house_bigbang | [admin] Exit Poll

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round one

[admin] Exit Poll

The challenge has now been live for one week, and it has been a terrific success.

Mmm, statistics. It's a thing of beauty.

Since it is April 7, at this point, you can repost your stories and artwork in your personal journals and anywhere else you'd like. The Spotlight Stories, wherein a story from the archive along with its artwork is featured on the comm every few days, will start tomorrow, and continue biweekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays until we run out of stories.

Finally, the mods want your opinions! There have been a few people wondering about a potential Round Two of House Big Bang, and in order to make it even better than Round One, we'd like your feedback on how the challenge was structured. Everyone can take this poll, but if you were not a participant, please only answer questions that are not specific to artists and writers. Of course, we'd like to be as accommodating as possible in scheduling a second round; however, please be aware that we may or may not change the challenge based on this input. We will, of course, announce any and all changes to the comm before beginning the next round.

The House Big Bang Exit Poll
-your thoughts on big bang, we let you show us them.

[Poll #1167349]

If you have any other questions, concerns, or suggestions, please leave a comment or email the mods at housebigbangmods@gmail.com. We would be especially interested in learning why people were unable to complete the challenge, as it will help us to tailor the challenge for the potential round two.
Thank you once again, everyone!

thedeadparrot and

queenzulu

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I had to drop out of the writers part, because of RL/Exam related reasons. They were more time-absorbing than I'd thought. I managed to finish the artists-portion, though.

I'd probably sign up again for a second round. If not as writer then certainly as artist.

Yes, real life is the big issue, of course.

Hope to see you again, eventually, whenever it turns out to be.

I enjoyed BigBang immensely. I've only ever participated in art challenges before, but I thought this one compared favorably to the better run, and better organized of those.

I honestly don't know if there's anything I'd change from my end, as a writer. All of the difficulty was in the actual writing - which really isn't that surprising - rather than in trying to follow challenge rules, meet deadlines, etc.

The time frame felt just about right. I procrastinated, then deleted my story some time after the halfway point, then wrote it again from scratch. I did have to take advantage of the last minute extension, but that was really a luxury - I could've pushed it and turned something in.

Anyway, I had fun. Will play again if given the chance. Thanks, mods!

I thought of something else :)

It might be better to let the writers and artists have access to the site before it goes live. I know the big secret will be ruined, but I think it would help get all the kinks out before the reveal.

Example: there are a few sections in my story where the paragraph breaks don't show up. The very quick and helpful mods fixed the most problematic spot (in the dialogue), but the others would be a little time consuming to fix. I just left them.

*nods* Getting people to see the html ahead of time is slightly problematic, but we're brainstorming ways to make it feasible.

Some of the paragraph breaks didn't transfer, and I believe the reason has to do with the way Word recognizes hard-returns and does replace-all. The paragraphs were still there, but the html wasn't inserted. Any time you want to, tell me which sections have problematic paragraphing, and I'll fix it.

Thanks! I will send an e-mail to the mods later because you guys don't have enough to do.

I signed up fully intending to finish -- I had the idea all set and everything -- but defaulted because I became too involved in work and application activities. But I enjoyed doing beta work instead. If there's a round two, I almost certainly won't have the time (school year), but if there's a round three? Next summer ('09) or later? I'm so there.

Hoo, that'd be a lot of dedication! I can foresee a Round Two, but who knows where we'll be in 2009. My plan is to find some trustworthy heirs, whenever the need arises.

Yeah, I figured. Alas. But then, who knows whether the show will still be on, anyway?

The stories will make good reading for those of us who can't participate, anyway.

I want the option, in the Mod announcements section of, "Too few but, for the most part, well communicated." >D

I've already been over this with

queenzulu, but my main complaint was how much my story was changed without my knowing about it. I received one email asking for permission to make a change, I agreed, and I thought that was that. However, I found that other significant things were changed, like the splitting of sections and wording, and, for the most part, they were okay, but they added up to a lot-- and there was one particular change in wording that upset me (which has already been fixed).

My proposal, then, for next year, is that the mods somehow show the writers all the changes they made during line-editing. This can be done through Word or through GoogleDoc. That way, the writers can look ahead of time at the changes made instead of only finding out (if they reread their story on the site) on the day the challenge is released to the public. This'll help the mods, too, I imagine, if they don't have to fix a thousand things at the last minute.

Other than that, rainbows, puppies, etc. Loved writing for the challenge and am loving reading the other fic.

PS: I am boggling at the stats and graphs at the top of this post. WHERE DID ALL THOSE PEOPLE COME FROM?

How often would you have liked mod posts? We did reminder posts once a month, plus announcements whenever something changed.

Now that it's all done and over, I really couldn't tell you how you could've updated more, but I remember feeling at the time "MOAR." :) Perhaps next time (if RL lets me participate!) I'll simply poke more often at

housebigbangers.

