WIP Challenge: Day 1 check-in!

[elf]

Challenge has begun! Adjust keyboards, crack knuckles, grab a hot drink of something caffeinated (or other beverage that gets your neurons firing), open writing program, and start hitting keys!

Okay, remove cat from keyboard first.
Remove cat hair from drink. Replace drink.
Review notes about storyline.
Check spelling of exotic medical condition main character has.
Spend two hours of horrified reading on medical malpractice blogs...
It's okay! That counts as research!

Poll #10049 April WIP check-in Day 1

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

View Respondents

Things I did for my fic today:

View Answers

Wrote some words
3 (27.3%)

Edited something I wrote before
3 (27.3%)

Daydreamed some awesome dialogue
5 (45.5%)

Worked on my outline
2 (18.2%)

Researched some facts
3 (27.3%)

Researched some fanon (Read fanfic)
5 (45.5%)

Sent something to beta
1 (9.1%)

Stared at blank page and scowled at keyboard
4 (36.4%)

DISCUSSION TOPIC: Getting started--what helps you get started writing fic, either a new fic or settling in for a writing session? What distractions do you find most troublesome, and what methods have you come up with to keep them from distracting you? Do you have any little rituals that convince you Now I Will Start Writing For Real?

Comments

[crowdog66]

I finished and posted Chapter Ten of "Impulse (which is now NC-17, finally, woo-hoo!)

Getting a fresh cup of coffee helps me get started when it comes to writing, and once I put my head down and start writing it takes a fire alarm to get me out of that headspace. I've been doing it for so long that it's practically become reflex (much the same way that I can concentrate on creating artwork/coloring comic pages pretty much at will). I don't really have any rituals, although sometimes I'll say a quick prayer to Brigid if I'm going into a writing session with the sense that today the words will be hard to find.

[barbayat]

I am not off to a good start - I had a terrible migraine until now and it's 2,5 hours till midnight. I am not the slightest bit motivated - but I still got to finish some revising on my paper which I have to shove in my profs mailbox early tomorrow.

Distractions ... I think CityVille distracts me - then again, when I go on a CV binge it is usually because I do feel terribly depressed and this seems the only thing I can do besides going back to bed and sleep ... but if I really want to write and I can afford to - I usually go and sleep and then see if I feel more motivated when I wake up again. (But it does not always work).

[roane]

I've spent this weekend trying to hammer out the first chapter of what's now threatening to be a fic novel. I'm almost there! I've probably written about 2,000 words this weekend, and I'm good with that. Now I just need a TITLE...

Oh god, Tumblr is the WORST DISTRACTION EVER. I've discovered that scrivener's full-screen mode does wonders. I can't see anything but what I'm writing, and it makes it easier to stay focused. Sometimes to get going, all I can do is just start typing and hope the muse catches up to me. Most of the time it does. Those times it doesn't though... ouch.

[aoifes_isle]

Something has gone a bit oddd in my head. I keep coming out with poetry. And procrasinating by writing tiny snippets of fic in fandoms that are very, very small. And I can'tmake up my mind which idea to use for my scifi bigaang either - i know which fandom it's in but i can't make myself pick just one idea.

[littlebutfierce]

Starting new fic is easy; I am good at starting things! Half the time I log into 750 Words I start something new. It's taking the snippets & moving them along that's trickier. Sitting down to edit is a lot harder for me. Welllll first-pass edits are easy: slicing out all the stuff from the Shitty First Draft. Focusing on edits after can be challenging. I use the Pomodoro Technique to good effect sometimes, but the hardest part is getting myself to turn on that timer & commit to working. :/

Sometimes making a cup of tea helps, because I'll tell myself I'll be stuck at the computer until I drink it anyway, so I might as well try to work for at least that short period of time.

E-mail, DW, Twitter can all be v. distracting. :/ Leechblock can help.

[samecgh]

I wrote something last night, because a new plot bunny nudged the one that I need to finish. Deadline's this month.

I feel like I must have some noise. It blocks out people talking and helps set moods, depending on what I'm listening. Well.... the only way I type is on this computer (stupid me blew out the AC adapter on the laptop six-seven months ago and we can't get a new one) and it's also the only way for internet access. So I'm trying to type while surfing the internet. At home, I need to keep my cat from blocking me. I shut myself in my room if there's nothing I want to watch and I want to write. On the computer, I have nothing and am constantly distracted.

[insignia]

I worked a bit on the outline for "Pieces" (my big Yu-Gi-Oh! AU). I've had a lot of trouble with this fic recently, but I think I'm finding my focus again! Turns out that it's easier to stay motivated if I write what I want instead of what I think I should want. Go figure.

So I guess that's my answer to the discussion topic right now. Since I've been flailing around wordless for a while I can't say I have any foolproof methods, but making sure I enjoy my own story certainly helps.

[ty_writes]

Started on my first prompt (about 400 words)then got distracted.

It doesn't take much for me to start a fic, all I need it about 5 minutes of boredom (it doesn't necessarily have to be a quiet place, I just have to be bored) and the fic starts writing itself in my head, sometimes literally because after 7 minutes my thoughts becomes words not pictures which is great sometimes because I can get 1000 words done in less than 30 minutes.

My problem is that when the boredom is done, so is my train of thought. 9 times out of 10 that's usually my children or my job.

My major distraction while writing are the misspell/grammar squiggles that show up. At around the fifth one, my inner editor wakes up, which removes me out of lala land, and that demon whittles my story down to nothing.

Other than writing at night, when my kids are asleep, nothing really. Sometimes when I'm stuck on a scene, I listen to music to put me in the mood, but generally all I really need to do to start writing is to stare at the cursor for a bit.

[lilly_c]

Bit of research earlier. Annoyingly it was something taht I should have already known/remembered but didn't. Numbers are not a strong point for me. No words at all today though.

A cold drink usually helps when I'm getting started but that's so I don't have to move once I'm heavily into the fic I'm working on. Twitter is the biggest distraction and most of my tweeting is done from my phone and I usually put it on silence and lay it face down so I can't see the LED flashing when the app refrehes. The only ritual I have is to play itunes in shuffle or make a small playlist.

[bay_alexison]

Already off to a good start as I got my god_tier fic done. Yesterday and today did some edits, made some notes, and then posted it on google docs (one of my betas would make corrections through there). He told me Easter break is coming soon so he should be able to finish looking through the story soon.

Livejournal, Dreamwidth, and Tumblr are my main distractions lol. As for getting started, I tend to either get a drink or have music playing to settle myself in either writing or editing. Like littlebutfierce edits I tend have a harder time getting started Case in point-- STILL need to look over the first part of my help_japan fic and make the edits (dang real life and wanting to do different projects LOL).