August WIP challenge - day 1 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

How's the fic going today? Are you writing/editing/sending to beta? Researching? Resting on your laurels? Procrastinating? Did you post something?

To start off the month, tell us about the fic(s) you'll be working on! Some of you did that a little bit yesterday, but feel free to go into more detail: What do you think will be trickiest to work on? What are you looking forward to? Scared of?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I've done absolutely nothing ficcish today, but my excuse is that I had to get on a bus at 5:45 AM (& I did my 750 Words before then, even!) & only got home a little before 10 PM.

I've got two WIPs for Natsume Yuujinchou that are so close to being done -- I'd really like to get them finished soon. Near the end of July I got some amazingly useful comments from my beta, who's kindly agreed to look over the first of the two fics again (after I made some suggested changes). So I'm waiting for that right now too.

... I really need to finish my K-On! help_japan fic this month as well. I feel so monofannish at the moment it's a little hard to switch gears, but I need to remember that I've got most of the first draft written, & that while I was still sucked into Natsume fandom. So I can do it! It's just... going to be challenging. But yeah. I can do it. Something like that!

Something I generally find challenging is knowing when a fic is done. Sometimes I get the itch to just POST IT ALREADY, even though maybe it needs more finessing; sometimes I get so caught up in tweaking words in tiny ways that I could, really, just end up never finalizing the fic!

[lacerta]

Writing so many words so early is very impressive.

Heh, I get that a lot too, being torn between wanting to post a fic immediately and wanting to make it as good as I can. The part where I'm done writing and have to wait for a beta to reply is probably the worst in that regard.

Would some pom-poms help? You can totally do it :)

[littlebutfierce]

Thank you!! I appreciate it. :)

I think after too much fretting/wordsmithing I lose the ability to really tell what needs to be changed & what's all right, & risk making the fic worse by changing things indiscriminately. It is a fine line to walk, between polishing & taking it too far!

[rebecca2525]

What helps me a lot is setting the fic aside for a while to get some distance. I do that a lot between editing rounds. Of course that only works if you don't have a tight deadline and if you have enough other things to distract you from wanting to post RIGHT NOW. :)

[littlebutfierce]

I really really hate doing things at the last minute -- I think I finished my Yuletide fic two weeks early, to give you an idea -- so luckily I don't tend to have to post in a hurry. But it is absolutely hard to stop myself wanting to post IMMEDIATELY!!!!1 sometimes -- it helps that sometimes I finish fics (or think I finish them) late at night, so sometimes I'm just too tired to go faff w/HTML & proofing it one last time.

(... then sometimes I lie in bed & think about the fic when I'm trying to sleep, eek!)

Distance from a fic is a beautiful thing!

[lacerta]

I was hoping to finish off the first version of a kink bingo fill that that came out of nowhere last night, but I'm not really sure yet where to go with it. On the one hand, a short pwp is perfectly fine for that kind of challenge, though on the other hand, the kink could have so much more impact if there was a little more back story and a longer intro and the like.

Instead of working on that, though, I did a few little tweaks on two fills from the last kink meme round and re-posted them to my journal. It makes me feel incredibly accomplished.

What I'd love to finish this month is a Supernatural fic based on the Binding of Isaac. I've been watching lots of exciting lectures that pick apart every single word in the rather short text (yes, I find that incredibly exciting ♥♥♥), so the motivation is definitely there. I'm about halfway through with it as well and the missing parts are planned out. All that's lacking are the actual words.

The really difficult aspect for me in writing this is getting the headspace right. There's so much going on emotionally - a father who loves his son so much and still plans on sacrificing him, a son (a child, really) who doesn't fully understand what's going on, only that something is terribly wrong and he can help fix it, and the strangest part is that I can see a certain, terrifying kind of comfort in that too. It's very intimate at least, that's for sure.

So yeah. I'm excited :D (which should be obvious from my ramblings)

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for posting the revised fills to your journal! & good luck figuring out what you want to do w/the kink bingo one.

Also, that's great that you're enjoying the research for your Issac fic so much -- both b/c it's nice to be so enthralled & also all your work will obviously pay off in the finished fic. It definitely sounds like a challenge to get the emotional tone right -- but also like it will be SUPER SATISFYING when you're finally able to do it!!

[jagnikjen]

The original August challenge was continuing my years old JAG fic, but after seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II, I was gripped by a plot bunny about Narcissa Malfoy, so that's what I've been working on instead.

I've been working on it pretty much every day, though mostly just sort-of random scenes, though they all take place towards the beginning and after the first couple of chapters which have already been written.

The hardest part is going to be the emotional change and growth of Narcissa and portraying Lucius accurately.

[littlebutfierce]

Heh, I say go w/the shiny new idea while excitement is high for it! I love that phase where you're just on fire to work on the story. Good luck w/the emotional aspects.

