July WIP challenge: day 1 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

We're at the start of a new month: another fresh start for another WIP challenge!

Tell us about what you're doing for the challenge: what fic(s) you'll be working on, what you're looking forward to, what you anticipate the hardest parts will be. How's the month starting off for you?

Poll #7438 July WIP challenge: day 1!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

View Respondents

What fic-related things have you done today?

View Answers

Write
6 (60.0%)

Edit
1 (10.0%)

Send fic to beta
1 (10.0%)

Post
1 (10.0%)

Research
0 (0.0%)

Procrastinate
4 (40.0%)

Something else (tell us what in comments!)
3 (30.0%)

And how do you feel about that?

View Answers

YAY
2 (20.0%)

BOO
0 (0.0%)

Somewhere in between
8 (80.0%)

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I really want to finish my K-On! help_japan fic this month, for real this time. I'm having a hard time making myself work on it, though. I managed to make myself hammer out most of it last month, but still need an ending & a ton of editing, etc. We shall see.

I'm hoping to get some comment fic done this month -- things for the natsumeyuujinchou comment fic meme & some fic_promptly stuff -- & also maybe finish my big Natsume WIP??? I don't know.

Finding time to write & especially edit will be difficult -- for some reason things have been really busy for me lately. At least I wrote about 780 words today, a random little ficlet I may never finish.

[in_lighter_ink]

July Goals (in list form, because that is how I think about these things):

1 Spend the first week finishing up my queer_fest fic. This is perfectly do-able, as much of it is already drafted. I've just had trouble making myself work on it.

2 Find a beta and post the fic I did manage to finish in June.

3 Finally start researching and drafting the plot bunny that's taken up permanent residence in my brain! (It involves elements of the Fisher King myth, is set in the BBC-Sherlock 'verse, and might be the most ambitious thing I've ever tried to write.) I foresee some sticky bits (uh-oh, plotting), but I'm so looking forward to the challenge.

4 Feed the fic_promptly addiction that I seem to have developed.

(5 Edit and post that poetry_fiction fic that's being sitting on my desktop for months and months?)

That seems like a lot, but I'm not holding myself to accomplishing all five things -- I've learned that my brain does better if I've not restricted myself to only focusing on one writing task. Plus, all of these stories are in different stages: so if I'm pulled to research one day, there's 3; editing, 1 or 5; writing, 4. And so on.

/babbling

[littlebutfierce]

Those are awesome goals! & holy moly, if when both of us have posted our poetry_fiction fics we will deserve medals!!!!1 Or... something like that.

I find it better to have several WIPs in different stages to work on for just the reason you mention.

Good luck!

[jagnikjen]

July's challenge is to finish a JAG fic that's been waiting for my loving attention for about SIX years now. It's about 75% percent finished. I think. But in reading through I now realize, due to everything I've learned in the last six years, there're a few things missing from the story. So I'll be editing what's written and then writing the ending, though not necessarily in that order. :)

I started a new HP one-shot today. Not sure how long it'll end up being though it's at 933 words at the moment. :)

I also worked on a adding some links for RH fic to our fandom archive.

Also on my writing agenda this month as mentioned the last few days, a short story I'm trying to get to novelette length. Only 1200 or so more words needed to achieve that. And I know I'll actually end up with more.

[littlebutfierce]

Six years! I'm really impressed that the story has held your attention for that long -- it must be worth working on if you still are drawn to it. (I probably would've given up long ago, sob)

Good luck w/your various goals!

[lullabymoon]

I've managed about 400 words for a kink_bingo fill. I'm not sure how it'll turn out but it doesn't need much more before I need to go and ask for a second opinion.

Also, I've managed to complete 750words for the fourth day in a row. It's my longest streak and I'm quite pleased with myself. Even if half of it's crap, it's still a good habit that I need to get into more.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for the streak on 750 Words! I definitely churn out so much crap writing on that website, but then some of my best stuff has evolved from things I've written there too. & yay for getting closer to another k_b fill!

