WIP Challenge Check-in, Day 14 - Friday

[the_rck]

Why are endings so hard? I'm stuck in a conversation that will never end because neither party will bend. I hope everyone else is having better luck.

What did you do today?
Write?
Edit?
Send to beta?
Research?
Post?
Take a break?
Something else?

How do you feel about your writing today? Is it going great? Would you rather not talk about it?


For discussion-- Do you write in the same styles/genres/categories that you like to read? That is, do you like to read angst but keep writing fluff? Do you read and write only gen or only case fics?

Comments

[lea_hazel]

I'm trying to focus the next chapter in my mind, but it's a struggle. I'm still figuring out the relationship pacing, this is not my forte.

I love murder mysteries, but I doubt I could ever piece together a really intelligent one that was a challenge to the reader. I also consume a lot of different genres, but I'm most interested in writing fantasy.

[linaewen]

I didn't actually write, but I sat down with my Yule Fic notes, and basically decided to throw them out and try something different. The idea I had is a worthy idea for a story, but something's missing from it and I haven't been able to pin it down yet, so scrapping it for a different idea has already made a difference in my outlook and hopes of getting it done on time. I think I'll be able to move forward now!

Of course, that former idea will stay with all its research and notes in a folder of "rainy day" ideas that might get pulled out and written some day.

[lea_hazel]

I love having a folder full of backup ideas.

Can I ask where your username is from? It's very pretty.

[linaewen]

My username is taken from Tolkien's The Silmarillion -- it's the name of a lake, and supposedly means "lake of small birds." I read the Silmarillion years ago, and always loved that name, so when I got to a place where I needed a username for internet communities and such, I took that one without a second thought! And then I made an icon to go with it. ;-)

My backup idea folder is so full of ideas I should never run out of things to write about!

[lea_hazel]

Thanks! I thought it sounded elvish, but I'm not very familiar with Tolkien's expanded repertoire.

[lilly_c]

I read a little of everything but I mostly write angst, fluff and flangst (fluffy angst).

Managed a little editing, also posted the very rough first drafts of my Taggrt fic here and now I'm quite content to leave it as it is at 2 chapters + prologue/epilogue for a few days while I have my parents here. As I'll likely miss the snippet sharing post, here's the prologue, the timeline of this part is from the ep Safer.

Robbie anxiously shuffled his feet as Jackie wearily eyed him. “I came to apologise for the other night.”

“It’s taken you long enough,” Jackie remarked more angrily than she had intended to.

Robbie sighed, pausing a moment before he spoke again. “I shouldn’t have attack Kevin especially not in front of you. I’m sorry Jackie.”

“Apology accepted, but Robbie, don’t ever do anything like that in front of me again. Look I know you’ve got a temper on you but I’ve never seen you lose control like that and that scared me a lot more than I thought was possible.”

Sensing the apprehension in her voice, he nodded his head. “It won’t happen again.” He hesitated for a moment before asking, “can I come in? i just want to talk.”

Jackie reluctantly moved from the space in the doorway that she had been occupying, letting him in, she locked the door and made her way to the living room, taking a space beside Robbie on the floor in front of the couch.

“It still affects you,” Jackie stated.

“Yeah it does affect me. I mean I manage to carry on and function but sometimes it all comes flooding back and I start struggling to differentiate between other people’s lifes and my own life. This case has made it hard for me to forget it all and seeing Nash attacking his wife, the woman he’s supposed to love like that in public, tipped me off the edge and I lost it.”

“So how old were you the last time you saw your dad?”

Once he had gathered his other thoughts, Robbie heaved a sigh. “When I was four, I remember it because the babysitter let me stay up past my bedtime to wait for my mum and dad to come home from the bingo. I wanted to ask them if they’d been lucky.” He stopped, squeezing his eyes to stop the threat of tears. Jackie tenderly stroked his arm, silently telling him to continue. “Mum saw the babysitter out, and after she’d gone my dad lashed out because I was still up. He hit her in the face at first, and then he picked up a crowbar and started hitting her in the head.” Robbie choked back a loud sob. “I tried to stop him, I really did. All I could do with being so small was kick him in the shins a couple of times.” Jackie held him protectively as he unloaded hidden traumatic events from his childhood.

“Jesus,” Jackie whispered. “Did he hit you?”

“I can’t remember if there were other times but that night he did, yeah, I got hit in the ribs with the crowbar and he slashed the inside of my arm with a penknife.”

“That scar just above your left elbow?”

Robbie nodded, “is from that night. I had my arm up to stop him from hurting mum anymore because her head was bleeding badly and he cut me.”

Jackie soothingly rubbed his back as his tears and the newly released pain flowed out after been bottled up and capped tightly for so long. “Did you ever see your dad after that night?”

“No I never did. We stayed with my granddad for a while and then we moved up to Aberdeen. Mum called it our fresh start, she settled there and still lives in the house we got in Balnagask that overlooks the sea. I go up and see her when I have the odd weekend off.”

“You can tell me to back off,” Jackie started, “what do you remember? Of the abuse I mean.”

“It was mostly verbal and emotional, shit like ‘you’re fat’ or ‘worthless’ or ‘stupid’ but sometimes it was physical. Having heard that a lot when she was with him and seeing how many times she actually believed him, so I made it my little mission to tell her every day that she has a great figure, she is my favourite girl, and she has a brilliant mind, little things like that. When I go up and see her, I always give her hugs, my way of showing her I never listened to dad.”

Jackie faintly smiled and nodded, finally understanding why he rarely had a harsh word to say a woman, even when it was someone they suspected of committing a crime. It also explained why he was often so affectionate with her and other women.

Having finally unburdened himself, Robbie felt the unfamiliar soreness in his red and swollen eyes as he slowly closed them, falling asleep in Jackie’s protective embrace.

*

Jackie attempted to stretch her stiff limbs in the awkward position she awoke in. The limited amount of space between the couch and coffee table was not exactly friendly to an adult body. “Oh I’m getting too old for this sleeping on the floor malarkey,” she muttered to herself.

Robbie stirred at the sound of her disgruntled murmurings; his eyes were still red but less puffy from the night before. He looked like he had slept on a park bench with a concealed bottle of whisky. “Morning,” he said before scrubbing his hand over his face. “Jackie, I don’t say this often enough to you, but thank you for last night, for listening to me.”

“Anytime Robbie.”

Jackie groaned as her stiffened limbs protested at being straightened as she made several half-hearted attempts to stand. Her stomach rumbled loudly as she finally managed to beat the cramps and stand. Robbie softly laughed. “I’ll make breakfast. What do you fancy eating?”

“I normally have toast and cereal,” she said while working out kinks out of her aching neck. “Do you want me to cover for you with the boss?”

“Nah I’ll be fine, I’ve got a spare shirt in the car and I think I left some toiletries here when I stayed over.”

Jackie softly smiled. “Well unlike you, I need a few minutes to make myself presentable on a morning.”

After helping Robbie to his feet, she made her way upstairs to shower and get ready for work while he reacquainted himself with the kitchen he spent a lot of time in when he stayed with her.