WIP challenge: day 2 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

Day 2 of the March challenge! I was excited to see a lot of people feeling good as the month started off yesterday -- how are you feeling today?

Poll #9738

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

View Respondents

How's the fic going today?

View Answers

Great!
2 (13.3%)

All right
7 (46.7%)

Neither here nor there
6 (40.0%)

Kinda badly
0 (0.0%)

Really badly
0 (0.0%)

What are you aiming to do this weekend?

View Answers

Write
13 (92.9%)

Edit
7 (50.0%)

Take a break
1 (7.1%)

Post
2 (14.3%)

Send to beta
1 (7.1%)

Research
2 (14.3%)

As it's Friday, let's do some general chat/snippet-posting/beta-seeking/question-asking/etc.. Go for it in the comments if you like!

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Wrote some stuff on a possible treat for the Book of Friends exchange this morning, but not going to do any more fic stuff tonight... too tired. Hopefully this weekend I can catch up on sleep. I'd like to keep plugging away at these treats & also possibly the Title Fairy will visit me & grace me with something to call my main fic for the exchange.

[enemytosleep]

Titles are fickle creatures. Either I find one right at the start, or I'm struggling to find one long after the draft is done. When that happens, my default option is to look at lyrics of songs that fit the theme of the fic and pick from there. I've also been known to poll the f-list on rare occasions when I'm truly stumped (I've got an Ed/Ling comedy fic in which ... that needs a title).

[sharpiefan]

I hear you on titles! Things I use/have used/will maybe use in the future:

~ Sayings (weather sayings - I had one fic with the chapters titled things like The Calm Before the Storm or Running Before the Wind)

~ Mottos - I am determined to use Bello Te Praepares one day (it's the motto of the recruitment and training branch of the British Army). I have written a fic called Per Mare, Per Terram (By Sea, By Land - the motto of the Royal Marines.)

~ Titles of songs, or lines from songs (Out of the Morning Mist is one I will use at some point, from a folk song)

~ Sayings - Follow The Drum, Take the Shilling

~ Quotes - My latest fic has a chapter called England Expects (taken from Admiral Nelson's famous signal England expects that every man will do his duty, flown before the Battle of Trafalgar, which featured very heavily in that chapter)

~ Proverbs would be a good source - things like Too Many Cooks, or Never Judge a Book, or Every Cloud...

~ Titles of other works, such as paintings, or books, or poems

~ Favourite lines from poems

The thing about picking a title is to try to get the title to tie in somehow with the story's theme or plot. I'm currently writing a story called Sharpe's Marines, using as inspiration Bernard Cornwell's titles for his Sharpe novels, a convention taken on by the TV films (things like Sharpe's Rifles, Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Regiment have all appeared in print and on screen). if your source material has that sort of titling scheme, use it yourself - people in the fandom will recognise it and appreciate it.

[lacygrey]

How about song lyrics as a source?

[insignia]

Titles can be really tricky. Sometimes picking a nifty turn of phrase from the fic itself can work. Anyway, I hope you figure something out :)

[roane]

Today is probably a day off because I'm still sick, I posted last night, and I have a RPG character to come up with a for a game tonight. Eep. But, I love this snippet from "Displacement". (Harry is John's sister, and who is decidedly not who John spent the previous night with.)

John returns home to find Sherlock staring blankly into space, almost exactly as he'd left him twelve hours before. Had the man moved at all all night? “Morning,” John says. “Get my text?”

“Yes. And how is Harry?” The slight, oh-so-slight emphasis on the last word. John knows he's on dangerous ground.

“Fine. She's fine. Listen, have we got anything on for today?” Keep talking, talk right past whatever Sherlock's about to come out with. “I was thinking we could--”

“John.” The word severs his sentence as neatly and definitively as a cleaver. “Where you spend your nights and who you spend them with is none of my concern.”

What an odd sensation, to feel his heart sinking in his chest. Strange. Inexplicable.

Sherlock continues, “Do not, however, think you can deceive me about it. Don't ever think you're capable of that.”

