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

View Respondents

How many words did you write today?

View Answers

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?

View Answers

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

[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.