WIP challenge: day 5 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

Hooray, it's the weekend! Hopefully that means a little more time for fic for some of you. How's it going today?

Poll #8492

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

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How's the weekend going so far for fic?

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Excellent!
1 (14.3%)

Terrible
0 (0.0%)

Somewhere in between
6 (85.7%)

Nothing doing
0 (0.0%)

How much time have you spent on your fic today, roughly?

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None
0 (0.0%)

30 minutes or less
2 (28.6%)

30-60 minutes
2 (28.6%)

60-90 minutes
1 (14.3%)

More than 90 minutes
2 (28.6%)

And how are you feeling about it?

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For discussion: How do you keep yourself on track? How do you beat back distractions when you're writing? (*cough* Please note I have ducked out of the writing session -- in which I did manage to get a fair bit done -- to do this post precisely because the clamor of distraction is so loud right now!!)

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I did a fair chunk of good work today editing, both on my own & in the writing session. I received my Kaleidoscope fic back from beta & feel pretty good about that one (except for the lack of ending so far >_< & of course the lack of a title...). I've also made good progress on a Kaleidoscope Treat I want to write. All this while suffering from a cold, so yay me.

I use internet blockers to make sure I don't spend too much time on Google Reader or Twitter, but it's hard sometimes to block everything on the internet b/c I may need it for research. Sometimes I use brief periods of total lockdown, though.

Long train rides (currently for my job I have one day a week where I spend nearly 4 hours total on trains) are good for editing, if I remember to print a hard copy beforehand.

Other than that, I am pretty prone to distractions. >_

[lilly_c]

I've scribbled little bits and bats that could be useful for my big bang fic. Not a lot but still, something. Tomorrow is going to be spent doing a rewatch of the ep Safer and making some more notes from it.
My essay now is finished ready to hand in *woohoo* and it means that I can use some of the week to work on my fic, even if I only get 500 words or so written it'll be something. A little bit excited :)

Everything distracts me. My concentration level is shocking. When I want to just get some work done, I'll disconnect my internet for a couple of hours, try avoiding twitter and put my blackberry on silent. My BB is more distracting than the internet though because of the twitter app and BBM. I plug my headphones in and listen to music which helps a lot.

[littlebutfierce]

Those little bits are sometimes just the thing needed to make a fic work, so hopefully you'll be able to use them! & hooray for getting your essay done so you can focus on the fic!!

If I'm pretty sure I'm writing fic where I won't need the internet to research I'll block everything on my browser (lockdown mode or whatever it is) -- I ought to commit to doing that more often. Surely if I stumble upon something to research I can hold off for 30 minutes & just write???

[jagnikjen]

For today, I'm at my writing retreat with my critique partners. I got a little written, but spent more time helping others with plot points and whatnot.


But in general, when the writing is going well, there are few things that actually do distract me. It's when writing is hard that it's easy to find other things to waste time on.

[littlebutfierce]

I really love being in the fic zone -- that place, like you said, where nothing can distract you. Sometimes it just seems to happen, but sometimes I think I can kickstart myself into that mode. It's just... avoiding all the distractions until I'm so stuck into my fic that I can't get out.

I hope the retreat is still going well!

[xpaperplanex]

I got started on a fic for a Christmas anthology, but decided that it didn't fit the mood I wanted for that sort of thing. (Who writes hurt/comfort for Christmas!?) It's not bad, but I think I'll set it aside for something else. So I'm starting over and am hoping I'll end up with something a bit fluffier.

I'm in the same boat as <user name="jagnikjen/>. If my writing is going well, then the house could burn down around me and I'd go right after I finish this thought. If it's not, then anything and everything will distract me. I try to force/bribe myself to remain undistracted if it's not going well, which sometimes works. Crispy M&Ms for writing undistracted for half an hour is a pretty good prize.

[littlebutfierce]

Heeeeee, I think h/c would be right up a lot of people's alleys for Christmas! But if you're not happy w/the fic, then I hope trying a new tack is working for you!

I need to do the reward system for myself more.

[xpaperplanex]

The h/c probably would have been good for a Christmas fic, but I think it would have needed to be too long for the format of the anthology. The new attempt is looking much fluffier!

The reward system how I get through life :D

[lacerta]

I've posted my bunch of finished fics to kink-bingo, now that the amnesty round is open, and it makes me feel very accomplished. (Even though all these fics were written in summer.)

On my current WIP, I've got that flashback part so far in shape now that I can show it to a beta reader and see what they think. Otherwise I'm afraid I might keep editing until there's nothing left.

Once I settle down and focus, I can get a lot of work done without being easily distracted. The problem is getting to that level of concentration first. What's helping a lot at the moment is the goal of writing 120 words every day - once I get that far, it's easy to keep going. Time restrictions help too. Hm, I really need to start using 750 words again.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for posting!! Even if they were written a while ago, that's still a nice accomplishment. \o/

... I know the fear of not being able to stop editing, errrgh. Yay for pushing forward & getting to the beta stage!

[bay_alexison]

(little late, but whatever XD)

Yesterday was able to get some of the eight chapter of my Big Bang (also my NaNo project) written, around 1,200 words. What motivated me is my friend and I wanted to get to 5k for our NaNo projects and we both were able too! I barely squeezed in with 5,021 words while he was able to get through 5,400. D: I has been beaten. XD; Later today I'll going to do some editing because my beta just got back the fourth chapter of my Big Bang and told me I got quite a few things I'll need to fix.

I tend to just let the distractions get to me, haha. If I really do need to work, I usually tell myself I'll set a goal (whether it be wordcount, write a scene, get x amount of pages edited, etc.) before I can take a break.