Summer of SHINee: Round 3
Welcome to Round 3 of the Summer of SHINee fic fest! Here you will find all the information you need about this fest including rules/guidelines, schedule, and instructions for how to participate!
About
Welcome to the third round of Summer of SHINee!This is an annual fic fest focused on bringing more wonderful stories about our beloved SHINee into the world!We hope to receive lots of love and support for the third round of this fest! The last two years were a huge success, and we hope this year will be just as much fun and inspire a lot of community participation and friendship in our fandom.Whether you want to submit prompts, write, beta read, or just enjoy all the great fics that come out of the fest, we're excited to have you here ^^
- check out the schedule for the fest here!
- check out our twitter for updates!
- sign up to claim a prompt here!
- send questions to our curiouscat!
- find info about being a beta reader and requesting a beta here!
Rules/Guidelines
prompts can be about anything you want! However, we do have a few guidelines:- main pairings must be shinee member/shinee member pairings. if you'd like to include a shinee/non-shinee member pairing you're free to do so as a side pairing, but the fic must be centered around a shinee only pairing.note: platonic pairings/prompts with no romantic pairing are also allowed! There will be a place to mark this on the prompting form.- the minimum word count is 2000, and there is no maximum word count!
- themes that are prohibited: pedophilia, rape/non-con, incest, major character death
- themes you must tag: graphic depictions of violence, drug use, alcohol use, abuse, etc. (send a message to our curiouscat if you have any questions about what needs to be tagged!)
- no plagiarism allowed
- please follow all deadlines as closely as possible!
Fest Schedule
Prompting Period: May 16 - May 30Claiming Period: May 31 - June 26Check-In (1000 word min.): July 26Drop-Out Deadline: August 14Submission Deadline: August 30 by 11:59 PMReveals Week: August 31 - Sept.6
→ note: if you require an extension, would like to drop out, or want to claim a prompt after the claiming period ends, please email us! we will do our best to be flexible and work with you!
Prompting Guidelines
- anyone can send in a prompt! you don't have to claim one to send one, and you can send as many as you'd like!
- you will use our prompting form to send in prompts once it opens on May 16, and you'll be able to send in prompts until it closes on May 30
- the prompting form will include places to select pairings, genre, tropes, do's/don'ts, and a place to mark any potential trigger warningsbelow you will find example for the structure of a prompt submission!
Prompt Example
Prompts should be detailed enough to give the author a good starting point, but not too detailed that the author doesn't have any freedom!
Prompt Summary: Jonghyun has a huge passion for animals and works at a pet store full-time. One of his regular customers is the stylish and funny Kibum and his two puppies.
Rating: Any
Want: OT5 to appear in the fic, friendship, humor
Don't Want: sad ending, setting in the USAThis prompt is good because it provides an outline for the author without telling a summary of the whole story!
Once prompting ends, a spreadsheet of all the prompts will be made public. Participants will have the chance to look over the spreadsheet for the prompts they're interested in, and claiming will begin!
Self-Prompting
this year we will be allowing self-prompting for the first time! if you'd prefer to write your own idea instead of someone else's prompt, check out the guidelines below:
- if you plan to self prompt, you will fill out our self prompt form once prompting opens on May 16
- the same content guidelines apply to self prompts that apply to regular prompts
- authors of self prompts must still check in on July 26 with other authors, and must adhere to the same submission deadline (August 30)
Claiming Guidelines
- the claiming form will go public on May 31, and you will be able to sign up for a prompt
- prompts will be first come first serve, and on the form you will be asked to list your top 3 prompts
- if your top 3 prompts have already been claimed, you can request on the claiming form for the mods to assign you a random unclaimed prompt
- once the mods have received your request to claim, we will send you a confirmation email and you may begin writing!
- as prompts are claimed they will be marked off the spreadsheet
- if you would like to claim more than one prompt please send in another form responsenote: if you want to claim more than 2 prompts at once, you must send us proof that you've started on both the prompts you've already claimed!- the check-in will be July 26. You will be required to email us a 1000 word (minimum) excerpt to show us that you're on track!
- the check-ins may be sent in the form of a google doc, word doc, pdf, etc.
- the submission deadline for all fics will be August 30th by 11:59 PM EST
Posting Guidelines
- once you finish your fic, you will submit it for approval to our ao3 collection
- you must finish and submit your fic by the submission deadline: August 30
- we will approve your submission to the collection, and then throughout the reveals week (August 31 - Sept.6) a few fics will be revealed each day!
