Prompt
| Synonyms: | fic/fanwork request |
| See also: | Fill, kink meme, Comment fic, Reverse Bang, Imagine (genre), Promptober |
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Prompt is the term commonly used for the short bits of text (for varying values of short), or in some cases the artwork that are intended to inspire the creation of another fanwork, most often fanfiction, but sometimes a piece of art or a vid.
The term is commonly used on kink memes, writing memes and other types of fanwork-creation memes, such as comment fic fests. The artwork created for Reverse Bangs is also sometimes referred to as the prompt for the accompanying fic. Some Big Bangs offered prompts as inspiration or themes for fic writers, see for example the SGA Big Bang fics. The Artword challenge, another writer/artist collaboration challenge in Stargate Atlantis fandom, also used prompts.
For examples of fic prompts, see any fannish kink meme.
Sometimes on a fanwork-creation meme a temporary halt to new prompts will be declared, called a prompt freeze. The purpose of this is to concentrate effort on fanworks already in the process of being created.
Prompt Tables
Prompt tables were grids with a series of prompts that were to be completed by the participants. They are very similar to Bingo challenges, and have been somewhat superseded by those in popularity.
Prompt List/Sketch Month
With the growth of platforms like Tumblr and Instagram, seasonal challenges have become commonplace. Prompt lists and sketch months are challenges that last for a period of 30 or 31 days and can occur once or twice a year.
Some of these challenges are quite popular, and both highly renowned artists and lesser known fans participate. October, in particular, has a number of popular prompt challenges which take place annually, leading to the term promptober being coined by some for the month.
Examples of Prompt List/Sketch Month
- inktober: month of October dedicated to the arts, hence the name ink
- mermay: month of May dedicated to Mermaid AUs
- flufftober: month of October dedicated to fluff
- Fictober: month of October with daily writing prompts
Communities
- Big Bang
- Random Pairing Generator
- Writer's Choice, a LiveJournal community
- Yuletide
- Muse Playground
- Retos a la Carta - Spanish-language community
- The Character Loft