A lot of this comes from Nesh's posts, with a few tweaks.

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Unlike some other collaborative universes you might have encountered, an author requires '''Permission''' to write [[PPC stories]]. This is so we can ensure that new stories are written well and in the spirit of the PPC.

The Permission process was started by Jay and Acacia, who asked people to email them before writing a spinoff; when Jay left, she passed the responsibility on to Miss Cam, GreyLadyBast, and Thalia Weaver, and the [[Permission Giver]]s faithfully carry the torch to this day.

== When can I get Permission? ==

There's no defined timeline for asking for Permission. You should wait until you understand how the PPC as a shared universe works, and until the community knows who you are. Some good markers to look for are:

• If asked, you could say who your favourite non-TOS agent is, and give a solid reason why.
• You've taken part in a range of different community activities on the Board or Chat, including discussions that aren't about your own plans for writing agents.
• You can get through the [Permission Self-Check] without too much trouble.
• You feel you have a friend or two in the community.
• You feel like you understand the gist of the PPC (not necessarily it in entirety).

== How do I get Permission? ==

The Permission process isn't meant to be particularly difficult: all we really want is to check that you can write decently, that you're going to stick around, and that you understand what the PPC is all about. When you're ready (see above), start a thread on the Board and give us the following:

• Brief bios of your intended agents (200-400 words, give or take). These should be the agent team you're looking to use in your main series. See [[#Guidance: Profiles]] below for more on what we're after, but basically this is so we can check they're not blatant, canon-breaking Suvians or grimdark evil.
• The first badfic your agents will take on or a couple of paragraphs on what you plan to do, if you're not going to spork badfic. Don't just pick the story you hate most in the world - look for something that will make a good mission, and a good ''first'' mission (not always the same thing!). Include a paragraph or two about why you picked it. If you need help finding what badfic makes a good mission, see the [[Mission Writing Guide]]!
• A sample of your writing - at least 600 words - which you feel represents how you'd write for the PPC. It can be something you've already written, or new for the occasion. It doesn't need to be PPC-related, but can be: some people have used interludes, cowrites, RPs, or the intro to their planned first mission. Make it as long as you want, but be aware that Permission Givers are busy folks - they might not read past the first couple of pages. To make sure your sample is as good as possible, using a [[beta-reader]] is highly recommended. You can ask for one on the Board or in the Chat. Be sure to give credit to anyone who betas for you!

A Permission Giver should be along fairly soon to check it out. They'll look at your agents, your writing (both SPaG/technical skill and how "PPC-ish" it feels), how well you fit into the community, and generally just whether you're prepared to contribute to the shared PPC universe we all love. Whether they grant Permission or tell you to do a bit more reading and writing practice first, they'll probably give you some [[concrit]] along with their decision. PGs are long-time members of the community who are widely trusted for their writing skill and understanding of the PPC universe, so make the most of the feedback you get! It comes from the heart.

And that's it! You only need to get Permission once. When you have it, you can write for whatever parts of the PPC you like.

== Guidance: Profiles ==

{Basically the current Profiles FAQ.}

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{Different page}

Recommended Reading

On-site Reading:

• FAQ: For Newbies
• Guide to the PPC
• Mission Writing Guide
• Slash-Sporking Guide

Off-site Reading:

• [The Original Series.] This is, in fact, mandatory. It's the foundation of our canon!
• An [[OFU]] or two, such as the [[Official Fanfiction University of Middle-earth]] (the original OFU!) or the [[Hogwarts Fanfiction Academy]].
• Several different spin-offs in the department(s) you want to write about. The [[Complete List of PPC Fiction]], the [[Killed Badfic]] lists, and the various [[Continuum]] pages are good places to look for some that tickle your fancy.
• Some stories about [[events]] in PPC history.

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Obviously, a lot of this is rough. Bold are my additions, btw.

How does it look so far, Community?

-kA, hopefully being helpful.

Immediately hold a vote looking to elect at least 3 new PGs. Ones who have enough energy to actually do anything anymore.

Should I make a new and seperate post on this bit of voting or should we wait for people to reply to this thread about PG-ness?

-kA, not angry

I would add one thing: In addition to giving a link to the badfic you intend to spork (if, indeed, you intend to spork anything), give us a paragraph summarizing why you think it's mission-worthy. Someone, somewhere, at some point suggested this, and it stuck with me. I think it's an excellent idea that will really help with giving an impression of a person's attitude toward mission-writing.