- the order will be based on which fics were submitted first
- up until your fic is revealed, it will remain unrevealed and anonymous in the collection
- More detailed info on the posting process will be emailed to writers closer to the deadline
Beta Guidelines
Becoming a beta reader and what it entails:If you have never participated in a fic exchange before, a beta reader usually works with the author throughout the writing process to support them in things such as (but not limited to):
- spelling and grammar
- plot development
- pacing
- background research
Beta readers are optional as we are aware many of our writers may already have someone that proofreads their writing for them.However, if you do not have someone who does this for you, we would advise you to request a beta reader as it’s always good to have someone support your writing process and they will help to motivate you.As a beta, you get to gain valuable proofreading skills and get involved in the writing process, so it’s really beneficial to all! The key to being a good beta is communication with the author - some may need very little support, others may need more.
- For an in depth overview of the beta process, along with tips on being a beta click here!
- For an in depth overview on working with a beta as a writer, along with tips click here!
- You may fill out the beta volunteer form if you would like to sign up to be a beta reader! We will ask you what you would like to contribute as a beta, and how you can best assist authors.- If you are an author and would like someone to beta read for you, you can fill out the beta request form! We will ask how much help you would need and the general premise of your fic. Based on this, we will match you up with a beta after assessing what their preferred content is and how much time they are willing to dedicate to the fic exchange.
For Betas
- Ask the writer about what they want and expect you to do, to immediately lay down some ground rules. What do they need help with? Spelling and grammar? Research? Plot development?
- Be honest, but not overly critical. The point of proofreading is finding any mistakes and plot holes, but please be gentle with your author as it can be really discouraging if you only point out the negative things about the fic. Tell them about what you enjoy, and what can be improved.
- Avoid negative absolutes with no indication of how things can be changed, such as “I hate this character” or “this plot is bad”. Make your criticism constructive.
- Try to avoid generalisations like “This is boring” or “this is good”. Perhaps not every part of the fic will require feedback, but try to be a little more specific sometimes.
- English doesn’t have to be your first language, but make sure you are comfortable reading it and can understand it well.
- Stick to deadlines, even if you and your writer are in different timezones. If you feel like you cannot fulfil your duties as a beta, please contact us. We will work with you the best that we can.
- Different writers will ask for different levels of involvement from each beta, but if they have not asked you to make specific changes or suggestions to the plot, please try to respect their vision even if you would personally do things differently.
- You are not obligated to accept each other’s suggestions, but establishing healthy communication will work the best for both of you to produce the best writing that you can.
Helpful Resources
- Punctuation: If you are unsure in how to use things like semicolons, don’t use them. Use exclamation marks sparingly. Make sure to end each sentence with punctuation such as a full stop, as leaving them blank can look unprofessional. When using quotation marks for your dialogue, make sure you’ve put them on each side of the sentence the character is saying.
- Plot development help
- General writing resource
- Spell out numbers in fiction, i.e. “He was nineteen years old” rather than “he was 19 years old”
- Avoid weak commas that create overly long sentences or link clauses that shouldn’t be linked. Sometimes, you can write a paragraph-long sentence without even realising which makes for a difficult reading experience, unless that is what you’re going for stylistically.
- If you are setting your fic in Korea, please do some background research and try to use honorific titles correctly (if you are using them).
- Here is a comprehensive list to help with research about Korea
- Here is a helpful post about Korean name suffixes
- If you are seeking immersion, try to not westernise your characters. Researching real life locations and Korean food goes a long way to create a better story that respects their traditions, daily life and nationality.
- Here is a twitter thread with tips on how to avoid westernizing Asian characters
- You can always ask us for any writing or resource advice either anonymously or directly. Our mods are all writers and proofreaders and we are here to support you.
For Writers
- Show gratitude to your beta! It can often be an unseen job and a good beta can really make an already good fic blossom into something great. Make sure to thank them in your fic notes when you are posting.
- Please try to not get offended when offered constructive criticism and do not take it personally. The very point of this exercise is for them to pick your work apart to ensure it is the best quality it can possibly be. They are there to cheer you on, but also to improve your writing and that cannot be done solely through praise.
- Give them some time to read through the writing, especially because they will most likely have other real life responsibilities.
- If you and your beta are having severe communication problems or if you feel like you would rather work with someone else, please contact us and we will try to help you.
Archive
Welcome to the archive for entries from past events. This section will be added to as each event is finished!Please click on the name of each event or the image above it to view a list of fics submitted for it in full!
| Summer of SHINee | Very SHINee Halloween |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 2019 |
| Winter of SHINee | Summer of SHINee |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 |
Summer of SHINee, 2019