WIP challenge - day 4 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

Poll #7680 WIP challenge day 4 check-in!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

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How many words did you write today?

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None
1 (14.3%)

None, but I planned it that way
0 (0.0%)

1-249
2 (28.6%)

250-499
0 (0.0%)

500-749
1 (14.3%)

750-999
3 (42.9%)

1000 or more
0 (0.0%)

& how are you feeling about your progress on your goal fics so far?

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For discussion (topic courtesy ficwriter1966!): Let's talk about writing for someone else. That could be fic exchanges, comment fic, birthday (or other gift) fic, etc. How does writing for a specific recipient change the process of fic for you? Do you worry a lot about whether they'll like it? How closely do you stick to the prompts? Do you do a lot of snooping to try & pin down the recipient's tastes? (Probably some of this will change depending on what kind of fic we're talking about: fic exchanges are different from comment fic -- especially an anon meme -- etc.)

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I wrote 800+ words on the comment fic I was working on yesterday. It took a turn someplace I didn't think it was going to go, but possibly this works better, so we'll go w/it!

I worry less about writing for other people when it's something like comment fic (especially anonymously) -- you're not paired up with a specific recipient, & comment fic memes often feel more casual. Formal exchanges I do get worried about whether the recipient likes it. I cross my fingers that they'll do a nice in-depth "Dear Writer" letter, & also have lots of unlocked posts on their journal so I can figure out more about them/what they might like. I've only done 2 formal exchanges so far, & luckily my recipients' requests were well within what I felt I could do. Though for one of them, the recipient requested sweet & I wondered if what I was writing was a little outside the boundaries of sweetness (there was reference to masturbation in it, but there's such references in canon!). It ended up being okay though.

Oh! There's also auction fic. I did one & was pretty pleased w/the story, but nervous b/c the recipient seemed to be a heavy shipper & the story went outside that a bit (though she'd previously said it would be okay if other characters were prominent in the story). So that was fine. My other auction fic... still isn't finished. *headdesk* (Apparently I need deadlines for these things most of the time.) I've got a really broad, kind prompt but I'm still struggling.

[jagnikjen]

Yay for 800 words. :)

[jagnikjen]

I was only able to work on my fic a bit this morning and I'm hoping to work on it some tonight after work, but I may be moving the furniture I thought I was going to be moving yesterday. Although it shouldn't take too too long.

I've never written specifically for someone based on prompts or requests.

The only time I did something remotely like this was a sort of kink meme. Anyone in our (relatively) small group of fen could post anonymously with whatever kind of kink story they'd like, any pairings, etc. Then whomever wanted to fill it, could and also post anonymously if they so chose. The fic I wrote for that turned out well and was also received well by everyone else.

[littlebutfierce]

I hope you were able to get some more writing in later! Moving furniture doesn't sound like fun at all. ^^;;; (Especially in TX in summer!)

[curuchamion]

745 words in two comments. (Well, honestly, I posted about the first one on yesterday's post, but... *shrugs*) I just finished writing an extremely heavy comment about Asexuality Exists to a BNF who just made a post erasing it. (I do not expect this to end well. Happily, I'm multifannish.)

Now I think I want a nap. :-)

(As to writing for other people: I'm pants at it. Writing to someone else's specs seems to freeze up my brain entirely. I can only do it if it's a surprise - like "Hey, you said you'd like to see X and I wroted you fic!". The one time I wrote an auction fic, it took me a year to produce ~300 words; luckily my bidder was patient! O_O)

[littlebutfierce]

Go you for the comment to the BNF! ... hopefully they took the criticism to heart w/o getting defensive (though I have seen, & done, enough calling-out to know that this chance is, er, rather small). Maybe your fandom is big enough to have multiple places to play in anyway?

I like being able to write fic for friends in the circumstances you describe -- though I don't overlap enough, fandom-wise, w/enough friends to have that happen v. often. ;_;

[katzenjamming]

The bare minimum done today (keeping up my 750 word streak) what I did write was planning stuff, not actual prose. Considering what was discussed in the last couple of entries, I might need to take a break, or at least break things up by working on another project.

I don't really do prompt memes or anything, but I have done gift fics. Usually the requester will give me a prompt and I'll go from there. The requesters typically know what kinds of things I write, and what I'm comfortable writing... and if I feel like I'm dissenting too much from the original prompt or idea, I'm usually in contact with them so I can say "I don't think can do that" or "this is going in a different direction than I thought it would...".

