WIP challenge day 6 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

Time for today's check-in! How are things going today?

Poll #7203 WIP challenge day 6 check-in!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

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What have you been up to today, fic-wise?

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Writing
5 (55.6%)

Editing
0 (0.0%)

Sending to beta
0 (0.0%)

Posting fic
1 (11.1%)

Procrastinating
3 (33.3%)

Researching
0 (0.0%)

Something else (tell us what in comments!)
3 (33.3%)

And how do you feel about that?

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Meh
3 (33.3%)

I AM A GENIUS
2 (22.2%)

Mildly satisfied
4 (44.4%)

I hate it
0 (0.0%)

Are you on track for your goals for this month?

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Yes
3 (33.3%)

I'm ahead!
0 (0.0%)

I'm behind
1 (11.1%)

I'm so behind I hate you for even asking
1 (11.1%)

Too early to tell
4 (44.4%)

And my favorite question! In 3 words or less, how are you feeling about the fic?

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And for a discussion topic: Present or past tense in your fics? Do you use both at different times? (In different fics, I mean: not in that pre-beta stage where you accidentally keep switching... or is that just me?) Do you prefer one or the other in the fic you read? Does it make a difference what kind of fic it is?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I posted a fic, hooray! Totally not one of my goal fics, but WHATEVER. It's the one I said, in yesterday's poll, might be too sappy. It probably is. Oh well!

I'm also on a kind of roll in actually using 750 Words to write fic; for the past couple of weeks I've only had time for the hastiest of brain-dumps in there, & it feels good to get back to using it for fic again.

I like both present & past tense in fics. Present tense I tend to use for certain kinds of fics: porn, &... I don't know. Maybe things that are especially sentimental/smushy? I don't know why. Well, the porn gets present tense b/c it feels more immediate. (& now that I look over my fic, I see that one of my smushiest fics uses past tense, so I have no idea!)

I'm fine with reading both too. Probably for smut I like present tense slightly better, but if the story is good enough, really I hardly notice what tense it's in right away anyway.

[glitteryv]

Woo-hoo on posting fic!

Also 750w has played a significant role on writing for me too. Rather than the badges, it's the *discipline* of sitting down and getting my fics down what's keeping me going. :)

[jagnikjen]

I posted a couple of chapters to a huge epic fic. It's complete and been posted at FFN and my LiveJournal. I've just be adding my stuff to the fandom archive site.

I'm hoping to get some writing in later, but there's no telling atm if that will happen.

I write just about everything in third person, past tense. I aim for deep POV though and do fairly well with that.

Occasionally I'll choose first person for something really short, but that's rare.

I have caught myself switching from first to third or vice versa, but not really that often.

I'm not a big fan of reading first person fics, but when it's really well done then I actually don't notice it until I'm well into the story.

[littlebutfierce]

Oooh, congratulations on posting the chapters!! That's awesome.

Oh yeah, I only have written in third person (whether past or present tense). I read a lot of first-person original fic, but I don't tend to see it done v. well in fanfic for some reason (although the last time I talked about this a friend of mine sent me the link to a fic he wrote in first person, & it was brilliant, so there you go ;). I think second person fic is absolutely fascinating... if done well.

Sometimes I'll start writing a snippet of fic in past tense & when I go back to it automatically start writing in present tense (or, more rarely, the opposite). That seems to me to be a sign of how the fic ought to be, so I usually go w/it, even if it's annoying changing stuff over!

[jagnikjen]

As I thought, no writing for 06.06...

[littlebutfierce]

Awwww, well -- posting those chapters was a great achievement! & sometimes the brain just needs a break. Hopefully you'll get some stuff written soon.

[glitteryv]

Go you for posting those chapters! :)

[lacygrey]

I'm just about hanging in there but with really low word counts thanks to work.
Tommorrow will be better I tell myself.

Past and Present: no preference, I just do what the story makes me feel. My WIP starts in the present but will retrace events in the past, so theres a bit of both, The events (action of the story) is in the past, while the general situation and setting is described in the present. I hope I'm not complicating things for myself^^

[littlebutfierce]

I totally shake my fist at your workplace, & everyone else's workplace who's been struggling lately! Stupid work getting in the way of fic! I hope you're able to get some higher word counts in sometime soon.

I have trouble switching between tenses in different sections of a story! I know people can do it but for some reason I feel v. nervous about it. So I'm impressed that you're doing it. :) Good luck!

[lacygrey]

I totally shake my fist at your workplace

So do I - but only sometimes, as I'm self-employed^^

So I only cheat myself if I get the balance wrong. Perhaps this is why I tend to write shortfic!

The flipping tenses may not be very orthodox. A writing instructor told me that present tense should never be used in a past tense narrative, period. I've seen it in plenty of novels though.

[linaewen]

I wrote 1,800 words today! And I'm as good as finished with my one-shot -- it needs some kind of wrap-up paragraph and some editing of the part I whipped up today, but it's essentially finished. What a relief! I shirked some rather important work today to get that much writing time in, but it was worth it. ;-)

I'm also pleased that my Big Bang fic that is due next month has had its deadline extended two whole weeks, so I am feeling quite optimistic at the moment about finishing some things!

