Happy Fifth Birthday, SWG!
Jump to Event Guidelines | Current Themes | Tokens | Send Writing or Art for a Theme | Award a Token
Five years ago, Dawn and Uli invited all of their fandom friends to their new group, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild. The SWG was originally intended as a discussion group and writers' workshop for authors of Silmarillion-based writing, but it has grown well beyond our initial hopes and is now one of the most respected Tolkien archives on the web. In honor of the many members, mods, and volunteers whose hard work and talents have brought us to where we are today, our fifth birthday will look back and look forward, to what we have accomplished and what inspiration still lies within.
There will be two major components of our birthday celebration, themes and tokens. Members are welcome and encouraged to participate in one or both!
Themes
Creating for a Theme. Once a member creates a theme, we invite everyone else to contribute works to the compilation! You may contribute both old and new works, though they work slightly differently.
- Old works. For each theme, we will assemble a compilation of old works. You may submit ficlets, artwork, poetry, and excerpts from longer stories or essays up to 300 words. (We will include a link so that readers can read the whole story on the archive.) Older works must be turned in no later than three days before the theme is scheduled to be featured.
- New works. You may also create new fiction, essays, poetry, and artwork for the theme. These items will also be included in the daily compilation; however, because it takes much more effort to write a story from scratch than to email an excerpt, and because we don't want to disadvantage the earlier themes, for which people have less time to write, then you may turn in new works at any time during the event. We will add them to the compilation and include a link in the daily summary that is posted to the website, email list, and LiveJournal community.
General Guidelines. We invite you to send as many pieces as you would like for a theme. However, for older works, we may not be able to include them all, so please indicate which are your favorites. (We will include all new works and at least one older work in each format per author: ficlet, excerpt, poem, and artwork.) For example, if the theme is "Sons of Fëanor" and you have 84 drabbles about the sons of Fëanor, we won't be able to include them all. We recommend that you send only your favorites but, if you do decide to send them all, please indicate which you would most like to see included. Otherwise, the mods will choose based on what rounds out the compilation best.
One question that inevitably comes up: "I write AU/slash/adult-rated/crossover/heretical/Fourth Age stories with odd pairings/LotR characters--can my work be included?" Yes. This is a celebration of all SWG work and creators, so any work eligible for the SWG archive is welcome in the compilation. (If you aren't sure how we define "Silmfic," you may find it here and general eligibility requirements are found in our Site Etiquette/ToS.) Adult-rated stories are welcome, but we ask that the excerpt you include be rated General or Teens. We will mark all Adult-rated stories with an asterisk and link to the Table of Contents, where readers may view warnings and notes about the story. (Here is more information about ratings.)
Another question that inevitably comes up: "Who will determine if my work fits the theme?" You will. "Well, what if the mods don't think that it does?" We don't pass those kinds of judgments, so it doesn't matter. We recognize that every author will interpret every theme slightly differently, so if you tell us a work fits a theme, we take your word for it. If you're sending us an excerpt of a longer work, though, we suggest that you choose a passage that shows the story's connection to the theme in some way.
We will eventually develop a schedule for the themes. However, this will be contingent on the number of themes that we receive. Based on past event participation, we anticipate two or three themes per week.
Current Themes
The schedule below indicates the due date for older works that you want to include in each theme's compilation, as well as the date that the compilation is scheduled to be posted. Please remember that if you are creating something new for one of the themes (meaning it will not have been posted publicly before the compilation is posted), there is no due date! Well, it would be nice to get it before the birthday event ends ...
