Checking in on Day 26 and 27

[linaewen]

My apologies again for not being on top of the check-in posts this week.!  Real Life is taking the ball and running with it at the moment, and I'm not able to keep up at the moment.  ;-)  Hopefully after today I'll do better at posting and commenting on what you've already shared.

In the meantime, we're checking in for yesterday and today!  So report any writing progress you've had in the last couple of days -- or otherwise, if like me you have been otherwise engaged.

Today's possibly somewhat helpful quote:

See things as they are and write about them. Don’t waste your creative energy trying to make things up.
Even if you are writing fiction, write the things you see and know. 

1.  How as it been going for you lately?

• I'm writing!
• I'm researching!
• I'm editing!
• I'm taking a break!
• I'm wishing I had time to write, but I'm just too busy with other things...

2.  Do you have a word count for the day or a snippet of a thought or a conversation you want to share?

3.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most positive, how are you feeling about your writing efforts today -- and why did you choose that number?

4.  The "answer if you feel like it" question:  Do you find experiences from real life work their way into your writing?  Is this a good thing for you or bad?

Comments

[linaewen]

At the moment, I'm:

1. ...wishing I had time to write, but I'm just too busy with other things! *scowls*

2. ...sadly lacking in anything to report for word count or snippets, alas!

3. ...going with a 5, because even though I'm not actually producing anything at the moment, I'm still in writing mode, and thinking about things, and jotting notes from time to time (on any scrap of paper that comes to hand).

4. I rather like the above quote, because I think Real Life is a great way to get meaningful ideas for my writing. For instance, being able to write an authentic "what it's like to not be able to breathe" bit for one of my characters, because as an asthmatic, I know how to describe such things. So I try to take what happens to me and convert it into something useful for my stories. However, there is also a place for making things up, too! Let's face it, we don't have all the RL experiences we need to be able to write authentically, so we have to be creative about it. And that's where research comes in!

[charamei]

Check-in for Day 26, I'll do 27 once I've written today:

1. I'm editing! And about six pages from being done, so you never know, tonight might be the night. (If not, I have a three-hour train journey after work tomorrow, so I can finish up then.)

2. Nope. Sorry.

3. 5. I'm at the point where done is beautiful; I don't think I'll ever be happy with this chapter now, but I'm blowed if I'll wait another six months just to look at it with fresh eyes.

4. Occasionally, yes. It doesn't work very well for me: I tend to become conscious of what I'm doing and start trying to direct more than I should.

Random real-life stuff: I'm teething :(

[charamei]

...ugh. Major scene rewrite at the last hurdle.

Writing is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public. Winston Churchill

[mekare]

Wow, nice quote. I'm still in the toy/amusement stage atm, at least with fictional writing.

[charamei]

I went looking for something to sum up how I was feeling, and lo and behold, Churchill obliged ;) Love that man.

The nice part is that, since I'm plotting my slaves' revolt as we speak, I get to cycle back round to 'toy and amusement' soon. Or at least back to 'mistress', since the novel's already pretty high-maintenance...

[curuchamion]

CHURCHILL IS AWESOME. :D

[charamei]

YES.

[linaewen]

I've seen that quote in my search for useful things to share, and it's an awesome quote! Truer words were never spoken, lol! Hope the slaves' revolt is progressing nicely at this stage, and that you haven't been re-shackled by the tyrant!

[charamei]

It's progressing in some way! I seem to have found a lockpick, at least ;) Or maybe it's a sonic screwdriver, you never know your luck.

[eggcrack]

1. I'm writing, to the point I got my first coherent fic of the year out yesterday! Today I'll be editing another one I'm hoping to post soon.

2. Well if you insist..

3. 5 since I haven't done anything yet today, but I'm still happy about yesterday's achievement and feel optimistic about today's editing job.

4. Not always, but I've discovered lately that there are things in my subconscious that insist on coming out every now and then and I'm planning to write them out one way or another. However, writing is also about testing the limits of your ability to imagine and while real life experiences have their role, your writing shouldn't by any means be limited only to them. Imagination is a way to experience too.

[linaewen]

2. Well if you insist..

That is excellent! I find it rather difficult to write in first person, but that fit the scenario very well.

Hope the editing is going well!

[anehan]

1. I'm writing! At last! I haven't been really writing in such a long time that it feels alien to be doing it now. I should be concentrating on planning my manowrimo fic, but then I read an old fic by lysapadin and got Ideas. She graciously gave me permission to write a spin-off, so that's what I've been doing for a few days. Finally I'm managing to write something that doesn't threaten to turn into a novel-length fic and which I thus have a chance of finishing some time soonish.

2. No word count for today yet, because I'm in the middle of writing. But have a snippet from a couple of days ago:

However, the two-year peace was shattered. Keigo's mother took to hinting at the subject every so often, and even his father said in his terse way that Keigo had better get cracking and produce an heir.

“After all, we know that there's nothing wrong with either you and your wife, so I don't understand what the delay is,” he said.

3. I choose 7. What I'm writing is not the height of good writing, but nevertheless I'm writing!

[linaewen]

Just to be writing, no matter the quality, is such an encouraging thing, isn't it? Hope it continues and that very soon it will be comfortable again and not alien.

Your snippet is very thought-provoking; I feel sorry for Keigo -- not fun to have the folks bugging you about something like that!

[insertcode11]

STILL EXCITED THAT I FINISHED MY CHALLENGE!! /o/

ALSO OVER YOUR SHIKAMARU ICON! Haven't seen him in forever. ^^

Good luck to everyone else!!!! *\o/*

[snowynight]

Congratulations!

[linaewen]

Shikamaru agrees with me that it is is seriously awesome that you are finished!! You inspire me to keep at it until I can say the same!

[lola_mento]

1. Writing! I've been sick and unmotivated most of the month, so this is an improvement.

2. 760~ words. That's the most fic I've written in a single day this month.

3. 7. Today's writing was pretty rough and in need of editing, but I'm feeling optimistic.

[linaewen]

That's great, especially after been sick for so long. Hope you are feeling better now!

[mekare]

1. I've taken an unfinished fic from last year and plan to read it again today and see if I'll get a better idea of where I want this to go (my main reason for stopping was that I was unclear on that).

2. No word count yet, but I've been getting myself in the mood for writing in this particular fandom again by reading other fics. I'm rediscovering my love and enthusiasm for the characters.

3. 5, since I've not done any actual writing yet but I have a good feeling about starting again.

[curuchamion]

I'm busy gearing up for next month's not!NaNo 50k sprint... which means, given how much my writing projects all tend to bleed into each other, that right now I'm trying very hard to stay out of a writing headspace till May 1.

(Outlining, yes. Dropping random prompts on commentfic memes all over Dwth - definitely! I may even *fingers crossed hopefully* have inspired somebody to write an Odo gender fic on the trans meme. But no writing myself, for now.)

Besides, I have half a semester's worth of online math homework to finish by 3pm Monday... plus the general whatnottery of existence, and a library copy of The Maltese Falcon to watch at some point. *incurable Bogart fangirl*

[linaewen]

Wow, a 50k sprint! That does call for some time off before leaping back into the fray. Sorry it has to be math keeping you busy, but The Maltese Falcon sounds like a worthy pursuit as you take a break from writing. ;-)

[lacygrey]

No worries, I'm a little lost as to what day it is anyway...still work-buired for the moment.

[linaewen]

Thank you! I'm actually still work-buried myself, but decided to ignore it for the time being.