Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Misfit Angel]

I was actually thinking about this the other day. I'm not sure it's possible to write a mildly sci-fi story that hasn't already been done by either Doctor Who or Star Trek or both.

Too true. You may remember awhile back that I was struggling with a simple math equation for faster-than-light travel (which you, incidentally, helped put me on the right direction for). It was a really minor detail for a sci-fi story I was working on that actually got a few chapters down, and when I submitted it for review by two beta reviewers and a potential publisher, literally all three of them said back to me, "Isn't this Star Trek: Enterprise, but with different names?"

Killed that little project pretty quickly.

 

[Crimson&Gold]

Finally made some real progress with Chapter Two of my fledgling story. I had already began writing last week but then a combination of moving back to Scotland for Uni as well as all the obligatory socalising that come with the new semester created a big distraction for me. Regardless I would love to have it finished and up by the end of this week.

And now I'm curious: where do you all stand on writing deadlines? Specifically self imposed ones. I'm a pretty self confessed lazy writer at the best of times so I find that it's good to set goals to get stuff written rather than taking a "it'll be done when it's done" attitude. But at the same time the idea of creating deadlines for creative projects seems a little strange. Do you really want to force yourself to get a chapter out the door if it risks being any way rushed or incomplete as a result?

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Finally made some real progress with Chapter Two of my fledgling story. I had already began writing last week but then a combination of moving back to Scotland for Uni as well as all the obligatory socalising that come with the new semester created a big distraction for me. Regardless I would love to have it finished and up by the end of this week.

And now I'm curious: where do you all stand on writing deadlines? Specifically self imposed ones. I'm a pretty self confessed lazy writer at the best of times so I find that it's good to set goals to get stuff written rather than taking a "it'll be done when it's done" attitude. But at the same time the idea of creating deadlines for creative projects seems a little strange. Do you really want to force yourself to get a chapter out the door if it risks being any way rushed or incomplete as a result?

I usually give myself two weeks time to get a chapter up; naturally, most of the time I get some chapters out in less than a few days. But for chapters I predict will be about 20+ pages, or if progress for the next chapter is slower than I expected, I give myself a month's time, instead.

 

[Misfit Angel]

I find that deadlines always end with diminished quality if they're strictly adhered to.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I like to get a chapter out within a month of finishing the last one, if at all possible

I think that if you have no system of discipline then you run the very real risk of abandoning your story the moment you get writer's block or even just get distracted by something else for a week. I deal with it by making sure I write something every day, even if I can't spare more than an hour's noodling around. That way I always make some sort of progress. When I find myself getting near to the end of a chapter I tend to find myself pushing to get the draft finished. Inevitably it'll end up getting edited and polished before it's even back from the beta

 

[chaos_Leader]

I really ought to have some kind of deadline system. Bizarrely, I actually produce better work under the pressure of an impending deadline, as opposed to having no pressure whatsoever.

On the flipside, it gets really tricky trying to balance any kind of writing time with what little free time I have available while working aboard the ship.

 

[Life]

I've never found much of a use for deadlines since I can't write if the motivation simply isn't there. Granted, I do open up my my projects to try and get what I can out even if I'm not in the mood, but if I had to constantly force myself to sit down just to make a deadline I think my story wouldn't be as good, simply because I wouldn't be enjoying myself.

 

[Treble Tech]

I don't really have deadlines, but sometimes I'll try to force my way past my laziness and tell myself to get some writing done. It gets easier if it's been a while, since I can guilt-trip myself.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

I think my deadline is a week. I'm kinda anxious about people losing interest in my story, hence the frequent yet short chapters. I've tried to give less of a crap about it with My Way so far, though.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I think in general people will be hooked in more by chapters full of (metaphorical) blood, sweat and tears, even if they take longer to publish. The time you publish sometimes makes a difference, too. Chapter Twenty Two hasn't had as much attention as, say, Twenty One did, probably down to the general back to school exodus

 

[Misfit Angel]

That right there is kind of why I strive for weekend releases. People are usually around on Fridays and Saturdays, and then cramming in their weekend work on Sunday.

 

[AceTrainer14]

I aim for at least once a month. I think sometimes it can take that long for people to even find the time to do one chapter, so I try not to rush myself. I do hope to get myself up to fortnightly releases at some point though.

 

[Misfit Angel]

So much for taking a break. I just spent the past eight hours writing up a basic plan for a Legend of Zelda fanfic... From start to end, with a few holes in the middle, 190 lines, each with an important plot detail I want to touch on, which is shaping up to be of a similar size and scope to Storm Island.

I swear, I never learn any lessons...

 

[Treble Tech]

So much for taking a break. I just spent the past eight hours writing up a basic plan for a Legend of Zelda fanfic... From start to end, with a few holes in the middle, 190 lines, each with an important plot detail I want to touch on, which is shaping up to be of a similar size and scope to Storm Island.

I swear, I never learn any lessons...

Please tell me it involves the local cannibal known as Butcher Pete.

 

[Misfit Angel]

Unfortunately, Butcher Pete is getting the axe. It's just too outlandish.

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

I've tried working with deadlines before. I never really manage to keep to them but they do at least get me working better, at least, most of the time. Feeling a certain degree of pressure is usually good for my motivation, but since I don't really lose anything by failing to meet a deadline, so I can still make efforts to keep a reasonable quality, for my standards at least. Or, well, I have difficulty writing anything I feel is too low quality in the first place - I know being able to write just anything and leave it at least until next writing session is a better principle for making progress but I have tremendous difficulty doing so anyway.

Unfortunately, Butcher Pete is getting the axe. It's just too outlandish.

YOU GAVE BUTCHER PETE AN AXE??!!

 

[Beth Pavell]

Mental note: Must find time to write that damn Legend of Zelda fic that's been lying half-planned for six months

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Man, it'd really kick my morning off well if someone reviewed my new chapter.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Uh, okay. I'm kind of curious as to how everyone organizes their notes. I think my notes might be different from others' in the sense that mine are mostly lists of quotes/pieces of dialogue related to specific characters that I'll use for inspiration. I have some files dedicated to worldbuilding and plot, but not a lot - for 3 of my stories, anyway. For Survival Project's sequel, I tried to work some kind of system with Excel because it will be my most complicated work in terms of plot yet, but now the notes are so expansive that I actually cannot load my files half the time.

I don't do handwritten notes, so that's out of the question. I've been looking for a writing program (free, or if I need to buy it, I want to be able to buy it off of Amazon with my gift card) that has a tagging system and a color coding system, but no such luck so far. I've even considered making private tumblrs because I'm familiar enough with the site that I could navigate/update my notes fairly easily, but then there's no back-up option should the site die. Any other ideas?

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

Uh, okay. I'm kind of curious as to how everyone organizes their notes. I think my notes might be different from others' in the sense that mine are mostly lists of quotes/pieces of dialogue related to specific characters that I'll use for inspiration. I have some files dedicated to worldbuilding and plot, but not a lot - for 3 of my stories, anyway. For Survival Project's sequel, I tried to work some kind of system with Excel because it will be my most complicated work in terms of plot yet, but now the notes are so expansive that I actually cannot load my files half the time.

I don't do handwritten notes, so that's out of the question. I've been looking for a writing program (free, or if I need to buy it, I want to be able to buy it off of Amazon with my gift card) that has a tagging system and a color coding system, but no such luck so far. I've even considered making private tumblrs because I'm familiar enough with the site that I could navigate/update my notes fairly easily, but then there's no back-up option should the site die. Any other ideas?

I mostly use notes to to remind me what to re-edit or add in my story. Every five chapters or so, I go through my story to do some changing around.