August WIP challenge - day 3 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

Poll #7667 Day 3 check-in!

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

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What did you do today on your fic?

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Wrote
7 (77.8%)

Posted
1 (11.1%)

Edited
4 (44.4%)

Sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

Researched
1 (11.1%)

Nothing!
1 (11.1%)

And how do you feel about that?

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Yay!!!
2 (22.2%)

SHUT UP DON'T EVEN ASK
1 (11.1%)

Somewhere in between
6 (66.7%)

Your WIP in 5 words or less:

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And moving on to the flamingo:



[BIG BANG DEADLINE IN A WEEK (Fanfic Flamingo) GO TO KINK MEME AND START A MULTI-PART FILL INSTEAD]

I think that's a situation a lot of comm members are familiar with! Do you do this sort of thing? I definitely think that sometimes switching gears & working on a different fic can be helpful & give your brain a break. But sometimes (at least for me) it's just unproductive procrastination. Is there a way you can tell the difference? How do you rein yourself in & get yourself back on track if it is just fruitless procrastination? (Is it ever procrastination? Maybe all words are good words!)

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I wrote about 800 words for a comment fic fill I've been trying to work on for weeks. It... needs a lot of work. Probably most of the words I wrote today will have to be excised, but I'm trying to feel okay about that.

I think as long as I can get myself back to working on the main WIP w/in a few days, then giving myself a break to go frolic w/another WIP tends to be a good idea.

[katzenjamming]

Yay for 800 words! But I totally feel you about (not) anticipating the editing phase. There are some days when I beam, thinking I've written this really great scene and all, only to turn back to it ten minutes later and wonder if it really has a place in the story. It's definitely a part of writing I'm trying to get used to, as well!

[littlebutfierce]

I like doing the first pass of edits, where it's pretty easy (& satisfying) to trim out large chunks of deadwood, but the finer points -- well, sometimes I get a little impatient, hehehe!

[jagnikjen]

I haven't had a chance to write yet today as I've had other things to catch up on. I don't know about tonight either as we'll probably be moving furniture around. Maybe in the morning.

I never procrastinate. I just take a break from writing! :)

I really don't know how to answer the question as I have nothing on deadline. Okay, wait, I have original stuff I should be working on, and it's due by Monday...I've been busy writing fic, but not really because I'm procrastinating. I just have no desire to work on it. But I probably will tomorrow or Friday.

When I procrastinate it's usually by doing other equally important stuff that *could* actually wait. :) Or housework.

[rebecca2525]

(Oops, comment fail.)

I whish I would procrastinate by doing housework. That would at least be useful. (I'm so bad with housework I don't even do it for procrastination.) Instead I do useless stuff.

[littlebutfierce]

Yeah, there's definitely a difference between procrastinating w/ & w/o a deadline, but... it's still possible to put off finishing a story even if it has no definite deadline, y'know? Heh. Sometimes I open up a file & pick at a fic for a few minutes & put it away again & do that for months before finishing it (if I do indeed finish it).

Procrastinating by doing housework sounds pretty good, actually! Do you find your brain gets thinking about the fic in a different way while your body's busy doing the housework, ever?

[sharpiefan]

Deadlines? I don't do deadlines... The last time I had a deadline, I ended up writing something that didn't want to finish itself. So I ended up scribbling something rubbish... and finished the Epic Fic of Doom (well, seeing as I mostly produce one-shots, anything longer than two-parter is an Epic Fic of Doom) about... six months or so AFTER the deadline.

Go me. XD

(I really need to get on with writing. Meh.)

[littlebutfierce]

Heh, everyone reacts in different ways to deadlines. I do finish fics w/o deadlines, but OTOH, the one fic for a challenge (poetry_fiction) that has a reaaaaaallly long amnesty period, & my remaining auction fic (that has no stated deadline)? They're totally stalled. ;_; Maybe for me it's having a commitment, but no deadline, that kills me.

[rebecca2525]

I wrote over 900 words today in a relatively short amount of time. I had a little trouble starting this important, long and slightly intimidating scene, but once I was over a certain point, I made quite a lot of progress. \o/

When I procrastinate, it's usually with something totally unrelated. Probably just something useless like surfing aimlessly around the internet and refreshing things every few seconds.

[littlebutfierce]

900 words, woohoo! & yay for getting over your fear & making a start on the scary scene!!

