Unofficial B2MeM support community

Here's how I'd strategize that:

First, I'd make sure the ten cards I choose have as many of the 75 possible numbers as I could.

Next, I'd choose cards that cover a range of categories, i.e., where multiple prompts could be written into a single fanwork with relative ease. For example, if I claim both the Family Affairs and Rare Women Characters cards and B2 is called, that number appears on both cards. However, on Family Affairs, the prompt is "Rosie/Elanor" and on Rare Women, the prompt is "Meleth of Gondolin." It's going to be really hard to write those two into a single fanwork! :D (This may bother some people less because they have time to create multiple fanworks a day or are using a format, like a ficlet or sketch, that is more conducive to multiple fanworks, but if you're doing a longer story or a format like artwork, or you just don't have the time to commit to multiple fanworks each day [or to create each day at all <--me], how well your cards work together is something you might keep in mind.)

On the other hand, if I chose, say, the Rare Women card and the Emotions 2 card, my prompts for B2 would be "Meleth of Gondolin" and "desire." It'd be much easier to create a single fanwork that uses both of those! :D

Also, brief appearance of the mod hat to offer the friendly reminder that only 10 cards are claimed for gameplay. If a prompt is called on a card that you didn't claim, but you want to write for the prompt, you're more than welcome to do so, including posting it on the B2MeM community, AO3 collection, SWG challenge, etc! You just can't win bingo on that card, since you haven't claimed it. So another thing to keep in mind is whether you want to write for all or most of the prompts on a card. If it's just a handful catching your fancy, that might be a card to let go and tackle those prompts outside of gameplay if they happen to come up. *mod hat off*

From:

narya_flame

Thank you :D

I am going to choose ten or fewer for gameplay (somehow!) but I'm not too fussed about winning, so I'll keep an eye on a few others and if inspiration strikes, go for it.

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keiliss

My way of deciding which cards to claim is 'okay, it's a nice card but realistically could I write something for at least half those prompts?' If not but it''s a really cool card I'll keep it for inspiration later but not claim it. I'm only taking 5 so I need to be ruthless :D

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narya_flame

To be fair that's a good way to do it. I'm looking at some of them and thinking "ooh, I really want to write for that one prompt" - not "ooh, I could write for *all* the prompts."

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hhimring

Claiming a card for just the one prompt means risking a certain frustration: it could be the one number that doesn't get called!

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How I'd do it:*

Figure out an idea. What is its tone-- fluff, dark, middle, romantic, etc– and pick cards that go with that and you're interested in writing more than half the prompts on. From there, I'd then see what cards that aren't tone-related strike your fancy (your Must Haves). It doesn't matter how well they'll fit into the story you might write. I'd then narrow both sets down to something that'll give you a limited range of prompts: wide enough you have options and narrow enough you're not suffering from too wide of a field. On the other hand, an odd card or two puts even more randomness and potential fun into the challenge because you don't have to stick with just that idea. 2012 was mostly a game of "what do I want to write this time?" for me.

Unlike Dawn, I wouldn't pay much attention to the numbers ahead of time. Part of the fun for me was seeing what prompts came up each day and if they did or didn't fit together. (Because card claims were unlimited that year, I had 24 cards. It made for some weird combinations. I had a pocket notebook I kep track of everything in. Said notebook also has potential lists of cards to choose for future rounds that I am now completely ignoring.)

*Can't say am doing it this way because I'm not sure I want to write my current idea. Also, I can't play because I'm a mod, though I can participate, so the numbers aren't important to me because I'll know them ahead of time. I'm actively trying to avoid a bingo this year because of that.

Edited Date: 2019-01-28 03:48 am (UTC)

From:

narya_flame

Oh, I like the idea of having a core theme and then a few wildcards in the mix to stir things up. Honestly though, my ideas are all over the place at the moment - I don't even know whether I want to write one story or multiple short pieces. (I spend all day being decisive at work, and then I get home and my capacity to make decisions deflates like a cheap party balloon.)

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In 2012, I went in without a specific idea and had a blast. (I picked one card on the strength of two prompts and both were called.) This year I'm thinking about posting frequently with minimal editing for the month and it seems easiest to do that with one fic.

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narya_flame

I am nosing at bingo cards now because writing is a struggle tonight for some reason. I've managed to narrow it down a little bit...

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hhimring

In 2012, some people claimed all the cards and wrote all the things. Dwimordene said, that year: Fandom knows no sleep, fandom needs no sleep. (Or something like that.) Others ended up with a backlog of WIPs they were still catching up on in 2016 (there was a B2MeM round that year that was especially designed for catching up).

So the ten-card rule is partly to save us from ourselves!

I suppose: take a step back and ask yourself what you might realistically want to write in March, whether it's a long-running project or an entirely new one. Then select cards mainly to go with that, and maybe something extra, for spice.

