Fic Talk > General Discussion
Writing & Thread (aka The Writing Thread 4)
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 04:37:33 AM ---You know, I use suggest mode when I'm giving my students feedback on their writing, but I always forget about it when I'm writing myself. Normally I think all the green and strikethroughs would bother me, but I could have used it last night. I ended up cutting out a few paragraphs from a previous Kevin chapter, but I didn't want to completely delete them until I had filled the gap between what came before that part and what came after to make sure it still flowed well, so I just awkwardly wrote around it until I felt comfortable deleting it. That would have been the perfect time to turn on suggest mode.
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I wish you could change the color, lol. I'd rather mine were pink or something. I'm always jealous that I get stuck with green and other people get to pink. Yeah, suggest mode it the best whenever I'm trying to work around something I wrote, then changed my mind on. That way, I can still see it as I flesh out the scene around or instead of it. I haven't been using it as much on this story and I'm forgetting how easy it makes things if I come back to them after a few days. If it's a previous chapter, but I'm not ready to part with it yet, I'll usually move it into a new document -- either "deleted scenes" or "edits."
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 04:37:33 AM ---That one resonated with me as well. I've never stopped writing for more than a few months at a time, but even in my day-to-day writing, I can tell when I've hit a wall and it's time to stop for that session because forcing myself to keep staring at the computer is not going to get me anywhere. The nice thing about making it part of a daily routine is that I can just say, "I'll come back to this tomorrow, if not before" instead of wondering when I'll work up the motivation to open the story again. The times when I have taken months off have been because I was busy and overwhelmed with real life stuff and couldn't devote enough time to writing without taking it away from something more important (but not necessarily enjoyable). As much as I love it, fanfic just became one more thing that stressed me out because of the pressure I put on myself to keep writing, keep updating, so I had to give myself permission to take a break from it until I had more time. When I was backdating chapters of SAMS on AO3 yesterday, I got to the point in the story where I literally didn't update it for eleven months because of that. I'm glad I've been able to get back on track. I'm sure that must have been even harder for you after being away so long, but it sounds like it was the right decision for you to make. You do seem to be enjoying it a lot more than you did right before your hiatus. :)
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Exactly! That's what I enjoy about the streak routine aspect of it. I think that opening and staring at blank pages was a horrible routine to get into, because it just reminded me that I had nothing on a constant basis. But now, I can think, "well, at least I wrote something," even if I hate it and end up deleting it later. But I've also learned my limits from my hiatus and think that I can better recognize when something isn't working and be better about giving myself grace (however, I definitely want to make it to 150 days, what an accomplishment!).
I think it's important to take a break, even if it's a hobby we love, since a stressful hobby is not very fun! And if eleven months was what you needed, then it's good you took it until it felt like fun and not stress again. :) There's times when eventually something just has to give when there's too much on your plate.
Looking back at early chapters of PNecklace, I was rustier than I thought when I started up again, haha. On a whole, I feel much better about everything now. :)
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 04:37:33 AM ---You explained it perfectly! I get what you're saying, and I agree. We've said it before, but we have to write for ourselves first and foremost - because we enjoy it, and because we have a story to tell that we believe in and want to finish, even if no one else reads it. Feedback is wonderful, but so is the satisfaction of finishing a project you've worked hard on, whether or not anyone else acknowledges your effort. It's that intrinsic motivation.
I think that comes with experience. It's easier to write for yourself and not worry about feedback when you get to the point where you actually enjoy your own writing. I still enjoy and look forward to feedback, but I don't beat myself up and wonder what I did wrong if I don't get it. I hadn't gotten any in a couple weeks and had accepted that maybe what I'm enjoying writing just isn't what other people want to read right now. Then, out of nowhere, I got a comment on my site from a reader who has given pretty regular feedback on the last few stories I wrote before MBK. She apologized for being MIA the last few months, said she had just been busy, but got caught up on the story so far and was loving it. Just a reminder that you never know who's reading or why someone may have stopped reading - often times it has nothing to do with your story at all. We're just at that age where life happens.
