WIP Challenge: Day 23 Check-In

[katzenjamming]

'Tis Friday, folks! I hope it's a good (and productive?!) Friday for all of you!

What did you get done today?

• Wrote?
• Planned?
• Edited?
• Researched?
• Sent to beta?
• Posted?
• Took a break?
• ...did something else? (Tell us in the comments!)

Discussion Topic: As it's Friday, it's free-talk time! Rave about your progress, rant about your difficulties, and anything in between! Also feel free to request beta-reader or other support here, and if you're brave enough to post snippets of your current WIP, please do so! ;D

Comments

[katzenjamming]

The first few days of this week personally sucked as far as progress, but the last few days have been really interesting! More and more, the big WIP has been shaping up to be less retelling and more AU -- not exactly sure how to feel about that, but I'm enjoying writing at the moment? Not sure if there's an end in sight yet, though... :P

Anyhow, no words yet today (I just woke up and my sleep schedule got way out of whack the past few days), but I'm hoping I'll get a lot done after I... get a shower or something!

[elistaire]

I love AUs!

I know there is a huge population that doesn't, but personally, I think they are some of the best stories around.

[katzenjamming]

Yeah, I know that a lot of people avoid AUs off the bat, which is really discouraging... but working on the story I'm working on is really making me appreciate the work that must go into most! The world-building and reworking character histories for me has felt massive, though it's a mundane setting not that different from canon. I can only imagine what would go into the more ambitious projects!

[linaewen]

I wrote, yay! Some of it was tweaking words that have been written for over a year, but some of it was new stuff. All in all, I've got 1,035 words that are good to go. More is needed to get this current chapter finished and ready for posting, but I have to stop and go to work now, alas! Still, I'm pretty pleased about actually doing some real writing for a change. I haven't been able to manage much at all since my Big Bang spurt back in August!

[elistaire]

Good for you! :)

[katzenjamming]

Wow, over 1K words! Congrats on the super-productive day! :D

[jagnikjen]

No words yet and actually probably none today--it's Friday night in Texas and you know what that means!!!

High school football!!

Okay so I'm the mom of a band nerd not a football player, but we still attend every game and support our team. And tonight, our family is helping out with the pre-game meal. So I won't be home until close to midnight.

BUT BUT BUT . . . I'm getting tired of reading, so it'll be back to writing very soon. As I mentioned, I have a fic exchange assignment so I'll be brainstorming something for that as well as working on one of my three other HP WsIP.

[jagnikjen]

Snippet from "From This Day Forward", a Narcissa/OC fic...

Kinnon sat at the table slurping a cup of tea. “Yer makin’ fantastic progress, Narcissa. I know Minerva couldn’t have done it without help. And I’m grateful yer on the job. Just between ye and me, Minerva’s not getting any younger.”

Warmth spread through her at his praise, but it was short lived. As he’d spoken, Kinnon turned his chair around and took one of Narcissa’s feet in his hands, sliding her trainer off and dropping it to the floor with a thud.

A tremor of alarm ran through her, stopping her breath for a moment. “Wh-what are you doing?” she asked, trying to pull her foot from his grasp.

Kinnon met her gaze, taking her fear seriously. Softly, he said, “Relax, Lady, I’m jes’ rubbin’ yer feet, all right?”

She finally nodded and took another breath. Lucius rarely touched her other than during sex and even then it was just enough to get the job done and in the dark. He’d certainly never touch her otherwise and there were no circumstances under which he’d ever touch her feet. Especially when they were hot and sweaty and probably smelly as well. Oh, Merlin. Her feet were hot and sweaty and probably smelly. Narcissa tried to tug her foot away again, but Kinnon held it fast.

“Stop yer squirmin’ and relax.” His blue eyes twinkled at her and she finally let go of her fear. It was Kinnon. He was touching her nasty feet.

Strong hands rubbed and manipulated her tired muscles, first the fleshy part of her calves which felt heavenly, and then her ankle and heel, which felt insanely good as well. She suppressed the urge to moan with deep-felt relief and bliss. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she savored the pressure of his thumbs channeling up the center of her foot several times before moving in slow firm circles on the balls of her feet. Her scalp prickled in pleasure as his hands worked.

