Let's face it, this challenge is tough, and many people will probably get discouraged or want to give up because maybe they've run out of ideas or simply feel exhausted at the daunting task of thirty-one fics in a month.

That's why this thread is here

If anyone is not taking the challenge this year, but would instead like to help others who are taking it, they can comment below on what things they could help on and get added onto the list.

Then, is someone is struggling, they can come here and receive help/comfort from the people on the list. If people do decide to drop the challenge, they can still help others achieve their goal.

Sound like a plan?

So, here's what we will need...

Editors: More extensive comb-through of a work, for people who want help with spelling, grammar, all the big things.

Pre-readers: Less extensive look over a story, more for those who want a quick opinion or want to gauge a general quality of the piece.

Idea givers: It's tough to come up with thirty one unique ideas, sometimes we need other peoples help to come up with them. If someone from this group gives you an idea and you end up using it, kindly mention them in the description, or give them their proper credit in the authors note.

Pinkie Pies: Getting stuck in a rut is never fun, so why not talk to someone for a little while? These people will be here if you ever just want to talk for a little while. Even if it's not about Oneshotober :)

Code- : Will be on often and can help at most times
: Can be on a good chunk of the time, but not super often
: Can be on, but don't know how long or at what specific times

Editors:

PR:
Howling Wolves :
Rinnaul :

IG:
Howling Wolves
Rinnaul

PP:
Howling Wolves
electreXcessive

Anyone who is looking for any of the types of people above can note any of the names listed under each group. Please note that not everyone may get back to you right away, so don't spam their inbox with messages every hour just because you don't get a response. I'll make sure to not down how often certain people are on so we don't have someone spamming the inbox of someone who only goes on once a day.

Will all that in mind, be respectful and have fun!

3607012

Doing as much legwork before the month starts will be a big help to many--outlines, research, story ideas, etc.

For those of us who are ill-prepared (including myself, usually) . . . this will be a boon.

3616675 I can do some light editing, but my speciality is giving out ideas and talking to people that are feeling stressed out.

3617764 Exactly why I made this thread
As October nears hopefully more people will stop by and comment about helping out or receiving help. I want this year to be even more successful than the last.

3617870
I won't have time. I'll have thirty-one one-shots going, plus two scheduled updates.

3618045

Pfft, not my style. I'm gonna do some with characters and narrative styles I never use, just for the sake of experimentation. I might give using every genre tag a go; we'll see.

3618069

No time right now . . . I'm in the middle of editing a long-overdue chapter update so I can publish before my readers find me and beat me with tire irons.

3618045
...doesn't that just make it 31 chapters of one story?

3607012
This is such a great idea, and I will probably take advantage of this thread at least once.

3619680
That's the plan

Oh, I mean

3619797
I'd like to be a Pinkie Pie, with my availability level at
Feel free to message me anytime anypony!

3620239 Thanks, you've been added!

Go ahead and count me in as an idea-giver at the level and pre-reader at the level. I'd go for editing if I wasn't participating myself.

As far as ideas go, I've come up with nearly 50. I'd give away the ones I'm not using, but I'm not sure which ones those will be yet. So, as I see no harm in two authors taking different approaches to the same idea, here's my idea pile:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1829uBl4AjmLVF7QWsVh5Gulxx7uAvZL6gFWNzROisIQ/edit?usp=sharing

Something like a third of them are clop, but Teen and Everyone split the rest pretty evenly, too. Grab them as they are or do them with different characters, whatever sounds good to you. Just know that a lot of these are "jot the idea down real quick and move on", and may not be good for much. Or even intelligible.

Edit: One request —If you grab one of those ideas, leave a comment in the GDoc to let me know or respond in here or something.

3620547
The Cutie Mark Crusaders find the Pool of Mirrors. Hijinks ensue. "If there's ten of each of us lookin' for our cutie marks, we'll earn 'em ten times faster!"

For the majority of Season Four, Pinkie was absent. The pony we saw was actually a rogue mirror pool clone. What happens when she comes back and meets her double?

Somepony tries to use the mirror pool, but instead of a clone walking out with them, it's a changeling. They don't remember ever being anything but a pony.

One of Pinkie's mirror pool clones puts on the Alicorn Amulet.

(The pool of mirrors is such a huge plot hook that you could probably do Oneshotober writing about nothing else but it.)

3620644
You... really like the mirror pool, don't you?

Eh, I may take that CMC one.

3622071
I'd say I was just going for a theme, but I use it three different times in my own stories.

Really, give me a theme and I can probably get at least a handful of story ideas out of it. Part of the reason I decided to do Oneshotober in the first place was to finally write out a bunch of the things I came up with over time.

3622073
Batman. Your assigned theme is Batman.

3622120
Crossover time, huh?

Mare-Do-Well is sent to the DCU, and the Justice League (mostly Flash and Superman doing it for the lulz) decide she ought to stick with Batman until they can find a way to send her home. Derpy is the one wearing the suit.

Derpy goes through a superhero origin story in parody of Batman Begins, but instead of being an actual master of stealth, athletics, martial arts, and whatever else the writers need him to do at the moment, she just derps her way through everything. (There's actually a fic out there called "Batmare Begins" which does this, but that story plays it straight and I think it works better as a comedy or parody.)

Somepony tries out a new enchanted comic book, but it's a ponified version of one of the grimmer Batman arcs, such as "The Killing Joke" or "Knightfall", and they have to deal with death and tragedy instead of the four-color antics they were expecting.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders find a Batman (or Batmare, if you want) comic and decide to get their cutie marks in The Vengeful Justice Of The Night. Hijinks ensue.

("Cutie Mark Crusaders find X, hijinks ensue" is another infinitely reusable plot hook.)

3622166
Not bad. Not bad at all

Edit: Also I'm totally stealing that Derpy idea.

3622174
Which one?

Also, decided this ought to be a game.

3622243
The second one. I'm calling it, "The Hero We Wonder What We Did to Deserve".

3620546 That's a lot of ideas, I may have to take one :D
Again, thanks for helping out.