I'm one of those people constantly worried if the recipient (whether it's someone who would requested it or just any possible readers -- for instance, from what I know of people in the fandom) will like it, and probably bend to what I think their preferences are more than I'm aware of it.

[littlebutfierce]

The planning stuff is so important, though, so go you! I feel like doing that in 750 Words helps me a lot sometimes -- I don't tend to write out plans or outlines v. much (partly b/c I'm a shortfic writer), so giving myself permission to just blather on about it can result in some good solutions popping out of my brain!

[ficwriter1966]

Thanks for offering up my question for discussion!

I always worry about my fic to some extent - will people enjoy it, will it touch the right buttons for them. Mostly I write for myself, indulging all the Muse's whims, but it's always nice to know that a story has been well-received, that the audience liked it.

But wow, a "fic on demand" turns into a whole other animal. I become really conscious of the recipient looking over my shoulder in a sense - and I really make myself jump through hoops to (help) ensure that the recipient will like their gift (or their purchase, in the case of an auction). I suppose it's a case of "Do unto others," because when I'm on the receiving end, I like to feel that the writer has put some effort into the fic. Then too, it's kind of a people-pleasing thing. I kinda show up with that "Do you like it? Do you REALLY like it?" stuff and I can't rest unless they seem happy.

And yes, I do snoop to see what kinds of things the other person likes. I go all out!

Fic progress for today: some pondering. But I do have some spare time tomorrow (I think) and my fingers are crossed for actually getting some writing done!

[littlebutfierce]

Yeah, I think I mostly end up writing what I want to write & not giving in (at least consciously) to writing what's popular -- otherwise I would write much different pairings than I've done, ha -- but it is nice when you do that & you get some validation anyway! (I'm in all small fandoms, so potential audiences are quite small even before I write unpopular things, hehehe...)

But yeah, I do think, when writing specifically for someone else, I (quite reasonably!) try to pay a lot more attention to what they like. In a way it's a good exercise -- giving myself the constraints of their taste/prompt (assuming I can interpret what I think they like) & still writing a story that feels like me.

Yay for more pondering & keeping fic on the brain! Hopefully today you'll be able to get some words down.

[lexicalcrow]

I wrote one new scene yesterday and did some more general editing. Fixed up one scene and chopped the end off. Still trying to find a coherent order for the first third/half of this fic. I have a few more scenes still to write. Not sure what kind of shape it'll be in by the evening, but we'll see. Must Get Off The Internet and attempt to get some srs writing done. I have about five scenes to write, and five I'm either going to find a new place for, or leave in my Deleted Scenes chapter. FUN TIMES. Etc.

I haven't done a lot of writing for other people specifically, but in my limited experience, it's easier when you know what they like. When you're not familiar with what they like, and the story you're writing goes off in interesting directions, you can't be sure if they're going to like it or not. You can only tell the story that wants to be told and hope the recipient likes it.

As for anon memes, that's easier. XD I just stick to what I know I can write and go from there. Never had a bad reaction to my fic there. Mostly because, for me at least, the pairings I usually write are sort of rare anyway, so any fic is usually appreciated, even if it's not quite what the OP was perhaps initially thinking of. This doesn't necessarily count for requests for any fic at all, no matter what it is, though. There's less pressure for those.

As for sticking to prompts, it depends on the context. An anon meme prompt is different to, say, one I'd make for lgbtfest/queerfest, or another prompt claiming community/challenge, where there's usually some sort of expectation you'll stick fairly closely to the prompt you claim. Not as much room to veer off into interesting tangents (like zombies) when the story decides to take over. Which is why I had to rewrite one of my lgbtfest fics. Because of zombies. And I still need to rewrite another one because even though it was my own prompt, I still hate the fic I wrote and don't think it really filled the prompt properly in the way I wanted it to. Because I'm picky like that. FFS, self. XD

[littlebutfierce]

Woo, yay for the writing & editing combo!! I hope you were able to get some more writing done as you hoped.

I agree that when the pairings are rare, recipients seem particularly grateful, which is sometimes a relief! (Sometimes I think, ugh, maybe my story sucked but they were just happy for scraps...)

