Kill Winter! (also known as a CHEERLEADING post!)

[scifishipper]

Hello writerly friends! Several of us, including me, have been feeling a little uninspired and down about writing and other life things. I would love for us to rally around and give each other support

Comments

[beesandbrews]

I'm in the middle of posting a 40k fic. It took me five full weeks to write and edit. Now I feel like I should be working on something new, but I don't know what. I tried to sign up for a bingo, but the mods aren't answering their mail. Boo.

So that's me, stuck. No ideas, just a vague feeling I should be more productive.

[kdbleu]

Finding the next 'big thing' is hard. I'm very willing to let myself wander, dabble in a couple of things, and then go where I'm drawn even if that's mostly to my knitting for a while.

[beesandbrews]

That's so true. I suppose part of it is I stopped writing in a new fandom to write for an old fandom and now I don't know which direction to go in. Which is why I'm disappointed the bingo was a misfire. The other thing is posting is part of my letting go process. That I'm serialising this story over three weeks is kind of playing with my head a bit. I suppose after writing so intensively I'm feeling a bit of a vacuum.

[kdbleu]

I really felt that vacuum when I finished the first draft of my mystery. (I do the same thing when I finish knitting projects any bigger than a hat too.) I literally had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I played with a couple of back burner ideas that didn't really click and then started a sequel to my mystery because I felt like I really needed to stay in that universe. I knew I'd be back for edits anyway. (And I am.) But it is a very strange feeling indeed to have nothing.

[embolalia]

I'm...where I was on Sunday, more or less. Eight chapters to revise (some quite thoroughly) and I'm done with this draft. I'm also thinking of applying for an emerging writers fellowship that one of the literary journals I subscribe to is running, but it seems like they'd want a shorter complete story than I have on hand and polished, so I have to decide if I interrupt my train of thought writing-wise to work on that... either way, I need to find enough discipline to get through the next couple months!

[scifishipper]

You seem to be very disciplined! You go to the cafe and edit and you said that you've accomplished quite a bit. You seem so dedicated to getting the story done and out and that is wonderful! I admire your determination and your resolve. I envy it, in fact.

Can I have some?? ;P

[embolalia]

I guess it's patience I need more than discipline...I want to be done already! But I did finish off one chapter tonight (because it only took 200 words) so your post here worked!

Happy to share - you just have to come hang out and write with me in DC :D

[kdbleu]

a writing fellowship would be wonderful, but I can very much see the frustration in not having the 'right' kind of work but not wanting to interrupt to create one.

I think you're quite disciplined. Or in the very least not whinge-y about it. hee. You're doing great!

[millari]

I am in the middle of posting a multi-chapter Hunger Games fic, and it's hard to keep disciplined about my posting schedule of once a week because it's getting very little response on AO3. Like, basically, one person is commenting on it (although she is at least making incredibly thoughtful comments, so it should keep me going; it's just hard to post to almost dead silence

[scifishipper]

That is great news about BSG! So fun to get back into a fandom, isn't it? I've been hanging on and will be doing a remix again this year. So glad there are still some active people!

Writing unpopular or minor/rare characters is tough. My Zarek/Meier has little audience, but I love it all the same. So satisfying to write what we love, no?

Welcome back!

[millari]

It *is* fun to get back into a fandom. And honestly, in this small fandom, I can find more meta and camaraderie than I'm finding in so-called "big" fandoms. (Posting thousands of pictures of your favorite fandom on Tumblr doesn't really qualify to me as talking or connecting with people, as much as I enjoy looking at the pretty gifsets. I think some of the images posted on Tumblr actually have the potential to generate really interesting fandom meta, but then it's rare to see any discussion of that meta going on in more than a one-sided, ephemeral way.)

Zarek/Maier is cool. I honestly don't seek them out, but when I run into them, I usually read them because I find their power dynamics disturbing/fascinating. And I apparently am the queen of writing the unpopular/minor/rare characters, I'm finding, now that I've written in my second official fandom. ;) But yes, I couldn't write the popular characters without genuinely being intrigued by them; it just wouldn't be satisfying, as you say.

Thanks for the welcome!

[kdbleu]

I get instant feedback on everything I'm writing; it's really motivating.

