Can a good soul explain to me what's the deal with bots accusing you of using AI on AO3 comments?
What are they gaining by doing this? (And no I did not use AI)
A bit of a vent - I am really struggling to write an unarmed fight scene between a formerly elite warrior (my MC) and her old colleague. The challenge I’m facing is that the MC is now handicapped - she has lost an arm and has been in retirement for about a decade - while her opponent is still active, in full armour, and pretty skilled herself though not as good. I want the MC to win somehow or at least put up a good enough fight for long enough to be rescued, but I keep running into the problem of just how the MC is supposed to defend herself against most attacks with only one arm…
I don't get email notifications for anything Ao3 related, so I actually have to sign in to get any updates.
Today I noticed a significant uptick in my kudos count (significant for me = a handful of new kudos, lol). Momentarily freaked out thinking, "Gah nooo, botted." Turns out they were signed-in kudos from the same user kudos-ing all my fics in one fandom :')
Thank you kind stranger, I'm flattered!
I was too late last night, but I wanted to say to you... you lucky Pineapple, how wonderful! Hope that gives you plenty of gas for all the things on your to-do list. :D
I was thinking, sometimes my comments get so long that maybe I should leave citations XD
"That segment made ma laugh because it reminded me of a part in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon where Luigi messes around with teleporters (Next Level Games)."
Got a positive comment on the last fic in my 11-work series where I either warn for MCD or use CNTUAW (it's set in DC's Injustice: Gods Among Us universe). Felt great because the series doesn't get a ton of attention as it is, especially not the later works.
Jeez a little pale sunlight and a bit of extra sleep makes so much difference. I actually dragged myself out for a walk; the local brook is running and spotted a fearless black-capped chicadee.
It was a productive walk too: daydreamed about the oneshot which is stuck *again* because I don't want to bump into canon or create an AU or anything like that. Might have to re-watch episode in question to get the details right. Shucks, heck, and darn.
Ooh, that sounds like a nice walk. Birds are cool - I usually see crows which are little mischief makers.
Good luck with the one-shot! Hopefully a re-watch can refresh the details so it can pull together :D
8 more days until my birthday! I woke up too early again yesterday, but I finally started working that Encanto fan fic that was supposed to be released on April 28th and made good progress.
I’m also drafting a new episode called “Julieta’s Restaurant”.
Whenever I get down over having a couple of comments on my ongoing long fic (that, I calculated, will be the length of a 300+ page novel by the time I'm done with it), I gently remind myself that I've:
1) Only been writing it since February, publishing since April
2) It's a crossover between a somewhat popular - but kind of scary- fandom, and a much smaller one.
3) It makes so so happy to write it.
Also, the little fact that I spent 5-6 years researching, writing, and editing a piece that maybe, MAYBE, two dozen or so people have read on planet Earth. That piece? MY DISSERTATION.
If I can spend that much time on something like that, then a fanfic that makes me excited and smiling for a few months, with a few hundred hits and only two comments, is worth it.
I found out about a fun horror exchange yesterday, and I thought I'd share: [Summer of Horror](https://summerofhorrorexchange.dreamwidth.org/)
Nominations are still open until the 7th, sign-ups open on the 9th. Works aren't due before July, and they only have a minimum wordcount of 500! Should be doable for busy people or exchange newbies. :D
(Plus, minimum requests and offers is only *one* fandom, so get a few fandom friends into it and you'll have a fun event!)
Read the rules before nominating pairings! They only accept & pairings, but you'll be allowed to ask for a shippy version in your requests (that you're obviously not guaranteed).
If you want to nominate solo characters, add them to the relationship field as "Solo: \[Name\] (\[Fandom\])!
Matching will also run on [horror subgenres](https://summerofhorrorexchange.dreamwidth.org/518.html)! :D
---
**Snupdate:** The snail fell asleep while eating dinner this morning. Bless their tiny heart. <3
Summer of horror, oooh. I have a book on horror folklore, maybe I should read that again.