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Yes, exactly that! :) And it is important to remember that everyone has their own things going on and while our stories may be close to the center of our world at any given time, they could be periphery for other people. I've thought about this often, but as I'm writing, if I have free time, I would prefer devoting it to my own work than reading other peoples' work (as selfish as it sounds). I need to be better about balancing it more.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 04:37:33 AM ---LOL! I enjoy ellipses as long as they're not overused... and I love semicolons! I did not understand the semicolon hate in that thread; I think semicolons are a sophisticated alternative to the comma and conjunction combo. ;)
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LOL! I believe we've also done a disservice to the em-dash in this discussion -- a great punctuation to use when adding additional information into a sentence. :biggrin:
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 05:14:19 AM ---Those are all great questions! I have also wondered what they do all day before a show (or at least before soundcheck). And how quickly they can pick up new songs and choreography. The videos of BackSync rehearsing at Lance's house were super cute. They reminded me of the year I did a 90s boyband number with a group of teachers at my school for the teacher act in our talent show; we learned the choreo for Everybody and Bye Bye Bye and rehearsed in my classroom just like that LOL.
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Kevin sleeps in, I assume? lol I loved their rehearsal videos. I'd put money on AJ already knowing the Bye Bye Bye choreography based on how into it he seemed. :) I love that you did a teacher act with boyband choreography. How long did the practice take?
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 05:14:19 AM ---It seems like they do save mementos. Brian loaned a ton of stuff to the Grammy Museum exhibit, so it seems like he keeps a lot. AJ posted a TikTok with a shirt he'd worn onstage during the Black & Blue tour. I'm not sure about the surfboards, but that would have been a cool thing to keep!
They should just film a reality show during their next tour or album cycle and give us some answers!
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Good. They should get to keep some of that stuff; they've worked hard.
Yes! This is the type of reality show I'd watch.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 05:14:19 AM ---LOL I do like your answer because it sounds like it could be any of the above, which means whatever I've written on this topic in my stories was probably fine. Thanks! All that makes perfect sense.
I know Nick lives in a gated community called Southern Highlands, so he probably doesn't even have a gate in front of his own driveway. Rose would probably know more.
Also, LMAO at Justin "24 hour parenting is not normal" Timberlake. What an entitled douche.
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I'm glad the ambiguous answer suited your needs, lol. I think many things like this can fall into the "it depends" category.
He just doesn't strike me as someone who would want to deal with that many gates.
Yes. I died laughing when I read that quote sometime around April last year because I had the same thought. Like, dang, Justin... when did you decide that you were the best thing since sliced bread? lol So entitled.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on June 30, 2021, 06:46:29 PM ---In response to the gated community discussion I can kind of chime in here, my aunt lives in a gated community in Vegas just off of the Las Vegas strip. There was a gate at the entrance but not at each of the homes, and there was a little guard station but the guard wasn’t always there. I think she had to show some kind of card in front of the sensor fo the gate to go up.
I looked up where Nick lives and he lives on the edge of a golf course, according to google maps. His house is pretty easy to find, but it doesn’t have a gate around the actual house just around the community where he lives. Sorry for sounding like a stalker lol but I was on this website about celebrity homes and Nick’s just happened to be on there.
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--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 07:14:43 PM ---Thanks, Tracy! That looks like how Nick's community works too. I have also creeped it on Google Maps and used Street View to see what the entrance to the community looks like. There's a sign directing visitors to check in at the guard station, whereas residents can scan their card or whatever for the gate to go up.
It's crazy how much information you can find on the internet these days. That's how I was able to piece together a blueprint of Kevin's old house, because there are still pictures from the real estate listing online from when he sold it back in 2009. I've got the same thing for Nick's Franklin house and relied on those pictures a lot when I was writing Curtain Call and other stories that took place when he still owned it. It is helpful to us as writers, but also a little scary when it comes to finding info on their current homes. Good thing they have those gates and security guards! LOL
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It's crazy to me just how easy this stuff is to find on google! From a writing aspect, it's good for accuracy, but if you're looking a privacy, yeah, yikes!