For discussion: I generally use past tense, and I prefer it; but now and then, I use present tense for effect in certain fics -- usually only short ones, since it's hard to sustain present tense for too long, I find!

[mystiri_1]

1800 words - nice work! And good luck with your BB!

[littlebutfierce]

Wow!! Congratulations on all those words, & being nearly done w/your one-shot!

& phew, good news on having your big bang deadline extended. \o/

That's a good point about it being hard to keep present tense going in a longer fic -- something I have, uh, never had to consider, since all my fics are pretty short. ;) But yeah, that makes sense, & goes along w/what I feel like is the immediacy of a fic. The fic I just posted yesterday was in present tense & was originally supposed to be 12 drabbles (hey, if you average out the wordcount, it's... almost sort of 100 words each?) -- so, yeah, pretty short. & each was just supposed to be a snapshot.

[lexicalcrow]

OH HEY I WROTE. 3000 WORDS OR SOMETHING. IDK. I got ~inspired~ and just sat down and wrote the scene in about half an hour or so. SO YAY. My first attempt at a drug-induced mental breakdown and I'm still nervous I'm Doin It Rong, even though it's one of the major things I've been researching. D: (One of my boys is sort of maybe possibly susceptible to schizophrenia? So that'll be fun. :/ Was trying to stop that happening, but he's an insistent bastard. XD) FUN TIMES ALL ROUND. D: *this close to cutting it again because I'm still not confident I'm Doin It Rite and I don't want to offend anyone* *flaily arms*

And, tbh, I don't really have a preference for past/present. I don't particularly notice it anymore. Possibly because I think I mainly use past now, and IDK. It does depend on the fic, though. Present does have its uses, but I don't think many of my fandoms use it much. I'm more likely to notice POV than tense, actually.

[littlebutfierce]

3000 words! Go you!!!! & especially in banging all that out in half an hour -- I am seriously impressed. I can see why you're nervous about writing something v. intense like that, especially if you've never written it before -- but yaaaaay for all your research. I am sure that will help!

[lexicalcrow]

WELL. Technically, it was 1700 words in half an hour, but 3k all up. It's still impressive though. :D I think I'm going to print it all out tomorrow and do a proper edit, because I know it's not quite right, but at least I know how I need to change it so that helps. It's times like these when my epic desire to Research Everything Ever comes in very handy. :D

[curuchamion]

I slept today. This was necessary. XD I may have written something in between naps, but I can't remember if it was fiction or just meta-y jotty stuff. Or if I actually wrote it down at all. XP

Now I am going to sleep some more. ;D

[mystiri_1]

Sleeping is very important. I have been trying to do more of that, myself ;D

[littlebutfierce]

Sometimes sleep is the most important thing you can do! So hopefully you're well-rested & maybe better able to jump back into the fic today?

[bay_alexison]

Wee, got the edits my beta suggested for my first help_japan fic done. Well, I still need to add a couple things she noted at the end that could make the story better. I'll do that and also polish up the story one more time before finally posting it.

I write past tense because it's easier for me. I don't think I ever wrote in present tense saved for university papers, haha. As for preference, it doesn't matter.

[littlebutfierce]

Congratulations on being so close w/your help_japan fic! Good luck finalising it.

[mystiri_1]

I need to update my current counter to show I have written something in the past week - but it wasn't today.

I have a tendency to slip into present tense without even intending to, and I always have to double-check my fic for conflicting tenses. Especially if I'm supposed to be writing past tense. I do prefer present tense for some things - mostly porn, and anything where I want to concentrate on the mental/emotional processes and reactions of a particular character.

Weird thing is, I never used to write present tense at all.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for writing this week!!

I so agree that present tense just seems to... present itself (ugh, no pun intended, really) as the thing to use sometimes!

[snowynight]

I did 500 words today, and spent some time brainstorming.

I have a tendency to slip into present tense, too, but at the end I was past tense all the way but I don't mind what tense I'm reading.

[littlebutfierce]

I think I go through phases w/present & past tense -- maybe? IDK. I'm in a present-tense one at the moment. Or... I was yesterday, when I posted my fic.

Yay for 500 words plus the brainstorming, too!!!

[glitteryv]

Wrote 1,500 words yesterday--which is my daily goal until next Wednesday if I want to make the Big Bang's deadline.

I use both past and present tense in my fics. Not within the same story--except for one fic set both in 2010 and 1998. Also, nope, it wasn't a time-traveling fic. I'm equally good with fics using either tense. A good story is a good story.

[littlebutfierce]

Woohoo, 1500 words is awesome!! It sounds like you'll have an exciting ride through to next Wednesday for your deadline. Good luck!!

[curuchamion]

I'll use either past tense or present tense depending on what the fic wants to be in. Sometimes I'll start in one and then go to the other (and then have to fix the continuity), but I'm always fairly conscious of which one I'm using. They feel different to me, if that makes any sense...

[littlebutfierce]

They feel different to me, if that makes any sense...

Yes! They feel different to me too. Sometimes if I start a fic in one tense & then, in a later session, I continue it & find w/o thinking about it that I've started using the other, it becomes really obvious that whichever one I used second is the right one for the fic. There's... almost a click.