Was anyone else really stressed out by the nominations and sign-up processes? Most of the fandoms I was interested in had weird eligibility (some parts of a franchise were okay but not others, reboots count differently, etc.) and I still feel awkward about the number of gentle corrections I got from the mods. (It was my first time, can you tell?)

After all that, I feel like actually writing the thing will be easy!

I must admit that this is the second year in the row I've thought ... yup, this year I'll do it ... and backed away in the end because it just seemed too hard :( One day, I'll be brave enough :D

I did a pinch-hit last year, which was way less stressful—you should try that! You can sign up anytime for the list, and the biggest stressor is just claiming something quick enough. Or you can always treat someone!

The first year I did Yuletide, I didn't even worry about nominations and just waited for sign ups. There are SO MANY fandoms every year, that I didn't have any trouble finding a match. I just really had several I desperately wanted this year, which is the only reason I bothered nominating. You can definitely participate without stressing yourself out :)

Yeah, I think it'll be easier next year, now that I know how it works! But whew, it can get overwhelming fast.

To me, nominating can be the most nebulous and hardest to grasp part of Yuletide if you're not used to it - skipping nominations your first year was a smart move. I'm lucky that I've never had to get into any edge case or any of the weird franchise rules with what I've nominated!

Psst, if you ever do want to give Yuletide a try and want somebody to ask questions to or help figuring things out, you should drop me a line! :)

And stars is right, treats are always fun to do, if you're not interested in doing the *whole* Yuletide deal, but you still want to try things out? I treated for the Trick or Treat exchange last month, and was fun and rewarding to participate in a gift exchange without having to worry about sign ups or getting assigned something I was less enthusiastic about. If you're unsure about Yuletide in general, you could think about that - I definitely enjoyed doing it for Trick or Treat.

This is the third year I've signed up and I still have questions every once in a while. Yuletide is complicated.

For what it's worth, I've recently learned that my fabulous co-mod blithers is an incredibly helpful resource on all things Yuletide, and her Tumblr has been full of FAQs that the official pages don't address quite as well. But it's REALLY encouraging to know that others get lost, even with experience! What kinds of things have you learned in the process??

Aside from more general advice, this was the first year I heard about the yuletide fairy thing (http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/167886.html?thread=905277134#cmt905277134). I've had some years where I wished I could just treat the general fandom rather than a specific recipient, and apparently you actually can!

Edited at 2015-11-21 02:47 am (UTC)

Ooooh, what a neat thing! Thanks for sharing.

Writing again this year. I can't remember how many years now!

I love reading prompts. I'm hoping to write at least one treat based off of some of the cool prompts I've read.

Oh man, I know what you mean - I always bookmark SO MANY YULETIDE LETTERS for potential treating and then. if I manage to write a treat at all, it's only maybe one, because I'm actually quite a slow writer. I dream big, though!

Haven't started my assignment yet as I want to rewatch the fandom before I dive in, but I'm super excited to write it. I'll probably do treats as well. I need to dive back into the letters, but I've been lazy so far this year lol

It's my first Yuletide and I sort of feel bad I didn't get assigned the fandom that I shouldn't have offered but did and got an "easy" one. Still a month to go to get a Yuletide writing horror story!

I've not started writing yet, but I've got a few ideas, and one rough treat scribbled out - here's hoping all goes well! I feel reasonably confident of the story for my recipient, but I'd love to have the chance to do some treats, too!

(It's now my... sixth year - it doesn't feel like that long!)

I defaulted on my assignment this year for various reasons :( :( :( so instead I'm working on a treat that I'm trying to think of as my main assignment and hoping to maybe pick up a pinch hit as well if I can. I'm a slow writer, though, so the closer to the deadline the pinch hit is, the less likely I'll be able to grab one - I don't know! We'll have to see.

BUT my main fic/treat is going okay so far... I finished reviewing the canon about a week ago I'm about 2k words in, but still with quite a ways to go. Here's to hoping it goes well. *crosses fingers*