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[nicksgal]

Yeah, that's my issue with those kinds of tags too.  I hate spoilers.  This is why we just need to enjoy writing for ourselves, and if anyone else wants to read our stuff, bonus!

I've been there with the regular updates in the beginning, followed by months of no updates when life gets too busy.  Writing ahead and hoarding chapters has really helped me too.

That's probably the way to go if I want to try it - start with normal tags and then add on later and see if it makes a difference.

I think the BSB fandom for the most part is used to there not being tags other than maybe genres and characters, so maybe it's not as big of a deal for us as opposed to fandoms where AO3 already existed when it began. Or maybe I'm wrong and people really love the tags. Does Wattpad do the tags too? What about ff.net now? Or fiction press? I suppose I could google these things, but if any of y'all know, lol.

I think I'm going to get to November with just a regular weekly update. Totally crazy. It's weird looking at how I used to write and post and then look at now. I wonder if I would have been better off if when I switched PBox to AC I didn't just throw up every chapter I had at the time and did a weekly update instead. A quick calendar search says I would have had updates through the end of June with just what I had at the time and then through September with what I'd written by June. I probably still would have had those long writers' blocks at the end, but lesson learned. The weekly update and hoard really does make everything go much smoother. And to think I only did it this time because I looked back at those long writers' blocks and was worried about coming back and getting so burned out again, lol.

Yeah, I'm guessing most of the slash writers don't feel the need to actually include the slash tag because they already have the character tag that implies it's a slash, like Nick Carter/Brian Littrell.  The anal sex tag is also a giveaway LOL.

One way shipping culture has prevailed! lol It's nice to see slash as a genre or just a relationship designation now and not a warning though. I think that's definitely an improvement. I always thought slash as a warning was kind of alienating to the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, I'm sure there's lots of non-homosexual couples and/or people who enjoy anal sex, but yes, "Nick/Brian" and "anal sex" would imply it's slash, lol.

Yes, same.  We may not agree politically, but I still love him as a person.  I just don't love everything about him.

INAOYA = "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"  I was just trying to think of what else Nick says in that scene LOL.

I think that's true of everyone anyone knows. Some of my closest friends do have flaws or traits that I'm not a fan of, and I'm sure the same is true for me to them. However, doesn't mean I like them any less. Maybe if they were a serial killer, lol.

Thank you! Tired me just could not remember that yesterday, lol! Now we just need an acronym for the MJ analogy and we're golden.

Outlines should be flexible!  I change and add stuff in mine too.

How much would you say your outline changes from start to finish once you have the "bones" in?

Yeah... you'd have to read the story to see how he did it, because that was a big part of the story.

Some day. Curiosity will probably get the better of me eventually, lol. Ten years of fanfic culture is a lot to catch up on, though.

Yeah, absolutely.  I have evolved to writing more in complete sentences, but when I look back at that BMS outline, I can still make sense of most of that stuff and remember what part of the story it refers to, so it definitely still worked for me.  It's fine for an outline to be a rambling mess because no one sees it except you.

Most of my weird rambles are usually complete sentences for the most part. That's the nice part of story notes, you can share them or keep them to yourself. Could be fun, could be your secret.

Agreed, those are the best kind of sick days!  Sometimes it is nice to be a little bit sick because it gives you an excuse to stay home and do nothing except what you feel like.  I'm usually not super productive when I'm sick, but every once in a while it seems to help.  I wrote my first pandaskunk story in 2012 over the course of a couple sick days and a weekend when I had the flu and was in some sort of delirious fever- or drug-induced state of heightened creativity.

I'm useless when I have the flu, lol. I'm glad it gave you fever- or drug-induced creativity. Would you say Pandaskunk is better for it?

Ugh, I do the same thing, and it usually derails me too.  Last night I was going to try to get started on my next chapter, but I watched SNL and went to bed instead.

I'm with you on Saturdays vs. Sundays too.  Of course I like Saturdays better, but Sundays have been more productive for me.  Not so much today, but finishing a chapter is usually easier than starting a new one.  I did start my Nick chapter and wrote 700 some words before I took a break... hoping to add some more this afternoon.  I hope you're having a productive day!

If I watch one half hour episode of whatever, I can usually get back to writing, but if I watch more than episode or something longer than a half hour, it's a lost cause. I took so long eating dinner last night that I knew I'd be doomed, but I was really hoping.

Saturdays used to be my more productive days in the winter, but yeah, now it's Sundays for the past month or so. Not sure why! I find that when I'm inspired and motivated, continuing a started chapter is easiest, then finishing, then starting from scratch. The forty five minutes I wrote this morning before cooking went pretty well because I picked up from where I left off and, like you, got about 700 words in. I think I've got at least the end of this scene in me, but not sure about the rest of the chapter. And then it might be about time to switch arcs and line up the timing. We'll see!