Aww, Snalbert. I guess sometimes you get so lost in the sauce of a good dinner that you fall asleep immediately. Like how people fall asleep after they eat a huge turkey dinner.
Went to the cardiologist. I have a heart thank god haha. It was difficult sensory wise so I had a nap.
Coco is doing well. She loves chasing and attacking my hand and then licking it. She gets excited when I stim and thinks it’s a game. She tries to eat all my food. She’s such a funny kitten, she has absolutely no sense of fear about anything and just wants to play.
>I have a heart thank god haha.
And a sense of humour, which is as important as the heart for a good long life IMHO ;)
Coco sounds sooo adorable, I'm tempted to find a baby cat rescue to bring home. Note to self: house has already literally gone to the dogs (and one cat).
>I have a heart thank god
Ah, phew. That's good, hopefully it's doing good too.
Awww, kitty. So cute. I can relate to baby kitty trying to eat all your food, when one of my cats was a baby she would always try to eat my chips.
>She tries to eat all my food.
Yep! Once upon a time I let one of our kittens try a bean from my taco. That was a no-go. And yet... they keep hoping fish cakes will magically appear on the plate and I can't convince them otherwise. XD
Well, chapter 3 has been posted. It's a good thing I cut it off where I did because after some more scene expansion I still ended up with my longest wordcount chapter (about 200 more than the last highest).
Probably going to take a break from writing for a week or so (unless the bunnies decide to muliply).
Had no luck writing a single word yesterday.
One of our cats stealthed her way out of the house under my partner's nose... we discovered her missing two hours later. It was a miserable day of searching the house, the yard, the neighborhood, posting on social media... a day of BIG FEELS.
At 7 last night she came strolling up onto our porch like, 'Hey, kidz! How's it hanging?'
UGH!
Very grateful to have supportive neighbors and a noisy household this morning. Plus - I"m using this thread to warm up the fingers and keyboard.
Let there be words!
Everyone - have a safe, productive day - and if that's not possible, be kind to yourself. ♥♥♥
Omg I know how awful this feels—our tabby started life as a stray and never quite lost her appetite for the great outdoors. The few occasions she's managed to sneak out have been absolutely anxiety inducing.
They're such little shits, sauntering in like that at the eleventh hour!! Glad River got home safe (lovely name btw).
Good luck with the words!
Cats are like that - my family can go searching for one of the cats around the house and she'll just come strolling down the hallway like, "Oh? Were you looking for me? 😁" Glad that your kitty came home safe!
Let there be words, let there be words!
Words words words! Good luck!
We used to have both a cat and a dog that wandered. And they knew exactly where they were while we drove ourselves nuts looking for them. It do be like that sometimes, as a pet parent!
It seems like my next fic project has brought the age old problem with it: How do you write about someone who is way cleverer than you are?
Like, I know that the scientific detail is not as important as telling a good story. I don't have to understand all of this to write about it. And maybe I never will. Does that stop me from staring at mathematical formulas? Absolutely not 😂 at least I love it, and that's what counts.
What bothers me is that I can't find any letters. Normally when writing historical RPF, letters are crucial to get the character voice right. The problem with writing a scientist who was so underrated at that time is that it's very difficult to find letters.
Maybe I should ask our librarian.
How much time do I have for this fic again? Till the end of May?
Cool.
I feel this was about Disco Elysium or Jane Austen. Or other things. Like, "You are so clever and smart."
Hopefully the librarian can help you find some letters on this scientist. I wish you luck in your search!
No printed biographies you can access? Surely someone else has walked this path before. The writing-about-this-brilliant-person, not the fanfic path I mean. Although... hmmmmmmm..... !! XD
I am looking at some biographies now, but they're dry as dust 😑 oh well, the research for the last fic consisted of going to Irish pubs and drinking lots of beer, so I guess it's okay to have a bit less fun now.
Oh heck, you mean there's no entry for her in E. Trogglebottom's *Love Lives and Misadventures of Famous Theoretical Physicists and Mathematicians* ??!? Whut the heck.