Yeah, my procrastination tends to be aimless internet surfing & refreshing of my DW reading page. ^^;;;

[ficwriter1966]

No productivity today - although I did *ponder* a new fic, which I guess is better than nothing. I would have liked to get it started, but had no free time during the day, and by the time I got home from work, my ambition had vanished! (What little of it I had to start with.)

One thing that's getting me down a bit - a lot of my readership (I write in Supernatural fandom) has gone on to other things. They've either vanished from LJ altogether, they're tinkering in different fandoms, or they just don't read SPN fic any more. A couple of years ago when I posted a new fic I could be pretty sure it would get a nice response. These days, if 10 people show up I feel like things are going really well. And that's disheartening. I've tried to tell myself to just write what I feel like writing, enjoy the process for its own sake, and if a few readers like it, that's still good.

To answer something I see people talking about here at the comm - I'm not one of those writers who tries to write a certain number of words per day. I tend to go with the flow. Write when I can, or when the spirit moves me, figuring that *those* words come from the heart. I'm a newbie here, so I'm not sure what's been chatted about before I joined, so maybe that's an adventure for this weekend - surfing back through older posts and seeing what the topics of discussion were.

Thanks for all your lovely encouragement, BTW! It's so pleasant and friendly here, and I'm glad I signed on. :)

[lacygrey]

- a lot of my readership (I write in Supernatural fandom) has gone on to other things. They've either vanished from LJ altogether, they're tinkering in different fandoms, or they just don't read SPN fic any more.

That's a shame. I hope there's some new influx of people. I don't know SPN fandom, but with Hikago there seems to be a lot of turnover of who's reading the archives and communities, ffnet always has new people commenting.

[ficwriter1966]

I think there's a little bit of an influx of new people - but I think that peaked a couple of years ago, and if anyone's new these days, it's just a few people here and there. Every once in a while someone new will stumble on my LJ and get excited and leave some comments, which is lovely. But I miss all my old familiar friends! I could always count on them to stop by and say hi, and things seem very quiet without them.

That's great that your fandom gets new people in all the time! It really does help keep things fresh.

[sharpiefan]

I feel a bit like this with my own fandom. I left LJ back in October with the Facebook thing, but most others in my fandom are still over there, which means my readership if down to a few friends.

Things are very quiet over here. I think it's important to keep gong though; the more stuff there is out there to read, the easier it is for newcomers to the fandom to find you and find stuff that they like.

[littlebutfierce]

DW is comparatively quite quiet compared to LJ in a lot of fandom communities, but... it's also much, much younger, y'know? (& even LJ used to have invite codes back in the day, before it was so large) :D Sometimes it is more work to get activity going on here, but OTOH it can be a good chance to get in on the ground floor -- I find comms on LJ w/1000+ members intimidating sometimes, heh. (& also, oddly, in my main fandom there's been more meta & discussion in a 30-person DW comm than in the LJ comm w/1000+ people)

It can be frustrating leaving behind a thriving community, though! I tend to cross-post my fic to LJ still, but I totally understand why people might not want to go back there at all.

[sharpiefan]

My own fandom is pretty small anyway, so moving over to DW means there are maybe three or four of us posting stuff - and that's pretty intermittent.

I think that DW will eventually take off in the way LJ did - with the events of the past few months and the DDOS attacks LJ has suffered recently, I think that people are increasingly likely to be looking for somewhere else, though I don't know that DW will ever replace LJ as a fandom for everyone, what with the other options out there now.

But I think that with people posting anything at all, it will encourage more people to come over to look and then maybe they'll join and start posting stuff of their own. It will just take time.

[littlebutfierce]

I share the pain of the small fandom person, heh! Yeah, it can be pretty slow sometimes. (You may have already thought of this, but I'll mention it just in case: is there a fandom-related comm you can mention on dw_community_promo? Or if you're hoping to nudge someone into making one, you could try create_my_comm perhaps?)

I think LJ is losing a lot of people, but not wholly to DW -- seems like Tumblr has been a drain for a lot of LJ-based fandoms, from what I hear (not any of mine, though, so I don't know that much about it).

[littlebutfierce]

I'm glad you're enjoying the comm! Thanks for coming along.

I think pondering a new fic counts as working on fic! You still have fic on the brain, y'know? Several people doing the challenge in the past have said that, even if they don't accomplish their goals for the month, they've often been thinking about their fics more than they had been previously, which they felt was an accomplishment in itself.

