admin note: rectember brainstorming?

[snickfic]

Hey, folks! I've been thinking about doing an event in September to encourage reccing and maybe even draw some people out of the woodwork who haven't recced anything here yet. I was thinking of some kind of daily or mostly-daily themes, so for example:

Sep 1 - rec a work you've read many times
Sep 2 - rec a work rated explicit/NC-17
etc

Would folks here enjoy doing participating in an event like this? I'm envisioning coming up with the themes in the next day and a half, publishing them all in a list on Sep 1, and then posting weekly reminders.

It would be zero-pressure - people could post for days that inspired them and skip the days that didn't. You would be posting your recs each day directly to the comm (both to increase posting at the comm and because it means less tagging work for me). You could also post several days in one post if you wanted.

Yay? Nay? Suggestions on daily themes? Suggestions for improvement?

Comments

[slashmarks]

As one of the people who hasn't recced anything yet, that sounds like a good idea to me! Part of why I haven't is that I kind of feel paralyzed by choice, so soliciting a specific kind of work regularly would definitely make me more likely to.

[badly_knitted]

That sounds like fun!

[doranwen]

I like the idea. Except for one thing - I know you would like less tagging work, but if multiple people are posting recs on a single day, it'll blow up my reading page on DW and I really don't want that. I'm sure other people would also find that a bit overwhelming. Daily posts x multiple people per day is a bad combo. If it's a themed post, I'd much prefer having all the recs be comments to a single post.

That said, you could ask for volunteers to host (post and tag) each post for a specific day. That way you wouldn't have to do it each day. Like someone would post on Sept. 1 and someone else would post for Sept. 2. I'd be happy to take a day or two as long as they're not back-to-back, and I'm sure others would too.

[yourlibrarian]

To me, more recs are always a good thing, and if these prompts get people involved that would be a real plus. However I know that I'm not likely to take part since I tend to rec whenever I get a set of items together and that happens unpredictably. I would personally have a harder time coming up with something to match the prompts. But given that this is an effort to get new people posting, I think it's worth trying.

[sef1029]

Thumbs up for me! And I'd much rather have/make recs in posts. Buried in comments, I think most will be missed.

I'd love some themes that dig into the past. Fandom is so focused on what's hot this week that terrific stories and writers disappear. So themes like first story you loved, oldest story you still reread, forgotten writer you rec to everyone, flashback to 1990s, etc.

Let's not delegate gen to just one day.

How about best drabble, or fic that cheers you up, fic that makes you cry. Best character development. Best fix to canon. Most poetic. Most impressive/intellectual. Sexiest, of course. Fic you once hated and now love. Flying colors on the Bechdel test. Best story for kids.

[rosefox]

I, um, just want to note that anything starting "rect" makes me think of "rectal" and that might not be the vibe you're going for. Unless the theme is "look, just pull some recs out of your ass". :D

[kore]

I think that's a wonderful idea! I love it.

[wolffyluna]

I'd be interested, though I probably wouldn't be able to produce a rec for each day.

[glitteryv]

I second the suggestion to make one post (frex, "Day 1 - Rec a work you've enjoyed many times*") for ppl to post under.

* I changed a bit of the wording from "read" to enjoy so that ppl can remember that podfics, vids, etc are valid.


Suggestions

- Rec a fanwork that gave you intense feels (cry, laugh, etc)

- Rec a fanwork that lured you into a fandom (or, conversely, a fanwork that you rec to ppl interested in your fandom)

- Rec a fanwork with your fave ship or trope

[sholio]

I really like that idea! :D You could maybe get some ideas for themes from the list of themes previously used on fancake - many of them might be too narrow for a challenge like this, but they have a ton of interesting tropes for inspiration.

[garonne]

As one of the people who has been lurking in the woodwork, I think this sounds like a great idea.

[feckyeslife]

Sounds fantastic!

[lannamichaels]

I'm interested but I'd prefer it to be a week theme rather than a day.

[luthienberen]

I love this idea and having a theme would help me to post some recs :D