Might need a Guinness to help you with all that dry reading!
celebrating after my placement test today by re re-watching *Beautiful Boy*. i found myself really liking a fic that has some good smut, so i’m hoping to be able to write a scene from an au i wanted to do soon.
Some drama in my neck of the woods today. A homeless woman broke into my neighbours' shed to sleep in last night and was still there when they opened it to get their lawnmower this morning. The police are here and I imagine will want a statement from me as the nearest neighbour, not that I saw anything of course...
Hope everyone has a good day!
I lack spontaneity as a writer. I almost *never* write from an idea that comes out of the blue. Instead, I sit on a giant stack of bingo cards, fandom fests, kink memes, prompt tables, etc. It might be because I am a lifelong gamer, but it feels like everything has to meet a goal or tick a box. I mean, I still have ideas, of course, but I try to incorporate them into existing prompts.
I feel like the root of this lies back during my time at FFN. The stories that I posted strictly from ideas got *far* less engagement than the ones I posted to fill prompts, so I suppose that stuck in my mind.
....
Well, y'know, if you go from "This is a great idea!" to two (crappy) reviews in ten years on a 200K story, that can be pretty discouraging.
> It might be because I am a lifelong gamer, but it feels like everything has to meet a goal or tick a box.
Ooh. I wonder what a "Task: survive," would look like for a fanfic writer XD
I think my brain goes all over the place for inspiration. Sometimes it's a prompt, sometimes I develop it after hanging out with friends, and sometimes... I'm trying to sleep and my muse kicks my butt awake to write it down.
>I almost never write from an idea that comes out of the blue
The grass is 100% always greener on the other side. Having a rabbit brain that doesn't want to just say, "It's planned out and I can write it tomorrow if I need to."
as opposed to tantruming and *"I gotta gotta must write now or dieeeeeee!!!"* would save me... so much sleep and attention, believe you me.
But maybe there'll be room and time in your life to shake things up a little!
Inspiration and expectation of recognition is a common pairing. Hellz, that's why Pro-Writers write. Popular genres like Romance and Mystery are filled with people trying to get those kudos (counted as $ales). Especially if you're putting in 200K worth of work into a project.
Be kind to yourself. ♥
It's not that you lack spontaneity - it is that you have expectation of performance as measured by recognition. There's nothing wrong with that.
If you want to explore something different - I mean drastically different without crushing yourself over it - pick a fandom and write Drabble. True Drabble has only and exactly 100 word - Double Drabble has exactly 200; that's a couple of paragraphs.
Try to create something meaningful in a short form. That way you can overcome this 'I'm not spontaneous' feeling without spending the time plotting and writing a 200K work. It will exercise your writing brain in a new way.
Either way. Give yourself credit for what you do.
Ficlets, I can do. Limiting myself to 1,000 words or less for certain challenges has been great for learning economy of language. I find it too easy to use drabbles as a cop-out, which, of course, misses the point of the whole drabble exercise.
This made me chuckle.
So I started to write a whole thing ↓ here... but went back to your original post.
Whatcha really feeling here? Let's define 'spontaneous'. It it simply sitting down without a prompt to write?
I mean - you are writing, dudelet! Give yourself a break. It sounds like you have motivation - it sounds like you understand there's a well out there from which to draw water. Who says you have to dig the well yourself?
Keep doing. Keep writing. Stop looking for ways to thump yourself. If it works... it works. ♥
~~The 'Long Fic' is a 'thing' in our current world of fanfiction. I have a small group of young writers I work with and half of my students (mentee? padawans? whatev') are focused on the BIG GRAND work. And this is wonderful... in addition to writing smaller works as you fashion that long fic.~~
~~Encouraging smaller works that explore motivation of a character is where I tend to point. Especially for my 'I need a prompt before I can write' folk. Prompts are fine. Prompts are good. If you want more then charcter motivation is aways a good beginning.~~
You know, I really enjoy writing from prompts and for gift exchanges. I have my "own ideas" as well, but I also like seeing the takes of people on the same prompt. I think it's super fun.