[linaewen]

I have several WIPs going that all want my attention, but the only one that will get it this month is the one I'm working on for my Lord of the Rings Big Bang challenge. It's due (complete and ready to post) at the end of July, so I can't dawdle. I'm slightly less than half way there as far as word count goes -- it's hard to say how long it will actually go once I get into the meat of the story. After four something chapters I'm just starting to get into it. ;-)

My tentative goal is to write 6,000 words per week. That's a lot more than I've been able to manage lately, so I really hope I can do it! I just have to, that's all there is to it. "Please don't let Real Life throw a wrench into things," she prays fervently...

I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes when it decides to take the outline and run with it. I have a pretty detailed outline I'm working from, but things always get interesting when I'm actually writing and putting flesh on those outline bones. It's a lot of fun, really. I have had the bones of this story lurking about for some time, and I'm excited about finally getting it out there!

I haven't written yet today, but I got tons of boring RL stuff done so I should be free to concentrate on the fun stuff now and for the rest of the evening. \o/

[littlebutfierce]

6k words per week sounds very do-able -- even if it's more than you've been doing, it sounds reasonable (instead of saying you needed 20k per week or something, which sounds much more frightening!). Good luck w/that! I hope the offline world behaves itself so you're able to keep to that schedule.

I hope all the surprises the story throws you once you've started turning the outline into text are good ones. :)

[lexicalcrow]

I did about 1500 words of AU big bang fic in a bid to try to get it done in time to send it in, but eh. I'll opt out of art and use the time to finish it instead. It's nowhere near done. And then I procrastinated. Rather a lot. :D

Apart from my au_bigbang fic, I've got my kinked big bang fic to work on too, but that's relatively straightforward and shouldn't get too complicated. I've done some planning and sketched out some scenes, I just need to tie those things together and get some proper work done on it. It's going to be a more 'traditional' D/s kink fic (with mutant Pokémon superpowers), rather than the epic Ancient Roman AU I wrote last time. :P

I also have another WIP I want to finish too. It's called Glitter, and it's the most epic crossover thing ever. I only have the last three chapters to write. No, really, that's all I have to write. So getthing those written would be awesome. And then I can badger someone to read over it just to make sure it makes sense and then start posting it at last. Ohgod it's been so long since I started it and I just want it done now. XD

I think I'll just keep going with my AU big bang for the moment, though, just to get it out of the way while I'm still on a break from uni. After that, um, we'll see.

[littlebutfierce]

I continue to be so impressed w/people who do big bangs. Multiple ones, even! W/competing timelines! Good luck managing them & your Glitter fic, too -- go go go w/those last 3 chapters!! I can empathize w/just wanting to POST THE FIC ALREADY (even though all my fics are much shorter; I can imagine w/longfic the feeling is that much more intense!).

[lexicalcrow]

Well, I added another ~2k? to my AU big bang fic this afternoon, so we're getting somewhere. Plot has been hijacked. Weird headcanon theories are now present. IDEK what's going to happen. :D?

It helps being organised, that's for sure. I do spend a lot of time coordinating schedules, especially with uni, so I'm not doing too much at once. That's one way of sorting it out. And I use tasks on my Google Calendar as well.

AND YES. Oh god, I've been working on Glitter since 2009, so yeah, I just want it done so I can post it already. :D Pity half the fandom's moved off since then. :/ It's probably going to be about 50k? when it's done so yeah. I started it with the decision that I wasn't going to post it til it was finished after more than a few unfinished serial fics I doubt I'll ever finish. I've even made banners and everything. XD

[glitteryv]

Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but this month is hella crazy since I've got two (2!) final deadlines for the two big bangs I've signed up for.

One BB will be sent to beta sometime next week (when the person who'll be betaing for me goes on vacation.) I'm feeling OK about that one.

The other Big Bang has to be at least 10k minimum. I'm about 1/5th of the way there. Feeling good about that one as I'll be doing the typey-typey thing on that for the next week and a half. *wipes brow*

Today, I wrote the first part of another H/C Bingo fill. 1102 words total. I also sent a couple of the fills to one of my fave betas so that everything will be ready for when I post them (I'm being all ambitious in that I want to have a blackout card. Oy!)

So, overall, good-but-not-fantastic writing day. ;)

[littlebutfierce]

Whew, sounds like you will have a busy month indeed! Yay for being almost ready to send that first bb off to beta, & yay for feeling decent about both of them!

Good luck getting it all together -- & doing the h/c bingo too! (Blackout, v. impressive!!!)