Sometimes I find it easier to experiment when writing for anon memes, b/c if it sucks or goes over badly, I need never post it anywhere else & claim it as my own. ;)

Also bwahahaha zombies! & also -- not being able to fill your own prompt to your satisfaction must be quite frustrating!!

[lexicalcrow]

Well, I've managed to sort out the scene order, I'm just revising now. I'm about halfway through now? I think I'm on the last of the scenes needing a more severe revision than a few words here and there, which is nice. Hoping I can get it done in time to send it in. D: Also, I settled on a better title, which is nice. I kind of hated the one I had before. XD

Yeah, it's also a nice validation that you're not the only one who wants that pairing either. I don't always worry about if it's good or not, probably because most of them are for kink memes and I'm writing porn anyway, so. But it's nice to write for them anwyay.

This is also true. I really should go fill my own prompts more often. It might be the only way I get them written, since some are too obscure even for kink memes. I don't think I've ever not reposted something I've written for a kink meme though. I've usually been happy enough with it to repost it. But I can see the advantage of being able to just leave it there anonymously and forget it's yours.

Yes, zombies. *facepalm* I had to rewrite that fic entirely from scratch, particularly as I was writing to someone else's prompt that time. Good thing I had another idea, and I do love that new fic so much now. But it wasn't a waste. I turned that zombie fic into a queerlygen fic, which then spawned two more fics to finish off that particular narrative, an apocabigbang fic, and then one more fic (about werewolves). SO. It's turned into its own distinct AU now. Woo. XD

And yes, it is frustrating not being able to fill it properly. I keep reading through what I wrote and I still can't point out what's actually wrong with it and how I'd fix it. Which makes it even worse. I have no idea where I'd start if I rewrote it so I haven't done any work on it since. It's just ... not what I wanted to write. It's probably my least favourite fic. :/

[littlebutfierce]

Do you ever print out WIPs & cut them up & physically move the paragraphs around to reorder things? &/or do the virtual version (in something like Scrivener)? Sometimes that helps me. Obviously you got where you needed to go, though, so yay!! (& super yay for new title that you like. I haaaate doing titles. I'm so like that flamingo that says "Need a title? Google song lyrics" or whatever.)

A couple of times I've filled my own prompts & they've gone over like lead balloons... & I'm not going to comment praising my own piece *giggle*. Oh well, if it satisfies me as the prompter, that's the main thing!

I'm sorry your least favorite fic is one you did for your own prompt, though. :(

[lexicalcrow]

I use a program called yWriter, which lets me shift scenes and chapters around. It's like a simplified (and free) version of Scrivener and LSB (which I can't afford anyway). That does the job. I always do big edits on paper as well, and yeah, I have occasionally cut things out and shifted them around, but that's a cow of a thing to do for a 50 page story. XD So yWriter is a lot easier to manage. XD But yes, I JUST FINISHED. 8D I've sent it in already just so I don't forget tomorrow. My weekend is going to be hella busy. D: But good. :D (I hate titles. I usually nick mine from song titles or albums. /lazy. But it works. :D)

Ahh, well. I wouldn't leave praise on my own work, I'd just leave it there and hope someone else might come along and read it.

I was rereading it today and I think what I hate about it is that it became about the pairing, not the trans* experience. The focus is all wrong. It was never supposed to be about the pairing, but that's how it turned out. (It wasn't a pairing prompt, it was about one guy and his trans* experience.) So at least that gives me something to go on if I ever decide to tackle it again. Get rid of the main/dominating pairing and focus on other things. That might help. Is it obvious I still want to salvage it? Because it was a great prompt. I just didn't execute it that well on my first attempt. And hey, if I can salvage a zombie fic from a derailed lgbtfest fic, I can salvage this one. XD

[bay_alexison]

I didn't do any new words last night, but I was betaing a friend's fic and pointed out some parts that needs polishing. Later today or tomorrow I'll look over the story again and see if there's anything else I want to add before sending it to her. Sometimes I find looking over someone's fic can help looking over your own stuff in the editing process.

There are a few times I wrote fic for someone else. I'm lucky that with auctions and fic exchanges I already know the recipient's tastes, but I still freaking worried over if they'll like it or not. Luckily the stories I have written for them they enjoyed them a lot, haha.

[littlebutfierce]

Sometimes I find looking over someone's fic can help looking over your own stuff in the editing process.

I definitely agree! Sometimes seeing what doesn't work in someone else's fic makes you realize something about your own.