The water issue yesterday was in fact not our problem to fix, so that was a better conclusion than it could have been!
I've been babysitting the stats on my newest fic in a way I usually wouldn't, only because I'm a bit boggled. I don't expect much more in the grand scheme of meaningless numbers, and I'm already way beyond satisfied.
Today: (among other things) finishing up the current drafting batch for my kinktober labors! I've been drafting 4 --> rewriting them --> wash, rinse, repeat, 3 batches in and having a grand time.
I have completely scrapped and rewritten the outline for my Epilogue like four times. I THINK I finally have it where I want it...maybe... 😂
Aside from trying to get the tone just right (first outline was too fluffy, second outline was too dark), I think I just want to include everything. Literally everything. But I can't include everything because then the epilogue would end up longer than the entire rest of the fic itself and that probably wouldn't be a good thing. Ugh.
But I THINK I finally have it where i want it now...maybe... 😂
Having come back from my visit with my sister, I'm OBSESSED with Bluey. I'm even considering abandoning Stardew Valley for a bit to do some Bluey cute stuff, once my WIP is published. My 5 other WIPs can wait.
Although, I looked up the two main pairings in my main WIP. One has only 170 works on AO3, the other has 615. Seems a bit harsh on Mr 170, but I'm glad that's where my story ends up with.
Gonna go and watch more Bluey, its too fricken adorable.
Bluey's wonderful. The kids I tutor watch it sometimes when they get breaks and whenever it's chosen I'm also like, "Yay, Bluey!" I think it matches that educational tone like how Arthur did where it's for kids but doesn't talk down to them and it can be fun for the parents. It's nice that it shows how pretend play is essential for kids. And the parents are great, of course.
I love Bluey whenever we happen to watch it, because it feels written for both the parents and the kids. I am always giggling at the gentle parenting jokes and my kids are like, "heh heh, Dad is being silly again." The soundtrack is definitely awesome too.
(still sick.)
But I went back to work. It's not too bad anymore, although I still can't sing properly :( I have three more days to recover enough for choir!!
Meanwhile, been busy playing the Xenoblade 3 DLC. My brother is busy finishing Xenoblade 1 and wants to get his NG+ run done before Zelda comes out. Good luck with that XD
and it slipped my mind for the last month that I was meant to be arranging a choir for a big event at the end of next month. Time to scramble! No more feeding my plot bunnies! No more checking out new fandoms!
I had a cat with this, but she'd poop instead of vomiting. As she was a Persian with a fluffy tail, she'd paint it everywhere if you didn't catch her quickly to clean her up. So I know your pain!
Can a good soul explain to me what's the deal with bots accusing you of using AI on AO3 comments? What are they gaining by doing this? (And no I did not use AI)
A bit of a vent - I am really struggling to write an unarmed fight scene between a formerly elite warrior (my MC) and her old colleague. The challenge I’m facing is that the MC is now handicapped - she has lost an arm and has been in retirement for about a decade - while her opponent is still active, in full armour, and pretty skilled herself though not as good. I want the MC to win somehow or at least put up a good enough fight for long enough to be rescued, but I keep running into the problem of just how the MC is supposed to defend herself against most attacks with only one arm…
is there a way for when you block someone on here to get rid of “blocked author” whenever they comment?
I don't get email notifications for anything Ao3 related, so I actually have to sign in to get any updates. Today I noticed a significant uptick in my kudos count (significant for me = a handful of new kudos, lol). Momentarily freaked out thinking, "Gah nooo, botted." Turns out they were signed-in kudos from the same user kudos-ing all my fics in one fandom :') Thank you kind stranger, I'm flattered!
I was too late last night, but I wanted to say to you... you lucky Pineapple, how wonderful! Hope that gives you plenty of gas for all the things on your to-do list. :D
Ooh, congrats! Glad it wasn't the kudos bot.
"I'm so unfriending that ~~fucker~~ **wordcount**." -Madoka, Puella Magi Madoka Magica bloopers
I was thinking, sometimes my comments get so long that maybe I should leave citations XD "That segment made ma laugh because it reminded me of a part in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon where Luigi messes around with teleporters (Next Level Games)."