Hope your afternoon has been productive! Wish me luck!

[RokofAges75]

I think the BSB fandom for the most part is used to there not being tags other than maybe genres and characters, so maybe it's not as big of a deal for us as opposed to fandoms where AO3 already existed when it began. Or maybe I'm wrong and people really love the tags. Does Wattpad do the tags too? What about ff.net now? Or fiction press? I suppose I could google these things, but if any of y'all know, lol.

I think I'm going to get to November with just a regular weekly update. Totally crazy. It's weird looking at how I used to write and post and then look at now. I wonder if I would have been better off if when I switched PBox to AC I didn't just throw up every chapter I had at the time and did a weekly update instead. A quick calendar search says I would have had updates through the end of June with just what I had at the time and then through September with what I'd written by June. I probably still would have had those long writers' blocks at the end, but lesson learned. The weekly update and hoard really does make everything go much smoother. And to think I only did it this time because I looked back at those long writers' blocks and was worried about coming back and getting so burned out again, lol.

Yeah, tags are a newer thing for us.  I don't think ff.net uses tags.  I'm not sure about Wattpad.  I find the format of Wattpad confusing.

Sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way.  That's what happened to me, too.  Once you hit the wall of writer's block followed by a hiatus, you realize the importance of banking enough chapters in advance to get you through those rough patches so you're not leaving readers hanging forever.

One way shipping culture has prevailed! lol It's nice to see slash as a genre or just a relationship designation now and not a warning though. I think that's definitely an improvement. I always thought slash as a warning was kind of alienating to the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, I'm sure there's lots of non-homosexual couples and/or people who enjoy anal sex, but yes, "Nick/Brian" and "anal sex" would imply it's slash, lol.

Good points!  I agree about slash being its own genre or a subgenre of romance instead of a warning.  And yes, that's true about anal sex being something het couples do too; I didn't think about that.

How much would you say your outline changes from start to finish once you have the "bones" in?

It depends on the story.  It changes a lot for longer stories.  For MBK, I've added a lot since I originally outlined the idea like four years ago, and I'll continue to add to the chapter by chapter part of the outline as I progress through it.  Whereas with a shorter novel or novella like Bethlehem and Heroic Measures, the outline didn't change a lot once I got to the point of being ready to start posting the story.  Heroic Measures is one of the few stories where I went in with a clear, chapter-by-chapter plan and actually stuck to it, ending with the number of chapters I had planned:  10 chapters plus an epilogue.

Some day. Curiosity will probably get the better of me eventually, lol. Ten years of fanfic culture is a lot to catch up on, though.

No doubt!  Let us know if you find yourself with more free time to read and want some recommendation s.

I'm useless when I have the flu, lol. I'm glad it gave you fever- or drug-induced creativity. Would you say Pandaskunk is better for it?

I usually am too!  It was a weird experience.  I'm not sure I would have even come up with the idea for Pandaskunk, let alone actually written it, if I hadn't been home sick and doped up on drugs.  But I'm glad I was because that story and its sequels were a lot of fun to write, a nice departure from my usual angsty realistic fiction.

Saturdays used to be my more productive days in the winter, but yeah, now it's Sundays for the past month or so. Not sure why! I find that when I'm inspired and motivated, continuing a started chapter is easiest, then finishing, then starting from scratch. The forty five minutes I wrote this morning before cooking went pretty well because I picked up from where I left off and, like you, got about 700 words in. I think I've got at least the end of this scene in me, but not sure about the rest of the chapter. And then it might be about time to switch arcs and line up the timing. We'll see!

Hope your afternoon has been productive! Wish me luck!

For me, it usually takes me some time to get back into my story world after a week of work, unless I've been able to maintain my inspiration all week.  Saturday morning is my time to do that, and by Sunday, I'm usually back in the bubble and ready to keep writing.  That's why three day weekends are the best, because then I have Sunday AND Monday to be productive.

I came back and wrote a bit more this afternoon and still have the story open, so maybe I'll write some more before I spend the rest of my evening watching 90 Day Fiance LOL.

Good luck finishing the rest of your scene!

[nicksgal]

Yeah, tags are a newer thing for us.  I don't think ff.net uses tags.  I'm not sure about Wattpad.  I find the format of Wattpad confusing.

Same, but I think I've said that already.

Sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way.  That's what happened to me, too.  Once you hit the wall of writer's block followed by a hiatus, you realize the importance of banking enough chapters in advance to get you through those rough patches so you're not leaving readers hanging forever.

