WIP challenge: day 15 check-in! (& a signal boost)

[littlebutfierce]

Hello everyone! We're at the halfway point of the month; how's your writing going?

Poll #11155

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

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What did you do on your fic today?

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Wrote
3 (42.9%)

Edited
3 (42.9%)

Sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

Researched
3 (42.9%)

Posted
1 (14.3%)

Took the day off (deliberately)
0 (0.0%)

Took the day off (unintentionally)
2 (28.6%)

& how are you feeling about that?

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For discussion, let's turn to the flamingo again:



[DON’T GET K-B CARD (Fanfic Flamingo) KINKY PLOTBUNNIES EVERYWHERE]

Do you find challenges (bingo cards, exchanges, auction fics, etc.) motivating or do they make you freeze up? Has the situation the flamingo talk about happened to you, where you think you don't have enough creativity on tap to do a challenge, but once it's too late to sign up, suddenly you're overflowing with ideas?

& now for a quick signal-boost:

help_for_ephemere is a fundraiser to benefit ephemere, with the aim of supporting her in the wake of her losing her job, home, and good relations with her family due to homophobia. The idea of this fundraiser was conceived by friends of ephemere, and is being run with her permission. Funds will go to rent, utilities, food, and medical bills.

Bids are open now, & people can still offer things, including fic -- please take a look & consider bidding or offering something, if you can! (I know after help_japan we've had lots of discussion in this community about whether owing someone an auction fic is motivating, terrifying, or both XD )

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I'm just writing off this month -- RL has gotten me so stressed I can't even write drawerfic lately. /o\ I hope next month will be better, but... I keep saying that. ^^;;;

I do think sometimes challenges give me ideas that I wouldn't have had before, & I haven't yet signed up for one that I haven't been able to pull something from (except perhaps this most recent round of poetry_fiction ^^;;).

[linaewen]

I decided to concentrate on two short things I have due for two different challenges this month. I've basically been brainstorming, then researching because I decided my original ideas weren't going to work. Now that I have my ideas down, I'm in the outlining stage, and in the pre-writing stage -- where I jot down half sentences that keep the ideas flowing, but aren't quite complete enough to actually call writing.

I've been finding that challenges are what keep me active; if I don't have a deadline that's imposed from the outside, I procrastinate indefinitely. If I sign up for a challenge, it's usually because I have a vague idea already, and if I don't, I usually get one when I receive my prompt. The main reason I don't sign up for a challenge is because I know I won't have time for it, so I don't let myself think of bunnies for it! :-D

[littlebutfierce]

I used to write quite a lot without challenges, but I think I'm becoming more reliant on them as a prod as time goes on. XD Good luck with yours! Sounds like all the pre-writing work has been very useful!

[mab_browne]

Challenges are definitely motivating, even though they're scary. I've never yet piked where I had an obligation to an individual to deliver a story, and I've almost certainly written more than I otherwise would have as a result.

[littlebutfierce]

I do feel like challenges make me write different things than I would normally -- hence them being challenges! XD -- & yeah, I agree, they're definitely motivating!

[lullabymoon]

Managed 900 words yesterday and I blocked out half of a big scene so I'm quite pleased with that progress.

As for challenges, I do find them motivating for finishing stuff, especially lately. I have to go back two years before I can find something I didn't finish for a challenge, and it was another year before that before I was regularly posting non-challenge fics.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for all those words & the planning of a scene!

I am becoming more reliant on challenges to keep me motivated too.