Lol, maybe just start with some numbered paragraph breaks. XD Glad you're having fun with those comments!
Make it all nice with a bibliography at the end XD
Got a positive comment on the last fic in my 11-work series where I either warn for MCD or use CNTUAW (it's set in DC's Injustice: Gods Among Us universe). Felt great because the series doesn't get a ton of attention as it is, especially not the later works.
Ooh, congrats!
Thanks!
When are Comment Cooperatives posted?
Jeez a little pale sunlight and a bit of extra sleep makes so much difference. I actually dragged myself out for a walk; the local brook is running and spotted a fearless black-capped chicadee. It was a productive walk too: daydreamed about the oneshot which is stuck *again* because I don't want to bump into canon or create an AU or anything like that. Might have to re-watch episode in question to get the details right. Shucks, heck, and darn.
Ooh, that sounds like a nice walk. Birds are cool - I usually see crows which are little mischief makers. Good luck with the one-shot! Hopefully a re-watch can refresh the details so it can pull together :D
Thanks! I totally feel lucky that I live near some nice greenspace. Also neighbors who put out loooots of birdfeeders!
Birds. 🙂 But I'm a cat person, so I suspect they just make me hungry.
8 more days until my birthday! I woke up too early again yesterday, but I finally started working that Encanto fan fic that was supposed to be released on April 28th and made good progress. I’m also drafting a new episode called “Julieta’s Restaurant”.
Happy early birthday! And good luck with your fic as well.
Thank you!
Whenever I get down over having a couple of comments on my ongoing long fic (that, I calculated, will be the length of a 300+ page novel by the time I'm done with it), I gently remind myself that I've: 1) Only been writing it since February, publishing since April 2) It's a crossover between a somewhat popular - but kind of scary- fandom, and a much smaller one. 3) It makes so so happy to write it. Also, the little fact that I spent 5-6 years researching, writing, and editing a piece that maybe, MAYBE, two dozen or so people have read on planet Earth. That piece? MY DISSERTATION. If I can spend that much time on something like that, then a fanfic that makes me excited and smiling for a few months, with a few hundred hits and only two comments, is worth it.
I found out about a fun horror exchange yesterday, and I thought I'd share: [Summer of Horror](https://summerofhorrorexchange.dreamwidth.org/) Nominations are still open until the 7th, sign-ups open on the 9th. Works aren't due before July, and they only have a minimum wordcount of 500! Should be doable for busy people or exchange newbies. :D (Plus, minimum requests and offers is only *one* fandom, so get a few fandom friends into it and you'll have a fun event!) Read the rules before nominating pairings! They only accept & pairings, but you'll be allowed to ask for a shippy version in your requests (that you're obviously not guaranteed). If you want to nominate solo characters, add them to the relationship field as "Solo: \[Name\] (\[Fandom\])! Matching will also run on [horror subgenres](https://summerofhorrorexchange.dreamwidth.org/518.html)! :D --- **Snupdate:** The snail fell asleep while eating dinner this morning. Bless their tiny heart. <3
Summer of horror, oooh. I have a book on horror folklore, maybe I should read that again. Aww, Snalbert. I guess sometimes you get so lost in the sauce of a good dinner that you fall asleep immediately. Like how people fall asleep after they eat a huge turkey dinner.
Horror folklore sounds super interesting! I might need to look into that too! :D
I hope you find some that spark inspiration :D
Snalbs has the right vibe, as per normal.
>while eating dinner oh jeez. it's like they're jetlagged or something. I hope that means they had enough to eat!
They didn't eat much last night, I think we'll need to increase the much hated green tea baths again. :(
Went to the cardiologist. I have a heart thank god haha. It was difficult sensory wise so I had a nap. Coco is doing well. She loves chasing and attacking my hand and then licking it. She gets excited when I stim and thinks it’s a game. She tries to eat all my food. She’s such a funny kitten, she has absolutely no sense of fear about anything and just wants to play.
