c_im_bigbang | 2019 Captain America/Iron Man Big Bang Event Guidelines (Reply)

This is where everything begins for the cap_ironman 2019 Captain America/Iron Man Big Bang! Running since 2011, the Cap-Iron Man Big Bang challenges writers to create fics, then artists are invited to create accompanying art!

What is a Big Bang?
A big bang is a collaborative event between writers and artists, meant to encourage the finishing of longer fic. Writers draft a story which then goes to claims, where artists choose a story to create an accompanying artwork for, and they post the finished works together as part of the event.

How does it work?
Writers create Steve/Tony-focused stories with a minimum of 25,000 words. During the writing phase, writers will work on a draft of their story and then submit it along with a summary. Drafts must be a minimum of 20,000 words, or 80% of word count at the time of submission. There is no formal sign up period. All a writer needs to do to be signed up is to submit a draft by the deadline. All an artist needs to do to sign up is claim a story during claims period.

During the claims phase, all the summaries will be assigned a code name and posted anonymously. Artists will then claim a fic for which they want to create an accompanying art work.

During the collaborative phase, writers and artists can work together as much or a little as they want to brainstorm ideas and cheer each other on. We'd like to remind you that the Big Bang is not about artwork being "commissioned" to the exact specifications of the writer, but inspired by the fic that is claimed and based on the collaboration itself.

During the posting phase, teams will post their completed fanworks together on the same day. At the end of the challenge, we will prepare a Masterlist of all created works.

What does the collaboration involve?
Every collaboration will be different — that's part of the beauty of signing up as a writer or claiming a fic as an artist! The Big Bang is a fun new opportunity to create wonderful Steve/Tony fanfic and accompanying artworks, and have a fantastic time working together to various degrees. The level of communication and collaboration between team members is to be negotiated amongst themselves, but at minimum all participants must communicate clearly with their partners during the important stages of the challenge such as after claims and before date claims and posting, and let partners know if there will be times when they are uncontactable. It's crucial to be able to compromise and take each other's feelings into account.

When it comes to posting, your entire team will do so on the same day following the posting instructions sent to you. As part of the challenge, team members will acknowledge their partner(s)' hard work and creations. Some people choose to do this with an AO3 function (inspired by or gift), others use a hyperlink in the Author's Note. It is a requirement that all embedded work is credited, and that all team members are recognised equally.

But 25,000 words is intimidating!
Not to worry! There is still a lot of time in the writing phase and a lot of resources available. We will be holding creator workshops where creators can discuss their works, brainstorm ideas, work through tricky plot points and get the support they need. There is also a whole community of enthusiastic Steve/Tony fans out there ready to support and cheer. Maybe you’ve had that one fic idea you’ve always wanted to write but you never have. This is the chance to take that on and make it happen! Sometimes the deadline and collaboration are exactly the kind of motivation you need to see a project through to the end — even if this is longer than any work you’ve written so far!

I’ve never written Steve/Tony. / I have never written any fic ever!
Then now is a good time to start! Remember, at one point, every single creator was someone who had never made their own work before. If you feel inspired and want to create, then we want your work. Any idea, any Steve/Tony canon, any AU — as long as it’s Steve/Tony focused, we want it. And just think, after this, you won’t be saying “I have never written a fic before” and instead you’ll be saying “I wrote this fic and it was an accomplishment!”

What if I don’t manage that many words after all?
From now till the draft submission deadline in late September, you can work on your draft and see where it goes, get cheerleaders, plus talk to other creators privately to get tips and figure out where your draft is going. Until you submit a draft to us, you’re not committed to anything. So have a go! If by the draft submission deadline you’re confident you can finish your fic, send in your draft! If you feel the draft didn’t come far enough to be submitted, you will still have more words in a draft document than you had before you started out, and are that many words closer to finishing your awesome Steve/Tony work! You can post in your own time, or if you like, you can always keep working on your draft for next year's Big Bang challenge.

I want to write but I don't know what to write about.
Never fear, the community is here! Check out our Prompt Post. You can also drop off your own prompts if you want.

So, now that you’re convinced that participating is a fantastic idea, read on for some very important logistical information…

Schedule

Now - September 25th: Writers work on their fic for draft submissions
Wednesday, September 25th: Drafts and summaries are due and writer sign-ups close
Thursday, September 26th: Summaries are publicly posted
Saturday, September 28th: Starting from 17:00 EDT "What time is that for me?", artists claim stories by summaries
October: Artists work on their piece, writers finish their fics
Saturday, October 26th: Teams select posting dates in November
November: Big Bang fic and art begin posting!

Guidelines for All Participants

Please read through the General Event Policies and the following rules below carefully before submitting your work. Works that do not abide by the Event Work Requirements will not be accepted.

You must read all of the guideline carefully. Some rules have been altered from previous years, and you are responsible for reading and understanding all of the guidelines listed below.

This challenge is run by the cap-ironman community and it’s a Steve/Tony fest, so we’re looking for art and fic with a focus on the relationship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in any context and in any setting or continuity you can think of.

We don’t allow pre-formed teams or tandem sign-ups, and we expect all participants to be open to working with new people. We also can’t guarantee that a particular author and artist will be paired together as the claiming process is partially anonymous and first-come, first-serve. When you sign-up, be open to constructively work with anyone.

This is a collaborative fest, you are expected to keep in touch with your team for the duration of the fest. You must coordinate with your partner during the posting period.

All participants must be 18 or older.

If you have any questions regarding this event and submissions, please contact us through email at cap.im.events@gmail.com.

If you're signing up as a writer, please read through the GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS page for information on draft submissions and more.

If you'd like to join as an artist, please read through the GUIDELINES FOR ARTISTS page for information on the claiming process and more.

Check out our BIG BANG FAQ POST for more information.

If you read through those and have a question that still hasn't been answered, please get in touch with the mods at cap.im.events@gmail.com!

Please note:From this year onwards, we do require that both the finished fics and artworks are submitted to our event collection on AO3, for longevity and accessibility reasons. If you need to make an AO3 account, please request an invite here and keep in mind that it might take a few days for you to get it and be able to create the account.

After the claiming period and all creators are teamed up, the BB mods will be sending out additional information and event updates through email, in addition to posting on the

c_im_bigbang community and Tumblr. Please make sure that you check your email regularly once you've joined the event.

If you need a space to talk about your progress, ask questions, look for resources, or more, check out the Creator Workshop posts! It's a long writing period from now until November, and the key is to keep focused and motivated.

We also want to take the time to remind everyone of our affiliate Big Bang challenge,

marvel_bang!

marvel_bang

Marvel Bang has been running successfully for a number of years. It is open to all stories set in a canon of the greater Marvel universe or focused on Marvel characters and pairings. The minimum word count is 10k.

So if you have an idea for a story that doesn't quite fit our Big Bang requirements, but still want to sign up for a BB challenge, here's your chance! There's a place for stories of all shapes and sizes in fandom, so do not give up on any idea you want to run with!

Writer signups remain open until June 1st, and you can have a look at this year's guidelines here.

If you have any questions, you can reach the BB mods by emailing cap.im.events@gmail.com or sending through a Tumblr IM or Ask.
Updated 30.06.19