WIP challenge: day 10 check-in & weekly chat/beta-seeking/snippeting post!

[littlebutfierce]

We're heading into the weekend! Does that mean lots of fic-time for you, or none at all?

Poll #7244 Day 10 check-in!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

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Your fic:

View Answers

Is awesome!
4 (40.0%)

Is going to be bured in a drawer & hidden forever. Or burned.
0 (0.0%)

Might get to a good place if I keep working on it
4 (40.0%)

Is disappointing me right now.
2 (20.0%)

This weekend, what ficcish things are you planning to do?

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Write
7 (63.6%)

Edit
5 (45.5%)

Send to beta
2 (18.2%)

Post
1 (9.1%)

Procrastinate
3 (27.3%)

Something else I will describe in comments
0 (0.0%)

Nothing: too much other stuff going on
0 (0.0%)

Three words or less about your fic:

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It's also time for another general fic chat post: Are you looking for a beta? Want to post a snippet of your WIP? Have other fic-related things you want to chat about? Go for it!

I'd especially be interested in hearing people talk about what they need for their fic right now, in order to make progress. Some of that might be covered above -- beta-seeking, for example -- but anything else? Is there something the comm might be able to help you with, whether directly or by cheerleading or offering suggestions?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I haven't written anything today! Typical for a Friday night; I'm usually so tired from the week that the words just don't come. I've written a fair bit this week, though, so that's all right.

I... don't know what I need to make progress on any of my WIPs. Maybe more accountability: someone to kick my ass a little about getting rough drafts done & then actually going through & doing some editing & restructuring. I feel kind of grumpy that my favorite WIP at the moment is going on & on (for me, I mean: that means it's 4.5k right now & I estimate it will need at least that much again, if not more, to wrap up). I'm a little scared that I can't really write & structure fic longer than a few thousand words v. well! So... maybe cheerleading or commiseration (anyone else a shortfic writer whose stories are gradually getting longer?) or something.

Company during the writing session would be awesome, too.

[glitteryv]

Yeah, usually by Friday afternoon, I'm pretty much comatose. So, I totally hear you on being tired enough to wonder if I won't end up writing total gooblygook.

Maybe getting a First Reader will give you that oomph? It's worked for me several times. I get some much needed positive feedback (in case you don't know, unlike a Beta, the First Reader is there to cheer you along rather than offer concrit) while the First Reader gets "a first look" at a brand-new fic.

[in_lighter_ink]

I am a fellow shortfic writer whose stories are gradually getting longer! (It's starting to freak me out a little.) I can cheerlead and commiserate!

(And I'll also be around at the writing session.)

[lacygrey]

Trying to send you good vibes for fic completion!

I have the same thing: Im working up from writing self-contained shortfic to writing longer chaptered fic. I think the breakpoint is where a single scene won't stand alone because there has to be too much backstory for me to squeeze in (= info dump).

A good number of my shortfic come from the same universe anyway, but their styles are different (I'm a beginner - I'm bound to change). I tend to think that they get more attention as shortfic than they would if they were chapters. I'm also very slow: people would be haning on forever for an update.

I worked out today that I was having trouble as my present Hikago story has several consecutive threads. I wondered about separating them into different short stories but they do all lead to a common outcome and thus belong together. I'm now trying to sort out the order of events with colored post-its. It was this that had been daunting me and slowing things up, i.e., the organisational mess was in my head when its better off on paper.

For a weekend day its been surprisingly productive. I archived a few fic too (AO3 and FF), which tends to be laborious, what with the formatting and all.

[curuchamion]

I rewrote my SG-1 Friendathon fic! Now to hunt up a beta.

[glitteryv]

Good luck with your hunt! I'm going off to snatch me a couple sometime next week. ;)

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for rewriting! (Much harder than writing -- at least to me!) Congrats & good luck w/the beta.

[linaewen]

Things are awesome in that I actually finished a fic this month and I'm still pleased about it. The last few days have been occupied with non-fic pursuits, but the weekend should allow me some time to get back into writing again. I may forgo working on my Big Bang in favor of new chapter for posting for a long-ignored WIP. I'm looking forward to some writing and hopefully posting this weekend!

What I need now to stay on track with my writing is time without other jobs breathing down my neck. I think I've broken the writer's block for now, I just need time to apply to writing instead of other stuff!

[glitteryv]

Go you for finishing a fic! *shakes maracas of woot!*

Sometimes is about setting aside that time, be it 30 minutes, an hour or whatever. Good luck! I know you can keep writing. :)

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for finishing a fic already & hopefully getting some more writing time in this weekend! (Also, is the new-chapter-WIP the Major one???)

Good luck finding time to focus solely on the writing!

[sharpiefan]

*prods muse*

I am actually out of ideas and even my bunnies aren't bunnyish right now. Which is really annoying - when I'm in the zone, I can write fic like there's no tomorrow. When my muse is on holiday, it's worse than pulling teeth. Without anaesthetic.

[jagnikjen]

I'm so with you!!

[glitteryv]

YIKES! I hope your Muse cuts her vacation short soon. /o\

[littlebutfierce]

Ugh, I'm sorry--feeling like NOTHING is coming to the brain for writing is horrible. When I'm in those phases I try to tell myself that the brain does need time to recharge--we can't just write like we're on fire for months on end, y'know? Or we'd burn out.

I dunno if this post, written when I was thinking about similar things, might be useful at all--maybe not! But I hope you find something to jumpstart your creativity again soon.

[jagnikjen]

For my June challenge I just need to set my butt in the chair and work on it.

Other than that I need some ideas!

[glitteryv]

*send alfalfa for your bunnies* I hope you get writing soon. :)

[littlebutfierce]

Good luck on both counts!!!!

