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Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 15:34 (UTC)So what I'm wondering is, particularly for those of you with more rigorous schedules: how do you manage to achieve such steady output?
I have loads of ideas for fic I want to write, and the shorter ones are occasionally manageable but I'm hesitant to commit to any of the longer form fic right now because I'm not convinced I can maintain enough momentum to do a longer work justice. This is a pretty huge bummer because I'm really excited about the ideas for some of my longfic. I've had folks suggest writing in a notebook or something but I tend to prefer working digitally and while aiming for a couple hundred words a day is a fine method to power through a like, 2-5K piece, I don't think it's going to cut the mustard for anything looking to exceed 10-15K.
TL;DR HOW DO WRITE? TELL ME SECRETS PLZ.
Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 16:31 (UTC)However, I used to write this much/more when I had a long hours job with a fair amount of stress, and back then I think the answer was just that I found writing a stress relief. I'd keep notes on breaks at work, and then go home and just write until I blew off the stress. It was kind of snatching a couple hours of solid writing time in the evenings, and maybe half an hour in the morning.
But that was the upswing of a new fandom, so I was sort of mentally writing in my head ALL THE TIME? Like for the issue of momentum on long fic, I think it's less getting long blocks of time to write as keeping the story going in your head when you're not able to actually type words on a screen, if that makes sense. So the momentum didn't get broken up, because I was always kind of picking away at how to put things, even if I didn't always remember everything I thought of later, the impetus to work on it carried over.
Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 18:05 (UTC)And yeah, I mean, I'm definitely also writing in my head all the time. Like, even beyond just trying to get a general feel for where a story's going to go, I'll start to craft actual sentences I want to put down on paper, so to speak, the next time I have a moment. This does not, of course, mean that I always know where a story will go but I think getting stuck on plot development is a separate issue from what I'm trying to get after here.
I'm with you on the whole, "writing as stress relief" thing, which I used to do at my last job—it was terrible and I was so wildly depressed that I was writing like 5K a day just to be able to dissociate from life for awhile, but that's obviously not sustainable for a multitude of reasons. I still write for stress relief a little bit, but I think as I've started to approach writing as a thing I might want to actually do as an eventual career my confidence has taken a slight downswing because I'm coming at it from too serious an angle? I guess maybe I need to get my head on straight about that bit, but in the meantime I don't know if I ought to try a schedule or something?
Part of the issue, I think, is maintaining my enthusiasm for a current story when I already know how it ends in my head and I keep stumbling into other exciting ideas courtesy sources like the prompt meme or chatting with folks like yourself. Anyway, I feel like I'm just whining and navel-gazing about it now, so I'll stop.
I'm sure it's a surmountable goal in one way or another, and I appreciate your feedback and advice, friend~ <3
Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 18:42 (UTC)Nenya, the other day, ran into a meme that said something like: The key to good writing is to find the most idtastic terrible idea that no one else in the world except is ever going to write, and then to write that.
I mean, I don't know, I've never thought of going pro with this because OMG that sounds so stressful, but that also seems to be the angle a lot of my author friends take? You're having fun talking to the people in your head. Sometimes it's stressful, and drudgy work, but the end goal is the story only you want to exist. Until someone else reads it and goes, "Yes. That." At which point you have communicated.
I did take panel notes on mental health and creative fields panel at world con: https://muccamukk.dreamwidth.org/1154703.html
(I'm admittedly better at finishing things when I'm not playing the points game. There's irony: Colonel Kink might actually be LOWERING my productivity.)
Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 22:00 (UTC)I think it's good on the one hand that I'm not looking to write the next great American novel or what have you, because low standards, but on the other my "id" mostly wants me to write stories about people being snarky assholes to each other and making bad choices. Which, I suppose is in line with the bits of advice you've mentioned—which I really, really like and plan to revisit in the future when I'm getting down on myself about not being able to do plots, btw—but also makes me feel kind of like a one-trick pony at the end of the day.
I'll have to give those notes of yours a look when I get home. And re: the points game, I'm so, so with you on that. The level of anxiety I have knowing that I'm not only missing a deadline but missing a deadline in a way where I lose a thing, even if it's a point that doesn't really mean much, is killer. May or may not be why I haven't worked my way successfully through many Col. Kink prompts, lol.
Why is writing haaaaard??
Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 21:05 (UTC)The most relatable content.
Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 22:48 (UTC)Re: Output, oh output. Wherefore art thou, output?
Date: 04/12/2019 18:26 (UTC)I don't really know what the solution might be but I'm going to come back to this thread to see if anyone has ideas that might help!
The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 15:36 (UTC)Anyway, more of a whine than a request for advice.
Re: The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 15:57 (UTC)Really looking forward to this fic!
Re: The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 16:48 (UTC)Anyway. It'll be fine.
Re: The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 18:08 (UTC)TL;DR It's gonna be totally great and turn out just fine, friend~ You're a fantastic author and I, for one, can't wait to read your weird non-linear Andy/Eddie Colonel Kink fill.
Re: The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 18:50 (UTC)Which could be more self serious than it is, if you don't consider it's Le Guin.
Anyway. There's only one bed. They fuck. It'll work out.
Re: The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 18:32 (UTC)Hmm, I guess that while I do love research and historical accuracy, I don't know how much is REALLY needed for fic. It's great when it's there but unless there's some wildly wrong fact like suddenly Eddie and Andy are fighting in Antarctica, I probably won't notice. I'm usually too focused on the characters to notice if a fic says that a battle lasted two days when it really lasted three, or whatever.
Either way I am so looking forward to your fic!
Re: The Pacific - Andy/Eddie timeline fuckery
Date: 04/12/2019 18:58 (UTC)Anyway, forward.
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Date: 04/12/2019 21:24 (UTC)Gene delivers a small smile, equal parts beautiful and bittersweet. He continues to cup Babe’s cold cheek, thumb sweeping slowly across the bone, and replies, calmly, “I know.”
So, the
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Date: 04/12/2019 22:19 (UTC)no subject
Date: 04/12/2019 22:49 (UTC)I can’t wait to see the final product!!!!
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Date: 07/12/2019 05:19 (UTC)no subject
Date: 07/12/2019 05:21 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12/12/2019 13:51 (UTC)I hope it comes together for you soon!!
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Date: 15/12/2019 02:45 (UTC)