There are definitely some other SPN writers here, so if you need fandom-specific cheerleading/fic talk, you'll probably be able to find it! Though that must be frustrating, feeling like the fandom's moved on. :(

For me it seems to be working to make a habit out of writing -- it helps me to keep writing every day b/c it makes my brain think that writing is just something it does, y'know? Which seems to give me more good writing days. :)

[ficwriter1966]

The fandom's definitely on a downward swing these days - so many fans are disillusioned with the show, and if they still watch, they're in kind of a negative frame of mind. The percentage of people who are still really excited about it seems pretty low, which makes me sad! (Which isn't to say that I'm not disillusioned at all, but I try to keep the spirit alive with the stories.)

It's funny, isn't it, how we get so much joy out of writing fic - the writing itself, and then posting and sharing it, and yet the world at large persists in viewing fic as some sort of weirdo enterprise, or at best the redheaded stepchild of "real writing." (I've had a couple of ferocious arguments with "real" writers whose work I consider wildly inferior to some of the glorious fic I've read - they tried to claim that you're not a writer unless somebody purchases your stuff, which I think is a load of you-know-what.)

ETA: Have you guys chatted at all about writing fic for an exchange? I find that that messes with my brain in whole new ways - not just from the pressure of getting the fic done by a certain time, but worrying about whether your recipient will be pleased. Also, how closely do folks generally stick to the prompts - do you use that as inspiration and then fly off in a different direction, or do you view it as gospel? I'd love to see a discussion on that particular topic.

[littlebutfierce]

Which isn't to say that I'm not disillusioned at all, but I try to keep the spirit alive with the stories.

Yeah, I've written some... not quite fix-it fic, but... one of the things I like about writing fic is being able to address things I dislike/find problematic in canon. So as long as I'm not totally done w/a fandom, I can write things that critique it & make it more squeeworthy to me. ;)

& HA, I think you've just given me the topic for today's discussion post, so thank you! I'll probably broaden it to writing for somebody else (comment fic, gift fic, etc.) just to maximize the numbers of people it'll be relevant for, but... great idea! (& even if we have discussed it before, we could certainly discuss it again; it's not always the same people taking part & we've grown so much this year!).

[ficwriter1966]

Oh, excellent! Glad I could be of help. :)

And yes: fixing things that are "wrong" with canon. Or explaining the inexplicable. That's why we're here!

[rebecca2525]

I normally don't do the word count minimum per day either. I'm more of an occasional writer, and when I write, I'm quite slow and take my time. I'm making an exception now because I'm working on something longer which is always a little intimidating for me, and I fear that when I allow myself too long breaks I'll lose momentum and get myself into a downward spiral of finding the fic even more intimidating etc. So I've set a ridiculously small minimal word count per day: 100 words. That's so low that I feel I can attempt it even if I have nearly no time or am not in the mood. And then, I often end up writing more once I'm at it. This seems to be working out quite well.

[ficwriter1966]

Oh, I hear you on that! Set something aside for too long and it seems like you completely lose hold on that particular thread. I've tried my hardest to complete every WIP, especially if I've posted early chapters and people have a serious interest in seeing it finished, but sometimes...you just can't.

Thanks for chatting a bit - I'm having a very blue week (coming up on the first anniversary of my mom's passing) and it sure does help to chat with you guys about *fun* things!

[littlebutfierce]

Awww, I'm sorry you're coming up on a sad time. That must be hard indeed. :/

Hopefully, yeah, like you said, talking about fic will be a bit of a fun distraction (also, as someone else said in a check-in post recently, talking about fic seems to result in more fic -- so here's hoping, for all of us!)

[katzenjamming]

Between writing and editing I added almost 1000 words to the big WIP. It still felt really forced... D:

I've never done a timed project before (those kinds of memes and projects intimidate me!) but switching gears and doing a different fic usually gives me a break from the current project in case I'm having writer's block or something... particularly if it's a different genre/mood or fandom/universe.

And I agree, sometimes you just need to give your brain a break! I goof off surfing the Internet (though this is in no way exclusive to times I want to write fic). Sometimes I do extraneous stuff that does relate to fic, but not really -- pick out musey playlists, sketch out scenes, the like. Talking to someone helps a lot sometimes, whether it be bouncing ideas off of them or just getting some inspiration. But in the end, I think that sometimes just letting whatever low you're having run its course is all you can do.

[littlebutfierce]

1000 words is nothing to sneeze at! Even though it felt forced, even if you edit out a lot of it, you now have stuff to edit & work w/that you didn't have before. :) Sometimes I make myself write through to the conclusion of a scene, even if it's not really flowing, just so I know that I have something down. & yeah, I end up revising a lot of it, but at least... I dunno. At least I have the bones of the scene, even if I have to rework dialogue, description, movement, etc.