I agree that a PPC mission probably shouldn't be the first story a person ever writes... OTOH I'm not sure I want to straight-up bar anyone from trying it. A Permission request is a guaranteed way to get critical feedback, which is so valuable. But back on the first hand, using us as a shortcut to feedback isn't very nice. I dunno. I'd be interested in trying it and seeing how many complaints we actually get. {= )

I'll volunteer to rewrite the article, since I wrote most of it in the first place. I think we should probably keep the FAQ, but maybe move it to a sub-page so it's not sitting there making the main body of the article look bigger than it truly is?

~Neshomeh

The Permission article needs a rewrite to be shorter and more casual. I'll be the first to admit that I... did not read the entire thing the first time because Long (and, thus, was super confused by it), so it could use some cutting down to not appear as... threatening? Is that the right word?

Also, not having a set time limit would be good. It allows newbies to go at their own pace. For example, if Linstar can explain his favorite PPC writer (or, heck, favorite pair of agents outside of Jay and Acacia, because sometimes one doesn't necessarily catch who writes what. Somehow, I didn't know Nesh wrote both Derik and Nume (despite their missions being hosted on the very same website) until later wiki-walking.), I think he would be ready for a Permission attempt. Of course, I'm not a PG, and I'm not an oldbie either (only been here for two years. Will be three in December, but still), so take that with a grain of salt.

Hmm. I'm on the fence about "writing sample" because I might have been exluded if we're talking about "have never written and "published" fanfic before" because I hadn't posted fanfic before Permission (although I have written surprisingly Mary Sue-less fanfic, like a Warriors fanfic for school one time), but, at the exact same time, I had written for fun before applying for Permission. I grew up in a household that encouraged it. It was a way to not be bothered as well, so bonus! So I wrote a lot, and thus probably would've gotten Permission anyways.

Also, with the "new vote," should we carry that to a seperate thread? It's getting kinda crowded here.

All the steps listed by hS are small but impactful, and I think it would really encourage people to hang around.

-kA

We can still keep a prompt generator on hand for the sample, since some people might need that extra little push and it prevents excitable 13-year-olds from posting letters as a writing sample.

I'd probably put the Permission Self-Check into that qualitative indicator of being ready. It's very much lost in the big deluge of stuff on the Permission page, but I just took it and I think it's pretty comprehensive of an indicator of someone's readiness for Permission. Maybe PGs can have access to the results if they really need it to inform their decision? But I dunno, that'd just be more reading for the PGs.

Definitely agreed on the disclaimer that a PG may not read the entire sample or comment on the entire thing. I mean, if it's clear from page 1 that a prospie needs to work further on something, then why look further?

As for the votes...

I'd probably just vote yes to any oldbie who wanted to be one.

But I do think having a few more PGs wouldn't hurt--being a PG means you can grant Permission, not that you must always look at every request. Right?

• Ls, somewhat understanding what he's saying.

Let's see:

*Article rewrite: The Permission article could use a rewrite--it's a bit out of date.

*Agreed with the time limit removal. It seems reasonable. (Or at least better than "Make Linstar wait two more months.")

*And the take-the-pressure-off-the-PGs seems a good plan as well, as does combining sample text flexiblity.

But that's just my two cents. - Ls

It's a to a very old LOTR fanfic where it rains punctuation constantly, the spelling is bad, the spacing is weird, and I’m pretty sure Laicalasse, the main character, is a Sue. Laicalasse's Tale

Honestly, I'm not surprised it didn't fly. It's fine. {= )

~Neshomeh

From what I read down (or lurked while pondering my return), we don't have many PGs active, to the point the latest Permission Requests took a while to get answered. And a Request is a more direct propt to action for a PG rather that them realizing on their own "hey, this guy/gal should be given/should try for Permission".

Let's face it, PGs are usually our older members, and as a result tend to be busy with Real Life things like work and families (by no fault of their own, of course!). Aside from the fact this system woudl likely entail the PGs to confront with each other about the prospective candidates, the sheer fact peopel have to stand out to be noticed doesn't really sit well with me.

There's really active people who whould have no issue, f course, but the more quiet ones would risk waiting several months if not years with the new systems. We encourage activity, of course, because we're a community first. But that the same time we shouldn't encourage always-in-your-face activity because otherwise you can't get the Shiny Thing.