And if, in March, divine inspiration/madness strikes? You can still write it and post it. After all, what does divine inspiration care about achieving a bingo, anyway?

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narya_flame

At least this time we're not on a strict deadline to start the prompts XD I can't imagine claiming all the cards, though, I'd lose track!

And if, in March, divine inspiration/madness strikes? You can still write it and post it. After all, what does divine inspiration care about achieving a bingo, anyway?

I can see this happening...one random prompt on some card I didn't even claim, and suddenly I'll have another 100k+ word project on my hands!

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I really want to make some. But the bingo card muse has thus far not visited! I suspect this might be because, right before B2MeM card creation started, I wrapped up planning the 2019 challenges with my comods on SWG. So my "challenge brain" just feels tapped out right now.

Two ideas I may develop are Revolution and WiP (where you use the prompt to add to a WiP).

I did contribute a few that I made for other purposes: the two SWG challenge bingo cards and three that I made for my "Writer's Block" box at school.

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I love the idea of a WIP card.

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narya_flame

Me too!

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hhimring

How would you write prompts specifically to add to WIPs? Do you think the points where people get stuck are so predictable?

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I suppose it's less a WIP card than a writers' block buster! :D I wouldn't see it as useful for someone like me and my Home Alone story, for example, where I know how it ends and just need to have the time to write it. It would be aimed more at someone stuck on a WIP or who has lost enthusiasm for a WIP, to maybe get it going again.

The inspiration came from NaNoWriMo, actually. I sent away for their Young Writers Program kit in 2017, and it came with a deck of playing cards, each with a different prompt on it, for when kids get stuck in their novels and don't know what happens next. I thought it was an interesting idea that might translate to a bingo card (though I'd invent my own prompts).

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hhimring

You made that card now, I think?
If not, somebody had the same idea!

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I did! :D I treated myself to a couple of hours to make cards of my own yesterday.

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linaewen

I submitted prompts for one card, so if I claim any, that one will be among them!

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I made three, but that's all. I don't have ideas for more. Claiming is outlined to Narya, so yes, I'm thinking.

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hhimring

I submitted prompts for one card and will certainly claim that. I haven't made my choice of any of the others, yet. They all look shiny!
(I will probably not claim any of the cards I contributed in 2012, as I think I made pretty good use of them already.)

From:

zhie

omg questions I love answering questions...

Are you making any?

Yes. Because of the ten card limit, making cards allowed me to placate my hedonistic creativity in this fandom. I managed to get 13 of the 14 I planned to get done sent in on time. I also created a (if I do say so myself) super easy to use template on Publisher for Bingo Cards. So now, I'm really dangerous with this bingo thing...

Have you submitted prompts for any?

Nope. As painful as it was to suffer through the 'making these pretty' part of the process, I was determined to do them myself. Next time (oh, yeah, I'm already looking forward to like, five or six years from now when this happens again...don't judge...) I will need to poke around for another artist or two to work with for the prettification committee >.> So, that said, there's one card I will apologize up front for the lack of prettification. I tried. I had chibis provided to me that I didn't manage to color in time. Which reminds me... I still have someone's chibis to finish coloring...

Are you thinking about which cards you will claim when the time comes?

Oh, no, not yet. I barely looked at them except to glance at what was already done before I turned in mine. I'm on step four of my thirty-two step bingo plan, which is, gather the supplies needed for bingoing. Because I don't do this halfway or three-quarterway or fifteensixteethsway.

Every time I've done one of these bingo things (and I've participated in three now, one here, and two others elsewhere), I have a kit I put together. It has a bingo book to keep track of all of the combinations and write notes, some sort of carrying thing to keep all of the supplies, fancy writing implements, at least one plushie, folders, notebooks and notepads of varying colors, notecards for the plotted out ideas and so on.

Since I suck at Dreamwidthing, and I can't figure out if I can even add images here, or I would, I am going to post some somewhere and then I'll edit a link in if I can or something. Because I'm pretty proud of the extent of the bingo-ing. (Oh! And after the month was over, I had a bingo game I had purchased, a fancy one with the spinning thing for picking the balls, and I kept up with going through the other prompts into April. Because reasons.) I also had the cards posted on the wall of my office so that I could muse about connections and plots ahead of time subconsciously before numbers were called.

Let's face it, I'm the bingo person with 18 different colored daubers and a 'regular seat' in the church basement, who sets up their trinkets on the table and knows the callers by nickname and shows up every week, even when it's snowing.

Since we can only pick ten, this means I can print them in color and not feel like I'm wasting ink. Fortunately, since we can only pick ten, this means I shouldn't have such a backlog to type up this time.

Because... I still have some that are just handwritten and not typed up yet, including a really cute Fingon/Maedhros story from a time when I didn't really like that pairing...

I wrote that one in a hotel lobby.

Alright. Time to take some pics of the previous bingo kit...

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*blinks*
You take your bingo very seriously, Zhie.