Kinnon began humming as he rubbed between her toes and then paid attention to each toe individually. Merlin, that felt better than anything she'd experienced in a very long time. She didn’t want him to stop.

When he'd finished with that foot, he rested it on his thigh and picked up her other foot. After removing that trainer as well, he repeated the process.

This man was too good to be true. He was funny and kind and considerate and loyal. In a shallower vein, he was tall and fit and looked quite delectable in his robes. His muggle work clothes fit him perfectly as well, his tee-shirt stretched across his broad chest and wide shoulders, while his jeans hugged a trim waist and powerful thighs.

In her mind’s eye, she called up an image of him physically hauling some rubble that resisted the use of magic. Taut back muscles rippled beneath his shirt, the muscles of his forearms flexing and contracting as he worked. Dark crinkly hairs covered his forearms and his chest—he’d removed his shirt once when it was quite warm. Heat warmed her face and she swallowed a hum of appreciation. A dark sheen of growth covered his jaw and upper neck.

What it would feel like against her skin?

She went completely still.

No. Oh no...

What was she thinking? Heat rushed her face again, only this time in mortification.

She pulled her feet from his hands and lap and stood abruptly. Picking up her trainers, she hurried toward the door.

“Narcissa—Lady, what’s wrong?” He looked completely baffled, but breathtakingly handsome. Her breath stalled in her throat.

“I’m still a married woman,” she breathed before turning and fleeing.

[elistaire]

LOL! I used to be a band nerd. They deserve all the love they can get. :)

[katzenjamming]

My little brother and some friends were in band; it's so much work! Hope you all had fun at the gang and your team has a good season! :D

[ficwriter1966]

No writing today. There's not much action on my flist - I think everyone's getting ready for the SPN season premiere tonight - so I'm just coasting along, and will see what inspiration the new episode brings. It's been a very productive week (and month) thus far, so I won't be tough on myself for the day off!

I don't have a WIP, but here's a snippet from one of my ficlets from earlier in the week. (Supernatural.)

----------------------

She waits, and sips, but the man doesn't say anything. He does a fine job of looking at nothing, and after a while he takes a good long swallow of his Jack. It seems kind of fresh to keep staring at him, so she moves her attention to the TV that's bolted up in the corner. The sound's turned off, like usual, but it's easy enough to tell what's going on. They've had news reports all day long about the fires, and that mudslide a couple counties over, and as she watches, a fella in a nice suit starts talking to a woman who's crying and all covered with dirt. Down underneath the woman, it says FIVE HOMES DESTROYED, NINE DEAD.

"Well," she says, to no one in particular. "That'd just be my worst nightmare, that would. Losin' your home and all."

The man glances at her.

Something on his face says, You can't even imagine.

"You got a worst nightmare?" she asks, turning a shoulder to the beat-up TV.

He looks into the mirror again, and this time he finds that booth in the back. Spends a minute watching the other man – his brother – tinker around with that computer.

"Used to," he mutters.

"And you don't, no more?"

He's silent for a minute, rubbing his thumbs against his glass. "I had a whole list," he says finally.

"But –"

"They all happened," he says. "Every last damn one of 'em."

And before she can think of how to answer that, he's dropped down off his barstool and is on his way out the door.

A minute later, the other man follows him out, with his computer all tucked back into its bag.

Ain't that a damn shame, she thinks, and goes back to sipping her beer.

[katzenjamming]

Yay for a new season! And though I'm not in Supernatural fandom, but this was a cool snippet that really made me want to read more!

rambling I shall go

[elistaire]

Late last night (or this morning) I finished the spook_me fic. And have decided the entire thing IS NOT SCARY. (Supposed to be writing spooky story for Halloween) In fact, it is entirely over-schmoopy. Instead of a scary badass creature, it's all hearts and sparklies! In addition, I am seriously wondering how to warn for character death if they die, but aren't dead. (That would make sense if you read the story.) [Actually, I have this problem more often than you would think. I once killed Methos permanently TWICE in a story and then brought him back. Yet, still, no idea how to set warnings.]