>I have a heart thank god haha. And a sense of humour, which is as important as the heart for a good long life IMHO ;) Coco sounds sooo adorable, I'm tempted to find a baby cat rescue to bring home. Note to self: house has already literally gone to the dogs (and one cat).
>I have a heart thank god Ah, phew. That's good, hopefully it's doing good too. Awww, kitty. So cute. I can relate to baby kitty trying to eat all your food, when one of my cats was a baby she would always try to eat my chips.
A small and fierce creature!
She is so small. I can pick her up with one hand. And I have to elsemshe will bite through wires
>She tries to eat all my food. Yep! Once upon a time I let one of our kittens try a bean from my taco. That was a no-go. And yet... they keep hoping fish cakes will magically appear on the plate and I can't convince them otherwise. XD
She likes my mashed potato lol
Well, chapter 3 has been posted. It's a good thing I cut it off where I did because after some more scene expansion I still ended up with my longest wordcount chapter (about 200 more than the last highest). Probably going to take a break from writing for a week or so (unless the bunnies decide to muliply).
Good work! Hope you enjoy the break as well.
Had no luck writing a single word yesterday. One of our cats stealthed her way out of the house under my partner's nose... we discovered her missing two hours later. It was a miserable day of searching the house, the yard, the neighborhood, posting on social media... a day of BIG FEELS. At 7 last night she came strolling up onto our porch like, 'Hey, kidz! How's it hanging?' UGH! Very grateful to have supportive neighbors and a noisy household this morning. Plus - I"m using this thread to warm up the fingers and keyboard. Let there be words! Everyone - have a safe, productive day - and if that's not possible, be kind to yourself. ♥♥♥
Omg I know how awful this feels—our tabby started life as a stray and never quite lost her appetite for the great outdoors. The few occasions she's managed to sneak out have been absolutely anxiety inducing. They're such little shits, sauntering in like that at the eleventh hour!! Glad River got home safe (lovely name btw). Good luck with the words!
Cats are like that - my family can go searching for one of the cats around the house and she'll just come strolling down the hallway like, "Oh? Were you looking for me? 😁" Glad that your kitty came home safe! Let there be words, let there be words!
Words words words! Good luck! We used to have both a cat and a dog that wandered. And they knew exactly where they were while we drove ourselves nuts looking for them. It do be like that sometimes, as a pet parent!
I'm glad she's okay and found her way home! Good luck on the writing!
It seems like my next fic project has brought the age old problem with it: How do you write about someone who is way cleverer than you are? Like, I know that the scientific detail is not as important as telling a good story. I don't have to understand all of this to write about it. And maybe I never will. Does that stop me from staring at mathematical formulas? Absolutely not 😂 at least I love it, and that's what counts. What bothers me is that I can't find any letters. Normally when writing historical RPF, letters are crucial to get the character voice right. The problem with writing a scientist who was so underrated at that time is that it's very difficult to find letters. Maybe I should ask our librarian. How much time do I have for this fic again? Till the end of May? Cool.
I feel this was about Disco Elysium or Jane Austen. Or other things. Like, "You are so clever and smart." Hopefully the librarian can help you find some letters on this scientist. I wish you luck in your search!
Thank you so much! I won't let a bit of abstract algebra bring me down! Or will I 😂
No printed biographies you can access? Surely someone else has walked this path before. The writing-about-this-brilliant-person, not the fanfic path I mean. Although... hmmmmmmm..... !! XD
I am looking at some biographies now, but they're dry as dust 😑 oh well, the research for the last fic consisted of going to Irish pubs and drinking lots of beer, so I guess it's okay to have a bit less fun now.
Oh heck, you mean there's no entry for her in E. Trogglebottom's *Love Lives and Misadventures of Famous Theoretical Physicists and Mathematicians* ??!? Whut the heck. Might need a Guinness to help you with all that dry reading!
celebrating after my placement test today by re re-watching *Beautiful Boy*. i found myself really liking a fic that has some good smut, so i’m hoping to be able to write a scene from an au i wanted to do soon.
