WIP challenge: day 11 check-in!

[littlebutfierce]

Hello, WIP challengers! I'll be doing check-in posts for this week.

Before we get to the poll & discussion, is there anyone who'd like to volunteer to do the daily check-in posts for the last two weeks of September? Even one person doing one week would be really helpful -- otherwise you're stuck w/me until October at least. ^^;;

Poll #8052 WIP challenge: day 11!

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

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What have you been up to today, fic-wise?

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Wrote
5 (55.6%)

Edited
4 (44.4%)

Sent to beta
1 (11.1%)

Post
1 (11.1%)

Researched
1 (11.1%)

Took the day off
3 (33.3%)

Something else (tell us what in comments!)
0 (0.0%)

And how are you feeling about your fic?

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Fantastic!
2 (22.2%)

Miserable
0 (0.0%)

Somewhere in between
7 (77.8%)

What's been the biggest challenge with your fic this month so far?

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For discussion: Do you ever write to prompts? I don't mean just in terms of answering a comment fic prompt or getting a challenge prompt assigned to you -- but things like daily_prompt as well. Are they useful in terms of just getting you to write something, or do you get actual completed fics from them? What places would you recommend for prompts, if you do find them helpful?

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

I thought of today's discussion topic because I was feeling uninspired when it came time to do my 750 Words, but I decided to take a look back at poetry_fiction's prompts from their July comment fic challenge, & managed to write something from one of them. Some of the prompts are lovely -- I just didn't have the time/brain to try them in July. ^^;;;

I use the master prompt list from (seemingly dead, sob) mundane_bingo to jar myself into writing sometimes; I've also occasionally gotten some words from daily_prompt, dailyprompt, & (less often), 15_minute_ficlets. Usually these sorts of prompts get some words out of me that probably won't end up in a fic, or at least not in that exact form, but they're useful for writing bits that help me think more about what my characters are like & what they would do in various situations. Every now & then I do get fics out of them, though!

[jagnikjen]

I wrote the end of my fic today. Not too long ago in fact, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Now I just have to go back through and make sure everything flows well from beginning to end--though I know there are some minor plot holes and other spots that bother me. Once I identify any holes and bothersome spots I don't know about, I'll have to figure out how to fix those. Meanwhile, I'll start sending chapters off to the beta reader, and if all goes well, I should be able to start posting it in the next week or two.

Prompts...I don't use prompts on a regular basis, really. I did join one comm that was prompt based and was able to write four stories for it. I had very high hopes for it, but the comm is pretty much inactive and that makes it harder for me to stay motivated when on one else is.

I'm also awaiting a prompt assignment for a fest/comm I recently joined. We'll see how it goes writing to a more specific set of prompts for one person. I've never participated in something like that before.

[littlebutfierce]

Yay for finishing your fic!! \o/ Good luck w/the editing & finalizing it all.

I hear you on not being motivated when there's a dead comm. I was so in love w/the idea of mundane_bingo, but now that the comm's dead it's much harder to think about my card. I mean, I want to get a bingo, partly b/c it was the first bingo card I thought I could actually complete, but yes, w/o the buzz it's hard to keep going!

[rebecca2525]

Got the first chapter of my WIP edited. I have to remind myself that this is the first round of editing which doesn't have to be perfect yet. No need to get hung up on details at this stage.

Other than in prompt memes and gift exchanges, I don't use prompts. I write if I have plot bunnies, but if I don't, that's fine. I'm not that much of a writer, and there's lots of other stuff I like to do.

[littlebutfierce]

Oh, I kind of love doing first edits! Because yeah, like you said, no need to be perfect yet. I love cutting out the easy stuff, heh. Good luck moving on from there.

[rebecca2525]

Yes, I normally like the first edit, too. Just got stuck a bit yesterday.

It seems that most people need to cut stuff in their edits, whereas I tend to underwrite my first draft. I need to add all those scene transitions, prose between lines of dialogue etc...

