Sign Ups Are OPEN for this year's 'Finish that Fic, Merlin! (2024/2025)

Another year has passed with you being completely unable to finish those darn WIPs in your folder. Fear not! 'Finish that Fic, Merlin!' is once again here to w(h)ip your arse into shape so you can finally clear your conscience! (and you WIP-folder)

The fest will run from November 1st 2024 till March 31st 2025!

If you've never heard of 'Finish that Fic, Merlin!' before, the short answer is that it is, like the same suggests, a fest to help you finish your WIPS. All those fics you've started but for whatever reason never finished. Maybe life got in the way, maybe you just didn't have the motivation, and without a deadline, it's easier to just do other things instead. Well, now's the time to sign up for this fest, so you can finally finish!

Before you sign up, however, please be sure to read 'How This Fest Works' and the 'FAQs' for the long answer on what 'Finish that Fic, Merlin!' is. I know it sounds weird, but there's some rules to follow, and more importantly, an explanation on how you can get a prize for your hard work! After you've done that, you can sign up here via Livejournal or here via Google Forms.

If you need some cheerleading, you can head over to Discord to join The Tavern(18+) server where I've been graciously allowed to host a channel for this fest. Please note that while The Tavern server is for 18+, if you're under 18, you can still participate in 'Finish that Fic, Merlin!' you just can't be part of that particular Discord server. Fortunately, there are other Merlin servers for people of all ages to help you with your writing. You can even find me in some of them :D

And don't forget to reblog this tumblr post to help spread the word!

2024 WIP Big Bang Schedule & FAQ!

Schedule

All times are by 11:59pm PST. Convert time zones.

Sign-ups Begin- April 15th Sign-ups Close- May 21st Check In #1- May 22nd Check In #2- June 15th Snippets Due- July 1st Art Claims Begin- July 17th Check In #3- July 22nd Check In #4- August 6th Rough Drafts Due- August 15th Posting Claims Begin- August 23rd Posting Claims Ends- September 1st Final Drafts/Art Due- September 7th Posting Starts- September 8th

FAQ

What is the WIP Big Bang? Good question! This is a Big Bang with one goal in mind: to clean out your fanfic drafts folder. These are stories that were unfinished for whatever reason, that authors returned to and completed, and the art that goes with them!

Do I need a Livejournal/Dreamwidth/AO3/etc. account to participate? No! You don’t have to have an account on anything to participate, though you will need to have somewhere to post your finished work. Having one or more accounts will help for you to follow what is going on with the bang (we crosspost to Dreamwidth and Tumblr and heavily use our Discord server at the moment), but they are not required to participate. You can always leave comments anonymously or with an opensource ID.

How many fics can we sign up for? We absolutely don’t mind multiple sign-ups. I know one year someone submitted 50 fics to finish, and got at least half of them done. We just ask that when you sign up with more than one fic you give each fic a unique user ID (please do not use the same ID for all your fics...it’s important to have different IDs for the check-ins).

Will I get emails about the bang? We do send out some emails, mostly for snippets and art claims and to ensure communication between authors and artists, but please do NOT rely on getting an email to remind you of due dates. We currently do not keep an updated email list of participants, so we only send individual emails as needed rather than mass emails.

However, email is the fastest way to communicate with the mods. If you have any questions or are having trouble communicating with your artist/author, please do email us! We will do our best to respond quickly.

SIGN-UPS ARE OPEN!

(text description in ALT and below the cut)

Based on some rumblings I heard, I ended up quickly throwing together a fun little WIP bingo sheet! I'll admit I largely wrote the prompts for writing, but I think a good number of them should also apply to art!

Ultimately, the goal is to have fun, and finish whatever WIPs you can (without burning yourself out or having a bad time). If you needed a sign to pick up that project you've been putting off, the time is now!

If you're reading this...

go write three sentences on your current writing project.

Please, for the love of god, please don’t be this person. No matter how long it’s been since an update, no matter how many unfinished stories are sitting on their account, no matter what - do not be this person.

Not only is it insanely rude, but you also do more damage than you think be being such a self-entitled ass about something someone created for free and for fun. “This author” can see what you say.

RIP decency indeed.

I was literally about to post a chapter once and got a snide comment similar to this - not addressing other readers, just me - and decided to keep the rest of the story to myself. It’s still there. I could post it anytime. But I’m not going to.

I also got a glowing compliment on a fic and went into a flurry of writing, suddenly inspired, then by happenstance got a nasty, impatient comment on that same fic a few days and moved onto writing a different fic that didn’t have that associated annoyance.

Like. I am writing for fun. For me. I reread and enjoy my fics all the time because they’re exactly the story I want to read. I get the same enjoyment out of a fic wither or not anyone else ever sees it or knows it exists.

I’m sharing it for fun too.

I’m not going to share if sharing isn’t fun.

I’m not going to share if sharing isn’t fun.

I once got a comment on a fic that just read RIP with my username. It’s really fucking demotivating. Maybe the work will end up abandoned, maybe it won’t, but don’t fucking leave this sort of shit on a fic. It’s more likely to prevent any future updates than encourage them. Authors are not vending machines. You can not shake us and force the story out (believe us, many of us have tried doing this to ourselves because we want to finish the story but sometimes life and other shit gets in the way).

i hate how you get desensitized to the cool stuff in your WIP if you've been writing it for a long time so when you read back over it you're like "this isn't as cool as i thought :(" but it still is! you just read it too many times

i hate how you get desensitized to the cool stuff in your WIP if you've been writing it for a long time so when you read back over it you're like "this isn't as cool as i thought :(" but it still is! you just read it too many times

Gotta recirculate this post periodically just cuz

Just don't read the post too many times.

Oh god oh fuck

For all of you readers who don't bother with WIPs, you'd better make a HUGE DEAL when writers do finish a fic because I can guarantee that if a writer finishes a multi-chap and only gets a lukewarm response, they are INFINITELY less motivated to finish another.

Your first draft is good. Certainly, it’s not perfect, and it undoubtedly needs some tweaking and editing, but there’s nothing wrong with showing a first draft some love! You never know what lines may go through six edits without changing, and you never know when you’ll suddenly realize that First Draft You had more of a handle on foreshadowing than Third Draft You. It’s okay to appreciate your first draft! Don’t beat yourself up!

WIP Big Bang 2023 Round Starting April 1st!

What is the WIP Big Bang? Good question! This is a Big Bang with one goal in mind: to clean out your fanfic drafts folder. These are stories that were unfinished for whatever reason, that authors returned to and completed, and the art that goes with them!

Please read our FAQ/check out our schedule for more details.

casting a spell of finish your wip rb to pass it on

Sketches for some upcoming Bird Portraits. American Robin (Female), Dark-Eyed Junco, Mountain Bluebird, and American Kestrel to be completed soon!

MOOD!

And it has begun! Feel free to use this form to sign your fics up for the 2022 round of WIP Big Bang!