[rhi]

I'm working on a crossover of 10 linked drabbles. This would go faster if I knew the meaning of 'short.' My goals for the month are to finish that, get at least 5,000 words on each of the two original fic pieces I'm writing, and 5,000 on one of my stalled fanfic pieces. I don't even care which one. ::cheerful:: And my 'something else' today was working out, which happened even if writing didn't.

Good luck to everyone else with your goals!

[littlebutfierce]

Oooh, I love drabble series -- good luck w/that. (& heh, I have the opposite problem: I am a shortfic writer & tremble when met w/actual plot that demands longer wordcounts.)

Good luck w/your other goals as well! My goals keep morphing from "finish fic X & fic Y" into "post two things, I dunno what they are even though it would be good if one of them were X or Y" & even if I fail on those specifics, as long as I've gotten a lot of good words down during the month, it still feels pretty good!

[rhi]

Thanks! No, I start writing and plot shows up, and plot complications, and implications, and the next thing I know it's at 20K and running. Drabbles are hard! /whine ;->

Hey, good luck with yours, too! I'm with you, as long as I get writing done, I'll be happy!

[mystiri_1]

I wrote 3k in response to a prompt from a challenge/exchange I am not taking part in, and then left it as a multi-comment, belated birthday gift!fic to someone whose longfic I have been reading the last couple of months, even though I don't usually comment on her journal at all. Oh, well, I guess gift!fic is probably more welcome than me saying, 'I liked this chapter.'

Haven't touched the challenges I'm supposed to be taking part in. Oops.

Upside? I have already 'officially' outdone last month, as I never updated the counter on my journal from 128 words, even though I know I wrote more than that.

[littlebutfierce]

Oh, that's really cool about the gift fic you wrote! I'm sure the recipient will be v. pleased. Also, using a prompt from a challenge you're not in for a surprise fic must've felt delightfully low-pressure. Good luck getting into the challenges you are signed up for!

[pensnest]

I won't have time to do any writing today because my show is just finishing up and there is much to do in the way of organising gifts, etc. Not a problem.

My primary goal this month is to get written a new episode in my 'Chronicles' series. I know what will happen in the story, but only in the vaguest way - I won't know how it happens until I write it, which is always a bit scary.

As a secondary, I would like to write a ficlet or two for the fic_requests community on LJ, which has been languishing unloved for quite a while now. I've been hiding from the prompts there, and it's about time I just got down to it and wrote stuff.

[littlebutfierce]

I hope your show finished up well! I can imagine that would take lots of time. To me it always feels better to not be writing when I have a good solid excuse like that, & not just... "I meant to write, but the internet was calling & suddenly it was bedtime & I didn't even open the file."

Good luck w/your goals for the month! Having a variety of things you want to work on -- the ficlets plus the new piece in your series, which sounds longer -- will hopefully help if your brain needs to switch gears in order to keep writing now & again.

[snowynight]

My personal goal is:
1)Expand my possible bigbang to 25K so it can meet the minimum and I don't need to drop out.
2)Finish my 10K ladiesbigbang draft

Today I wrote 1K on 1) and 500 words on 2), which's on target. My possible bigbang is fighting with me though.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for being on target so far! Good luck in doing your big bangs -- I hope you're able to stay in the first big bang by meeting the wordcount.

[pkc_creative]

Haven't written anything for about a week now. Silly stomach bug :(

My plans for this month are to write at least 2 new chapters for Fire In The Dark my big L&O: SVU WIP. At this point I'm not fussed about word counts and I'll also ask around again to get a beta for it because it'll need it sooner rather than later.

I also want to try and write for all 3 prompt_in_a_box prompts before the 15th (deadline) but it's not too much of a problem if I don't, there's always the November round.

The hardest will be the prompt fics - really uninspired by them and getting a beta for the WIP a lot of people from the fandom seem to have moved on from it and I've come back to it again.

[littlebutfierce]

Oh, I hope you're feeling better soon! A stomach bug for a week sounds horrible. :/

Good luck w/your various goals! It sounds like they'll be pretty challenging but do-able. I hope you're able to find some inspiration for the prompt fics -- I hate when I want to write something & it's just not lighting me up.