LAST UPDATED: AUGUST 5, 2003
Get Involved There are lots of ways to get involved in XFVCU. You can collaborate with the series itself, and you can also get involved at a fan level with interactives. Or do both! It's your series, too. Submit episode ideas Ever had a great idea for a casefile? Ever thought to yourself, "Wouldn't it be cool if (insert grotesque idea here)?" Well, casefile writers are a rare breed. Writers for the series were invited primarily on the basis of their characterisation competency with the focus characters for their episodes, but not all of them have experience with the casefile genre. So, we'd like to provide some of our contributors with a pool of good casefile ideas to choose from if the ideas aren't there. If you have an idea for a casefile, give us a bit of a summary telling us about it. You can email them to xfvcu@deslea.com. Write an episode We're not taking on writers for the first season - this one is necessarily very tightly plotted while we establish the universe we've created. Writers were hand-picked and invited for the first season on a case-by-case basis. However, we do have our eye on the possibility of a second season. If you'd like to write an episode, you'll need to make an expression of interest. Generally, we'd like you to submit a story synopsis. We'll also need links to some writing samples. You can email your pitch to xfvcu@deslea.com. When we make a final decision about a second season, and if we'd like you to be involved, we'll invite you to submit a first draft. For second season, we'd want to receive the first draft of all episodes before the season commences. To give some idea of the conditions we're working with, episodes should be in the vicinity of 10-18,000 words. Some leeway will be granted, but anything over 22,000 is likely to be substantially edited, or possibly used as a double episode. You should be willing to write the episode from the point of view of any agent pairing you're offered, unless there are exceptionally strong character-driven reasons for making it for a specific agent. Preference will be given to writers who are willing to write an episode for Krycek/Fowley or Follmer/Spender as well as for the more "popular" pairings. Mulder and Scully should appear in every episode if at all possible, but they are rebuilding their personal lives. They should appear only as consultants, with the exception of mytharc episodes and Mulder/Scully casefiles - they can do fieldwork for those. Your agents can and should run the case by other agents. They all work together in a basement - they will have contact. The idea is for every episode to allude, at least in passing, to the dynamics and tensions of the entire team. Romance is not a good focus for your efforts. The characters are in settled relationships, with the exception of Follmer and Skinner, to avoid undue emphasis on romace. It's fine for Doggett and Reyes to discuss a case in bed, kiss, and fade to black. It's not fine for them to have NC17 sex in the office from nowhere. It's fine for Krycek and Diana to meet Marita to exchange information, and for him to kiss her hello. It's not fine to devote pages to Krycek and Marita baby shopping. Feel free to leave openings for readers to use as springboards for their fanfic, but don't pursue those openings yourselves. This virtual series discourages use of UST and seeks to explore the many other types of relationships and partnerships. Things to consider when writing a casefile include - What is the case? Who does what to whom, and why? How does the case come to the attention of XFVCU? What kinds of ideas might they bounce around about it? How might they go about researching them? Consider this from many viewpoints, given the fact that your team consists of agents with different beliefs, skills, and working styles. How do they wind up getting onto the right investigative track? How does the case resolve? They don't have to get a legal resolution, but there needs to be either one clear explanation, or else two, leaving the reader to discern which one they believe. They should achieve something tangible if possible - saving the life of a would-be victim, for instance. Is there some way Mulder or Scully can contribute, keeping in mind that they will normally have a minor role in every episode? Mulder can profile, Scully can give forensic advice, they may be able to mention a similar case in X Files history. Is there some area in which the agents might have conflicts or personal perspectives on this case? Are there any personal character developments that might arise? We need to know this, so we can put it in the right place in the timeline. Make Artwork We would like each episode to have a print ad, possibly cover art, and an animated .gif trailer ad. If you're interested in being involved in this side of things, please contact our Art Coordinator, Linzee. Become A Staff Beta We will need some good, fast beta readers on staff to check and edit for spelling, grammar, clarity, style, and continuity. If you're an experienced proofreader/editor and are able to keep track of series continuity (that means knowing every episode quite well), we'd love to hear from you. Just contact our Beta Coordinator, Maidenjedi, and we'll go from there. Please note that betas will have access to information about the ongoing story arc and will be expected to keep it confidential. Become A Staff Writer Every collaborative project has its crises, and this one will probably be no different. It's very possible that we will need to come up with an episode on short notice here or there. In a crisis, I'll need to be able to farm out a detailed synopsis for someone to turn into an episode, fast. If you're a good fast writer, but struggle with finding story ideas and inspiration, this might be the perfect job for you. Just let me know and I'll give you a shout if I need you. Interact With Other Readers Not everyone has the right combination of skills or the luxury of time to commit to a staffing role. But you can still be involved by discussing the episodes at the XFVCU messageboard (coming soon), by writing fanfic or making fan art, by writing reviews or analysis of individual episodes, or by writing essays and critiques about a character's arc or the storyline as a whole. We strongly encourage reader participation and will do whatever we can to help you along. If there's sufficient interest, we'll consider instituting a post-episode chat, as well. |
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