Next Big Thing Is Coming

I’ve recently been roped into a writerly blog chain called the Next Big Thing. It involves writers doing a Q&A about their latest work in progress, then tagging five other writers at the bottom of their post. The Q&A posts from those writers, then appears exactly one week later and so on. . .

It’s reached quite a few corners of the web already, which is not surprising. I’m not quite sure where it all started, but I do know that the number of writers involved must be pretty impressive by now.

The thing is exponential.

So the first week you would have one writer, the one who started it: 1

Next week you have: 1+5

Week three you have: 1+ 52

And onward until at week ‘n’ you have: 1 + 5(n-1)

So at week 11 (assuming all writers are unique), that’s 9,765,626 writers! Assuming writers are 1% of the population (7,000,000), the supply of keyboard-tappers is already tapped out!

Now, I’m not usually into chain emails etc. When I get one of those, ‘Pass this on to five people to make your wish come true/establish world peace/save the world – but if you don’t you will die a horrible death’ – I usually hit the delete button straight away.

But this writerly blog chain serves a positive function, allowing people to talk about their latest WIP and raises a bit of attention. It is also fascinating to see how the thing progresses through networks of writers.

When I was first approached I have to admit to being pretty confused about how it all worked. Initially I thought it was just a series of reciprocal arrangements where you each posted a Q&A of the other writer. This led me to be tagged twice (oops). Oh, well. The blog police have not burst down the doors yet.

All the Next Big Thing posts go up on Wednesdays each week. Mine will appear on my chrismcmahons web blog on Wednesday 28th November. I’ll be talking about my latest and greates – Urban Fantasy Distant Shore.

Some of the other MGC members have been nice enough to agree to be my tagged authors. It’s going to fascinating to see who they tag!

Has this reached your writer’s nest yet? Does anyone know where this thing started?

18 thoughts on “Next Big Thing Is Coming”

    1. I guess at the very least it prompts writers to talk about their latest work.
      I’m not sure where the thing will go or how much actual interest it will generate, but at least it’s a bit of fun.
      It basically starts off with you being tagged by another writer.

      1. Digging back, I’ve found this as a list of “rules” for the “The Next Big Thing” blog tag.

        1. Give credit to the person/blog that tagged you.
        2. Post the rules for the blog hop.
        3. Answer these ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress).
        4. Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

        Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

        1. What is the working title of your book?
        2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
        3. What genre does your book fall under?
        4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
        5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
        6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
        7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
        8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
        9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
        10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

        That’s from a 17 Oct 2012 posting, and I’m still looking for the beginning of the thread.

        Anyway… looks like fun.

        And if you do a search for “The Next Big Thing Writers” you can easily go back to September when it was already wide spread. AND there are other versions of the “rules” for this — so it has apparently become a “telephone” game, too.

          1. If it dates back to September, I’m amazed it hasn’t exploded yet. I suspect that most of the tagged authors do not manage to either continue or find less than the five.

            1. Just found one dated June 28, 2012 (someone said they started it, BUT they refer to someone else). Still looking for the start of this.

              AHA! Laurie Hanan, Jun 23, 2012 I think may be the origin of this! Right over here…

              http://westoftheequator.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/the-next-big-thing/

              Gail M. Baugneit was one of the ones she invited, and did it one question a week. And others have twisted things various ways, too.

              I wonder if I could talk someone in the social networking analysis field into analyzing the spread of this. Be a good case study for them…

              Definitely must be something going on to limit the spread. Even at one a week, 5*5*5*5 grows pretty darn fast.

  2. I need tagees. Or whatever the heck you call them.

    I don’t have that many connections around the place, so volunteers are welcome! Stephanie? Willing for me to tag you? (Yes, Chris tagged me)

      1. Sweet! Tag-ee number two – email me at katepaulk at yahoo dot com with your website/blogsite and I’ll add you to the fun.

        2. Tag me, Kate. Really. I need some folks to come over and see my Web site, especially as I do my best to build interest for “Elfy” (forthcoming in August of 2013 from Twilight Times Books — you *know* how long it took me to get to be able to say *that*). Right now it’s just my blog but eventually I hope to have more. (It seems ridiculous to have a page just for the few short stories and even fewer poems I’ve sold thus far. But once “Elfy” is out, it makes *far* more sense.)

  3. I’m picturing the desperate last writers, unable to find an author who hasn’t already been tagged . . . “Look, you twitter, don’t you? Good enough!”

    1. Providing someone tags me, I know at least two who definitely will have to respond. 😉 They don’t have Web sites, though — still, they’ll respond one way or t’other. 😉

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