We help the helpless (fanfic writer)

Today's progress...

Yuujinchou Exchange (due Mar 17 - 1K word min): 888 new words. I started that one undrafted scene and also did a lot of fine-comb editing on the whole thing. I'm hoping to wrap it all up tomorrow so I can send it off to beta before RL takes over for end of month work stuff. Current word count: 8,199

Yuujinchou Exchange Bonus Treat #1 (due Mar 24): No new words. Fiddled with the outline a bit. Current word count: 328

Help_Japan (due 18 years ago - 750 word min): No new words. Current word count: 3,666

5 words or less: It's going pretty well.

I used to post a LOT more than I have. I posted about 3,000 words of fanfic in 2011 all together, having spent the majority of the year on an unofficial hiatus. I'm not sure I want to get back to where I was in previous years as I do have a lot more things going on now than I did then, but it would be cool to be able to wrap up some long-standing WIPs.

From:

linaewen

My writing in 5 words or less = Stuck in unnecessary research -- help!

This Flamingo meme is so true it hurts! I'm well past my university days, but Real Life has a way of keeping me busy so that I post much less often than I used to. I had the habit of posting a new chapter once a week for a long time, but recently I realized that I am literally posting one chapter a year on my longest-running WIP. It hardly seems possible, since I'm constantly thinking about it and fiddling with my notes, but I guess I never actually get anything written. Not that I haven't written other things -- I actually produced quite a bit of new fic last year, but it was short, one-shot stuff.

I actually have a secret goal of finishing that one-chapter-per-year fic this year, so I guess I better stop researching and just start! I'm planning to cut Real Life short today and get home early from work so I can spend the evening writing. I'll try to update with an actual word count later! :-)

From:

5 Words: RP-ing counts as writing, right?

Basically, I have a lot of inspiration but am still catching up from the weekend. However, this weekend will be spent at the in-laws', so I'll hopefully have lots of time for writing (and ignoring them).

Edited to say: What they said above. I used to post really often. Now it comes sporadically. Was doing well for a while - posting a co-written story once a week. But we've begun fighting over stuff and now we're struggling to finish.

Edited Date: Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 18:41 (UTC)

From:

roane

5 words or less = WIPs: Too busy to die.

I don't really have a past to compare to, as I've only been writing and posting for about a month, but in that time frame I've posted 1 12K fic, 1, 4K fic, and 2 shorter works. I like posting often, but I learned with the longer work that posting as I go is dangerous, since I have a bad habit of having to go back and insert scenes and change things. But ideally I'd be posting something once a week or so.

From:

proseac

I can do it in one word: Nada. :(

I post one drabble per week for my "NCIS Weekly Drabble" project. Up until mid January I was posting one drabble per day. But as for other (longer) fic, it's been awhile...like probably nine months. Yikes! I hadn't realized it until the question came up. Maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble getting going again?

From:

sharpiefan

RP-ing counts as writing, right?

Well, if RPing counts as writing, I've done some writing!

(Do I recognise you from RPG-D, or is that someone else with the same userpic as the one you're using here?)

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Probably just the same userpic - I'm only warming back into RPing, so I'm only at

musing_way.

RPing should count! It's... um... effort? Words? xD

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It's going poorly. :(

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sharpiefan

It's a good userpic, and very true!

A friend had one:

I am a blank sheet of paper.

You have a deadline.

...

You are so screwed!

Which I thought was great!

And yes, RP should count! It certainly is words and story-telling. It's just collaborative storytelling rather than fanfic. :D

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OMG that icon sounds like my Big Bang is mocking me through space and time~~

XD Very appropriate!

:D Yes! It is teamwork storytelling, which is much harder.

From:

samecgh

Aww, sadface. Why is going poorly?

From:

samecgh

Unnecessary research?

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The words just aren't coming. I know everything there is to know about this chapter, except which word comes next! It feels (and reads) very choppy and I'm not at all satisfied with the pace at which the story is unfolding. I have to remind myself that I'm still in the rough draft phase and I can go back and fix anything, but I really don't like that 'pulling teeth' sensation.

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Just sharing the icon love. :)

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samecgh

Bleugh, don't like that feeling. I have a story idea in my head that doesn't want to come out at all. Dang thing's taking up space.

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<3 I find it incredibly fitting!

I love yours, too. Oh, Spider Solitaire, you eat my soul...

From:

samecgh

How is it going? I say good. I'm typing up an almost completed chapter and I'll be 3/5 done and possibly have this done next week. As long as my cat stops bugging me when I'm at home writing. She likes cuddling and climbing on my notebook when I try to write.

Updating, it depends on how much of the story I have done. If I don't have a lot, I won't post. I enforced a rule on myself to try and not post anything until I had it mostly or completely done. That way I don't have WIPs that won't get finished and leave people annoyed at me.

From:

dhae_knight_1

Uninspired. Start new fic.

My brain is broken by this thesis-thing, and it's not going very well, either.

Anyway. Abandoned Places over on LJ provided inspiration, and now I've started a new fic I'm... not really sure where is going or where it came from. But it features a near-ruin house in Kentucky, Hotch, Jack and a golden retriever called Mags (thank you Roane!) :-D

Well. Considering how long it's been since I last wrote, let alone posted anything, I'm... posting more? ;-)

From:

littlebutfierce

I'm editing the first draft of my Natsume exchange fic -- it's... moving. In five words or less: so close, yet so far!

