Challenges by Date

Challenges have been a part of the SWG since our group was formed in 2005. Before the archive, there were challenges. Before References or any special projects or B2MeM or any of the myriad things we've done over the last decade-plus, there were challenges. Challenges end and a new challenges is posted on the 15th of the month. (Yes, that means there is one thrilling day each month when there are two active challenges!) Participants—both authors and reviewers—will receive a stamp in their challenge stamp collection for their participation. Deadlines apply only if you want your fanwork to receive a stamp.

Every challenge that has ever been offered by the SWG is available for use by creators of fanworks who are looking for inspiration. Even if the deadline for stamps is passed, you are welcome to use the challenges listed on our site. And comments on past challenge fanworks are always welcome and always receive a reward for that month. Want to join us? Click to read the guidelines below!

Challenge Guidelines
  1. New challenges will be released monthly on the 15th. You can find the current challenge in the Challenge section of our website or listed in the sidebar under Current Challenges. The current challenge can also be found on our satellite groups on Dreamwidth, Tumblr (using the #swg challenges tag), and Discord.
  2. Challenge entries must be created for the challenge. In other words, a previous fanwork cannot be "retrofitted" into a challenge even if it fits. However, you are welcome to add to an existing fanwork with new content that fits a challenge.
  3. Challenges will need to be posted to the SWG archive no later than the 15th of the month in order to receive a stamp for that month's challenge, unless otherwise specified. If you are using the challenge prompt as part of another fandom event where the event rules do not allow you to post the fanwork on our archive before the challenge deadline or if you have serious extenuating circumstances that cause you to miss a deadline, you can contact the mods to arrange a deadline extension. Make sure that you add your story to the challenge using the Challenges field on the fanwork submission form. The SWG accepts all types of fanworks (art, audio, link collections, playlists, series, videos, writing, and multimedia fanworks), all types of fanwork are suitable as responses to challenges, and all must be posted to the archive.
  4. You are welcome to cross-post your work wherever you want, but at a minimum, it must be archived on our website.
  5. Works must be Silmfic, but any genre, rating, pairing, characters, or format are allowed. Works-in-progress are welcome.
  6. Challenge participants will receive a stamp for each challenge that they complete. In addition, if you comment on a challenge fanwork, you will receive a stamp for participating as a commenter. Unleash your inner philatelist because we will start a stamp collection for all participants that will be updated from month to month! Some months have special stamps (or even secret stamps ...).
  7. Comment challenges have no due date. However, if you are commenting on a story posted more than two months ago, we appreciate if you contact us and let us know that you need a stamp. Please note that comment stamps are not available for specific challenges before January 2017.

Current Challenge

Musicals

SWG Musicals challenge banner - illustration primarily in reds and purples showing three Silmarils on the left, an elf with a jaunty hat on the right, and the text "Musicals! A Silmarillion Writers' Guild Challenge" in the middle

The curtain rises, the lights come up, and for the next few hours, you are transported to a world where people sing through their problems. Musicals tell stories ranging from the petty to the profound through song and, as they belt out from the stage, saturate the culture, moving from theater to film to radio, inspiring uninhibited shower-singing and getting unapologetically stuck in your head. This month's challenge draws its prompts from musicals. Select the prompt you want from the list and, as always, you can use any part of the prompt—including delving deeper into the lyrics and performance of the selected songs—in crafting your fanwork.

View prompts for the Musicals challenge.

Solve a Problem

Create a fanwork that solves a canon problem using your own favorite (or most frustrating!) canon problem to solve or by choosing one of the member-submitted canon problems. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Pride

Create a fanwork using a prompt from an LGBTQIA+ person, choosing from music, art, poetry, and quotations. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Caprice and Chance

Prompts for this Matryoshka challenge are loosely based on the plot arcs and tropes of romance novels. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Sirens and Songstresses

Use a prompt by a female musical artist or a band with a female lead to create your fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Hidden Figures

Create a fanwork featuring a rare character or textual ghost in a leading role. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Love Actually

Choose a quote from the canon about love and create a fanwork that responds to the quote. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Holiday Feast

A multi-course "feast" of prompts for writing, artwork, reading, commenting, and meta. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

B-Movie

Prompts for this Matryoshka challenge are loosely inspired by the predictable plot arcs of hilariously abominable, eye-rollingly corny, so-bad-they're-actually-kinda-good horror films. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Sitcom

Create a fanwork using prompts from a bingo card of sitcom tropes. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Discovery

In this challenge inspired by the Polynesian wayfinders, choose a video, song, or historical fact as inspiration to create a fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Teen Spirit

In honor of the SWG becoming a teenager, create a fanwork about an adolescent character or adolescence using our prompt generator. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Analysing Arda

Create a work of nonfiction. All nonfiction is welcome, from headcanons to essays to multimedia responses. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Competition

Create a fanwork about competitions using a song from the Eurovision Song Contest as a prompt. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Rise Above

Create a fanwork using a quote from a woman who made contributions in science. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Middle-earth Museum

Stroll the halls of an imaginary Middle-earth Museum and choose one (or more!) objects from our prompt list to inspire the creation of a fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Breaking Boundaries

Create a fanwork that shows a meeting between characters of two or more cultures. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

30-Day Character Study

Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Behind the Scenes

Choose a major event from The Silmarillion and create a fanwork that shows what a character who was not involved was doing at the time it was taking place. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Ancestors

Create a fanwork in which a character's resemblance or connection to an ancestor plays a central role. Challenge opened in . Read more ...

Song of Exile

Create a fanwork about exile or exiles. About being exiled. About the people who are exiled. About the decision to exile, the leavetaking, the consequences. About metaphorical or symbolic exile. Challenge opened in . Read more ...