[glitteryv]

Barely eked out 1,400 after the Day from Hell (TM)

Are you looking for a beta? Want to post a snippet of your WIP? Have other fic-related things you want to chat about?

I'll be looking for (at least) two betas very soon (as in, next week or so). *crosses fingers and hopes to find good ones*

[littlebutfierce]

I'm sorry you had such a horrible day! 1.4k after that is definitely impressive!! I hope the weekend is more relaxing, & good luck finding betas!

[pipisafoat]

writing is depressing. (well, i mean, not being able to write anything worthwhile that needs writing but once again writing extraneous things that come out pretty good.) *glares at keyboard in vain* Somehow I have managed to vary my word count quite a bit so far this month but end up back at 0 fairly regularly. It's a great idea, but I wish someone else would write it.

[msmcknittington]

I totally feel you on the writing being depressing thing. Sometimes it's just a huge struggle, and no matter how many times you give the keyboard the hairy eyeball, you get NOTHING. Unless it's for something you don't really need to work on, right? Productivity on anything other than what I want/need to work on is how that situation usually ends up for me.

(I'm so happy you mentioned this comm in inkstains, btw!)

[msmcknittington]

I just signed up! pipisafoat mentioned the comm in a post in another comm -- I had no idea it existed before this. I've been really ambivalent about my writing for a while now, so I'd liek to get into gear again. Or as close to in-gear as I ever get! I doubt I'll ever be prolific.

Would anybody be interested in reading the first three chapters of a 10th Kingdom fanfic I've been working of for, uh, a few years now? I don't think familiarity with the miniseries is necessary, just fairy tale tropes. It's kind of shaping up to be a Regency romance in a fairy tale setting -- I may have been reading too much Mary Balogh when I started writing it -- and I'd really like someone to tell me whether I should keep plugging away at it or if they'd like to read more. I think it probably needs quite a bit of editing to liven it up and make it drag less, but just having someone say, "Yes! Write more!" would encourage me to do that. Especially if they'd like to talk plot. :D The fandom is so tiny.

Um, those three chapters are about 13,000 words. Which I guess isn't all that bad for something that's going to be novel-length, but it's definitely not a drabble.

[in_lighter_ink]

Oooh! I'm not familiar with the miniseries, but, after reading the Wikipedia article, it sounds like something I'd enjoy -- I'd be interested in reading!

[lexicalcrow]

WELL. I did do some writing, and added another scene, so that's getting better. Just need to keep working at it and get it all done. I haven't had much time today to write either as I slept in and then procrastinated too much, but eh. It's the weekend. XD

I'd still really like a beta for this fic too. (This is my second queer_fest fic.) Particularly someone who could beta the mental illness parts as I really wouldn't mind someone who could pick out anything that didn't seem quite right. Trying to avoid Doin It Rong, but have no idea where I'd find someone like that who'd be willing to beta a shitastically long RPS AU fic. :/

I mean, it would be nice to get that sort of beta though, but even someone willing to do a general beta on it would be nice. I've tried recruiting from my flist but no one's come forward yet. So. :/ Because this is a very long fic (30k+) and it's always possible I'll miss mistakes that are obvious to someone who hasn't spent as long working on it as I have. Also plotholes. Etc. D:

[snowynight]

Perhaps you should try the beta pool of access_fandomfor mental illness?

[snowynight]

I write 3 more 500-word kink bingo stories. I'm trying to make a X pattern, so I need to write 7 more stories.

I need idea, idea, idea for the rest of the stories needed to fulfill the pattern (Who will think that body/body parts kink, double/mirror and uniform are so hard to plot?)
and it will be nice if someone can read a 6K story and give some feedback.

[littlebutfierce]

Oooh, yay for steaming ahead w/kink_bingo! It hasn't even been that long since the new cards were given out, so go you!

Good luck finding ideas for the squares!!

[in_lighter_ink]

It's been a bit of an off week, between the Mysterious Ill(ish)ness That Won't Die and being a little bit blocked, but I've managed to get a little bit written and a little bit more outlined -- hopefully this week will go a bit better.

Hm. [Warning: massive insecurities ahead!] I think I could use a First Reader. I've managed to actually finish a meme fill (anonymously!) that I think I might actually want to post for real, but I keep going back and forth on whether or not it's something people (besides the prompter and me!) might actually enjoy. (It's nearly 8,000 words of pre-series fluffy/angsty headcanon about a secondary character. And a 5+1 story to boot.) Um, it's BBC-Sherlock, should anyone be interested, though I'm not entirely sure that you'd need to be terribly familiar with the show. :D?

As for queer_fest, I just need to sit and write. This writing session couldn't be better-timed.

[littlebutfierce]

I'm sorry you've been sick!! Thanks for stopping by the writing session--I hope it helped.

(I-I'm not familiar w/ANYTHING about Sherlock at all, in any form... ^^;;; )

[bay_alexison]

Woot, finally posted my first help_japan fic this morning! :D Got done with editing the finishing touches last night, but it was late so I decided to get some sleep first before posting it, haha.

Hm, I could really use some help bouncing some ideas for my second help_japan fic (OH GAWDS, STILL DIDN'T MAKE MUCH PROGRESS WITH THE PLOT OUTLINE D: ), but not sure if any of you guys are familiar with the fandom, haha. The plot will come to me eventually, I hope.

[littlebutfierce]

YAAAAAAAY for posting your fic! Congratulations--that must feel awesome.

What fandom? Depending on what it is, maybe people might be able to offer thoughts even if they're not familiar w/it specifically? (Like, I dunno, if it was based on a fairy tale & people were familiar w/the fairy tale but not the particular permutation of it in the show... ?)