WIP challenge day 6 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

The writing session is still rolling on, but I'm sneaking out for a bit to do this post! (Besides, I did more in the session than I thought I would, so hooray!)

Poll #7693 WIP challenge day 6 check-in!

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

View Respondents

What have you done today on your fic?

View Answers

Wrote
7 (100.0%)

Edited
4 (57.1%)

Posted!
1 (14.3%)

Sent to beta
1 (14.3%)

Researched
1 (14.3%)

Procrastinated
0 (0.0%)

Took a planned break
0 (0.0%)

Something else I will describe in comments
2 (28.6%)

And how many words did you write today?

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0-249
1 (14.3%)

250-499
1 (14.3%)

500-749
1 (14.3%)

750-999
4 (57.1%)

1000 or more
0 (0.0%)

How did the first week of the challenge go for you?

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For discussion: What do you do when you really need to buckle down & work on your fic? How do you close out all the potentially distracting things in your world? In the writing session we talked about internet blockers (like Leechblock & Chrome Nanny). Do you use anything like that? Turn off your phone? Tell your family to stay away on pain of death?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I started the writing session by opening up the file for my late, tricky help_japan fic & I managed to make myself go through & edit it! & I think I have a complete rough draft, at last! Hopefully it won't take me so long to go through & finalize it. ^^;;; I then wrote a snippet for my main fandom that I hoped would be the next part of one of my WIPs. I don't think it's super-usable as is, but there's probably something that can be salvaged.

I've started using internet blockers, which I find helpful, but I probably need to use them more! Part of the problem is just getting myself to turn them on (I do have some pre-set limits on how much time I can spend on certain sites, but I probably need to expand that...).

Sometimes the cats are distracting, if one of them really really wants to hang out by/partly on the keyboard. So occasionally I have to shut them out of the room where the computer is. ^^;;;

[lacygrey]

I'm getting along okay, in short intensive stints. I've done first versions of two scenes this week. This way of working is easy to fit around other commintments, and, if I only cared about word count, would be very productive.

There's the editing to do though. Thats where interuptions from family (who I would prefer did not read my fic) become a problem, I haven't cracked it, other than the strategy of working when everyone's asleep. Printouts are messy and not very discreet, but they're essential for correcting things. Its tempting to go on and on without editing, adding to a first draft in stolen moments but there comes a time to sort it all out to know where to go next. Thats where I am at the moment.

As for other anti-distraction strategies: going somewhere without wifi or telephone. But at home, usually the threat of interuption is enough to make me work hard in the time I have.

[lullabymoon]

Yay! for writing session cos I managed to get more written than I have all week.

By far the most effective thing for me is to turn the internet off: in the past it's been a case of turning my wireless card of or using a program like eclipse which is like a simpler version of the addons you mention. I also find going somewhere in the house that is tidy, or empty helps as well as I have less of the urge to procrastinate by faffing about.

[rebecca2525]

I'm now at the beginning of the final chapter. \o/

I live alone, so other people aren't an issue for me. Although most of my procrastinating involves the internet, I've never tried to use any of the programs you mentioned. I do sometimes write when I have no access to the internet, but it doesn't feel like I get more writing done then. My thoughts just wander off if I want to procrastinate. And since writing is a hobby for me, cutting myself off from the internet feels like too much of a sacrifice. *clings to internet*

[lacerta]

Feeling much much better about the porn battle fill. It's not finished as I hoped it would be (because I took a lot of unplanned breaks from writing), but there's not much missing.

I'll definitely give those internet blockers a try. For shorter scenes, switching to pen and paper often helps, too.

[jagnikjen]

Well, I got some work done on my fic this morning before I was away from home AAALLLLLLLL day. Now I am home again and as soon as I sort out my aching feet, I'm hoping to open my fic back up.

When I really need to work on something, when I can't really procrastinate any longer, I just do it. Honestly. I don't have to turn the Internet off or go someplace special. I just buckle down and do it--even if it's like pulling teeth. :) My husband works a lot or watches TV and my kids are old enough to fend for themselves so I don't really worry about interruptions.