I'm posting more often than I used to; I think that's in part having livelier fandoms in some way (more inspiration/more prompts) & maybe just... slowly becoming a faster writer (though faster is relative).

From:

roane

YAY GOLDENS! :) I find that amusing since Maddie's nickname (one of the many) is Mads. :)

From:

graychalk

How it's going: I wish zero's a word.

I used to post/update quite a bit in the old days. I think I managed about 100K within a year for my WIPs back then. These days, I'd be lucky to get 1K out in 1/10th the time. :(

From:

graychalk

Wow, you used to do daily drabbles? That's amazing! I'd probably have trouble with weekly ones, never mind daily ones. @_@ This makes me feel like I should set out a specific goal like this - maybe it'd get my butt moving...

From:

linaewen

It's only unnecessary in that I have every bit of info I could possibly need to begin writing, but I'm letting myself go off on rabbit trails of research (because it's fun) instead of actually taking what I have and writing something. :-D

From:

linaewen

This is where I'm at right now, too. I know everything there is to know about my chapter except how to write what I know in a way that sounds like something worth reading! That's probably why I've fallen into doing more research, in the hopes that something will jog the words I want loose. ;-)

Best wishes with your efforts -- hopefully things will smooth out for you very soon!

From:

rhi

Have you tried Written? Kitten!? Granted, I'm a cat person, but I find a couple sessions of getting cat pictures for writing gets me back into 'first draft, get the words out' mode.And good luck!

(There's also Write or Die if you need to be prodded into productivity instead.)

From:

crowdog66

Writing? Not at all! XD

I think I'm coming down with something, because I had no energy when I got up this morning and didn't get any writing in, and then Real Life appointments took up most of the rest of the day. I've got to get some paying work done this evening so it looks like I won't be writing until tomorrow morning, at least.

For the discussion: Let's see... I have 77 fanfics in the DS9 catagory on AO3, a fair number of them multi-chapter, and that's just since last February. I'd estimate I post a finished story or a chapter twice a week, on average, which is certainly more than I'd managed in my previous fandoms. Let's hope I can keep it up! :)

From:

linaewen

I know what you mean! I'm trying to comfort myself with the thought that my life is different these days and not as conducive to writing -- which makes what I do produce more precious. But it isn't always that comforting...

Hope things improve for you!

From:

proseac

Yup, it was a project I embarked on July 1, 2011 because up until then I'd seen the episodes all out of order and was getting confused with the continuity. If you're interested, there is a master post at the top of my page where all my fic is listed. You can find the Daily Drabbles there. :)

It really was a helpful exercise to get me writing every single day. Since I got all caught up with the episodes, my writing discipline has kind of evaporated. Hee!

From:

insignia

I'm still sorting out people and backstories for my main fics. About 800 words of alternate Yu-Gi-Oh history today.

From:

lacerta

I'm up to over 3k, although only the first paragraph consists of actual sentences. So, there's a lot of editing to do and the ending is still missing.

As for updates, iirc I posted sth every month when I started writing fanfic. That's a rate I'd love to keep up, buuut it's much more sporadic than that. Sometimes I post three weeks in a row, sometimes I don't post anything for half a year. At least I do write more regularly these days. I just don't finish XD.

From:

lacerta

Hey there, icon cousin <3

From:

ty_writes

must join in the icon love

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That used to be my deafult, haha.

From:

bay_alexison

Last night got a bit annoyed over my day (the DMV...bleh) and also quite annoyed at the episode ending of one of the shows I watched so wasn't in the mood to continue editing my Big Bang, but I had thought a bit over ideas for another auction fic and noted down some scenes I would like to write. Today I'm going to try to get the edits of that chapter finished (and perhaps return parts of it to Beta B, but we'll see).

Back when I was doing chaptered fics, I would update anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months, depending on my schedule and when my betas get back to me. Now these days it depends if I have a short story ready.

From:

sharpiefan

Oh, I hate that feeling. I've got that problem at the moment with a one-shot fic with original characters, and it's driving me round the twist!

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Oh wow! Hope you feel better!

From:

sharpiefan

Livelier fandoms - oh yes. Since I made the Big Move over here, leaving the most active members of my own fandom over on LJ, my inspiration has dried up and my writing level has dropped way down.

Fandom has fic challenges and discussions and all sorts of things that start breeding plot bunnies, and if you've moved away from where fandom is, you lose a lot of that.

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\o/ Keep going!

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Yesterday was tough for me too. I got lots done on my lunch today, so that made up for being ripshit angry with everyone and everything last night, haha.

From:

littlebutfierce

Yeah, that can be tricky! I've discovered a lot more people in my fandom on DW who are active & into meta & discussions & things, even though the much bigger comm is on LJ -- but building the DW comm took time. Maybe more of yours will migrate in time?

OTOH I do write fic for several fandoms that have v. little active fandom at all -- despite the lack of community.

From:

littlebutfierce

Heh, thanks!

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Yes, it is, darn it! My head's all stuffed up with Ch 24 and I have other things to wedge in there. I wonder if dangling upside down will make the words fall out.

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Sometimes research will spark a thought that loosens things up a bit. Good luck and I hope it goes better. :)

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Oh, how cool is that! I'd never heard of it before. I'm dying to try it now (even if I am a dog person *g*).

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I just have to remind myself that this is a rough draft and I can fix or rewrite it 'til I'm happy with it.

Sometimes I try typing with my eyes closed, even if I do get barely comprehensible gibberish. Have you tried that? Keeps me from reading what I've written until I'm done composing.

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