I need to let it sit for a while, because it needs serious editing. I am going to take a seam ripper to every paragraph that contains the word "love".

I'd love a beta reader if anyone wants to be so kind. It's just shy of 20k right now, probably I'll add a bit during the editing process to have it actually make sense.

Then, of course, I went and read other stories in the fandom, and want to chuck the whole thing in the bin. Other Writers, stop being so awesome. You make me want to hide under the bed!

Re: rambling I shall go

[katzenjamming]

I've never had this problem, but I do wonder how to warn for something like this... from what I've seen from lurking, I think that most people really concerned about such a trigger and want warnings are aware that they'll possibly face such spoilers? But IDK, that's a really interesting question!

Also, what fandom is the spooky fic in?

Re: rambling I shall go

[elistaire]

X-Men First Class, which is a new fandom for me. In Highlander, I'd know a little better how to go about warning for this.

I think I might just put end notes with a big spoiler explanation.

Re: rambling I shall go

[sylvaine]

Hmmm, what do you need in a beta reader? I'm good with grammar and such. Anything else... well, I'd give it my best shot. :D

Re: rambling I shall go

[elistaire]

I would be eternally grateful for any assistance that you would render! Grammar, typos, opinions on whatever, it's all good. :)

I think my biggest problem is usually repetition. If I like a word, I use it a lot!

I veer the story distinctly into in-between the canon AU-lines, so I don't think you'd need to even really know too much about canon other than very basic names and mutant powers.

I'm still editing the story to get the worst of the muckity-flaws out, but hope to be done with that within a few days to this week. I could e-mail it to you, if you were still interested? (I would promise to love you forever!)

It's a bit slashy, but nothing explicit, some kissing is about all they get up to.

Re: rambling I shall go

[sylvaine]

Sure, no problem! I can't tell you how fast I'll get it done, though, since I'm starting uni the first week of October and that might get a bit... chaotic.

My email is crazy4lemons(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Re: rambling I shall go

[elistaire]

You are many shades of wonderful! I will e-mail when I get the edits done, maybe in a day or two or three....

[littlebutfierce]

Almost ready to post the main WIP I've been working on! In fact, if I wasn't utterly stymied for a title (I've just spent probably an hour doing the whole "zomg must look for lyrics or poetry snippets that work for titles!" thing ;_;) I probably could've posted. Oh well... maybe tomorrow, assuming I like one of my title ideas better tomorrow than now.

This weekend I need to finish my poetry_fiction fic, b/c the amnesty period ends in less than a week! (... in case someone reading this is somehow familiar w/Otome Youkai Zakuro & wants to give it a quick read-over, do let me know, ahaha.)

I never seem to be able to pull out chunks of story that seem to work well as snippets, alas!

[katzenjamming]

Yay for almost-finished fic! Though I can totally relate having trouble finding story titles... best of luck to you in finding one that will work! :) Also, I hope you can finish the other fic in time (though unfortunately I've never heard of that work before >_>)!

[devilc]

more RL writing.

But the other thing I'm trying to deal with is that stupid nagging voice that says what's the point, nobody cares, who's going to read it, etc. etc. etc.

[katzenjamming]

I'm sorry you're not feeling motivated... :( I often get that kind of feeling when writing too!

The important thing, I think, is enjoying the process of writing in itself... and remembering that if it's posted somewhere, there'll be a fan for it!

[elistaire]

*hugs*

I hate having those feelings.

[bay_alexison]

Got 600 more words done for my Big Bang. Bleh, the political talk just gets harder and harder. D: Hopefully everything will fall in place soon. Besides that, my friend finally got online and he had looked over my fic. Not only that, another friend of mine was online and I begged him to look over my story too. XD; The both of them thought my story is good but could use some expanding in some parts and they gave great suggestions over how to make the story better. I wasn't able to make the changes yet as I was writing some of my Big Bang as they were talking LOL, but I'll fix the story up tomorrow or Sunday.

[katzenjamming]

It still seems like you're making some goo progress, and yay for getting some useful feedback on the story! Good luck in your editing and mitigating that political talk! :)