What is a prompt?

[brightknightie]

My apologies to anyone I confused with my previous post!  I do plan a "Ficathons 101" for fkficfest; please consider this an installment on that future orientation.

What is a ficathon?  A ficathon (or fest) is a game in which people write stories, usually with some common element (e.g. fandom).  The two main types of which I know are "exchange" (in which each player writes and receives a story, with prompts assigned), and "claiming" (in which players pick a prompt from a list and write a story to match; they may or may not receive a story).  fkficfest will be an exchange game, in which players submit (and receive) three prompts, and submit (and receive) one story.

What is a prompt?  A prompt is a seed for a story.  It is the request that the writer fulfills.  Four examples: 

• Two prompts submitted by me, for which other people wrote FK stories:

Characters: Nick Prompt: Comforted	Characters: Nick Knight, Rebecca Prompt: On a much-needed vacation that he had to be persuaded to take, Nick runs into Rebecca from "Dying for Fame" in her new life.
Story: "A Strange Comfort" by leela_cat	Story: "the fall rolled in on the back of summer" by abby82

• Two prompts submitted by other people, for which I wrote FK stories:

Characters: Fleur de Brabant Prompt: "I love thee, I love but thee, / With a love that shall not die, / Till the sun grows cold, / And the stars are old..." -- Bayard Taylor, "Bedouin Song," 1854	Characters: Natalie Lambert Prompt: We know practically nothing about Natalie's past except it's loss after loss, which she faces with compartmentalization, humor, perfectionism, self-blame and avoidance.
Story: "Starwort" by Me (Prompt by falcon_horus)	Story: "A Delicate Balance" by Me (Prompt by amilyn)