[ficwriter1966]

Didn't get any writing of a fictional sort done today, although I did do today's entry on a meme. (I guess that counts for something!) Still have the second half of my 4-part fic "on hold" for the foreseeable future - but I have a week's vacation coming up towards the end of the month and hope to get it hammered into shape then. It involves a lot of emotion and resolving problems, and I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with it.

I've got a bunch of other bunnies in the pen (something like 20?) so there's no shortage of ideas, but nothing's capturing the Muse's fancy right now.

[littlebutfierce]

At least you have the ideas percolating in your brain, y'know? Then maybe giving your fic brain a little rest will make one of them catch its interest again. May you get lots of writing done during your vacation! That sounds like a v. intense, but excellent, way to spend some vacation time. :)

[lexicalcrow]

I had uni yesterday, necessitating leaving the house at 7am. I was too distracted by uni to think about writing. I did post another chapter of Glitter though. I got lazy and I'm just posting a chapter a day, since it's finished. I might've spread it out more though if I'd had an actual audience who were keeping up with it. :/ *misses my active fandom*

For this month, I just want to get my kinked big bang to around 10-15k? Given I'm beginning to get a feel for how busy the semester is going to be, I didn't want to overestimate and try and actually finish it, especially since I have September to write it as well. I already have 5k at the moment. If I can get maybe another 5-10k this month on it, that'll leave me less to write in September when half my assignments are due. XP

My fic is basically a sequel to another fic I wrote, involving mutant humans with Pokémon superpowers. :D I just ... need it to get less apocalyptic and more kinky atm. XD Oh well. We'll see where it ends up.

[littlebutfierce]

I think starting a new semester gives you a free pass to not think about fic for a few days! Yay you for posting a new chapter regardless.

Good luck w/the big bang, esp. w/uni ramping up.

[dragonfly]

Have not done any fic writing today.

Need to work on:

1. Continue Odyssey 5 auction fic.
2. Start Blood Ties auction fic.
(kick Highlander auction fic down the road)
3. Beta 56 page story and beta that other story when she's got more for me.
4. White Collar hat story I promised
5. Sanctuary story I promised

I look forward most to the White Collar story, though re-viewing the Blood Ties episodes has got me kind of fired up for that fandom, again. I'm still afraid of the Odyssey 5 story, and am a little O-O about needing to learn Sanctuary well enough to write fic for it.

[littlebutfierce]

Sounds like you'll have lots of different projects to keep your interest in August! That's often helpful to me, especially if I'm stuck on one of them. Good luck whittling down the to-do list!

[katzenjamming]

Today I got about 900 words of a spin-off to the AU fic I haven't finished yet (wtf?) but it just had to be written before it left me. I also edited my big WIP, adding about 500 words to it.

All my WIPs at the current time are based off Japanese live-action shows, hahah. This month I'm focusing on two big projects: The first was supposed to be this grimdark parody that's turning out to be this epic-length darker and edgier retelling of canon. I'm hoping to add 12k words to it, which is totally doable so long as I focus. I'm also hoping to rewrite and get back to posting this slice-of-life longfic which has decided to take a radically different direction since I started it. Otherwise, I've got a few oneshots I'd like to finish.

The hardest thing for me right now is plotting out the retelling fic. While most of the storylines end up the same it's hard to take them apart and reconstruct them in a way that keeps the spirit of canon yet still seems fresh. Also, a few of my characters are big schemers and plotting out their intricate plans has been a royal pain, but I hope it'll end up worth it.

I'm looking forward to getting this fics posted, particularly for one fandom -- the pairings, dynamics... and just gen period are rare on the English side of fandom. However, I'm nervous because it's largely inactive now, and (as shallow as it might seem), I would hate to start posting the epic-length one and get no feedback on it.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for the 1400 words you got down! That is super impressive for 1 day!!

Also, a few of my characters are big schemers and plotting out their intricate plans has been a royal pain

Ha, I can imagine! I tend to go for feeeeeelings fic & am stymied often when faced w/actual plot (as many of my ideas have been over the past few months: WTF brain? I can't do this!) -- so I bet actual plot combined w/schemers would be quite tricky.

& sympathies on the small fandom thing -- it can be really discouraging to get little or no feedback. :/

[mexta]

Hi everyone, I'm new here but hope I can join the group for August. Writing can be lonely! I'm currently working on a sequel to a story I've drafted but not posted yet, so I figure I'll work on this over the next few months. I had just over 2,000 words written before today but hadn't worked on it for a while - today I added about 1,000 so I feel like I've picked it back up again. Aiming for around 500-1000 / day when I have chance to work on it.

A bit about the current project ... I have a rough outline but the story is very episodic, with three or four separate episodes that may be hard to pull together. And there's some character development threads that need to be pulled through all the episodes and in some cases don't get resolved till the very end. So for now I'm trying to just work on the scenes and then worry about pulling everything together later.

Thanks for the group - I've lurked briefly and it looks friendly and supportive!

