Check-in post, day 11

[lola_mento]

Greetings, folks. On the matter of writing: How did it go? Did it go? This is the place where you boast and/or vent your frustrations!

And today's discussion theme is... deadlines. Do you find having a due date useful to get things done? Or are you unable to work under one? Do you usually wait up till the last minute to get things done? Or are you one of those unexplainable people who finish in the first few days?

Comments

[jagnikjen]

Today was great because I was able to post the fic I wrote! So I'm on track for my challenge. And just two more fics to go, one due on each of the next two Wednesdays.

As for deadlines...actually, I do find them useful to get things done, even self-imposed ones. As for waiting till the last minute--it just depends on the task.

And now, I have the rest of the evening to get started on my next fic...so I'm off to find some interesting/inspiring prompts to get me going.

[curuchamion]

1893 words today! I think. I get confused between Greenwich and local time.

Obviously, having a deadline and a wordcount to hit, but no actual consequences for defaulting on either and no requirement to show anybody my story, is doing me worlds of good. I'm about 5,000 words away from equaling in this ONE FIC my entire published lifetime wordcount for the past fourteen years! (And even more strikingly, I think nothing of talking about 5k words like it's a small thing. *g*)

Good night, all! (And jagnikjen - I keep forgetting to thank you for being so consistent about answering everybody's comments, including mine. You are a marvel. Thank you!)

[curuchamion]

Yay for being on track!

[littlebutfierce]

800~ words yesterday on my remaining help_japan fic, which had been stalling me out. We shall see if this slight reboot does it any good!

Deadlines are usually good for me, because I hate hate hate doing things at the last minute (I am the type of person who handed in her master's dissertation two weeks early... come to think of it, I finished my Yuletide story about 2 weeks early too). I think I just melt too much under pressure!

[jagnikjen]

Great job on the word count! Keep it up. :)

And you're welcome...

[jagnikjen]

Woo hoo for your 800 words! *fingers crossed* that you feel more inspired now. :)

And *wow* about your dissertation. I'm impressed.

[bay_alexison]

Quite a busy day for me today, but I managed to do a little bit of writing and planning. Had written down a little over 300 words for the story and at the same time thought up more ideas for that same story and wrote them down in my notebook.

As for deadlines, either I'm able to get my stories done days/weeks in advance if I start it right away or I miss it if I wasn't sure where the direction of the story deadline should go next. Most of the time though I'm able to finish stuff with deadlines as they keep me in track to get some writing projects done. I rarely wait until the last minute to get things done as I suddenly become jittery and unable to think straight, LOL.

[dchan]

I've been stalling horribly this month but I I got some fic written yesterday! I've got actual words on page now. I've got part of the opening scene of the first part (of 6) of my WC fic written, and the two characters have introduced themselves! (sort of).

One problem I'm having is I'm not quite sure what point of view this fic is going to be. I tend to write a single viewpoint character in a very tight 3rd person POV for RP, but in RP I only have to write one character in a scene instead of all of them. I feel like for this fic I'm moving into a bit of a more of an objective semi-omniscient viewpoint. The thing is, I think it would improve the story if the reader knows both main characters' thoughts and suspicions about each other throughout their meetings, but at the same time I also need the narration to be somewhat unreliable because I don't want the reader to know too much about what each character is hiding about themselves from the others. Augh! I have a feeling I will be fixing up a lot of POV and tense issues in edits but right now I just need to get WORDS ON THE (VIRTUAL) PAGE, DAMMIT!

[jagnikjen]

Yay for words *and* ideas!

[jagnikjen]

I've been stalling horribly

It happens, but don't let you get you down. Just get the words on paper, then they can be fixed.

And good luck with the whole thing.

[dchan]

Thank you! I've got about 300 words written so far but I'm not used to writing dialogue-driven pieces with multiple characters so the amount of witty banter I'm going to have to write has me wanting to run for the hills quite frequently.

What do people even TALK ABOUT in bars anyway? (Especially people who have just met in bars?) Most of the time when I am talking to people I don't know very well in public settings I'm too busy trying not to have an anxiety attack to really pay attention to the topic of conversation...

EXCERPT

[dchan]

And by "excerpt," I actually mean "everything that's made it past the outline stage," but w/e. [brackets] indicate author's notes intended to be removed in the final release.
----

Meeting 1: February 2005. Milan, Italy.

[Steve Tabernackle meets Michelle Akiyama in a bar during Milan fashion week.]

He surveyed the bar as he walked in. It was Fashion Week in here in Milan, which meant that every bar in the city would be completely packed with models, buyers, stylists...everyone who was anyone would be out to be seen this week. This bar was no exception, but there was one woman in particular that caught his eye from where he was standing.

The black sheath dress the woman was wearing was deceptively understated, but the effect of pairing it with a snow-white bolero and a red patterned silk scarf was quite striking. And though she was only of middling height, far too short to be a model, she carried herself with an air of confidence that made her seem much taller. He liked that. He sauntered over to the bar next to where she was standing and leaned up against it casually.

"Posso offrirti qualcosa da bere, signorina? Can I buy you a drink?"

The woman smiled. “Maybe. May I ask who’s offering?”

“Steve Tabernackle. But please, call me Steve.” He flashes her a dazzling smile and held out his hand. “And may I know the name of the beautiful lady I am buying for?”

“Well, aren’t you quite the charmer,” the woman said. “Michelle Akiyama.” She shakes his hand firmly but politely.

Steve motions to the bartender, who appears right away. Michelle raises her eyebrows slightly. Such prompt service is rare in a bar this busy; Steve must be a real high-roller. His clothing is expensive and impeccable, but of course this week of all weeks everybody will be dressed to be seen.

“Ketel One on the rocks for me, please, and whatever Miss Michelle here would like.”

“[gin martini perhaps? -- what is a classy, non-fruity drink for a woman anyway (but not a cosmo)? I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT COCKTAIL CULTURE AUGH D:]”

"An excellent choice. So, what brings you here this week? Are you a designer? Stylist? Fashion journalist?"

[CONTINUE WITTY BANTER HERE....]

Re: EXCERPT

[jagnikjen]

Very nice--thanks for sharing.

Couple of things--and I realize you may catch this in revisions...

1st, you change from past tense to present tense, and 2nd, there are a couple of places that could be more active.

For example, 2nd paragraph "was wearing" could (should) be changed to "wore" so that you don't have two instances of "was" in the same sentence. Also, in that same paragraph, last sentence, changing "was standing" to "stood".

[iosonochesono]

A deadline might be useful to me if I didn't have two jobs and school. But I'm trying to make a rule of writing at least one piece a day, however small. It's not always my 'goal project' but I feel better knowing I'm writing something.

Re: EXCERPT

[dchan]

Augh yeah, I always have tense issues in my first drafts. I have a tendency to slip into present tense when I am not thinking about it because I tend to see scenes in my head in present tense (sort of like a movie), but I prefer the way past tense flows overall. I was fussing with it a lot at first, but it was turning into one more excuse to not get more words on the page so I am trying very hard to ignore those issues for the time being.

Thanks, though. :)

[curuchamion]

And 1747 more words - total in this fic is now 18,278. *goggles* I'm 2600+ words behind, but... THIS FIC. :D

I'll be missing a couple of check-in posts, probably, because of a weekend road-trip. Not sure how much writing I'll get done, as my whole family will be along, but at least I can make notes for describing a landscape I need! (Setting a fic in your own time and locale - what a concept. LOL *sci-fi fan*)