Ladies' Big Bang

That particular 'random' comment will probably make more sense to the mod, as we've discussed my intention to do a mixed media submission, and I was actually thinking of a particular thing she said in email when I wrote it. So don't get me wrong, I'm obviously all for trying and allowing new options for creative expression in a fan challenge context!

And by diminish, I don't necessarily mean that in a 'original characters will make people think the challenge will be awful' or anything negative like that, but more a question of internet marketing I guess. As far as attracting creators (both for the big bangs and the complementary works) and readers, inclusiveness of all possible options does eventually reach a point where other people can't get a grasp on the project because it covers too many bases. Eventually a point is reached where people won't bother sifting through for their favourite fandom/pairing/creative medium/whatever because it's too unwieldy. Which is not to say original characters would be the breaking point for something like that, it's just a concern that needs considering every time something new is tried.

I guess there's also a definition question, whereby I think most people consider bigbangs to be a fannish specific sort of challenge because the nature of fanworks tends to make shorter fics/etc. more common. You could argue therefore that original work might be more appropriate in one of various original focused novel or novellette challenges, or a general challenge for the medium someone wishes to utilise (like a choose your own subject photography challenge or whatnot), than incorporated into a bigbang.

So like I said, I don't have a particular opinion either way, because I probably need to see more in the way of discussions or community policies for how to ensure that original content (particularly if it's multi- or mixed-media I think) is comparative to the fan content requirements before being sure of my answer. I'm all thumbs up for freedom of creativity, I just also wouldn't want the sense of a cohesive bigbang to be lost underneath it. Hence, dilemma.

And as a note for the mod: I am inherently wordy, so for the record my lengthy comment isn't indicative of anything like vehement disagreement with the idea, haha. All of my above concerns could have potentially applied to mixed-media options as well, but I pretty obviously think you're striking a good balance so far if I'm planning to sign up as mixed media. *g*