A letter to the 15 Minute Ficlets comm

[katiefoolery]

Dear 15 minute ficlets,

I only just got to know you and now you’re leaving me forever!  Before you go, let me just say a few words.

A few months ago, I was in a pretty dull place with my writing. Sure, I still did it - but where was the love?  Where was the obsession?  Where was the driving urge to find the perfect-sized paragraph or to see if I could make a shape out of a story by varying the length of sentences?

Missing in action, that’s where.  I went to uni to study writing and before I knew it, my love of words had vanished in a skirmish with writing-out-of-obligation somewhere in my second year.

I really hoped that love of writing would turn up again some day.  In the meantime, I got by somehow.  I even managed to write an entire first draft of Black Fiddle without it.  Sometimes, I thought it had come back, but it turns out I was wrong.

It didn’t truly come back until I wrote that first ficlet just a few short months ago.  You took all the obligation and expectations away and just let me write for fifteen minutes.  You let me write in whatever genre I wanted.  You told me it didn’t have to be perfect.  You didn’t mark it afterwards and make subtly derogatory comments about how you wished I’d write a proper story, instead of lowering myself to “genre”.

You let me dance about with words and get to know them in a more casual setting... and I can’t thank you enough for that.  Even though I’ll be bidding you a sad farewell in May, I’ll always cherish our time spent together.  After all, I suspect it’s already going to have a pretty major impact on my writing life from here on in.

Thank-you.  You might be “just another LJ community” but you’ve managed to point my writing life in a much brighter and happier direction.

My eternal gratitude,
Katie(foolery).

Comments

[alankria.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that comm has definitely had a good effect on you and your writing. Hopefully it's thoroughly infected you, set up home and garden in your fingers and brain, and long after it's faded back into the forgotten shelves of the internet you'll still be suffering|enjoying the effects.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

You know, I think it has done all of that and more. I wish I'd discovered the whole concept sooner!

[crazedturkey.livejournal.com]

Have they shut it down?

Oh noes!

but do not despair dear, Bunne, as I had an idea for Writersmerge on Ober, and this seems like the best time to put it into action...

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yes! So sad. But we're coming to the rescue!

[naelany.livejournal.com]

Awww...howcome they're leaving??? It'll be a shame to not see your ficlets anymore *pout*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

The mods have decided to close it down in May. They've been running it for a good four years now, so I supposed they're a bit tired of it. Understandably.

I'm afraid you won't be able to avoid more ficlets, though. I'm going to use their archives for a prompt word every now and then. :D

[naelany.livejournal.com]

ahh...still, it's a shame.

yay!!! ^_^ Bring it on ^_~

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

How about this, i throw random words at you once a week and you can still do ficlets. Not as good as the community, but hey, might help?

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks! If I'm in need of a prompt word, I shall email you and demand one straight away. :D

[elfie-chan.livejournal.com]

It's going away?! And I haven't been able to even start!!!! *sobs*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It is! I'm so sad to see it go. But you don't get out of it that easily!

---> 15_minute_fic

[vicky-v.livejournal.com]

15minuteficlets is gone now? Temporarily on hiatus? Or perhaps I should go and take a look myself instead of asking.

I was just really getting into it myself ;_;

I suppose I could always browse the archieves for past prompt words.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

(Gah, twice in one night I've neglected to preview and ended up with sucky coding. *beats head against keyboard*)

They're going to try to keep posting words until the first week of May and then they're closing the comm.

A friend and I are starting a replacement comm. I would have volunteered to take over the old comm, but they don't want to hand it over to anyone. So we're starting up 15_minute_fic to keep the tradition alive. :D

[vicky-v.livejournal.com]

Fabulous! *jumps aboard*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Glad to have you on board! We'll be starting on Monday morning (for us, Sunday evening for you), just to get ourselves in the weekly habit.

[pitkat.livejournal.com]

Hazzah! The world is sane again! I was waiting on you to bring in a new community. :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Heh - I am a wee bit obsessed with the whole ficlet concept, arent I? :D

[chunkymonkey24.livejournal.com]

I read the "we're closing" entry last night and was muchly upset. I didn't even get the ball rolling with it. I didn't realise it was May it was closing though...I guess that's still a while away.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I feel all bereft... and I've only been doing the ficlets since the end of October.

crazedturkey and I are starting up a replacement comm, 15_minute_fic, just because I got so much out of writing the ficlets and I want to keep the whole concept alive. :D