I don't think I could overstate the importance of feedback in writing my novel. I would have quit long, long ago if it weren't for scifishipper. *hugs*

Totally different fandom, but I do need to leave some comments in my acknowledged but not exactly loved Arrow ship. There are a couple of really great fics at AO3 that I've left kudos for because it is so much easier, especially since I usually read on my phone, but I need to leave some better encouragement. You have inspired me! :D

[lanalucy]

The season is affecting me, too, but more because the weather won't just settle down and be cold for a while or hot for a while. All this up and down makes my body do weird things, and it's distracting

[millari]

ETA: I forgot when I was writing this comment that you have a giftfic with a deadline of a week. I realize that my advice is blithely ignorant of that reality. The one thing I can offer by way of advice about that is, remind yourself of the following

[lanalucy]

It's good to be reminded of things we already know. For me, anyway.

I do tend to write in bursts sometimes. Usually, it's steady, then three or four times a month, I get bursts of several thousand words, and I feel all special. And probably high. lol

When I first got into writing, it was something of an escape hatch - my depression was extraordinarily bad, and writing was like the shiny new boyfriend, taking my mind off everything icky. I need to stop taking the shiny boyfriend for granted. :/

You're right. The stress is making everything worse. I planned my goals for times of no writing, and maybe I just have to accept that this is one of those times I planned for.

And the giftfic is something I wanted to write. It's not expected, I don't think. So maybe I just have to get over myself, make it to Friday, and see if the muse will play nice with me.

{hugs}

[millari]

Oh, the bsg fandom and writing was a total escape hatch for depression for me too when I first got into it. I keep having to remind myself not to judge myself by that standard, when I was putting *everything* aside - even important work things - to write. Of course I was productive: it was a shiny new fandom and I was doing nothing else but writing in it, with other excited fans around me constantly talking about a show that was on the air each week. It was the perfect storm for a lot of writing, so I shouldn't be surprised that I'm not nearly as productive at writing nowadays. But it's a nice, slow burn rather than a fevered intensity, and I guess that's okay too, if you know, i want to have a RL as well. ;)

[ecstaticdance]

The good: I have written two short stories so far this year. My goal was 12.

The less good: I have made virtually no progress on the first round editing of my first novel, even less on the first draft of my second novel, feel like I'm spending more time on researching clarifying edits for what were supposed to be quick short stories than I am on actual writing, and when I do have writing time (um, now) I justify NOT writing by running errands or catching up on social media (Hey, I need to build my network, right? Blah). And that doesn't even touch on how horribly my published short story seems to be selling. Which. Yeah. Horribly. I need to finish up editing some of these shorts and start submitting. Both to publishers and to literary journals.

What I need: An outside reminder that research is writing and not wasted time, and that it's okay for me to ignore the networking sometimes. Right? Please? (Truth: Marketing/self-promotion is one of the very few things I actually hate.)

[sevanatwonights]

While research can be counted as writing; there is nothing replacing good old fashioned down in the dirt editing time or thought-provoking writing

[ecstaticdance]

I appreciate what I think you're trying to do here, but...

I think what I reject is that I'm expected to develop a marketing skill set on top of what I actually want to do and have both some talent and a fair amount of cultivated and learned skill at. I love the idea of being a "Jane of all trades", but sometimes too much is too much. I'd much rather pay someone who has that skill and desire to do it for me. That's why publicists exist. I just need to do some research and see if there's any way I can afford it. And probably have an actual book, rather than just a single short.

I think we all get lost when we forget WHY we are editing. Are you editing to link up loose threads? Are you editing for technical values (grammar, spelling, etc...) or is it that you want to tell another story?I'm researching to set the time and place of each section of my short story. It has an unconventional timeline, and I knew I'd have to add the details to clarify that eventually, but didn't bother in the first draft. I wanted to make sure the story was

[sevanatwonights]

Here's my two Ah's!

I'm so sorry to misinterpret what you were saying.

As far as the first bit, I tend to do all my research first before I write anything. That's why I plan and write the story all at once. Though as you see from my own posts in this thread, I feel things fall on deaf ears and when it does, your not sure if you stunned the readers with your work or made them run away from it in horror! That's what I get for assuming about how you edit! I must keep in mind people do things differently.

In the state in which I live in I can acquire a State Library Card and have free access to all the academic research databases that are available to every university that subscribes to them. And the card is free. Maybe you can find such a service as well.

As far as hiring a publicist to manage your PR, I would always recommend to go with the team effort when things grow beyond your ability to it control yourself (and I believe that is what you were saying).

Go ecstalicdance!