[littlebutfierce]

Heh, I do both -- there's always a lot of waffle that I need to cut out, but after the first draft is also when I have to face up to all those bits of dialogue or whole scenes that I haven't done... whether I've written something like "Insert difficult conversation here!" or just skipped the scene entirely.

[meridian_rose]

Oh, yes, this :D Particularly with longer fics, where I often have scenes missing near the middle, while editing or just re-wording things in the rest.

[lacerta]

Finished and posted the kink meme fill I started a month ago, plus I realized that it fills another square on my bingo card \o/

Oh, and I forgot to mention, but I could do the check-in posts for the last week of September :)

[littlebutfierce]

Woohoo, yay for posting the kink meme fill! & for it doing double-duty on the bingo card!!!

& yes please, if you'd like to do the check-in posts from 25-30 September that would be brilliant. Thank you!

[lacerta]

You're welcome! Could I check back with you beforehand about discussion topics, though? I wouldn't want to fill the week with topics that have all been featured while I was absent. (Plus I'm not sure I'm so good with picking them and would love a second opinion.)

[littlebutfierce]

Oh, yes, of course -- feel free to shoot me any ideas or whatever. Thanks! & honestly, we're going to end up repeating things anyway, just b/c I'm not sure there are possible new topics for every single day! Plus some people don't participate in the challenge every month, so might not have answered the question before -- the discussion will turn out different either way. Friday or Saturday you can use as the beta-seeking/snippet-posting/general chat day, so that's one down, anyway, heh.

[meridian_rose]

I love when a fill for one prompt/challenge matches up with another prompt/challenge elsewhere :D It's not cheating, it's multi-tasking :D

[lacerta]

Heeh, exactly! It's being super efficient.

[katzenjamming]

So I've written jack diddly squat today~ I still have a few hours to try and get the 750 done, but aside from that I'm feeling rather uninspired.

I've noticed that prompts and requests are about the only way I get to writing one-shots... otherwise, I have the tendency to write and plot forever (and I have a poor track record with multi-chaptered fics... :/) On the backburner, I've been working on two prompt tables unofficially -- one for a fandom, the other for an original story. I'm not too far on either, but every so often I get one done and being able to cross out another item on the table feels nice. fc_smorgasbord has a ridic number of prompts, some the usual fare, some really out there and pretty cool! originalfic100 is geared toward original fiction and also has several prompts.

BTW, I think I might be able to do the week that's not the last week in September?

[littlebutfierce]

Aw, I'm sorry you didn't get to write anything -- hopefully you got the 750 words in later? I hate days when I want to write but feel v. lackluster about it (I just did my 750 for the day & it wasn't fic, just "augh stress augh work augh cranky").

... it just dawned on me that prompt tables & bingo cards are essentially the same thing. They occupy different places in my brain, ha. *headdesk*

(... I know you said you weren't sure about availability for the Kaleidoscope exchange, but if that's changed & you were wanting a Tumbling prompt for a one-shot, I'M PRETTY SURE I COULD PROVIDE ONE, ahahaha. But no worries if not, natch!!)

If you'd like to do check-ins for 18-24 September, that would be amazing -- thank you!!!

[katzenjamming]

I keep cutting it so clooooose... I only got about half an hour to write tonight, and both of the previous nights I only pasted them into the site after 11:55PM, hahah! @_@

Still not sure about how much time (or inspiration) I'll have in the coming months, but I'll keep that in mind! :D (Just curious, are you really into any of the other nominated fandoms?) In any case, I'm still watching the community and am planning to (re-)acquaint myself with certain canons if I can find the time!

And I'll mark that on my calendar, then!

[littlebutfierce]

Yay, thank you! I'll PM you a reminder a day in advance as well.

