One Great Step: Infinite Fic Fest

Want to submit prompts but can’t find a place? Want to write something but have no inspiration? Want to challenge yourself to write something different but don’t know where to start?

One Great Step is the place for you. We hope to expand the Infinite fic community and encourage more variety in Infinite fics, be it writing pairings other than the popular ones, different plot premises or different writing styles.

We hope this fic fest will help!

1. General

This is a fic fest for Infinite. This is primarily primarily hosted on AO3, and that will be the main platform for this ficfest. However, we wanted to include the infinite fic community here on AFF as well, so this page will let you know how you can participate in the fic fest - submit prompts, claim and write fics - even if you do not have an AO3 account. AO3-specific items are written in red, and AFF-specific items are written in orange.

The main objective is for readers and writers in the Infinite fandom to find a place to help each other: readers may suggest prompts they would like to read and writers may try something they might not normally write otherwise. We’re here because we’ll all like to see more fics in this fandom :) One of the reasons why we started this is because we wish to see fics for more pairings other than popular pairings (Woogyu, Myungyeol etc.), as well as more character-centric fics, OT3s, OT7 fics etc. But don’t worry, we’re not here to prevent popular pairings from happening (such prompts are allowed if they fit the ongoing theme). We just hope to use this to generate more fics for the fandom that isn’t just these popular pairings, because we have plenty of those already.

There will be a theme each time, decided by us, and anyone is free to submit prompts as long as they fit that theme and the rules (if any). Besides just prompting and filling prompts, a bonus challenge for writers might also be suggested, and writers are welcome to use this as a way to experiment with different techniques in writing.

Not all prompts will be filled. Please be aware of that before you submit. All unfilled prompts will be later collated and writers who wish to use it may still claim it even after the claiming deadline (See “List of unfilled prompts” under chapter index). We hope this may serve as a useful prompt list for anyone looking for a little writing inspiration!

2. How this works

Every month/season, we will come up with a theme. Themes may be story-related like “Dilemma” or member/pairing-related like “OT7”. We may also announce a bonus writing challenge together with the theme. This is optional for writers, but if you are looking to challenge yourself, or want to try a new writing technique, we hope this will prompt (pun, haha) you to try that.

After the theme is released, anyone is free to send in prompts on AO3 (anonymous prompts are allowed so no AO3 account is needed). There is no limit on the number of prompts you can make. Prompts should be a comment on that ongoing theme’s page. E.g. If you are making a prompt for March 2017, please comment under the chapter titled “March 2017”. All comments are moderated. This is more to remove prompts that are too specific, than to censor any prompts. We will not give explanations for why certain prompts are not published but if you wish to know why your specific prompt was not published, you can ask us on twitter (@ogs_ficfest).

When the prompting period is over (See 3. Timeline below), we will publish all the approved prompts. Writers are then free to claim a prompt by replying to the comment. If more than 1 person wish to claim the same prompt, a first-come-first-serve rule applies. The first person to comment will definitely get the prompt. However, multiple claims are allowed for the same prompt, so the second person to comment can still write the prompt if they wish to. If for some reason you are the second claimant to a prompt, and you do not want to write that prompt anymore, you are free to cancel your first claim and choose another instead. Anyone is free to claim prompts until the end of the month/season, but bear in mind: your fic/prompt fill must be published by the 30th unless otherwise stated (*exception: Feb posting on 28th). If you are writing a chaptered fic instead of a one-shot, you just need to publish the first chapter of your fic by the deadline.

Once you have finished your fic, you can publish it as usual on AFF, but please comment on this fic with a link to your fic.

We will link all the completed fics under the each theme, i.e. March 2017 fics/prompt fills will be listed under the chapter “March 2017”.