The sinking feeling is replaced with a flare of heat, fast burning and hungry. “Not—I'm not..? You don't know what I'm capable of.” His mind races ahead of words, snatching up the right ones and putting them in order. He steps forward, hands curled loosely. “You—you utter prick. You know, despite what you think, you don't know everything there is to know about me. I don't care if you are the magnificent Sherlock fucking Holmes. You have a blind spot so fucking complete you don't even know it's there, and there are parts of me that just vanish behind it.”

John is gratified to see that he's startled Sherlock. But not gratified enough to stick around. “John, I--”

“Sod off,” John says, and slams his way up the stairs to his room.

Also, if there is anybody in the Sherlock/Doctor Who fandoms who is willing to work with me as a beta, I would love it. I had/have a lovely one, but she's not been available for some time. I need someone I can bounce plot off, and who can set me straight when I rush a scene or when my pacing is off or some such. More than willing to return the favor!

[dhae_knight_1]

Oh, that's a lovely snippet. :-)

[lacygrey]

Very good! Is John the doctor doctor?

[littlebutfierce]

Hehehe, yay for angst!! I like the snippet.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

[insignia]

Not my fandom, but it's nicely written :)

[riceishere]

Love the snippet. There's nothing better than John surprising Sherlock from time to time.

[roane]

Why is it when I say 'probably a day off' I think proceed to write about 700 words at full tilt? :P

[sharpiefan]

I'm working tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, with my next day off on Monday. I'm hoping to have the house to myself for a bit and intend to get on and write the epilogue for my fic - I need to do a bit of reading up first, as I know that I am going to set the epilogue during the story of Sharpe's Siege (the book) but it's been a while since I last read it and therefore I'm not sure exactly when in the story is a suitable pause I can borrow.

I'm leaving my original fic until I've got Sharpe's Marines done, dusted and out of the way - otherwise I won't get either of them finished! :D

From my recently-posted chapter:

Sharpe was still thinking as he made his way around the ship in his role as Llewellyn's deputy, making sure that everything was all right and the sentries had everything they needed. Llewellyn had done his best to prepare Sharpe for this, and had even sent Oxley with him the first few times to make sure that he did not get lost, something Sharpe was aware that it would be all too easy to do.

"Though all you have to do is keep walkin' till you find a companionway to go up," Oxley confided, his eyes bright even in the dim lanthorn-light. "An' then keep goin' up till you come out somewhere you know, see, sir. Mind your head!"

This instruction was only just in time to prevent Sharpe knocking his head on a beam.

"It gets low down here, sir," Oxley added. "You can allus tell them what's new to the sea, 'cause they keep knockin' their heads when they come to attention."

"I just bet they do," Sharpe said, scowling at the beam.

[littlebutfierce]

I hope you're able to get the epilogue done on Monday -- hopefully the work time will leave your brain free to keep puzzling over your fic in the background.

Hahaha poor Sharpe, he seems to be a dork. :D

[enemytosleep]

I made no progress on my WIP's last night, but I managed to square away a very large portion of the modly stuffs for fmabigbang. I spent a bit just now working on more, so there is very little for me to do now other than wait for things to start posting on Sunday (I'm giving until Monday for stragglers to submit artwork before I send out the pinch hit information, which is typed up and ready to go based on the submissions I have as of this moment).

As my second beta was writing and drawing for this challenge, I know she was holding off on reading through until after she submitted. Hopefully she can get it back to me soon now that the deadline has passed. I will edit that once I get her notes in as well.

Treat #2 wants to happen, but I'm struggling to find writing time and energy right now. Maybe next week I can start digging in on that.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for getting so much of the admin stuff done -- hopefully you'll get some time & energy back for the writing soon now.

[dhae_knight_1]

Did I start an entirely new fic today, based on an idea from the one I posted yesterday? Ofcourse I did! *facepalm*

Here; have a snippet:

For a minute or two, silence reigned. Then Rossi spoke.

"Well. You could always move into my place. It's certainly big enough, even if you get a few foster-kids."

Yes. Prentiss is leaving to raise foster-kids, and Rossi just sort of casually offered to let her move in. I can only imagine where it goes from there... XD

[roane]

I can so see that.