I was looking over other comments, and I'm not surprised that the low feedback is a concern-- though, to be honest, I was expecting either no or little feedback. So that I've received as much as I have, that left me pleased.

That said, I support some of the other suggestions that the fic get released more slowly. If the Fic Spotlight (when is that starting?) proves to be effective in garnering comments, then the slow-release won't be necessary, but otherwise...

*nods* I hope that the support community would be more active during the next round, especially since it will already be established when sign-ups and so on start.

I had to pull out of the writing because I had a lot of personal issues happening that made concentrating difficult. I'm disappointed with myself that I pulled out, regardless of the reason. But yay for me completing the artist portion?

If there was a round two and the minimum word count stayed at 20,000, I'd have another go at participating as a writer. If the minimum word count changed to 30 or 40K, then I'd probably not participate. I don't think the minimum word count should be changed - 20,000 is a lot of words and I think most people, including myself, would be way too daunted by a 30K or 40K minimum word count to want to participate. At least with keeping it at 20K, people have the option of going 40K if they choose to, rather than having to.

All that said, I hope there is another round. :-)

The majority of poll-takers seem to agree that twenty thousand is the way to go. Mostly I wondered since SGA gets a ton of sign-ups and their minimum is forty thousand.

We'd love to have you again!

For me, I was disappointed in the response to the fic. I think that posting all the fics on one day resulted in overload. Fics got lost in the deluge. At least I'm assuming that's the reason I got only 10 comments on a fic that took months to write and re-write -- people just simply don't have time to read multiple novellas on one day. So they read one or two, and intend to get back to it, but then there's work, and then there's a project ... (I'll admit that I haven't read or commented on all the fics I'd like to simply because of those same issues.)

The challenge has been live for a week so far. As we proceed through the Spotlight Stories, each of the fics will have a few days in the sun. Hopefully this will point community members towards the stories they missed in the initial rush. Also, you can now crosspost your story, so if there are any comms that may have missed the challenge, you can point them toward it.

I was disappointed in response to my fic, as well. Some of that may be the quality of my fic itself, but I'm wondering as well if House fans are not used to clicking "Leave Comments" from an archive. On the Housefic archive, for example, most fics seem to get in the zero to three comment range, even ones that are popular on LJ. If this is a difficulty, I don't really have a solution to propose but would love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

I feel selfish/bitchy complaining about comment count, but feedback is an important reason why I post my stories.

Now to my favorite thing about the challenge: Artwork! It provided an incentive for me to keep going and finish, and I absolutely adored the results.

Second favorite thing about the challenge: Support from the mods. I thought the communication was very good, and I liked having both email and community announcements.

I'm glad you felt supported! Yes, we will probably continue with both community and email announcements, perhaps with some tweaking.

With respect to advertising on comms, we were going to, but then it seemed we were beaten to the punch! I didn't want to spam anyone. However, next time we can certainly make it part of the general announcement to avoid that problem. Thank you for the suggestion.

I had personal reasons for not completing the challenge, which you know about. :) That said, I think a shorter time frame would be a good idea, since I firmly believe that most people don't start really working on their stories until the last minute anyway!

Hee, that's very true! Also, if we start the challenge earlier--in July, say--then the artists run into Christmas, so that's no good. The reason we gave writers five months instead of four was because we wanted to give them time for Christmas challenges as well. So that's certainly something to take into account.

(I still hope someday to see the fic you started.)

Yeah, holiday challenges are a great big time-sucking vacuum and for a long-term challenge like this one, I can definitely see how they'd be hard to work around!

(Someday ... that story was started over a year ago, pathetically.)

I would definitely sign up again as I am disappointed in myself for not finishing, and it was an interesting experience. I think I defaulted due to my own procrastination, blocked inspiration, and losing a couple of months to thesis writing and a significant chunk of time to the holidays. But I would give it another try no matter what time of year.

Thanks again for your hard work!

Thank you very much. It's good to know people will come back to try again!

I'm with

namasteyoga in that it seemed to be overwhelming for many. I didn't get nearly the response I expected, although that may just be pure vanity on my part. I DO know I'M overwhelmed - I haven't yet read everything because, like she said, life gets in the way and I keep intending to get back to it, and never do.

That being said I definitely would love to participate in round two, perhaps as a writer as well as an artist. I have had three long novellas simmering in my brain for a long time now, due to writer's block. If it vanishes by then?...

Hopefully eventually you'll find the time to come back! I believe that feedback for this kind of challenge will be slower and steadier, rather than a rush all at once and then falling off.

Will look forward to those novellas!

I'm one of the nutters that chose too long for the time frame given to writers. One of the reasons I defaulted, apart from others, is that, while in the first month after signing up for the challenge I wrote and plotted and felt excited, in the following four I became distracted by school, work, etc. and had to re-adjust my priorities. If there a second round (and I would love it if there was!), I'd suggest only a two month period or so, possibly over the summer months when people aren't as busy, to allow people to judge their ability to commit.