| Due Date (Older works only!) |
Posting Date | Theme |
| August 7 | August 10 | Who?? A Celebration of Minor and Original Characters. Writing and artwork entered for this theme focuses on minor canon characters or original characters. |
| August 9 | August 12 | Númenórean Queens. Writing and artwork that focuses on the Queens of Númenor. |
| August 11 | August 14 | Clash of the Titans. Powerful characters clash in conflicts of all sorts. |
| August 14 | August 17 | Do Something That's Never Been Done. Writing or artwork about doing the seemingly impossible. Can be as big as defeating Sauron or as small as any given character overcoming a personal impossibility. |
| August 16 | August 19 | Heroes and Antiheroes. Writing and artwork about characters who exhibit the traits of heroes but are also afflicted with flaws. |
| August 18 | August 21 | Perfect Matches. Whether humorous or serious, this theme is for cross-overs of all sorts. |
| August 21 | August 24 | Most Sinister Villain. This theme is for writing and art where the baddie really makes one's skin crawl. Not one for likeable villains but for utterly horrid ones. |
| August 23 | August 26 | Five Things. Any variation of the "Five things . . ." or "Five times . . ." challenge would be acceptable. Might be "Five People Who Kissed Maedhros," or "Five Things Fëanor Invented," or even the format: "Five Things Turin Regretted and One He Did Not." That last one might be a stretch. Could it be possible to narrow regrettable acts committed by Turin to only five? |
| August 25 | August 28 | Minstrelsy and Music. Could be on one of the "professionals" (Maglor, Daeron, Ecthelion or Lindir)--or the Ainulindale--or on almost anyone singing. |
| August 28 | August 31 | Cuiviénen. Stories, poetry, and artwork about or set in Cuiviénen. |
| August 30 | September 2 | Through the Ages. Stories or artwork featuring characters that belong in more than one age of Arda such as Galadriel or Elrond and who influence more than one age of history. |
| September 1 | September 4 | The Songfic That Wasn't. This theme is for 'songfic' in which you use a line from a song once in your story (it may be the title, in the dialogue, in the description - wherever you like). You are expected to credit the original song or poem, of course, but you may not quote the entire song in your story. |
| September 4 | September 7 | What Would Socrates Say? For stories in which characters question their own or another's philosophy or beliefs and thus challenge the status quo. |
| September 6 | September 9 | The Lays of Beleriand Reloaded. Or, "Poetry in Motion." A theme that celebrates verse inspired by The Silmarillion and ancillary works. |
| September 8 | September 11 | Into the Woods. A celebration of stories, poems, and art focused on the denizens of Doriath. |
| September 11 | September 14 | To My Dear ... The distances between certain characters are enormous, but they somehow maintain close friendships. Why not publish the letters they used to stay in touch? |
Tokens
Awarding Tokens. Each SWG member may award one of each token to the story or author of her or his choice. The mods will place the token on the person's profile or story and let her or him know that s/he has been honored!
General Guidelines. It bears repeating that this is meant to be upbeat and light-hearted, a way of honoring stories and authors. When creating your token, please consider how the recipient of the token will perceive it being applied to her or his work. For example, "Most Likable Mary Sue" may not be perceived as a compliment by an author who tries to write well-rounded OFCs. The mods reserve the right to reject tokens that we feel would easily be perceived as insulting.
Each token will have a corresponding icon to display on the profile or story that it has been awarded to. Token creators are welcome to create their own icons, or we will create one for you. Token icons must be 100 by 100 pixels in size and in JPG, GIF, or PNG formats. All icons must be suitable for all audiences.
Existing Tokens
The following tokens have been created. Every SWG member may award each token to one story or author on the archive. Please use the form below to send us your choices, or email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.
