(NOTE: I am not the maintainer, or creator of this FAQ, but I have
noted some information that is out of date to avoid confusion -nitro9 webmaster)
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The alt.drwho.creative round-robin FAQ
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Last Update: 12 January 1998
1) What is a round-robin?
A round-robin is a story where each chapter has been written by
a different person, with each writer generally trying to end with
a nerve-wracking cliff-hanger for the next person to get the heroes
out of. Since each writer is different, the focus and tone of the
story may change markedly from what it was when it began.
2) What is a *moderated* round-robin?
A moderated round-robin has a Moderator, who generally facilitates
the production of the story. He or she announces the formation of the
new story, signs up and assigns the chapter writers their turns, keeps
everybody updated on the progress of the story, may advertise the
existence of the story to other newsgroups, harangues the writers,
performs light editing duties, if necessary, and sends chapters to
people who need them. Sounds kinda like...a Producer! Yeah,
that's it! Only, for round-robins... ;-)
Several types of Doctor-Who themed round-robins appear
*exclusively* on alt.drwho.creative. (Tres chi-chi!) When
completed, they are archived on various web pages (see the
list of URLS at the bottom of this document).
3) So, what's an 'IA'? And an "MIA'? And a 'CIA'? A BIA? An HIA?
An 'IA', or 'Internet Adventure', is a round-robin adventure featuring
the 8th Doctor, and currently, companions Jadi Morok, Wil Young,
and Angela Ferris.
An 'MIA', or 'Missing Internet Adventure', is a round-robin adventure
featuring any Doctor and companion(s) prior to the 8th Doctor.
A 'CIA' is a 'Companions' Internet Adventure', a round-robin 'spin-off',
featuring adventures of some of the fascinating folks who have traveled
with the Doctor. No Doctor.
A BIA is a 'Benny Internet Adventure'. (Yes, a round-robin featuring
Benny Summerfield, that indominable former companion of the 7th
Doctor). These stories are a variation on the 'CIA' concept, except
they feature only Benny and her friends. No Doctor. Starting in
Winter '98.
An HIA is another new Round-Robin style for '98. Yep, you guessed
it -- it's an historical, with no space monsters allowed. Just the Doctor
and his companions, adventuring in olden times and exotic places. We
don't need no steenkin' Daleks to have fun and live on the edge -- you'll
see!!!
4) At the end of the Doctor Who telemovie, Grace *didn't* go with the
Doctor, yet she's in the first few IAs. What's up with that?
It's all Jeff Beuck's fault!! (How's that for a nice passing-of-the-buck,
Jeff? ;-)) No, seriously...so inspired were we by the incipient Doctor
Who telemovie, that Jeff, the first chapter writer of the very first IA,
chose the new Doctor and Grace as the protagonists -- before anyone had
even seen the movie! (This was back in late March of 1996.) It all seems
to have worked out for the best, though, and we decided to keep on with
the same characters for a while. I wrote a linking fan-fic story, called
'Reunion', to bridge between the telemovie and the first IA. This tale
explains how Grace met up with the Doctor again, and decided to travel
with him for awhile.
Eventually, Grace got a bit sick of gadding around through time and space,
and caught a ride home with Irving Braxiatel (last we'd heard). As usual,
the Doctor had no problem finding new companions to share his journeys
with.
5) So how can *I* get involved?
As an 'IA' or 'MIA' comes to an end, a notice will go up on
alt.drwho.creative and rec.arts.drwho, announcing that the 'sign-up'
for the next round-robin is open. You'll generally have a week or
until the writer's list (usually 15 people, max) fills up to sign up,
by e-mailing to the Moderator. First come, first serve. Due to the
increased number of interested of people, we've recently begun to
have more than one IA running simultaneously at one time.
Once sign-up is closed, each writer will be assigned a due date,
at which time a chapter, somewhere from 2,000 to 4,000 words,
will be due to be posted to the adwc newsgroup, and sent also to
the Moderator.
Turns are generally assigned randomly, though there is room for
flexibility, if people have busy times coming up at school or work.
The first writer gets to pick the story's premise. The last writer has
to end the story in a satisfying way, as well as tie up various loose
plot-ends, if possible. Thus, these 'anchor' positions do carry some
responsibility with them...
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WHERE TO FIND THE RRs ON THE WEB:
IAs
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My web page contains links for all the IAs (but only the _IAs_),
as well as the fan-fic 'Reunion', which explains how Grace met
the Doctor for the second time and decided to travel with him after
all:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/5422/WhoContents.html
The IAs themselves are archived in their entirety at JJF's IA archive:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/jjf/drwho/ia/
IAs #1-4 are also on the alt.drwho.creative U.S. Archive page:
http://caravan.nomad.net/~antiwes/archive/NONGRA.HTML
(NOTE - This site is no longer valid - nitro9 webmaster)
John 'Omega' Seavey has IAs #3, 4 & 7 stored on his web page:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/m622/seav0004/homepage.html
IA#1: 'DeathRace!'is also at:
http://phoebe.cair.du.edu/~sfolse/drwho.html
IA#2: 'Six Sides To Every Story' is at:
http://www.panatropic.net/ataylor/sixsides.htm
(NOTE - This site is no longer valid - nitro9 webmaster)
Alden Bates has archived IAs # 2,3 & 5, at:
http://www.wn.planet.gen.nz/~abates/dwdlstuff.html
MIAs
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The MIAs are archived in their entirety at JJF's MIA Archive:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/jjf/drwho/mia/
MIAs #1-3 are available at the alt.drwho.creative archive page:
http://caravan.nomad.net/~antiwes/archive/NONGRA.HTML
(NOTE - This site is no longer valid - nitro9 webmaster)
CIAs
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'Jadi Morok & the Dark Sapphire' is at:
http://www.panatropic.net/ataylor/dark.htm
(NOTE - This site is no longer valid - nitro9 webmaster)
'Chang Lee & The Revenge of the Alliance' is at:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/5422/WhoContents.html
Far as I can tell, the alt.drwho.creative archive page,
http://caravan.nomad.net/~antiwes/archive/NONGRA.HTML
currently contains CIA#1, and 'Chang Lee & the Revenge of the Alliance'.
(NOTE - This site is no longer valid - nitro9 webmaster)
-This FAQ was created by Becky "IA Moderator!" Dowgiert.
If you have any questions, comments or corrections, let me know!