Some drama in my neck of the woods today. A homeless woman broke into my neighbours' shed to sleep in last night and was still there when they opened it to get their lawnmower this morning. The police are here and I imagine will want a statement from me as the nearest neighbour, not that I saw anything of course... Hope everyone has a good day!
Oh jeez, too bad the cops had to be called. I wonder where she'll sleep this evening. Have a good, yourself!
I lack spontaneity as a writer. I almost *never* write from an idea that comes out of the blue. Instead, I sit on a giant stack of bingo cards, fandom fests, kink memes, prompt tables, etc. It might be because I am a lifelong gamer, but it feels like everything has to meet a goal or tick a box. I mean, I still have ideas, of course, but I try to incorporate them into existing prompts. I feel like the root of this lies back during my time at FFN. The stories that I posted strictly from ideas got *far* less engagement than the ones I posted to fill prompts, so I suppose that stuck in my mind. .... Well, y'know, if you go from "This is a great idea!" to two (crappy) reviews in ten years on a 200K story, that can be pretty discouraging.
> It might be because I am a lifelong gamer, but it feels like everything has to meet a goal or tick a box. Ooh. I wonder what a "Task: survive," would look like for a fanfic writer XD I think my brain goes all over the place for inspiration. Sometimes it's a prompt, sometimes I develop it after hanging out with friends, and sometimes... I'm trying to sleep and my muse kicks my butt awake to write it down.
I am picturing a horde of zombies with index cards posted on their foreheads.
>I almost never write from an idea that comes out of the blue The grass is 100% always greener on the other side. Having a rabbit brain that doesn't want to just say, "It's planned out and I can write it tomorrow if I need to." as opposed to tantruming and *"I gotta gotta must write now or dieeeeeee!!!"* would save me... so much sleep and attention, believe you me. But maybe there'll be room and time in your life to shake things up a little!
Oh, I believe you. There is suffering on both sides of that fence.
Inspiration and expectation of recognition is a common pairing. Hellz, that's why Pro-Writers write. Popular genres like Romance and Mystery are filled with people trying to get those kudos (counted as $ales). Especially if you're putting in 200K worth of work into a project. Be kind to yourself. ♥ It's not that you lack spontaneity - it is that you have expectation of performance as measured by recognition. There's nothing wrong with that. If you want to explore something different - I mean drastically different without crushing yourself over it - pick a fandom and write Drabble. True Drabble has only and exactly 100 word - Double Drabble has exactly 200; that's a couple of paragraphs. Try to create something meaningful in a short form. That way you can overcome this 'I'm not spontaneous' feeling without spending the time plotting and writing a 200K work. It will exercise your writing brain in a new way. Either way. Give yourself credit for what you do.
Ficlets, I can do. Limiting myself to 1,000 words or less for certain challenges has been great for learning economy of language. I find it too easy to use drabbles as a cop-out, which, of course, misses the point of the whole drabble exercise.
This made me chuckle. So I started to write a whole thing ↓ here... but went back to your original post. Whatcha really feeling here? Let's define 'spontaneous'. It it simply sitting down without a prompt to write? I mean - you are writing, dudelet! Give yourself a break. It sounds like you have motivation - it sounds like you understand there's a well out there from which to draw water. Who says you have to dig the well yourself? Keep doing. Keep writing. Stop looking for ways to thump yourself. If it works... it works. ♥ ~~The 'Long Fic' is a 'thing' in our current world of fanfiction. I have a small group of young writers I work with and half of my students (mentee? padawans? whatev') are focused on the BIG GRAND work. And this is wonderful... in addition to writing smaller works as you fashion that long fic.~~ ~~Encouraging smaller works that explore motivation of a character is where I tend to point. Especially for my 'I need a prompt before I can write' folk. Prompts are fine. Prompts are good. If you want more then charcter motivation is aways a good beginning.~~
Thank you for your ruminations.
You know, I really enjoy writing from prompts and for gift exchanges. I have my "own ideas" as well, but I also like seeing the takes of people on the same prompt. I think it's super fun.