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Smells Like Teen Spirit. A story that features teens in their most adolescent behaviour. |
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Best Kiss. Soul meets soul on lovers' lips. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound You know you want to nominate one. Even if you don't find one you love (and you will, of course, you will), imagine the fun you will have looking. All kisses welcome to be nominated for this category—Beren and Lúthien, Fëanor and Nerdanel, Fingon and Maedhros, etc., etc., etc. Celebrate your favorite kisses of The Silmarillion that Tolkien never got around to describing. |
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Melian's Girdle. An award for an exceptional portrayal and development of a female canon character or OFC in an adult rated romantic or erotic story. |
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Ilúvdiacritics. An award to honor references and periodicals that you find particularly helpful or illuminating. (Props to Araloth the Random for coining the term "Ilúvdiacritics"!) |
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The Splutter. For writing and authors that create spray effects on computer monitors and laptop screens--for perfect humor, of course! |
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Funniest Feanorians! For the most amusing stories and artwork featuring Feanor and his descendants. |
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The Box of Tissues. To honor stories that manage to be even sadder than the original. |
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Straight to the Heart. This token can be given to any story or poem that affected the reader in any way possible. Maybe it made you start writing, it gave you thought about something, or just simply touched you deeply. |
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Not That There's Anything Wrong with That. The most unlikely slash pairing that actually works. |
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Velvet Darkness. A token to honor those writers who write dark-themed stories, or characters who live through times of pain, grief and cruelty. |
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The Power and the Passion. A token for First Age stories that illuminate the lives of many wonderful and tragic characters: Their despair and hope, their loves and hates, the moments of laughter and tears. |
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The Stars of Westernesse. A token awarded to those authors who bring the people and events of Númenor to life. |
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Most Delightful Heresy. For the most refreshing, insightful or intriguing deviation from common fanon or canon interpretation. |
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The Golden Vial of Oil Award. For slash that is both erotic and humorous. |
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Most Likely to Make a Linguist Happy. For creative use of Tolkien's imaginary languages in a story. |
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The Tirion Mothers Against Oath-Taking Public Service Award. For an outstanding portrayal of Nerdanel. |
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Is That a Strongbow in Your Pocket or Are You Just Glad to See Me? For an excellent portrayal of Beleg. |
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She's All That. For an engaging characterization of Luthien. |
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You Made Me Love You (I didn't want to do it). Awarded to a story that took a canon character you didn't care for and redeemed him/her. |
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It's Only a Flesh Wound. For writing involving injuries and their treatment. |
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First Times. The first rise of the sun or moon, the first time someone makes love, or the first time someone takes a sword in hand - this is a token for stories describing exciting, astonishing, painful or beautiful first times. |
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Spring and Summer; Love and Laughter. A token to honor those who write stories that cheer us up after we depress ourselves reading the more prevalent stories of tragedy and despair. |
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The Wordsmith. Just like Fëanor put a secret power into the Silmarils, the recipient of this token weaves magic into her or his writing. Stories, poems, and authors who receive this token show exceptional wordsmithing craft. |
Send Writing or Art for a Theme
To send in work for a theme, please drop us an email at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org with your entries or attach a document using the form below. A few reminders:
- Anyone can send in work! You do not need to be an SWG member.
- Older works as well as new creations are eligible. Older works should be sent in no later than three days before the date that the theme is scheduled for posting. (See the list of current themes above for due dates.) You may send in new creations at any time during the event.
- For each theme, we will post one of the following for each contributor: story/essay excerpt (300 words or less and a link to the full story on the SWG archive), poem, ficlet (300 words or less), and artwork. We may accept more contributions for some themes depending on the number of submissions we receive. If you have a favorite in one of the above categories that you absolutely want included, please indicate that somehow; otherwise, we will choose based on what we feel fits best in the compilation.
- You may send in entries for as many themes as you choose.
- If you write a new piece to satisfy one of the themes, please send the entire work. We will post the entire work in the collection, as well as on the archive, so that you can receive comments. There is no limit to the number of new works we will include for a single contributor.
Finally, please note!!! (Boldface and excessive exclamation points meaning that this has been an issue in the past and we would prefer to avoid conflicts on this point in the future!) We do not change, edit, or delete work from compilations on our site. Besides being a lot of work for the site mods, it is unfair to other authors and artists when a compilation constructed around a collection of pieces suddenly loses one of the works that makes it whole. When you send your work to us, you are acknowledging that you grant the Silmarillion Writers' Guild one-time rights to post your work on our site. That doesn't mean anything nefarious; it means that we post the story on our website this one time, and you're saying you're okay with that. We will honor requests for deletions; however, any participant who requests that her or his work be deleted from a compilation will be ineligible to participate in all future compilations. Again, this is in fairness to all participants, who deserve to have their work showcased in a complete and coherent compilation.
Award a Token
To award a token to a writer or story, please drop us an email at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org with your entries or use the form below. Each member may select one author or story per token. We will contact the author to let her or him know that she or he has been honored and display the token icon on the author's profile or story!