What is instadrabbling and how does it work?

Tolkien fanfic writers have been meeting for almost two decades to instadrabble together. We carry on this tradition on our Discord server in the #instadrabbling channel from time to time and welcome anyone who wants to join us to do so! (Not a member of our Discord server? If you're logged in here, you can click the icon in the footer of our site to join. If you're not a member here yet, contact the mods for an invite link.) The guidelines below are how instadrabbling traditionally works.

  1. Begin with a random prompt: four words chosen at random from the nearest book at hand. We run one prompt at a time and take turns choosing the prompt. Feel free to change the number, tense, etc. of the prompt words (e.g., run can become ran or running as needed).
  2. Everyone writes a ficlet—traditionally a perfect drabble (100 wods)—in response to the prompt. Ficlets are posted directly to the Discord server when finished for everyone to ooh and aah over.
  3. Any Tolkien-based response (not just Silmarillion-based) is welcome. If you have a NSFW ficlet, post it to #instadrabbling-nsfw right below the regular #instadrabbling channel. Everyone will oooooh and aaaaah there (with extra O's and A's).
  4. Joining late? Feel free to go back to previous prompts, which are pinned, or jump in with the current prompt. If you missed the session altogether, prompts are pinned in the #instadrabbling channel and you're welcome to use them.

Now the key word in all of the above is that traditional. On the SWG, we value inclusivity over tradition, so we welcome all fanwork types. Written responses certainly don't have to be traditional drabbles. Likewise, if you want to get creative in the random prompt you offer when it's your turn, feel free! The point is to have fun, get creative, socialize together, and celebrate each other's work. If you're doing those things, you're doing it right!

Note that we also have an Instadrabbling series where we collect instadrabbles posted to the archive. If you have shared your instadrabbles here and want to be added to the series, just contact the mods with the title(s) of what you want added, and we will add your work.

1 January 2023