Right, the next round of MTYG reminiscence questions. These are a bit more specific, so may actually be easier to answer. (Although I'm beginning to wish I'd left this until February—there are so many memes around at the moment!)

First questions are here, and are definitely still up for your comments.

Of all the stories you wrote for MTYG:

(a) Which did you most enjoy writing?

(b) Which caused you the most anguish/SeSa angst/wailing and gnashing of teeth or just plain struggling to produce?

(c) What was the best request/prompt you got?

(d) what was the most terrifying/startling/difficult prompt you got, and how did you cope with the story?

(e) more generally, do you have any funny or sad stories about the writing process?

(reposted from my personal journal)

I am, it is true, somewhat relieved that I won't have to add the mad dash to finish at least one story by Christmas Eve to the complexity that is my-life-in-the-run-up-to-Christmas this year, but things should be calmed down afterwards.

So, now that MTYG is officially done, I'm thinking it might be nice to do some kind of MTYG Retrospective to while away the few spare hours there may be between Christmas and the New Year, when we won't be reading and sending feedback. (Of course, there's Yuletide, but that is So Damn Big I tend to sit back and wait for recs.)

So I started to think up a few questions, which will remind us of the good times and perhaps the scary times—we've all had them—which we can think about then. Here are my suggestions; do you have any questions you think would be fun to add? I'll re-present them at Christmas so we can have a bit of discussion in MTYG_discuss or in my journal(s), whatever people prefer.

So, the questions so far (sans question marks because eh):

Of all the stories you've written for MTYG
- which is your favourite
- which one are you most proud of
- which did you most enjoy writing
- which caused you the most anguish/SeSa angst/wailing and gnashing of teeth to produce
- which was the best received
- what was the best request/prompt you got
- what was the most terrifying/worst request/prompt (and how did you manage with the story)
- do you have any funny or sad stories about the writing process
- have you ever rewritten any of your MTYG stories, or written a prequel or sequel or any other kind of spinoff?

Of the stories you've received
- which is your favourite, and why

Of the MTYG stories you've read
- which is the funniest
- which is the one that made you OMGWTF the most
- which did you think was the most perfect for the recipient
- which made you think that you were glad you hadn't had that prompt
- did you ever guess the author and get it right? What clued you in?

One more:
- whose feedback gave you the most joy?

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I'd kinda like to do a re-read, maybe a year's worth per month for next year? But I don't know if people will be with me on that. Your opinion? Do the words Flogging a Dead Horse come to mind, or might it be fun?

Now that most of you have had a chance to read at least some of the MTYG 2017 stories, let's see if any of us can actually identify the authors. One year, I was identified by my choice of section spacers… For myself, I generally find that even though I have been reading these authors for *years*, I can hardly ever tell who wrote what. So don't be afraid to make a wrong guess—we all do it! Also, bear in mind that there may or may not have been pinch-hits, so if you can't decide which of two stories was written by a particular person, it's *possible* that both were! *cackles evilly* I realise this doesn't actually help.

Let's make this a Guess The Author post. Authors, please don't say yea or nay until The Reveal on 6th January.


Meanwhile, if you have recs or reviews, do post them to this community, or else drop in a link to your own journal. If you post here, please cut-tag for spoilers, and don't post flames or extremely negative comments. Thank you!


If you want to send feedback while the challenge is still anonymous, and have not yet got yourself a Reader Account, please see this post for details of how to go about it. Reader accounts allow anyone who didn't take part in the challenge as a writer to give the gift of feedback while the writers are still anonymous—speaking as a writer, I find this one of the most fun aspects of an anonymous challenge. (Challenge authors can send feedback by logging in with their usual name and password -- there's no need to sign up for a second account.)

It's looking as though this year may be one of the 'off' years in which we need the help of some wonderful pinch-hitters. Can you sign up for an extra piece of holiday writing this year? You'll need to be a popslasher with some free time next week (18 - 23 December) as that's when the crunch comes.

Perhaps you've already completed, or almost completed, your original assignment? If you are already a Santa this year but can volunteer to be a back-up author, please elfmail the Admins to let us know. Include the pairings you're willing to write, which gives us an idea of whether we have reasonable coverage for the situation.

Perhaps you didn't sign up this year for some reason, but are now missing your yearly fix of SeSa pressure? If you aren't signed up this year but have signed up for MtYG before, we can reactivate your old account. E-mail us at at santa@maketheyuletidegay.org.

If you haven't signed up before and wish you had, you can still participate as a pinch-hitter. We'll need to create an account for you, so e-mail us at at santa@maketheyuletidegay.org and include the following details:

Name
Website
E-mail
A password that you don't mind the Admins knowing (please do not use your LJ/DW password or other valuable password.)

Pass the word along! Make the Yuletide Gay!

If you are willing to beta someone else's story, please comment to say so. Do note any pairings or story requests that you cannot deal with!

If you are looking for a beta for your story, please comment - or, if someone has volunteered and will fit the bill, contact them.

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If you don't know your recipient, it can be useful to check out their Reading and Subscribe (or Friends, on LJ) list to see whether you have anyone in common, or to see if anyone they know is also taking part in MTYG and may be willing to help you out. It can be handy to get an inside source on What The Recipient Likes!

Other ways to check out whether that story notion you're cradling is going to please your recipient are: read their journal, see if they ever rec stories or comment on what they've enjoyed, and read the stories they have written (not just the MTYG stories, either, because when we're writing for a specific person we don't always write what we'd love to read).

Anyone got any more hints on How To Please Your Recipient? Comment here!