Art In Progress - FF7 "Professor Strife" For Basilly

[cozzybob]

As promised (to lustforlike), I'm still doing a pic a day! Unfortunately, this one is too damn complicated to finish in one day (even if I wasn't going insane from school--omg, the work load!). So I'm doing it in several parts as I find the time, and will continue to post the progress here.

Okay, so there's a bit of a back story on this one. basilton and I decided

Comments

[yanagi_wa]

The last time I planned ahead, I was outlining a 10-15k story. It's name is Shades of Home. *ahem* It topped out at 44chapters, 227,938 words. Soooo not a fan of big time planning.

[cozzybob]

LOL! I admire how you can keep writing like that, though, because I always tend to stumble after a while. That's why I've been nervous about posting that SPN fic, because even though I have about 34,000 written, it's still not finished, and my history dictates that because I don't plan, I'll stumble over some plot hole and then stop writing. xD

Do you get stuck often? How do you work your way out of it if you do? ^^

[yanagi_wa]

I don't get stuck often but when I do I find that going back and reading the last three or four chapters helps a lot. Also, don't be afraid to go back to the place that you feel you made a wrong turn and rewrite it.

[cozzybob]

That's what someone else told me the other day--rewrite a chapter if I have to. I always feel bad about that if I post as I go, though, because then I confuse the heck out of the people who are reading it. xD

Ah, well!

[nagi_schwarz]

Planning ahead is...theoretical for me. I have to have a beginning and an end understood. What happens in the middle is flexible. As a general rule, I scribble notes for possibilities at the bottom of what I've got written and delete it as I write it. As far as outlining an actual fic goes...hasn't happened yet.

[cozzybob]

I think having an ending in mind is important, because when I don't have one, I tend to feel like I'm flying blind. Which is sort of what's going on, currently, but... yesh.

Yay for notes!

[nagi_schwarz]

Good luck! Hope it all goes well for you. I am going to attempt to finish a novel that was on a year-long hiatus, because I still know how it ends. We'll see how that goes, eh?

[cozzybob]

Oooh, yes! Good luck on that, it's never easy picking up a novel, but you can do it! :)

Re: sorry to edit so much

[cozzybob]

No I'm sure I won't be in the FF fandom per say, but I have grown new appreciation for it. If that makes sense. ^^

Also, Basil said you checked out his fic! He squeed & was happy. Yaaay! :D

I tend to do the former, where I start out with a scene, and then string it as a go... that's what I've been doing in my SPN fic, too, but I'm starting to regret it because it's getting kind of long.

Awakenings would need the notes, I agree! It sounds like you have a lot of them, which is admirable because I find it hard to plan that far ahead.

Re: sorry to edit so much

[cozzybob]

Yay! I told him you said that, and he was happy. ^^ <3

I really think that it's only the longer fics that benefit from planning. Otherwise, it just gets in the way of the creativity. Since you're used to shorter things, it makes sense that you don't like planning :)

That's a really great statement, and it's so true! I've been learning a lot about my own process since I took up writing again, and I'm beginning to think that most of us have a specific writing genre that we work best in. By nature, I always try to do a little bit of everything, but... well, the more I work on this SPN multipart fic, the more I know for a fact that I am and always will be a oneshot writer. xD

With a 'verse like that, it's good to know where the focus lies, I agree. So far, I think you're doing awesome!

[flora_baggins]

Looks pretty freaking amazing to me so far, hun! I can't wait to see each piece as it progresses!

As for fic, I've always been a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl. If I don't have the inspiration right then and there, I can't, and won't, write it. Sometimes, I have a long string of inspiration to get an arc down. Other times, I'll get one or two parts done and then be stuck waiting for months for the rest of it to come to me. And then there's those ideas for one-shots that hit you right when you're going to go to bed and you have to crank out as much as you can before you pass out at your computer. That's how my latest fic was: I wrote until I couldn't anymore then got up a little early the next morning and finished it. I think it turned out pretty damn well, too, if I do say so myself. lol If I get stuck on something, it's usually because I get side tracked while in the middle of writing and my inspiration getting taken away while I'm away frmo my writing. I try to keep on top of it and not get pulled away, if only for fear

[cozzybob]

Yaaaay! I'm glad, Bahamut has been a nightmare. ^^

All that sounds exactly like how I do it, actually! If I don't have the inspiration, I simply can't do it, and if I lose my original plans, the fic ends up dying a very quick and sudden death. That's nearly always what's happened to me in the past, which is why I've never really finished a multiparter. But I'm hoping that the word war and pushing, ect, will keep me going at a steady pace so that I do finish eventually. If I don't stop, I can't lose the train of thought, right? lol!

I think I prefer oneshots because of that. Same here, I generally write oneshots all in one go, and I have to keep writing or I'll usually lose it.

[flora_baggins]

Yeah, I understand what you mean. I've only ever completed a single arc in my entire fic history, and even that took me... oh gosh, a year or so? I wrote the first two or three bits in rapid succession, slowed down a bit to write the next one or two, then could not think of the correct inspiration for the last two (or was it three?) chapters until a great deal of time later. I mean, I tried, but nothing seemed right. I had a vague idea of how to end it (characters A & B end up together happily), but I didn't know how to go about getting there. I think I would've done better with a bit more planning, but I think it's only because I'm a perfectionist and I feel like I left a few loose ends on it. It's one of those things that I feel accomplished and disappointed with at the same time

[cozzybob]

Awww! Well, it's like what I keep hearing from dozens of other people, we're our own worst critics. I'm sure there aren't many loose ends, if there are!

I can see that, though... I usually fumble at the end, and I think it's because of those vague ending ideas. It's really, really hard to tie up a 'verse anyway, let alone when you're winging it. Endings are a bitch! ^^

Inspiration is key!! I think if your muses are happy with fluffy oneshots, there's nothing wrong with that. The world needs more fluff, after all. :)

[lustforlike]

After VII you should have a look at X (if you can get your hands on a Playstation), and even though lots of people seemed to dislike X-2 I think it makes a nice epilogue, even if it lacks the emotional punch of X.

And after all that you should try VI (most likely branded as III rather than VI). Still the best one, despite what the VII lovers say. The opera scene, in particular, is brilliant.

[cozzybob]

Yay! I'll take all that up if I can (though admittedly, I'm not much of a gamer, lol!), because I like the verse and I think exploring the other sets could be fun, too. :D

[lustforlike]

The "verse" as such doesn't exist within the Final Fantasy series. It's the only series I know of where the only connection is the same play style and general genre, without having an actual continuity. They broke that rule with X-2, being the only one in the series to date that's a direct sequel, and again with all the GBA Final Fantasy Tactics titles, which as far as I know (I haven't played them) take place in the same universe as FFXII. There are various other connections asserted by other people, but nothing that has canon support. Considering the number of Final Fantasies that involve irrevocable alteration of the World As We Know It, this is fair enough

[cozzybob]

Ah, yesh, that's the other thing that confused me about the FF genre as a casual (and still casual, I admit) observer. I did notice that the other games weren't sequels, but it seemed silly to me to have so many games under the same title that were relatively unrelated. That's really confusing to someone who doesn't know anything about FF, lemme tell you. xD

Will play VI, it sounds very interesting!! I'll check it out after I finish off VII, which will be a while since I'm still on the first disc. Ack!

I haven't gotten to Cid yet, but I hear he's really awesome!