Storme and hS I feel covered a lot of my issues here, but this definitely creates a scenario of newbies just kind of hovering around nervously and even more overfocusing on impressing the PGs, since they don't have a clear roadmap for how to go about getting Permission anymore. I think this would actually make the problem worse. And it would definitely have some clique issues.

I'm just going to No Particular Order this:

• I don't think I will ever engage with anyone on the Board well enough that I'd think 'hey, they should get Permission, I'll offer'.
• One way to try and 'ask' for Permission would be to post non-PPC writings, so PGs could theoretically read them and go 'ooh'. (You did this with HG, right? Was it you?) This is a good thing. :) Also participating in RPs and cowrites, and even dropping ficlets. (Fill the Plothole would be great for this.)
• Counterpoint, people who did that and still didn't get offered might well get frustrated.
• We would need more PGs for this to work. And we'd need to make sure we didn't lose the numbers again.
• Is there a Board-Chat divide again? I thought that went away. Oh, well, back to knowing I'm missing out on most of what the PPC does.
• A PG Discord group sounds horrible. Firstly it's just explicitly a clique, and secondly, what happens when a PG drifts away from the community? Also, thirdly, me and live chats, you know this one. I'm not sure why it would be necessary anyway; I assume Permission would still be granted on the Board to allow people to raise objections if there was a serious problem.
• It would have to be an either/or with this and the time limit, unless it's a long time limit. Like, "if you've been here a year and haven't been offered" long.

I am on the fence. Convince me. :)

hS

It definetly could get rid of the whole "being active long enough to get Permission then dropping activity" problem, as well as allowing a person to become more familar with the community. Sure, it might take a little while longer, but I think the "extra" time could be used to get more used to us and let them be a bigger part of the community. It also lets us get used to them and know more about them as a person. The more time someone spends with us, the better.

I think, to clear up the problem with chat PGs vs. Board PGs, a PG Discord chat (or, well, any chat system) should be made, mostly to, as you said, keep PGs in the loop. The only problem is that some (most? IDK how many PGs there are, to be completely honest) PGs aren't really that active on Discord in the first place or don't have Discord accounts. That's the only catch.

But, otherwise, good idea.

-kA

As not everybody even wants to get Permission, it might be good to have people mention that somewhere at some point. On the other hand, it would certainly be simple enough for a person being approached to just say, oh, thanks, that's really great, but I actually wasn't thinking of getting Permission to begin with. That would also logically cover cases of "I do want to, but it's a busy time for me right now" - once the invitation is given, it could basically be a standing invitation unless rescinded. If someone's ended up leaving for a year or so and then coming back, they might want to check, or something, but...anyway, yeah. I don't entirely know what I think of this idea as a whole, but that's a bit of it to fine-tune slightly.

Hm, another thing, this one a potential issue: Permission requests can take a while to put together. At least a few weeks, though I admit it might take only a week or two if someone's already been developing their agents and putting together an interlude and so on. By the time the request is ready, the PGs might have gotten busier again. Just something to think about, though tbh that kind of exists in every form of the process, I think.

~Z

Not sure how I feel about that. shrugs Maybe we could try both? That is, if a PG so decides, you needn’t wait a full month to ask? Rather than overturn the whole process, as there should at least be a way to request Permission still. Regardless, it’s still a good idea, Neshomeh.

(Side note: I thought hS wasn’t on the Discord? Then again, what do I know?)

I really like this idea. I'll admit it's probably partially because my Permission piece was part of an original 'fic that I was writing at the time (that served as the background for one of my agent ideas) just severly polished with a lot of help from a couple of people (Irish and hS at least IIRC), but also because it gives a wider breadth of options for people who want to get Permission.

I think 5-10 pages is probably a good length for the writing samples, maybe leaning more towards the lower end of that range but allowing longer if that's what's needed? But allowing excerpts of potential missions or even maybe changing it so that it's missions with hypothetical badfics in them so that actual badfics aren't tied up in people who are trying to write Permission Requests if people with Permission want to mission them? I don't know how much people actually use the badfics on the Unclaimed/Claimed pages of the wiki anymore.

Nova

I like the idea of having a more flexible way to apply for Permission that would actually be used as an interlude. :)

Yay for being more active! Have a slice of life pie!