3. Timeline         

Theme/Pairing released: 1st of the month

Prompting period: 1st – 7th

Claiming / Self-prompting period: 8th – 29th

Posting: 30th (even on months with 31 days; exception: Feb posting on 28th)

Note: Time will follow KST (GMT+9)

4. Rules & Guidelines

i. Prompts must fit the theme of each month/season, and will be moderated.

ii. It is necessary for writers to post their fics to the corresponding sub-collection once they are done.

iii. Please let the mods know if you are dropping out, or if you are changing prompts by leaving a comment in the appropriate chapter.

iv. Crossovers are allowed, as long as an Infinite member is a main character in the fic.

v. There is no word limit whatsoever, as long as you fulfill the prompt and theme!

vi. Plagiarism is not allowed.

vii. Writers are free to be creative and explore the prompt however they want, but please respect the prompter’s requests, particularly in the “Please exclude” section (See 6. Prompting).

viii. Please follow the standardized format while prompting (See 6. Prompting). We may refuse to publish a prompt that is not submitted in the correct format.

ix. All types of genre and pairings are welcomed.

5. Current Theme

Current theme will be shown here. For all past themes, check “List of all themes” under chapters. 

• #5 April 2018 - Rewrite The Stars
  Bonus Theme: Eternity + OT3
  All fics from this month go under the OGS_RewriteTheStars collection.

6. Prompting

Please prompt on AO3 under the correct chapter!

7. FAQ

For prompting

• Where can I prompt?
  Under the chapter of the ongoing theme on AO3. On the top of the page, under chapter index, look for the latest chapter. E.g. if the theme for March 2017 is currently ongoing, then comment on the chapter titled “#1 March 2017 – Example Theme [Current]”. We will try to put the “Current” in the appropriate chapter title so you can use that as a guide.
   
• Will my prompt be filled?
  Only if someone claims it. Unfilled prompts will be collated under the chapter “List of unfilled prompts” and anyone is free to claim those prompts after the month/season has passed. If an unfilled prompt is eventually filled, it would be removed from that list. Tl;dr - not always.
   
• Are there restrictions on what I can prompt?
  No. However, prompts are subjected to moderation. We will remove prompts that are too specific or don’t fit the theme; everything else will be posted. You may request anything as long as it fits those criteria. (Yes, dubcon, noncon, character death etc are allowed.)
   
• What pairings are allowed?
  All pairings are allowed! We also encourage member-centric fics, OT3, OT7 (or any other combinations). However, we realise there are quite a number of fics of certain popular pairings, so we do hope readers who like other ships will take this opportunity to prompt interesting fics of pairings they want to see more. Likewise for writers, we hope you would consider using this fic fest to try something different!

 For writing

• How do I claim a prompt?
  Reply to the comment of the prompt you wish to claim on AO3. If you do not have an AO3 account, please write your AFF username when commenting! A simple “I’ll write this!” is enough, though you can say anything you want in your comment. We will approve of your comment asap so others can see which prompts have been claimed, but it might take a day or two if all three of us are busy.
   
• Can I claim the same prompt if someone else has already claimed it? 
  Yes, multiple writers are allowed to claim the same prompt. Mods will notify you if the prompt you want has been chosen and you can decide if you want to go ahead or change your prompt. If you have already commented before you know the prompt is taken, you can leave an additional comment to let us know you want to cancel your first claim. You do not have to claim a new prompt after cancelling.
   
• Do I have to do the writing challenge?
  No, the writing challenge included is optional. However, in the spirit of trying different things to grow as a writer, we strongly encourage you to!
   
• If I only claim the prompt after the month/season has passed, can I still post my fic to the corresponding collection?
  Yes. It would be nice if you mention in your author’s note that your fic/prompt fill was not filled within the writing period but that is entirely your choice.
   
• If I only claim the prompt after the month/season theme has passed, will my work be listed under the list of completed fics (e.g. under the chapter for “March 2017”)?
  Yes, but whereas the writers who submit on time will be listed after the last day of that month, writers who fill a prompt late will have to wait for when we have time to update the links later.
   
• How do I publish my fic if I don't have AO3?
  If you are writing on AFF, just publish your fic as usual, and leave a comment on this page with the month, link to your fic and the prompt you have claimed! We will add your fic to the list of finished fics on the appropriate month's chapter!

Any questions? Feel free to leave a comment below or contact us on twitter (@ogs_ficfest)! We are organising this fic fest for the first time and feedback is always welcomed! We will also post reminders, prompts and updates over on twitter, so do follow us there~