WIP Challenge - Check In, Day 13 - Monday

[the_rck]

Poll #14840

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

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Today I

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planned
2 (28.6%)

researched
4 (57.1%)

wrote
5 (71.4%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

edited
1 (14.3%)

posted
1 (14.3%)

rested
1 (14.3%)

did something else
3 (42.9%)

The way I feel about that is

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Mean: 6.71 Median: 7 Std. Dev 1.58

Terrible 1		0 (0.0%)
2		0 (0.0%)
3		0 (0.0%)
4		1 (14.3%)
5		1 (14.3%)
6		0 (0.0%)
7		3 (42.9%)
8		1 (14.3%)
9		1 (14.3%)
Wonderful 10		0 (0.0%)

How do you get started writing? This could mean how you start a story or how you start a writing session. Both can be difficult, and I know I need all the tricks I can come up with for both.

I usually start a given story or chapter at least twice and sometimes as many as four or five times. It takes that long to find the right point of view and starting point. I keep all of the false starts until the story is done, just in case I need to go back to one of them for something.

Starting a writing session is harder. It's so easy to find a dozen other things things that I need to or want to do. I've just frittered away three and a half hours today. I mean, I did the dishes and put away laundry, and I caught up on reading for a project. I just haven't done any of the writing I meant to. I've got an hour and a half left in which I could write. With a little luck, I'll actually open the document and start. I'm at the start of a chapter, too, so it's doubly hard.

Comments

[lea_hazel]

I wrote a respectable 800+ words in one sitting and I feel great.

I just ran up against this problem, actually, while going over a beta of one of my longer stories. When I want to start a scene but I have no obvious way to lead in, I usually default to starting with a few lines of dialogue and then backtracking to the setup. At least I know that starting with dialogue is quick and dynamic, even though it's not always appropriate to the story's mood. Otherwise, I would fall back on my juvenile style, which is heavy with description and atmosphere. Fun to write, but generally considered boring to read.

[barbayat]

I wrote, while I'm a bit distracted today as my writing pals are pretty silent today, I usually get a lot done in wars/sprints. Hopefully I will finish my latest fic tonight. I'm so close to the end!