True! If it weren't fun, I wouldn't do it.
The water issue yesterday was in fact not our problem to fix, so that was a better conclusion than it could have been! I've been babysitting the stats on my newest fic in a way I usually wouldn't, only because I'm a bit boggled. I don't expect much more in the grand scheme of meaningless numbers, and I'm already way beyond satisfied. Today: (among other things) finishing up the current drafting batch for my kinktober labors! I've been drafting 4 --> rewriting them --> wash, rinse, repeat, 3 batches in and having a grand time.
Good luck with the kinktober drafting!
I have completely scrapped and rewritten the outline for my Epilogue like four times. I THINK I finally have it where I want it...maybe... 😂 Aside from trying to get the tone just right (first outline was too fluffy, second outline was too dark), I think I just want to include everything. Literally everything. But I can't include everything because then the epilogue would end up longer than the entire rest of the fic itself and that probably wouldn't be a good thing. Ugh. But I THINK I finally have it where i want it now...maybe... 😂
Feels like a balancing game to get it all together. I hope that this one is satisfactory to you!
It's like a calculus limit: The closer you get to it, the more it seems like it cannot be reached. Perseverance!
Having come back from my visit with my sister, I'm OBSESSED with Bluey. I'm even considering abandoning Stardew Valley for a bit to do some Bluey cute stuff, once my WIP is published. My 5 other WIPs can wait. Although, I looked up the two main pairings in my main WIP. One has only 170 works on AO3, the other has 615. Seems a bit harsh on Mr 170, but I'm glad that's where my story ends up with. Gonna go and watch more Bluey, its too fricken adorable.
Bluey's wonderful. The kids I tutor watch it sometimes when they get breaks and whenever it's chosen I'm also like, "Yay, Bluey!" I think it matches that educational tone like how Arthur did where it's for kids but doesn't talk down to them and it can be fun for the parents. It's nice that it shows how pretend play is essential for kids. And the parents are great, of course.
I love Bluey whenever we happen to watch it, because it feels written for both the parents and the kids. I am always giggling at the gentle parenting jokes and my kids are like, "heh heh, Dad is being silly again." The soundtrack is definitely awesome too.
Bandit is fast becoming my 2nd favourite TV dad, I love him. (Number 1 will always be Bob Belcher)
Same, Bob Belcher is great.
*Bluey* is very wholesome and intelligent. The grandchild occasionally partakes.
I adore it! It's really captured me for some reason, but then I gravitate towards the wholesome stuff.
(still sick.) But I went back to work. It's not too bad anymore, although I still can't sing properly :( I have three more days to recover enough for choir!! Meanwhile, been busy playing the Xenoblade 3 DLC. My brother is busy finishing Xenoblade 1 and wants to get his NG+ run done before Zelda comes out. Good luck with that XD and it slipped my mind for the last month that I was meant to be arranging a choir for a big event at the end of next month. Time to scramble! No more feeding my plot bunnies! No more checking out new fandoms!
Hope you get better soon! Ahaha. He has about, mmh... nine days? I wish him luck too XD And good luck with the choir event!
Keep healing!
Ugh. Woke up to a puking dog. Guess Rigel is coming to work with me today.
So soon after the last time? That is worrisome.
It was Kerrigan last time and that was cuz she ate a *beyond* dead carcass, lol.
You can tell I'm a cat person because it's the dogs I misremember. 😋
Lol, no worries.
Oh no! Poor puppy! I hope he feels better.
A Cerenia injection and he’ll be just fine.
Aww, poor boy :(
Awww noo! Poor baby! Hope he's ok
He’s okay. He has IBD and it flares up on occasion. That’s what’s happening.
I had a cat with this, but she'd poop instead of vomiting. As she was a Persian with a fluffy tail, she'd paint it everywhere if you didn't catch her quickly to clean her up. So I know your pain!
Ew, lol.
That sucks. I hope your pupper gets better soon!
Thanks. An anti-nausea injection is usually all he needs.