Writing stuff...
Nov. 18th, 2013 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayNaNoWriMo is going surprisingly well. I started this with no actual expectation of hitting 50k - I was aiming for maybe 30k and managing to write at least some words most days. I'd hit a slump after the massive push to finish the steampunk AU and even though I'd been writing and prodding at bits and pieces, I hadn't really been able to throw myself into anything for a couple of months.
Elizabeth Bear often talks about post-novel ennui, that state where you've put so much into the big push to finish a novel and you've thrown so much of yourself into said novel that all you want to do is slump on the sofa with a stack of DVDs, books, and food until you've recharged.
That's where I'd been for a couple of months and I was struggling to get past it so I decided to do NaNo and see if that jolts me out of it. I'm doing it rebel style, working on multiple projects including finishing a WIP that's been in hibernation since June due to the steampunk AU.
The WIP has a working title of Match Made in Heaven but I usually just call it the crackfic wingfic AU. I wrote 10k back in June and then had to put it aside to get the steampunk AU written. I had this idea that it wouldn't be a long fic, definitely under 20k, and it would be sweet and fluffy and silly. I poked at it a bit in October, added an extra 5k, and put it aside again.
Since the beginning of November I've added 27k. It's definitely not *short*. With the other short little things I've done, I'm at over 30k for the month already so I've more than hit my original NaNo goal and I may actually be thinking that 50k looks achievable now. I'm even far enough ahead of goal that if I lose a couple of writing days this weekend, I still might make the 50k.
Most excitingly, I've remembered why I like writing big fics and why it's so much easier to just power through one huge project rather than prodding at half a dozen things at the same time. It's the main thing running through my mind whenever I have time to think - thinking about how the next scenes should run, rehearsing dialogue, picturing things, nudging at plot barriers and finding ways over them. This is the part of writing I really love and I guess my big learning from NaNo will be that while I *can* flutter around projects, I enjoy writing most when I'm focusing on one project at a time.
I said that after the steampunk AU, didn't I? One day this message will actually stick.
The other learning will be that when the fic calls for it, I can actually write smut. I'll need my beta to tell me whether it's good quality smut, but this fic? Yeah, it's getting a high rating. Oops?
Elizabeth Bear often talks about post-novel ennui, that state where you've put so much into the big push to finish a novel and you've thrown so much of yourself into said novel that all you want to do is slump on the sofa with a stack of DVDs, books, and food until you've recharged.
That's where I'd been for a couple of months and I was struggling to get past it so I decided to do NaNo and see if that jolts me out of it. I'm doing it rebel style, working on multiple projects including finishing a WIP that's been in hibernation since June due to the steampunk AU.
The WIP has a working title of Match Made in Heaven but I usually just call it the crackfic wingfic AU. I wrote 10k back in June and then had to put it aside to get the steampunk AU written. I had this idea that it wouldn't be a long fic, definitely under 20k, and it would be sweet and fluffy and silly. I poked at it a bit in October, added an extra 5k, and put it aside again.
Since the beginning of November I've added 27k. It's definitely not *short*. With the other short little things I've done, I'm at over 30k for the month already so I've more than hit my original NaNo goal and I may actually be thinking that 50k looks achievable now. I'm even far enough ahead of goal that if I lose a couple of writing days this weekend, I still might make the 50k.
Most excitingly, I've remembered why I like writing big fics and why it's so much easier to just power through one huge project rather than prodding at half a dozen things at the same time. It's the main thing running through my mind whenever I have time to think - thinking about how the next scenes should run, rehearsing dialogue, picturing things, nudging at plot barriers and finding ways over them. This is the part of writing I really love and I guess my big learning from NaNo will be that while I *can* flutter around projects, I enjoy writing most when I'm focusing on one project at a time.
I said that after the steampunk AU, didn't I? One day this message will actually stick.
The other learning will be that when the fic calls for it, I can actually write smut. I'll need my beta to tell me whether it's good quality smut, but this fic? Yeah, it's getting a high rating. Oops?
no subject
Date: 2013-11-19 12:18 am (UTC)It's so great when you have the chance to learn what works for you, writing-wise!