Check In Day 22

[fleetsparrow]

Good night, good evening, good afternoon, good morning!  (Choose your time zone appropriate greeting as desired.)

Poll #33024

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

View Respondents

How was your writing day?

View Answers

Fun!
3 (33.3%)

Work.
0 (0.0%)

Suffering....
4 (44.4%)

Exactly OK!
1 (11.1%)

An infinitely more nuanced answer....
2 (22.2%)

Discussion time:  When I was in school, I was very much a "one story writer".  Every now and then, I might switch to another story if the first one hit a block, but generally, I never wrote multiple things at the same time.  After college, I continued very much in this same way, where I wouldn't even let myself think about writing something other than what my current project was (especially when it was exchange related and therefore time sensitive).

And then one day I took an arrow to the knee, I decided to write something besides my main project out of spite for myself and my arbitrary Highlander-esque "there can only be one" rules.

This did help relieve some of the stress of "I'm not writing AND I'm also mad at myself for it, so I'll not write even harder."  It also created a new issue where I have so many stories started but relatively few of them actually finished.

Which is a very long-winded way to ask:  what about y'all?  Do you tend to stick to one story/project until it's finished?  Do you hop from one to another depending on your mood/brain capacity/due date?  If you have multiple stories running at once, is there an order that you follow for when one gets its turn?  If you write one at a time, do you ever have times where other ideas try to muscle in on your time, and, if so, what do you do with them?

Comments

[lilly_c]

It varies for me. Sometimes I'll stick to just one thing until it's done, that's usually reserved for chapter fic and *exchanges and at other times I'll switch between documents if I'm feeling stuck or just not feeling what I'm working on.
*I pretty much stopped doing exchanges including pinch hitting because they were taking too much time away from my main fics.

[fleetsparrow]

That is extremely valid, both "it varies" and no longer doing exchanges. This is the first year I've actively stuck to my long-running attempt at not doing exchanges and pinch hits, and every now and then something comes along that I'm SURE I can do, but like... no. I must resist. The little voice that says "You'll have time and energy" is a liar.

Plus, exactly; it would be nice to my own fics if they got actively worked on again.

[omens]

Usually one thing is 90% of my brain, but it is never ever 100% :D

[fleetsparrow]

:O You can get up to 90%??? Lucky! XD

[omens]

Oh lol I’m sorry, 90% of the part of my brain that’s available for writing 🥹🥹🥹

[linaewen]

My day was spent having a procedure to remove kidney stones -- which was successful and I am recovering happily at home now -- so I did not get any writing done. Maybe if my brain is back in gear tomorrow after a good sleep, I will have more success in that line!

I used to have multiple stories running at once in addition to my long fic WIP that has been running for *mumble mumble* years (and was neglected for long periods of time, as well) -- but most of those stories were related to the long fic in that they involved the same world and characters, so it didn't seem too wrong to leave my WIP for something easier for a time! That said, I have nothing else going now except the WIP because I want to finish it this year.

[miscellaneous_section]

Oof! Glad they got the kidney stones out, and you're back home recovering; I hope it's a speedy one.

[fleetsparrow]

I second the "oof!" Glad to hear it was successful and I hope recovery is swift and comfy!

That's actually a pretty good way to balance multiple fics and single story only. Sometimes we gotta trick the brain into working.

[miscellaneous_section]

I'm a "one story at a time" person myself. Yes, I have had times where another ideas pops in (sometimes it becomes a mental-note, other times my attention is drawn to it and I finish that one instead). Most of the time it varies (and which idea wins out being the most fun).

[fleetsparrow]

Super cool! That is a level of focus I greatly admire.