What is the multifandom shelter for abandoned fics?
In short: it's a place where you can surrender your fic for somebody else to foster and finish.
Maybe you've left a fandom, maybe you feel like your skills as a writer are not suited for the story you want to tell, or maybe you got stuck somewhere and lost the motivation to keep going. Whatever the reason, a fic has been sitting in your drafts folder and collecting dust. But just because you can't finish it, doesn't mean nobody can. There might just be a writer out there who would love to take on your project. That's what this challenge is for.
How do I surrender a fic?
Surrendering a WIP is a two-step process:
Upload the fic to a platform of your choice. You can post it here on tumblr, upload it to google drive (or an alternative, such as mega.nz or dropbox) or put it on AO3 (add the tag "this fic needs a new home" if you want). Just make sure that it can be accessed by potential adopting authors.
Fill out this form, to put your WIP on the list of stories that can be fostered.
Depending on your answers in the form, the person who would like to finish your story may contact you. It probably makes the whole process easier and more fun, if the two of you can exchange information and ideas. If you prefer to do an anonymous drop-off, that's fine as well.
What counts as an abandoned fic?
For your fic to enter the shelter, you need to have started actually writing it. Prompts or bullet points don't count and will be turned away. It doesn't matter if your WIP is ten sentences short or several chapters long but the potential fostering author must have something to build on.
Go to the shelter spreadsheet, browse your available options and click on the provided links to read the works.
Once you've found a fic that meets your interest, let me and the original author know by filling out the foster form. Then download the fic and start writing.
Make sure to honor the original author's wishes with regards to crediting!
Ideally, you should finish the WIP within four months after you've picked it up unless it's a multi-chapter fic, in which case you should have written at least one chapter. If you realize that you can't do this afterall, consider giving the fic back. See more information on that below.
What happens when a WIP has been finished?
Congrats! You can post the finished work to a platform of your choice. I recommend uploading it to AO3 and adding it to the collection rehomed_works. Always list the original author as a co-author or credit them in the notes if they asked you to do so.
Can I return a WIP if I can't finish it after all?
Absolutely. If you've already worked on it, just follow the steps outlined above on how to surrender a fic. Make sure to include all relevant information from the original author.
Why should I participate in this?
Well, personally I think it's a fun challenge for both parties. For the original author, it means giving up a story they hold or once held dear and trusting a stranger with their vision. It means surrendering creative control and accepting that the finished fic might be nothing like how you imagined it.
For the new author, the challenge lies in adopting somebody else's idea, making it your own while still keeping some of the original parts. Finishing another person's story might mean changing your style of writing, exploring a new fandom or genre, or having to find solutions to conflicts set up by the original author.
As with all fandom challenges, the overall goal is to have fun, create community and add to the number of fanworks out there.