[katzenjamming]

(Whoops, total thread fail there...)

Today was alright for me. During the writing session that I was totally late for I came up with a scene I hadn't planned out before but patched up a few plot holes and got it largely done, and did a little editing. I'm hoping to do some more reading of the source material's novel version before I get to bed.

I live with my folks, and the computer's in a high-traffic room. It sucks, but they get that most of the time when I'm on the PC I'm either studying or writing and to leave me alone. Unfortunately, that doesn't include them not watching TV in the same room or talking on the phone, so I have to resort to other devices.

I got a pair of noise-cancelling headphones last Christmas that I'm kind of in love with. With that, I usually put a good, mood-setting song on repeat (shuffle's too distracting) or use color noise. The "pink" noise helps me focus a lot, for some reason. I still end up getting distracted by the Internet, and should try using one of those addons (or maybe just yanking the router out!).

[snowynight]

500 words for now. My dragon AU has a beginning and an ending now. But the really juicy middle I haven't plotted out yet.

[bay_alexison]

Today I betaed my friend's story again and added in a couple more notes before sending it to her and suggested she send me her story back after she did the corrections. A couple hours already she already did the corrections. XD I'll look over what she corrected tomorrow or Monday. I also was able to write out 600 words for a prompt I plan to claim over at LJ's springkink community. That story too I should get it done by tomorrow or Monday since it's not going to be long (unlike one of my other springkink stories @_@ ).

I can be able to write without blocking the internet if I make myself not open the browser until I finish a certain part in the fic, have a certain wordcount, etc. Sometimes it works, sometimes I feel a bit stressed out over the story so I would surf around the internet anyways. XD If I really want to concentrate though I would use one of those programs like q10 and Ommiwriter where nothing but a background and whatever you typed fills the computer screen. There are times also where I get distracted from my parents since they tend to either want to talk to me or want me to take care something for them. Nothing I can do about that except try to write as much as I can before they come to me, haha.

[littlebutfierce]

Oooh, I hear what you're saying: if I don't have a lot of focus or time, it is much easier to bang out more words for a first draft. Editing takes a special kind of concentration (& yeah, a hard copy works well for me too). I'm sorry you have to work around your family's presence! (though, silver lining: as you say, at least it motivates you to work in the time you have?)

[littlebutfierce]

I'm glad the writing session helped! (& ha, once again I missed you as you left -- I just hit enter on a "bye, good night!" message to you as you left, heh.)

Oooh, yes, avoiding procrastination by cleaning off the desk or something is important too!!

I should probably cut off the internet more, but the trouble is sometimes I need it for research in the middle of writing something. ^^;;; Sometimes I can just go on & note that I'll fill something in later, but sometimes it could change the whole direction of the story. It helps if I use a different browser for research & put an internet block on the one I use for DW/LJ/etc. -- if I had to think about logging into DW on Chrome when I had Firefox blocked, it would in general stop me & get me back on track.

[littlebutfierce]

Woohoo!! That's awesome -- go you! Good luck pressing on & getting the last chapter done.

Writing is definitely a hobby for me too, but... sometimes I get itchy if I have too many WIPs & feel like I have no progress on them. ^^;;; Though, yeah... cutting off the internet, even in short stints, is hard for me! (Plus I need it for research sometimes when I am writing...)

[littlebutfierce]

Yay! I'm glad you're feeling better about that fic. Good luck in finishing it up.

I'll handwrite short scenes if they need to be added in while I'm editing a hard copy -- it's good to find a way to keep myself off the computer sometimes!!

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for getting some fic done before your long day at the stadium!!

That's really great that you are able to just buckle down & do stuff (& that your family conveniently leaves you alone!). Quite a strength!!

[littlebutfierce]

Oooh, I'm glad you were able to do some work during the session -- sorry I couldn't stick around longer!

Ugh ugh ugh re: the computer being in an often-used room. :/ I'm sorry about that, but yay for the noise-cancelling headphones. I should try color noise sometimes -- I use music to set the mood but it can get distracting.