I wonder how close he lives to the holes. I would be really upset if gold balls constantly broke my windows.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on June 30, 2021, 06:39:09 PM ---How is everyone’s writing going? I’ve been doing pretty good even without feedback, which like I said previously is very surprising. I usually am able to crank out a chapter a week, depending on when during the week I get one started. I try to shoot for updating on Mondays, Wednesday at the latest. I think this system has helped me a lot, not to mention it seems like I am more productive writing at night than I am during the day.
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Glad it's going well and that you've gotten a good routine down! :) I think a chapter per week is a good goal/output.
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on June 30, 2021, 06:39:09 PM ---Does anyone else have a preferred time they write?
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I think I get the most done if I wake up at a decent time and get going before 11am. Any later than that and I get increasingly useless as time goes. I decided I wanted two cups of coffee today and here I am, still mood listening and catching up on forum posts... At least I'm almost all caught up. This is how y'all feel coming back to the long conversations, isn't it? lol
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on June 30, 2021, 07:07:10 PM ---I am back to my night owl writing routine as well. I had been doing my best writing first thing in the morning after I wake up, but now that I'm staying up later and sleeping until later in the day, I can't justify staying in bed ALL day to write. At some point I have to get up and take care of stuff I can't do in the middle of the night, like errands and yard work. So I've switched to writing late at night, which has always been my favorite time to write. It has rained like every night the last two weeks, so I've been going upstairs to my writing room where I can hear the rain on the roof and open the window because it's cooler at night, and it's been so pleasant!
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But beds are soooo cozy! lol I would also feel useless if I spent all day in bed. All that rain sounds lovely!
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on June 30, 2021, 07:15:29 PM ---That’s awesome you’ve kept at it. I think what’s helping me stay on track is listening to music while I write. It doesn’t matter what music really, just any music. I also watch science fiction movies if I’m home for background noise. Titan A.E. Was a huge inspiriation for Take Me Home even though the stories aren’t that similar. I just always thought the character of Cale reminded me of Nick even though Matt Damon plays him lol
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Hadn't you said before that you often write in silence or am I making that up? Do you feel like your routine changes with the story?
And on Titan A.E., yes! I agree completely. I think it's Cale's haircut, lol.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 01, 2021, 12:26:55 AM ---Update: I did not make 50,000 words, but I was within 5,000 words of it and did finish Chapter 23 with about ten minutes to spare before midnight LOL. Also, my average writing speed came up to 5 words per minute! Haha. I'm aiming for 25,000 words in July, but hoping I can surpass that and come closer to 30,000.
Edit: I had a Nano troubleshootin g question here earlier, but I figured it out, so never mind. I clicked a link in my email to register for Camp Nano the other day, and it prompted me to make a new project. Then I realized I didn't really want it to be listed as a separate project since I'm still working on the same story, but I couldn't figure how how to set a new goal for my old MBK project and tie it to July Camp Nano because that wasn't coming up as an option. I finally figured out that if I deleted the new project so I no longer had one associated with July Camp Nano, it would come up as an option for a new goal on the old project. So what's what I did. Now I'm ready! LOL
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That's how I was in April. That's why I think the word count goals can be kind of limiting and think it's good to have a second, less tangible goal sometimes. Weren't we both "with x minutes to spare" in April too? haha. And woo! Five words per minute! You're a speed demon! I think 25,000 is a good goal. I made mine about 30,000 because of my typical output, but now I feel like I should lower it. We'll see what happens if I can get into the groove or not.
Glad you're ready! You've got this!
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 01, 2021, 12:30:39 AM ---Come and write with us... forever... and ever... and ever.
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LOL! Thanks for improving my joke. ;D
--- Quote from: mare on July 01, 2021, 05:33:32 AM ---Thanks for all the info ladies. Seems a little overwhelming for me this time around, but maybe next time I’ll be ready to write something.
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I think if I hadn't been a month in on PNecklace inspiration, I wouldn't have done it either last year. It's definitely something to commit to when you feel like you're in the right spot. But like Julie said, it is fun to track your goal and see your writing hang out around your par bar when you're at that point.
--- Quote from: Rose on July 01, 2021, 05:41:12 AM ---Soooo I've been looking at my notes for current stories. I probably won't commit to writing on them until I get moved in three weeks and my life settles a little. But I'm looking and I feel like that's a start.
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Yay! Looking is a great start! :)
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