In his lecture "On Fairy-stories," Tolkien wrote of the Tree of Tales, an image that resonates with many fanworks creators. Our works are part of a living tradition, drawing from Tolkien's legendarium and other works to come before them, yet constantly growing and branching from each other, creating an ever-more-elaborate web of story, art, and other creative works.

Every November and December, we feature a two-month challenge* for creators on our site. From a logistical standpoint, we do this because it is a busy season for most of our members, so we not only grant the extra time for the challenge but strive to come up with a challenge that can be completed quickly or extended across the two months, depending on a participant's availability.

* And really it can be extended to a third month, since January's challenge is always an amnesty challenge to complete any challenges you missed in the prior year.

This year's two-month challenge is Understory and extends Tolkien's arboreal metaphor of the Tree of Tales to consider that tree as part of a whole forest. Within our forest of fanworks are the understories: the characters, plots, and details that receive glancing mention and function similarly to the small trees and plants of of the forest understory. These have the potential to grow and join in the forest, if only given the nurturance they need.

Creators who choose to participate in this month's challenge will choose a character, plot point, or other small detail from another creator's fanwork. With that creator's permission, they will develop that detail into its own fanwork.

Because this is a two-month challenge, we have set aside the first week-and-a-half of the challenge to invite creators to complete our Understory permission form to state if and how you would like your fanworks used by other creators. We will post the list of creators who have opted in and out of the challenge on 23 November on the challenge page. Participants can contact and ask permission from creators who aren't on the list, of course, but having a list of creators to start with makes the challenge more accessible to creators who are shy, don't speak English comfortably, or might have other reasons for feeling nervous about contacting a creator directly. If you create fanworks and haven't yet completed the form, we really appreciate taking a moment to do so!

If you plan on participating in the challenge, make sure to review the full Understory challenge guidelines before you begin your fanwork, as there rules around permissions for the fanwork(s) you use as your inspiration. Have questions? Click Reply on this email and let us know!