Cutting off the internet entirely while writing would leave me feeling a bit adrift cuz there's always that one thing I really need to look up quickly in the middle of working on a scene! I've been experimenting w/blocking sites on the main browser I use (Firefox; this is what I have my e-mail, DW, LJ, etc. up on) & looking up any research on Chrome instead. If I don't have DW right there to refresh it seems to help a lot, b/c if I have to go through the process of logging in to DW on Chrome, well... having to stop & think about that makes me able (usually!) to refocus & go back to the fic.

BTW I watched the first episode of Tumbling last night! BWAHAHAHA awesome. Thank you for the rec!

[littlebutfierce]

Having a beginning & an ending is great progress!! Good luck figuring out how to make it from one to the other. :)

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for the 600 words!! Good luck finishing up the story in the next few days (I love when a fic can be started & finished so quickly! Wish that happened to me more... ;_; )

I think setting mini-goals like you said (certain part in the fic, certain wordcount) can be really useful -- I know when I was at university writing papers sometimes I would tell myself I had to work for 4 more songs on iTunes (then I would hope fervently that 8-minute songs wouldn't come up on shuffle ;). I've had good results w/the Pomodoro technique but it's a matter of making myself commit to starting the timer & doing one more often! ^^;;;

[rebecca2525]

Yeah, research is a good point. You don't realise who often you search for little things until you don't have internet access. And not being a native English speaker, I also use an online dictionary and thesaurus and sometimes just google expressions.

[curuchamion]

I didn't make it to the writing session, nor did I write - I cleared ALL THE THINGS out of my apartment and deep-cleaned it (move-out date's on Monday). Then I fell down whump on my bed, yes. ;-)

Today, I am going to eat food (important when you've been chasing around getting as much unaccustomed exercise as I have this week), and sleep more (also important *zzzzz*), and try to write some overdue PMs and posts and such-like. (I already did one of said PMs, yay! :D But the others require more thinkyface.)

[curuchamion]

Oh, and the discussion question - I use a timer technique, like a lot of other people. Mine's a variant of Chris Baty's "6,000-Word Jetpack" writing sprints: I set a timer for 30 minutes, write for that length of time (at which point I'm just about running out of inspiration), then reset the timer for 10 minutes, pick up my knitting, switch on my iPod (I can't write while listening to music), and pointedly don't think about my story till the timer dings. At the end of that time, I find that my subconscious has worked through another 30 minutes' worth of writing stuff and presents it to me for transcription. :D

(It was all a matter of finding the right lengths of time, for me. I've never gotten 20-minute or 45-minute or 15-minute sprints to work, and a 5-minute break is not long enough, but... this is how I wrote the last two-thirds of my NaNo, so. XD)

[ficwriter1966]

Oops! I'm a bit late for this one. But I have a good excuse - I put together and posted a little 669-word fic in the late afternoon yesterday, and today I'm back at work hammering on the WIP. I've done a little smoothing out so far, added a couple of paragraphs, and am trying to decide what I want to do for the cliffhanger at the end of the chapter. So all in all it's going OK.

What do I do when I need to buckle down and work? Well, I live alone, so I don't have distractions from family. Usually, it's just a matter of telling myself that I have permission to ignore household chores for a few hours. It'll be more of a question during my vacation week, when I'll be up at the lake with family members. I have the downstairs to myself, though, so if I make a point of writing for a while each morning before I venture upstairs, I should be able to get a good amount of work done. Fingers crossed!

[littlebutfierce]

Cleaning up & getting ready to move out is a really good reason to not go to the writing session. ;) Good for you for getting so much done ahead of Monday!

That's interesting re: adjusting the length of time in your work periods. Pomodoros are 25 minutes, which seems to work all right for me (the issue is more just committing myself to doing one, sob), but I might try tweaking slightly.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for posting a ficlet! & for progress on the WIP -- I hope the rest of the day works out well in that respect for you.

Enjoy your family vacation -- getting up in good time to get some writing time in before being all family-social sounds like a lovely way to start the day!

