How to format your story:

Please use plain text ONLY. Word processing programs are not
interchangeable, and we have to aim for the simplest to make sure our audience won't have problems reading your work.

Please try to keep your work formatted correctly. Lines should be no more than 70 characters across, but they shouldn't be much less than 60 characters, either. Please skip a line between paragraphs, and do not indent paragraphs.

How long can my episode be?

Please keep to the stipulated length. Single episodes must be no less than 80k and no longer than 120K at the MOST. We are only accepting one-part episodes this year, so please stay within these parameters.

It presents a terrible problem to the beta staff to be responsible for editing out great chunks of an author's work. We know you worked hard on it, and we know how difficult it is to part with what you wrote. If you're having problems with length, we suggest that you get a friend to edit it FIRST, before turning it over to the Beta Team. As of today, stories handed in that are severely over the guidelines' maximum will be handed back to the authors to edit.

In fact, even if you're not having problems keeping to the length
limits, you should still have your story beta'ed by someone who will give you an honest opinion. The more eyes that look at it, the better, and the Beta and Technical Teams have a lot to do in a short amount of time. The more "publication-ready" you can make your story, the better.

Follow the episode format. This means:

You want to try to end each act with some sort of a cliffhanger, or
a dramatic moment. This is not at all easy to do. Somehow those
moments just don't want to come at a convenient time to end the Act. But the more you're able to do this, the more successful your story will be.

How do I keep continuity in the season?

As this is a difficult task, it's a good idea to write your story as a "stand-alone" episode. The producers will work with you on your "final" draft to include any important injury considerations, mytharc inconsistencies, etc. This is another reason why we are requesting full drafts ahead of time.

We strive for continuity, not only with established canon, but also with the episodes we're bringing out each Friday. The only way to keep the standards for continuity high is to keep everyone -- and yourself -- in the loop.

As a new feature, we have a timeline available this year for important events and themes that have occurred thus far in the VS canon (or as we like to call it, "fanon"). Click here for the timeline.

Please make your story a casefile. That's what the Virtual Season is all
about. So the plot is extremely important.

Here are some points to remember for Virtual Season 11 Fanon:

Please use this summary as a guide when writing your story. It is advised for all writers not familiar with the Virtual Season to read the stories from at least the most recent VS, 10, to familiarize themselves with the plotlines already explored and character dynamics.

1. Who's dead, who's not: The following characters are very much alive in VS 11: The Lone Gunmen, Krycek, Skinner, CBG Spender (Cancerman).
   The following characters are dead: Teena Mulder, Bill Mulder, Bill Scully Sr., Melissa Scully, Emily, Samantha Mulder ('Closure' in actual Season 7 ending), Skinner's wife Sharon, Diana Fowley, Jeffrey Spender, Mr. X, Deep Throat, Tom Colton.
2. Who's sleeping with whom: Mulder and Scully are a loving couple in an intimate relationship. They continue to maintain separate residences, but frequently spend the night together. They attempt (but are not always successful) in maintaining their professional distance on cases when traveling out of town.
3. Who knows Mulder and Scully are a couple: The LGM, the entire Scully family, Skinner, Skinner's adopted son Andrew (VS10 ep. Faith and Faith Lives), Kenny Andrews (VCS profiler, VS 8 cliffhanger and VS 9 premiere)
4. Mytharc? What Mytharc? Episodes that will explain the mytharc for the Virtual Season are 10x14--Circles, 10x15--Patchwork, 10x26--Last Kiss, and 10x27--Legacy (season 10 cliffhanger to be continued with premiere of season 11). This is for reference only. As the mytharc has been planned out for the course of the next season and beyond, it remains the domain of the producers. But it may be referenced in the course of a story.
5. Season 8 and 9 of the X-files TV show do not exist in this universe. The last episode we acknowledge from the TV show is Je Souhaite, the second to last episode of season 7. There is no pregnancy, no baby William, no Agent Dogget, no Agent Reyes.

When should I send in my episode for final editing?

It is absolutely vital that you get your story to the Beta Team by your assigned due date. If you feel you are running into insurmountable problems and will not have your story ready, let us know as soon as possible, but definitely BEFORE the due date.

First drafts may be submitted any time over the summer, but ALL FIRST DRAFTS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON must be in before OCTOBER 15. ALL FIRST DRAFTS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON must be in by JANUARY 30.

Keep in mind, if you plan on setting your story in the fall or winter, you'd best try and get your story in for the first half of the season. If you plan on setting it in the late winter/spring to summer, you may want to shoot for the second half. We'd love to have enough for both parts, obviously, so if you have something in hand, and are able to play around with your seasonal aspects, we'd love to have you earlier rather than later.

Click here for the schedule.

This is a little different than we have handled episode submissions in the past. We hope to keep continutity and a well laid-out season by receiving stories early. It will also help artists to create more work for your episode.

FINAL DRAFTS must be in to the Beta Team three weeks (or earlier) before your air date. This due date will be given to you, as well as appear on the timeline.

To Submit a "Special Event" story

All "Specials" should be no longer than 35k long. Because these will be requested on short notice, submissions should be in to the Producers no later than one week before the air date of the "Special Event."

All submissions for "Special Events" must be beta-read before they are submitted. The Beta Team will only review these short submissions for spelling and grammar. Please read the Specials Page for more information.

What happens if my story just doesn't work for the VS?

The IMTP Virtual Seasons 8, 9 & 10 were wildly successful, mainly
because of the quality of the stories and artwork. They represented the very best of what the X-Files is all about. It will be a tough act to follow.

Sometimes a story will just not work -- no matter how gifted the
author, no matter how promising the premise, no matter how talented the Beta Team. Most of us, as authors, have experienced writing a story only to shelve it when it doesn't meet our personal standards.

Similarly, in very rare cases, it may be necessary to pull a story
from the schedule for further work. Please understand that we want every story to get the great reception and feedback we've enjoyed so far. If the IMTP Core feels that your story needs more polishing in order to get that kind of reception, please do not be insulted.

It's extremely difficult to write in this format, and none of us is used to doing it in quite this manner, let alone against a deadline. You wouldn't have had your story line accepted if you were not a good writer. But sometimes a little extra work and time can turn an average story into something very special. Please do not take it personally if the Core decides your story needs this extra time and attention. The Beta Team will work with you until everyone is satisfied.

Thank you.

The Core Group