History and Process
Feb. 16th, 2017 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxinthestarsApparently I'm in the mood to blabber about writing issues.
So, I ended up staying up late yesterday because I somehow got sucked into re-reading the "second phase" parts of Fushigi Yuugi: The Mirrorverse and the drafts I have tucked away beyond what's posted --- dang, it's been five or six years, how did that happen? And I found that it was really fun and I thought I could get back into it, which is good because I still do want to finish that one.
I actually had a bit of a scare when I had trouble finding part of the after-what's-posted draft (note to self, put the fandom-abbreviation at the START of the filename, silly...), which on the upside led me to re-read a bunch of stuff in old scratch files. On the one hand it was prideful because a lot of it still looks so good, and on the other hand it was humbling because so much of it is fragments that I never will go back to, like my "!stories" folder is just an archaeological trove of beautifully decorated pottery shards.
(The old Rurouni Kenshin Soujiro stuff, I just don't think I can get back to that place. I have it in my head that I need to let that one go and post a summary of how it was supposed to end on Ao3 as meta --- which I think I'm allowed to do. Don't know when I'll get around to even doing that...)
(I'm not totally sure I can get back to the Harry Potter place, either, but I'm not ready to let go on that one.)
It does make me wish I could be more prolific, like there really is this endless well of stuff I could pour out if I had a good process --- of course, I have to remind myself, a lot of the FY Mirrorverse stuff was produced for a Nano, and I won, but it burned me out, so that's not my good process. (That was the second time a Nano had gone that way for me, and that's when I swore them off.)
Right now, I have a daily goal of 300-500 words; if I get in the groove and write more, cool, but that much is enough. I feel like I have to be really gentle with myself about it, though. Like, that number is... Okay, it's partially inspired by the supposed fact that Hemingway wrote 500 words per day (not that I've ever read Hemingway or feel kinship with what I know of him, but hey), but it's been honed through experience as a number that's large enough to get/keep some momentum but small enough to not strain me even if I don't have momentum. Also, I need to stay loose about doing it. Like, lately I've been more inconsistent than I'd like (skip 3 days, write 2 days, skip 2...), but I need to not pressure myself or beat myself up about it or it becomes perverse and de-motivating.
Inconsistent or not, though, it seems to be working okay. My Yuletide fic was so ambitious I'd say it was a Nano-like push, but I've managed not to burn out and go on hiatus. I mean, since Yuletide, I've gotten Wear My Fearsome Power done and another Yona fic almost drafted.
And also...
One thing that's been really helpful for me getting writing done is social support. During this past Yuletide,ahavah invited me to a Chatzy she runs where they do online write-ins:
Write Now! WonderCabin (no registration required)
So if any of you want to come and write with me, the current write-in times (US Central) are 7-9 pm on Mondays and 10 am - noon on Fridays. I'm looking into scheduling another one, too (probably Wednesday or Thursday at 10 am or 7 pm --- please speak up if you want to come and have a preference).
So, I ended up staying up late yesterday because I somehow got sucked into re-reading the "second phase" parts of Fushigi Yuugi: The Mirrorverse and the drafts I have tucked away beyond what's posted --- dang, it's been five or six years, how did that happen? And I found that it was really fun and I thought I could get back into it, which is good because I still do want to finish that one.
I actually had a bit of a scare when I had trouble finding part of the after-what's-posted draft (note to self, put the fandom-abbreviation at the START of the filename, silly...), which on the upside led me to re-read a bunch of stuff in old scratch files. On the one hand it was prideful because a lot of it still looks so good, and on the other hand it was humbling because so much of it is fragments that I never will go back to, like my "!stories" folder is just an archaeological trove of beautifully decorated pottery shards.
(The old Rurouni Kenshin Soujiro stuff, I just don't think I can get back to that place. I have it in my head that I need to let that one go and post a summary of how it was supposed to end on Ao3 as meta --- which I think I'm allowed to do. Don't know when I'll get around to even doing that...)
(I'm not totally sure I can get back to the Harry Potter place, either, but I'm not ready to let go on that one.)
It does make me wish I could be more prolific, like there really is this endless well of stuff I could pour out if I had a good process --- of course, I have to remind myself, a lot of the FY Mirrorverse stuff was produced for a Nano, and I won, but it burned me out, so that's not my good process. (That was the second time a Nano had gone that way for me, and that's when I swore them off.)
Right now, I have a daily goal of 300-500 words; if I get in the groove and write more, cool, but that much is enough. I feel like I have to be really gentle with myself about it, though. Like, that number is... Okay, it's partially inspired by the supposed fact that Hemingway wrote 500 words per day (not that I've ever read Hemingway or feel kinship with what I know of him, but hey), but it's been honed through experience as a number that's large enough to get/keep some momentum but small enough to not strain me even if I don't have momentum. Also, I need to stay loose about doing it. Like, lately I've been more inconsistent than I'd like (skip 3 days, write 2 days, skip 2...), but I need to not pressure myself or beat myself up about it or it becomes perverse and de-motivating.
Inconsistent or not, though, it seems to be working okay. My Yuletide fic was so ambitious I'd say it was a Nano-like push, but I've managed not to burn out and go on hiatus. I mean, since Yuletide, I've gotten Wear My Fearsome Power done and another Yona fic almost drafted.
And also...
One thing that's been really helpful for me getting writing done is social support. During this past Yuletide,
ahavah invited me to a Chatzy she runs where they do online write-ins:Write Now! WonderCabin (no registration required)
So if any of you want to come and write with me, the current write-in times (US Central) are 7-9 pm on Mondays and 10 am - noon on Fridays. I'm looking into scheduling another one, too (probably Wednesday or Thursday at 10 am or 7 pm --- please speak up if you want to come and have a preference).
no subject
Date: 2017-02-16 06:42 pm (UTC)I love that image.
I'm glad you find the chatzy so helpful! Thanks for the shout-out. I hope you can recruit some more folks. It's always great when we have a full house.