[katzenjamming]

No problem~ I'll totally try to be on time for the next one, but thanks for holding it!

I would try to go without the Internet too, but I'm the same way! Whether it's fic stuff, trying to write a paper, or anything "legitimate" I always seem to need to look something up every five minutes! I'll try setting up blocks and maybe limit myself to Wikipedia on IE or something like that. I definitely wouldn't want to poke around the Internet on Internet Explorer, heh.

And I'm really happy you liked the show! Even among drama fans, it didn't have the biggest viewership but I'm always happy when I find (or can encourage someone to become) watchers. Hopefully you can enjoy the rest of it!

[littlebutfierce]

3 eps in & I am so enjoying Tumbling!!! *___* Plus I want everyone's hair. Once I'm done I will go look for icons/fic/etc. -- but if you have written any so far, please point me at it! (& I will go read it once I'm done watching)

& yay, I will totally cheer you on in researching gymnastics & dance routines for the fic you're working on now!!

[katzenjamming]

omg I'm so happy that you're liking the show! And the anime hair in the show is so many ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

There's a small and by now pretty inactive fandom primarily centered at LJ, tumblingjdrama, where you can find all those things. I guess I'm not helping because I had a multichapter thereabouts that is now... dormant (I can't bring myself to say dead!). I'm in the middle of organizing my fic, but I do have a few WIPs I hope to post soon! (Can't say anything about the quality, though!)

And thanks for the cheer! Though the more I write the more I keep thinking, "where's the actual tumbling going to fit into all this melodrama!" XD

[littlebutfierce]

Finished up to episode 5 right now -- I dunno if it's b/c I'm just really stressed right now or what, but both the last episodes had me crying like a baby, ahahahaha.

I will excitedly await your WIPs when they appear!! (w/or w/o actual tumbling ;)

BTW, do you know about Kaleidoscope? They are behind their proposed schedule w/the exchange (due to real life issues w/several of the mods -- I know them & trust that this thing is still going to be totally freakin' amazing, though) -- but it's definitely going ahead. Perhaps if you want to take part you might nominate Tumbling? I might, except I'm still fretting over what to use my nomination slots for (I'd been doing some wheeling & dealing here re: nomination slots, & I'm gonna poke people again once nominations open).

Also, I totally want to do a big promo post for this show & hopefully get some of my friends watching it, so maybe there will be more people interested in offering/requesting it for Kaleidoscope!

[katzenjamming]

No, those episodes were rough! I watched both back-to-back with my IRL friend and we were totally ;___; for the entire afternoon afterward! Though I'm sorry about your stress -- I read about your moving situation on the recent check-in entry and that sounds tough! D: Hopefully you get all that stuff worked out soon!

Ah, I've never participated in an event like that! And I'd hesitate to say I'd definitely do something like that, since I might be moving soon to a place where I have a lot less computer access... But I'll wait and see how things go! And unfortunately, the only fandom I'm familiar enough with on your list is "Kimi ni Todoke", so I'm not sure how much I'd help you out there. (Though after a quick search I'm totally about to check out "Chak De! India", lol)

But thanks for letting me know about this; I'll definitely keep an eye on it!

[littlebutfierce]

I was so excited to get through episode 6 w/no tears (that spilled over, anyway ^^;;), ahaha! Although we've watched a couple more & RETURN OF THE TEARS (Kashiwagi-senseiiiiiiiii!).

Fair enough about the challenge -- once it's all up & running, if you know anyone who might write Tumbling stuff, feel free to point them at it, tho'. ;) & good luck w/your own possible move -- may it go smoother than mine to this point. ^^;;; & hopefully you won't have to deal w/less computer access regardless.

I wrote a Yuletide promo post for Chak De! India but it sounds like you might not need it, heh. It is a truly awesome movie! I'm actually thinking I might request that, Tumbling, & Natsume Yuujinchou (the fandom of my heart at the moment) for Kaleidoscope. Which possibly means those are the things I'm nominating, unless I can persuade some of my friends to lend me their nomination slots!