd love to read your stories, too.
Well, I keep saying 'month.' The great news for those of us who are writing slowly is that this fest will run from today through the end of June (technically, from midnight local time on the first through midnight local time on the thirtieth of June), giving everyone TWO months to complete a bingo. My fest standards usually include any-five-random-fills, but this is a very different kind of bingo card: the randomity is encouraged.
You are generating your own card, first by sorting through the 'to be finished' pile, or the dusty corners of your computer files, or by pulling that notebook from under the edge of the bed, or whatever system you use. Me, I've got all three of those to sort through for unfinished items, plus a couple of other options. Feeling scattered is quite a literal state when I've had to put aside a story for some reason, so please, if you share that frustration, take heart. This bingo fest is meant to get things done, so I'm encouraging players to include handicrafts, and other hobbies which are sitting, incomplete, and begging for attention.
The public card:
| 8 (II) | 11 (V) | 35 (V) | 23 (V) | 29 (V) | 21 (III) |
| 5 (V) | 6 (VI) | 4 (IV) | 13 (I) | 15 (III) | 26 (II) |
| 34 (IV) | 17 (V) | 7 (I) | 28 (IV) | 22 (IV) | 14 (II) |
| 27 (III) | 31 (I) | 3 (III) | 10 (IV) | 33 (III) | 36 (VI) |
| 32 (II) | 9 (III) | 18 (VI) | 16 (IV) | 24 (VI) | 19 (I) |
| 30 (VI) | 12 (VI) | 2 (II) | 1 (I) | 25 (I) | 20 (II) |
This card is an array of six rows and six columns. The public card includes the numbers one through thirty-six, in random positions. There is no “free space' in the center, not merely because the center is four spaces, but also because creating the bingo card counts as a fill for the purposes of the bingo fest. That should be a happy little motivator!
So, your personal card is really just a numbered list, as abbreviated or detailed as you need. “Bil's moving day,” or “Storm series, story#, file name, location,” et cetera. But numbered lists are no fun, and part of my job as hostess is to add a little whimsy, a little fun, along with motivation. There are several ways to jump into this, especially when deciding where to start is a major stumbling block when facing what amounts to too many choices.
Staring at a blank page (which is in no way associated with either 'whimsy' OR 'fun'), is a problem I hope this format will help prevent. It can definitely help prevent wasting hours thumbing through the files to decide which to tackle next! All you need is an ordinary six-sided die. (If you don't own any, or can't remember where your board games are currently hiding, try this setup at random.org, which is set to roll two dice. Hit the 'go back' button, rather than your browser's 'back' button,' to choose from a large number of six-sided dice. Please don't blame me if you spend an afternoon exploring the site, though!
Getting started with so many options in play can be tough.
I'm encouraging players to avoid typing in their own bingo card prompts, because that takes time one could spend working on a fill. The option is there, though, and I won't judge.
{} You can simply pick the 'first' square on your card and find the corresponding number on your personal list. I would begin with number 8, the upper left square on the public card, because I read from right to left and top to bottom.
{} You can grab a die, and roll once for the row, and again for the column. Rolling a two and then a six would indicate number 26, while rolling for the column first, then the row, would highlight number 12.
{} Try using the Roman numerals to create a group, by working on all of the squares marked with III, or any other set. At least that way, the choices are cut down to one of six, rather than one of six times as many options!
{} Print out the public card and throw darts at it. (Actually, I laid it on the desk and dropped a penny on it, but the principle is the same!)
Why yes, I probably have more than thirty-six unfinished items, especially as this bingo fest invites creations other than writing. Item twenty-one on the unfinished list could be a story, poem, updating an index on my blog, a knitting project, or my first tie-dye project, which must be set, washed and dried. I encourage everyone to be very inclusive and wide-ranging for the next two months. Imagine the variety and entertainment when looking at the results of your finished, blacked-out card! Anything which is started during this fest, but must be set aside for more than a weekend, or set aside because real life has come stomping through your day, or week, with seven-league boots, should be considered (and included) on your bingo card. That includes anything which is started after which is the close of the “Finish It” fest.
Posting finished cards can happen anytime from today through the end of the fest, of course, and I will again offer a customized banner as an award. (A teaser about the banner: the theme is 'time,' and I am considering a Caribbean blue and turquoise color scheme.) Please, include a preferred color for your name when posting your bingo fill; customized banners are meant to be customized!
So, now that everything is spelled out, let's get started… or should I say 'finished'?
{}{}{} Author Notes {}{}{}
ANY six items are a "bingo." If you have one WIP short story, a half-finished poem, and a crocheted amigurumi hanging around, that's half of the bingo, right there, and you've got two months to deal with life's inevitable interruptions, which will probably net the other three.
Please, be creative with your list, especially if it motivates you to finish projects.
The code for the public card -- if the HTML deities are smiling upon me--
WOOHOOOOOOO! I did it! Someone schedule an ENORMOUS parade!
Deep breath-- sorry for geeking out, but that's what I've been looking up how to do all afternoon!
If I've forgotten or confused anything, PLEASE tell me. It makes my work as hostess better, and I don't want to discourage ANYONE.