The extra fic-related stuff seems like a good way to keep fic on your mind but also give yourself a break from writing!

& I agree, sometimes you just have to let the writing slump run & keep faith that you'll move back out of that phase again. ^^;;;

[lacerta]

Not much writing today. The file's been open, but well. It's one of the "It's in my head, why do I also have to put it on paper" kind of days.

Heh, the flamingo just reminds how bad my track record with finishing is. A thousand open wips, a meager handful of posted fics. :(

[littlebutfierce]

Hm, but look at it this way: if you hadn't done the work on the WIPs & worked through all those ideas & gotten your brain warmed up that way, you might not have as many fics posted as you do. The more words you churn out, the more words will be the right ones, y'know?

I hope you're able to get back to your writing sometime soon! Those kinds of days are no fun. :/

[lexicalcrow]

Finally found the brain power to tackle my AU big bang fic at last. Put it into yWriter, and now I'm rearranging some of the scenes at the start to make them work better. And add some new ones. So that'll be fun. Did I mention it's due Friday? Cos it's due Friday. XD *runs off to finish kink_bingo fills*

[littlebutfierce]

Woohoo!!!! Go go go! Yay for rearranging scenes & adding in new ones & being close to the finish line! Good luck!

[lacygrey]

I managed two stints of 300 words and managed to complete the scene I was drafting. Its still missing a proper description of Waya Yosikata's suntan (Hikago) and some convincing Hikaru-like self talk though.

Ive never dared do a kink meme fill, though Ive thrown bunnies to a kink meme before - especially 'bunnies with guns' from other fandoms. Its distracting having them running around in my head with the peaecable Go-playing ones!

My chief distraction is reading, which Im trying to put a curb on.

[littlebutfierce]

Waya's suntan! Bwahahaha, awesome.

Yay for the stints of words, especially finishing a scene!! \o/

[bay_alexison]

Yesterday I was able to do some writerly stuff. I posted my slashfest fic and so far got some good comments, looked over someone's fic and did some light betaing, and wrote around 550 words of my Big Bang fic.

Haha, I actually did that when doing a Big Bang fic last year. What happened was I got stuck over the second to last chapter and I decided to do a couple kinkfest stories before tackling my Big Bang again. I like switching over a couple projects so that I take a break from one of them and able to get some writing done, but I also make sure to not have too many stories going on at once or else I'll have hard time which one I want to do for the time being, LOL.

[littlebutfierce]

That sounds like really good progress! \o/

Sometimes I find myself too unfocused if I have too many really active WIPs at one time, so I know what you mean!

[curuchamion]

I've been moving house and putting my books onto LibraryThing the past couple days (oh my gosh is that site addictive O_O), and today...

...well, today seems to be Comment Like An Asexual day for me ;P I just finished a quick description of a poly!ace orgy (inspired by a Matt Smith quote, "The Doctor's idea of an orgy is playing chess with an ostrich"), and now I am going to write a - hopefully polite - angry comment to a BNF in another fandom about an ace-oblivious post they just did. *fingers crossed*

[littlebutfierce]

Ohhhh LibraryThing! I had my whole collection on there but then I moved continents & got rid of half of it in the process, so... I'd probably need to torch my account & start again. ^^;;;

Good luck w/the critique to the BNF -- pointing out that stuff can be so tiresome (& hard, when you draw fire), but necessary!

[sharpiefan]

I'm not sure I've ever done a multi-part kink meme fill... But I've certainly dropped one fic for another that grew into a Monster of Epic Proportions. (Well, a ten-part fic, which for me is epic!)

Now, I really must get on with Part Four of the current monster I'm writing...

*opens I Can Has Cheezburger instead*

[littlebutfierce]

HAHAHAHAHA! Good luck tamping down the urge to fritter away time (the internet is way too shiny for my its own good....) & getting some writing done!

(On a more serious note, I've tried things like LeechBlock or Chrome Nanny & have had some success -- though it's more just getting myself to turn them on...)

[sharpiefan]

Someone linked me to TV Tropes recently when I was trying to do something Very Important fandomwise.

I need to take a ball of string when I go there. Or something. I have no idea how much time I wasted. Clicky links are addictive. :D

[littlebutfierce]

Ohhhhh TV Tropes needs to come w/a warning. Heh. I've managed to stay away from it lately, but if I go back, I should definitely put a time limit on that via LeechBlock... ^^;;;