I'm super into a few of the nominated fandoms (though I didn't manage to rally the troops well enough to get all the fandoms I wanted nominated, sob) -- Natsume Yuujinchou being the top one (& also being my main fandom at the moment). I also love the movie Chak De! India (which iirc we've talked about before briefly!) & the book Half World by Hiromi Goto, though I don't think either of those have much in the way of official fandoms. & then stuff like Kimi ni Todoke (which probably has a larger fandom than the others except for Natsume), & also Yozakura Quartet & Antique Bakery &... hehehe.

Hey, words are words, even if they're close to the wire as far as timing each day!! At least then you'll be able to get the Night Owl badge? (if you haven't earned it already!)

[lilly_c]

Yesterday I started a more detailed draft outline for my smallfandombang fic :D and of course last night I went searching for the DVD with the ep I need for it. Will be watching the ep and making notes at some point today. Also need to find two Something For Kate songs on my itunes as well which both fit in with the mood of the fic. I'm also going to try and get something written for this months round of prompt_in_a_box too.

I do sometimes write prompts, usually challenge assigned ones but I also find using the past prompts on writers_choice over on LJ useful when I'm feeling a bit stuck. It depends because sometimes, especially when RL is nuts it's nice to have just written a little something and I have also had completed fics too which I've ended up posting. I also like that prompt_in_a_box (also on LJ) has two separate rounds towards the end of the year for finishing/posting anything you didn't get to post before the original deadline for the round and for using other people's prompts.

normally comment from my pkc_creative account :)

[littlebutfierce]

Good luck w/the draft outline, & I hope the canon refresh is both useful & fun. ;)

I didn't start writing fic until after I'd pretty much moved from LJ, so I never investigated the general prompt comms over there -- I really ought to put some of them on my friends list over there!

[ficwriter1966]

I took the day off so I could recharge my batteries, and be a little somber about the day.

I do write to prompts now and then - if I'm feeling like none of the bunnies in the corral is inspiring, I'll ask my flist to toss out some prompts. Sometimes that sparks something and sometimes it doesn't. And once in a while I'll surf around a comm looking for prompts. You just never know what will serve as inspiration!

[littlebutfierce]

Sometimes a day off is needed! Hope getting back into things today is going all right.

I agree, sometimes inspiration comes from the most random places!!

Need a little beta help - will exchange for Britpick

[lacygrey]

I think I'm reaching the finishing stages, or perhaps its just the end of my tether :)

If anyone is available/interested in betaing me 2K of Hikaru no Go fic this week(more, if affinity/time)I would be very interested. I need someone who knows the canon and doesn't mind M/M.

In exchange I can propose re-reading for British English style.


Prompts: Though Ive never contributed to the comm, Ive often been inspired by the monthly prompt lists at LiveJournal's 31_days.

Re: Need a little beta help - will exchange for Britpick

[littlebutfierce]

Hahahaha I find it hard to commit to finishing a fic sometimes as well -- I feel like I could edit forever, or feel like I'm stuck in edit mode forever.

I could probably beta you the fic if need be! Probably not until the end of the week (would Friday night/Saturday sometime be too late, just in case I need that time?). I'm familiar w/HnG but haven't watched it in years -- I don't know how much canon familiarity you need.

Re: Need a little beta help - will exchange for Britpick

[lacygrey]

That would be great,thanks. Do you work with google docs or prefer another method?

Oh, you don't need to be an expert on it. If you know the characters I think thats enough.

I've had some helpful input from a writer outside the fandom but first I needed to explain about the 'invisible character who isn't there' and it was rather a strain on my descriptive skills, especially as I was trying to avoid spoilers as well ^_~

Re: Need a little beta help - will exchange for Britpick

[littlebutfierce]

Google Docs is fine -- if you have the doc restricted, could you add paperwarfic at gmail to the permissions & PM me (or e-mail me) the link? Thanks!

LOL invisible character who isn't there!!!

Re: Need a little beta help - will exchange for Britpick

[lacygrey]

Friday-night it will be. I have something more or less in shape now and will put it up tommorrow once Ive checked it though myself.