[lacygrey]

More editing - I could go on forever I think!

I will soon be needing a beta who knows Hikaru no Go and doesn't mind BL.

It would be a bonus if you don't know my fic, as Ive written a prequel to something and want to know if it makes sense alone.

[littlebutfierce]

Oh yes, the editing vortex -- good luck pulling yourself out of it!!

[insignia]

These are my writing adventures:

The Lohengrin Revolver - Completely unexpected progress! I'd been working on my other WIPs, and just to get something done here too, I started writing down a vague idea about an insignificant background character. In just a few lines, this led to an epiphany with serious potential to tie the plot together :D (Not so insignificant anymore, are you?)

Pieces - Today, I have been plotting a murder ._.

One of a Hundred - Further plotting. The ghost babies want more playtime. Oh my.

[littlebutfierce]

Wow, sounds like you've been doing really well -- especially w/the unexpected progress on the 1st fic. Hooray!

[lilly_c]

Managed to get about 300 words in for my casestory fic :) doubt I'll get to my 1500-2000 words a week goal this weekend but it is a start. Still need a title for it and so far nothing feels right, not even lyrics :( it'll probably come to me when I least expect it to. I rewatched a few eps of KI but not the eps I'm working with for the casestory fic.

I signed up for this months round of prompt_in_a_box (LJ comm) today and I get my prompts sometime on Monday :)

Because I'm curious :) *when you've been away from a fandom for a while do you find it easy or hard to get back into it?

With writing in KI fandom for the first time in about 2 years and I'm finding that I love the characters and general dynamics of the show even more than I did when I was very active in the fandom even though I was on my own (probably still am) and of course there are a lot of things that I must have missed first time around because I perhaps wasn't paying as much attention to them so they seem new to me.

*excuse the poor wording, the dyslexia is kicking my arse tonight.

[samecgh]

I wanna say hard, since getting reacquainted with the characters and caught up on canon can take up a lot.

And poo on nothing feeling right. :/

[samecgh]

Mostly I've been head dancing because I finally finished the fic and sent it off to be officially counted. I'm only worried about the title, since I can't seem to come up with one that fits. The summary wasn't that great either.

I plan on working on my White Collar/Chuck crossover as much as I can. Here's a part that I think is funny.
_____

Neal and Peter walked in to see Lauren walking over. “Counterterrorism's already here. Put 'em up in the conference room,” she reported.

“Good, we better get started with the introductions soon,” Peter said, heading on up. He pulled Neal at the last moment and ordered, “No pranks. Don't lift their wallets and don't start a war.” He walked in. “Hello, my name's Agent Burke. My team, Jones,” he pointed out, “And Cruz. And Neal. He's not an agent.

The female agent stood up and took his hand. “SJ Smith. My colleagues Mike Yates,” she nodded to the slimmer man at her side, “And John Benton.” The larger, clearly former military man nodded.

Neal sat next to 'Mike' and Jones. Peter took the lead and caught up the new agents. After going through the basics of the case, he announced, “We have a plan in motion. Hanover has been entertaining new clients. We're going to send in Neal, using 'Nick Halden'. He's going to convince Hanover that he has some money that needs to be cleaned. Once we have the trail on paper, we're going after him.”

“Sending in an unarmed man?” 'Benton' grumbled.

'Mike' spoke up, “These money launderers work with dangerous people. Wouldn't it be a better idea to send in someone with experience? And a gun?”

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for finishing your fic! & heh, seems like a lot of us struggle w/titles. :D

(I don't know the fandoms in your snippet, alas -- this happens too often w/me, hehehehe...)

[crowdog66]

Today I wrote and posted a new ~800 word short story, "Wings". This is an excerpt from it. Garak and Bashir discuss literature, including the work of a particular poet, and the nature of love, with Garak as usual coming down on the side of "personal love is petty, love for the State is all", but in the end Garak goes to bed with Bashir rather than with the Cardassian motherland, so Bashir supposes that that's all right. :)

Afterwards, Bashir dreams...

***********************************
***********************************

Not quite everything, it seemed.