From:

zhie

You have no idea how seriously. I was up past 5 am last night taking pics of my bingo stuff and working on a powerpoint to explain said bingo kit (and then I crashed and didn't wake up until now, so, food and then, back to bingo powerpoint to share...)

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Remember to eat, sleep, and hydrate!

From:

zhie

Sleep, check. Eat, in-progress. Hydrate--yeah, I totally messed up that last night because I woke up with a sore throat and a cramped leg.

These are probably contributing factors to why every time a bingo thing comes up my beta reader says 'Auntie Zhie, NO' a lot...

From:

hhimring

That's very impressive, zhie!
I remember how you posted some pretty amazing graphics to the LiveJournal community, one year.

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I remember the pictures you posted from the first round! Your bingoing is awe-inspiring.

(There is a way to host photos on Dreamwidth now, but I know people host them elsewhere, including LJ.)

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Late to the party as usual... (I blame work.)

I made a few cards. (Ok, maybe more than 'a few'. I don't know the number off the top of my head, and it's not like there was a plan. I made cards as themes occurred to me.) It got a little addictive!

I also made a couple cards for submitted prompts. (Am I allowed to ask who submitted the prompts? I'm really curious whose cards I made!)

I am going to try to limit my card claims to five or less, lest I have a zillion more WIPs by the time B2MEM finishes. (I'm still working on my WIP for the SWG Taboo bingo challenge a while back...) Narrowing it down that far may be a trick. It looks like some of you have actual strategy and planning involved, where I'm just looking at the cards going 'hm, that one's pretty' and 'oh, I like those prompts'.

Edited Date: 2019-02-02 08:54 pm (UTC)

From:

linaewen

My submission was B is for Boy -- I love what you did with it!

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Oh, yay! I'm so glad you like it - that was so much fun to make!

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hhimring

The prompts that I submitted were made into a card by Raiyana.

Yes, the addictiveness of the bingo is definitely a feature! The card makers have done us very proud.

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You also made Oshun's.

That was my strategy the first round. It worked great for me, but I want to try something a little different this year.

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Oh, nifty! I hope Oshun liked the results!

My 'strategy' just crashed headlong into the rocks of 'I just made the shortlist of the cards I like best and there's 11 of them'...narrowing it further is not going to be easy!

Edited Date: 2019-02-03 08:57 pm (UTC)

From:

zhie

Okay. I might have gone beyond 'just a few bingo kit pics'.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JUuQSacjX3iiYhmQPg9Q_vEk1RvXbNy1tVJJlKkn0Ys/edit?usp=sharing

There's also a link to a google sheet you can use for planning purposes (which, I'll just drop here for ease of use):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ct9XdvElGG7HJDdv3EnMLYyiWLtdJzukXmmteyIe2P4/edit?usp=sharing

If you'd like to let me know in real time how crazy I am, feel free to stop by the b2mem_shenanigans channel over at my discord chat (don't worry, I have a link for that, too):

https://discord.gg/V3JGaxW

It would have been finished a little sooner, but, Maroon 5 was performing at half time...

From:

hhimring

Awesome!!
I think there may have been an announcement that this time there will be instructions how to stamp the cards electronically, if we wish. But it doesn't looks as if you'd be interested in that, with your system?
And, as for myself, I think I'll just plain cross off any squares by hand, probably.

From:

heartofoshun

I played hard to win the last time. Wrote things I did not want to write. Skipped things I really wanted to write and filled many prompts and yet did not get a single BINGO. Not doing that this time. Just going to use the cards as prompts to inspire myself to write some stories, comment on others work, and maybe create some artwork.

For those who are going the competitive route: have fun and knock yourself out!!

The cards are beautiful and there are so many terrific prompts! Great contributions, everyone!

My favorites are:

1. Eat, Drink, and Make Merry (I suggested these and love the Bingo card for them!)
2. Fun with Feanorians
3. The First Age
4. Glorfindel
5. In the Words of Shakespeare
6. Review a Story
7. The Russingon Card
8. Moodboards
9. The Noldor
10. Comment on a Fanwork

Edited Date: 2019-02-07 10:47 pm (UTC)

From:

hhimring

The cards are terrific, aren't they?
I love that you did an "Eat, Drink, and Make Merry" card!
And you've already picked your other nine?

I did not get a BINGO last time, either, and am even less likely to do so this time, I think. I'll be satisfied if I can fill a prompt or two, write and post something to the community and leave some comments for others...

From:

heartofoshun

I agree with you. I want to be inspired and follow my heart and maybe write or make some things that I can be happy with in the long run.

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heartofoshun

I think the 10 I noted above are ones I am going to pick.

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I am so glad you love the Eat, Drink, and Make Merry card! :)

(Was checking over the comments because the thread got posted in the Discord... )

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hhimring

So Oshun did the prompts and you did the card?
I do like it a lot, although I ended up not picking it officially.

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