[littlebutfierce]

Welcome to the comm! & yes, we try to make writing a little less lonely here, if possible -- one of the things I like about the comm is that no matter what gripe I have about my writing or the fic I'm working on, someone else can sympathize. ;)

Yay for adding 1k words today! Good luck getting the scenes down & knitting it all together! I tend to do that w/longer fics, too (though I am a shortfic writer, so my "longer fics" aren't really that long -- I thought I had a 10k story recently but my beta confirmed my belief that it really needed to be 2 shorter stories, ha! Maybe I really am not a longfic writer after all...).

[rebecca2525]

I didn't do anything for my fic yesterday. I've been too busy, tired and slightly intimidated by the scene that needs to be written next.

I'm working on a Cabin Pressure WIP that's now at 10.000 words with 3 chapters out of 5 done. It's a retelling of a classic story, so I know exactly where it's going and what needs to be done, but the challenge is to make it fit with the characters and canon in general.

The trickiest part is going to be what's coming next because it's a) a crucial point to the story, and b) dramatic (while I prefer the more light-hearted and funny side of things.) I'm definitely looking forward to writing the final scenes.

I'm hoping to finish the first draft before my holidays; let's see how that works out... or at least get the hardest part done so that it'll be easier to pick up again after I'm back.

[littlebutfierce]

I'm sorry you didn't have the time/energy to write yesterday -- but maybe getting a little bit of rest from the fic will make the intimidating scene seem slightly less so? Good luck writing the dramatic stuff when your natural inclination is for the opposite -- it can be really hard to write outside the comfort zone like that! (though for me it's the opposite: I could never write crack, sob; it would just be AWFUL)

[curuchamion]

I posted a thing! A 1300-word challenge fic (for SG1friendathon on LJ), two hours before deadline. :D

And then I moved back into my family's house from my apartment, so we'll see how much writing I can get done when I don't have a room of my own. (Quiet and knowing I won't be interrupted are rather important to my writing... o_O)

But I also wrote and posted a meta post on DS9 as a space Western, which I'd been meaning to do for ages, so I am hopeful. And I'm doing a 30-day meme about fanfic writing, which is making me re-read some of my old fics and think about fannish things, so - yeah. Thinking about fic often produces more fic, I find. *nods sagely*

Here's to August! :D

[littlebutfierce]

Congratulations on posting your fic! Woohoo!

I hope you're able to find some headspace back at home for writing -- I tend to need a lot of privacy for writing as well, & uninterrupted time. Then again there are all those people who write & say that they used to think they needed lots of time until they had a baby/had to get a second job/went back to school/had other family commitments, & then they learned to write in 5-minute snippets or whatever. Maybe if you don't get the quiet time at home you'll develop that skill instead?

Thinking about fic often produces more fic, I find.

I totally agree!

[linaewen]

I was resting on my laurels yesterday. :-D And I have to say, it's nice to be able to say that.

However, that said, I don't want to waste any more of the new writing month. This month I'll be working on two fics. The first is LotR, and I'm looking forward to picking that one up and running with it after having it be stalled for awhile. The Big Bang I just finished had some similar characters, and writing that got me in the mood for working on this other one again.

The second fic I'll be picking up again is Major (anime/manga). I think I'll start by doing some mood-setting research (i.e., rewatching the anime and watching some RL baseball), but I hope to be able to pick up where I left off without too much trouble.

My main fear is that things will be back to normal again after 10 days off and I don't want the busyness and stress of work and life to affect my writing like it was. :-)

[littlebutfierce]

Yaaaay Major fic! The canon refresh for that one should be fun -- RL baseball, hooray!

I hope that all the stuff that made your schedule so hectic recently doesn't rear its head again, & you're able to get some writing in!

... after the much-deserved laurel-resting, natch!

[bay_alexison]

Technically August 1st is yesterday since I'm late to the party, LOL. But in any case I was able to rewrite bits of my ladyfest fic and send it to my beta (again) to look over it. I feel there are some parts that are STILL rushed (my beta said the story seemed rushed to her for some reason), so hopefully she'll be able to give advice on how to expand some parts.

As for fics I'll be working on--most definitely my Big Bang fic. I actually got it started a while ago, bit it turned into my TOO MANY FRAGMENTED SCENES FIC. Later tonight I'm hoping make myself write that story again. The most trickiest part will be with the two main characters going into negotiations with a group of people and I have that plan to happen in the third chapter. I don't want to mess the scenes up, so I'll need to think over a bit how that'll play out. There's then my second slashfest fic that I want to write and also planning out the help_japan fic, so we'll see if I'll get through those.

[littlebutfierce]

TOO MANY FRAGMENTED SCENES FIC.

Ohhhh, I kind of had that problem last month. Good luck sorting it out!

& yay for rewriting some of your ladyfest fic & being able to send it back to beta! I hope she's got some good advice for you.