My love has wings,
slender, feathered things
with grace in upswept curve
and tapered tip…

Garak's wings weren't like that: Julian knew this as surely as he knew the pattern of ridges that adorned his paramour's skin. No, they were broad and powerful, the wings of an owl or some other nocturnal predator, and so black that you wouldn't be able to see them against the depths of space at all if it weren't for the delicate bars of antiqued silver that patterned the primaries and the secondaries, fading to rare speckles on the coverts. The leading edge was invisible: prey never saw it coming, until it had passed over them and razor talons had already stripped open their lives, splattering vivid red beneath the pinions of death.

And where she goes
her voice, like silver, flows
from slender throat and
sweetly luring lip…

No, he decided, Garak had been right: Tarbolde simply didn't suit Cardassian sensibilities. As he walked across the top of the upper docking pylon toward the negative shape cut out of the starfield ahead, instantly recognizing the curve of ebony hair and the sturdy figure sheathed in jet brocade and boots of polished black leather, the verses of a much different poet came to mind:

[And to get the rest you'll have to go to the link above, I'm afraid.]

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for posting a new fic! & heeeeee wingfic. :D

[bay_alexison]

Got finished editing Chapter 5 of my Big Bang base on Beta A's suggestions and had send it to Beta B for her to look over some concerns I have. Also got my assigned posting date, which is around March 11-17. Not sure if I'll be able to have both of my betas look over the whole story, but Beta A should be able to at least, which is fine. Don't worry enemytosleep I'm cool with this posting date lol.

[enemytosleep]

\o/

[riceishere]

Still outlining the Wrinkle In Time fanfic. Still getting my ass kicked by the science things and the timeline. So instead I've tried my hand at rewriting the City of Thieves PWP and got myself a sort-of plot. It figures.

A snippet I particularly liked from the no-longer-a-PWP (context: the book is set during the seige of Leningrad and the character Kolya hasn't had err bowel movement for days).

“I wonder how the Nazis would take it if I finally shit on their territory.” Kolya started again after giving Lev approximately 2 minutes to feign unconsciousness. Lev groaned. “Can you imagine the looks on their faces when they find it? They’d be driving their fucking provision trucks and their fucking tanks to rape and plunder the rest of the Mother, and then just before they cross over to Piter there'll be this huge steaming pile of shit right smack in the middle of their way. Like road blocks."

"Patriotic shit."

"Exactly. From a patriotic man."

"From a patriotic ass. Can we talk about something else?" Lev said.

[roane]

I know nothing about htis fandom, but I laughed, hard. :)

[terabient]

Put in another 200~ or so words on my current bloodyvalentine fic. I'll need to pick up the pace eventually if I want to finish 3 by the end of March, but I should be able to get a lot done this weekend - my current goal is to finish my first draft by Monday.

Even though it hasn't been the most productive two days, just having two consecutive days where I sat down and wrote is...much better than I had been doing! So I'm feeling cautiously optimistic over finishing this challenge, for once. :)

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for those 200 words! I agree, having days where any words at all happen is a great thing -- I hope you're able to keep it going.

[snowynight]

casestory bigbang: It's 9K now, and I still need to add more feeling, more description, more everything.

Reverse Bigbang: Brainstorming. Can't decide whether to go with Super agents in space or cyberpunk bug hunt.

Queer bigbang: It's 5K or nothing, depends on whether I can keep it on.

I'm always looking for alpha readers. Fandom knowledge is completely not necessary. I just need someone to read either of it to give impression/feeling/opinion.

[littlebutfierce]

Heh, I tend to add in bits of description & stuff once I've put in the bare bones of a fic, too. Good luck w/all the things you have going on -- I hope especially you're able to salvage your idea for the queer big bang, but if not, at least you know what isn't working & can move on from there?

[lullabymoon]

Nothing yesterday which didn't surprise me as it was my first day back at work after a couple of sick days and I had some other stuff to muddle through.

Today will likely be the same as I actually have a social occasion after work *falls over in shock*

[littlebutfierce]

Sounds like a good day to take it easy on the writing front yesterday! Hope you're feeling better. & heeee, enjoy the social stuff today!