In other words, I barely know what I'm doing two weeks from now. I will never know if I have time to write four months from now!

Edited 2008-04-08 00:47 (UTC)

Very good point. We did give people a longer time frame so that they could plan around the school year and holidays, but it may have had the opposite effect.

I had great fun with this even though it got stressy in the end for me (but that was my own fault). I have to say that I really liked getting info by email because I didn't run the risk of missing a comm post. I'm happy with 20k anything longer just seems a little too daunting for me. I'd agree with the other posters in releasing fics in little bits instead of all at once but I also wonder if part of the reason for low comments was that readers didn't really know what to say - they just liked the fic and didn't have anything brilliant to say about it so didn't comment? I know there a few that I've read and not commented on because I keep trying to come up with something other than "gah that's awesome".

You make a good point that not all participants were watching the comm to see the announcements. This may change in the second round.

My 2 cents: bigbang was pretty well perfect for me in every way. Timing, length, everything. I picked email as best form of communication because otherwise I'd have missed a vital 'are you in?' mod question in January when I was on holiday. I'd be loath to see the word limit raised because it can only put people off (those who want to write more, always can!) I'd also mention the importance of the prompt post - I have no idea if any other writers who completed got their story from the bigbang prompt post, but mine would never have existed without it.

Unlike some other writers I'm also *extremely* pleased with the number of comments I've gotten - onto two pages now, which for a crossover, where the other fandom is not well known by House fans (as my comments indicate) is surely remarkable!!! The names of commenters are also not my usual suspect commenters (much as I love them) so I also think I've picked up a different readership, which is great. 'Course, they may never read anything else of mine every again, but hey, I'm still delighted!

I'm interested in how you're going to plug the stories as spotlights? Just on house_bigbang or out to relevant communities?

I'm glad you had a positive experience. The authors are, of course, free to crosspost their stories to all the relevant communities, especially when they are the spotlight author: I hope they take advantage of the opportunity.

Thanks! I've noticed a couple of authors posting on house_wilson but didn't want to do the same if there was any danger you'd be doing it during the spotlight thing. Am I right in thinking that as I submitted second (I think?) I'll be the spotlight this Sat???

Also, whenever you do do the spotlight for my fic, would you mind adding a link to my DVD Extras? That way people who already read the fic can see they're now up, and click direct. I put them up yesterday but haven't plugged them anywhere yet, so only my f-list will have seen they're there so far. Link is:
http://hwshipper.livejournal.com/12102.html

Yes, you're on for Saturday, and yes, I've already written the post and included a link to your DVD extras! But feel free to crosspost to

house_wilson and wherever else you'd like, either now or on Saturday.

You really do think of everything! *HUG*

I had to drop out because it happened during the school year. Plus I had original fic and some school journalism requirements that came first. Also, I had a good idea for the fic, but no time to actually develop it.

Perhaps next time, you can allow collaborations on bigbang? I know that's cheating a bit, but it goes a long way to helping writers who really want to write but otherwise don't have the time to do 20,000 all by themselves. Also, it's less daunting, and collaborations are fun.

Another thing I'd suggest is beginning in June, then lots of writers have the summer months to write the first bulk of the fic. Or - you could split the big bang into one beginning in June and another beginning the same time this year. I know it may be a bit much when it comes to modding.

I'll probably participate next year if it starts in June. I'll probably be overcommitting myself but I never discount the possibility of 20,000 coming all to me in a week. Woot.

Collaborations were allowed in the first round; this will be true in the second round as well. Hopefully the timing will work out for you in the second round.

I signed up because the mods are charming and persuasive, and also because this wasn't a gift exchange so I knew no one would be hurt by me dropping out. But I am beginning to realize that challenges (with eep, deadlines) might not be the thing for me, and I should stop signing up. Especially in the middle of the school year. Especially with large word counts, since I tend to start writing somewhere around the last day.

*is charming and persuasive*

That's a good point. Regulating one's challenge participation is an important skill. (I signed up for another one today. That I have no time for. Yerk!)

I signed up but dropped out - partly because my health got bad but mainly because signing up completely killed my urge to write.

That being so, I wouldn't sign up next time.

Also, I have only read one of the fics so far, and that's because I betaed it (and I haven't read the finished fic online yet). I have the others lined up to read, but it's going to take me a while, and I read fast. I'll certainly be commenting as I go, but even so it's quite possibly going to be several weeks before I get through the whole lot (what with RL concerns, and all).

I'm thinking if you do it again, it would maybe be better to have a staggered reveal - maybe give writers (and their attached artists) a place in a 'queue' and then post one fic a week, or something. I'd find that much easier to cope with, from the reading end of things.

I'm glad to know that even if it takes you a while, you'll be commenting on the stories as you proceed!

Way late to the party. *laughs*

But I would absolutely do it again. As much as I bitched, it really forced me to push myself with story-structuring and exploring characters. It was so much fun and I think you guys did a fantastic job throwing the madness together.

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[admin] Exit Poll

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