I think that's true of most "real world" lessons, but hopefully not school-based lessons, lol. I'm looking forward to having an entire rest of a story banked when I move on to my next project. That's never happened to me before. I could WADD until Thanksgiving and be completely fine if I wanted to! I don't feel like it will take that long though. I wonder how everyone reading along is feeling about my regular updating schedule? Do most of them even know how bad I used to be at this point? lol

It depends on the story.  It changes a lot for longer stories.  For MBK, I've added a lot since I originally outlined the idea like four years ago, and I'll continue to add to the chapter by chapter part of the outline as I progress through it.  Whereas with a shorter novel or novella like Bethlehem and Heroic Measures, the outline didn't change a lot once I got to the point of being ready to start posting the story.  Heroic Measures is one of the few stories where I went in with a clear, chapter-by-chapter plan and actually stuck to it, ending with the number of chapters I had planned:  10 chapters plus an epilogue.

I can see why that would happen less for shorter stories, because you like to be about ten chapters ahead of where you're writing, right? So Bethlehem was half done and Heroic Measures would have been basically done by then. Do you think you stuck more with Heroic Measure's outline because it was that short or because it had a lot of medical stuff or because it was a crossover and you had to keep two fandoms straight?

No doubt!  Let us know if you find yourself with more free time to read and want some recommendation s.

Yes, I will resurrect The Reading Thread at that point, haha. I think my near future of fanfic reading is to catch up on History, read If I Knew Then (see I thought reading an in-progress one would help me stay on top of the updates and it did not because I am a failure at multi-tasking, lol), start MBK, and then reread Why I'd Do It All Again. Then go back to the initial suggestions y'all made.

I usually am too!  It was a weird experience.  I'm not sure I would have even come up with the idea for Pandaskunk, let alone actually written it, if I hadn't been home sick and doped up on drugs.  But I'm glad I was because that story and its sequels were a lot of fun to write, a nice departure from my usual angsty realistic fiction.

LOL! I'm glad the drugs worked out for you. Don't tell them that when you refill your stash. I think we all need a break from Team Dark every now and again. It's why I was so gungho to churn out my holiday story as quick as I did, I needed something heartwarming about halfway through PNecklace.

For me, it usually takes me some time to get back into my story world after a week of work, unless I've been able to maintain my inspiration all week.  Saturday morning is my time to do that, and by Sunday, I'm usually back in the bubble and ready to keep writing.  That's why three day weekends are the best, because then I have Sunday AND Monday to be productive.

I came back and wrote a bit more this afternoon and still have the story open, so maybe I'll write some more before I spend the rest of my evening watching 90 Day Fiance LOL.

Good luck finishing the rest of your scene!

I feel that. That's part of why I've been trying to stay in my inspiration bubble as much as possible this past month or so. I know, I love three day weekends! Three more days to be really productive. Fingers crossed for next week! Although, you'll be in Summer break then, so you have months to remain in your inspiration bubble.

Yay! More writing! I say write until you're hungry, then watch 90 Day Fiance!

I did finish it, or kind of. This scene that I started that I apparently didn't know I wanted was one that flowed into the next part and into the next part and so on... And now I'm about 400 words away from being able to call it a chapter. So... I'm taking a little break here, then hoping to finish it before I get hungry and potentially derail myself! lol I guess the nice thing is that it's about time to edit this week's update chapter, and I can usually get back into the groove of editing after derailing myself from writing.

[RokofAges75]

I could WADD until Thanksgiving and be completely fine if I wanted to! I don't feel like it will take that long though. I wonder how everyone reading along is feeling about my regular updating schedule? Do most of them even know how bad I used to be at this point? lol

That's awesome!  What an accomplishment and a good feeling to know you can take it easy for the next few months if you want to.  Hopefully you'll finish PNecklace and have plenty of time to get your next project going so you'll have something new to post after November.

Yeah, I wonder how many people reading now were original readers back when you first posted PBox and know you back then.  I don't know.  People come and go.

I can see why that would happen less for shorter stories, because you like to be about ten chapters ahead of where you're writing, right? So Bethlehem was half done and Heroic Measures would have been basically done by then. Do you think you stuck more with Heroic Measure's outline because it was that short or because it had a lot of medical stuff or because it was a crossover and you had to keep two fandoms straight?

Yep, exactly.  I think the way I structured Heroic Measures forced me to stick with my outline.  Each of the ten chapters was written in third person limited from a different character's POV - each of the five Boys and five of the main characters from ER.  So I just let each chapter go as long as it took to write the scene I had planned for that person's POV.

Yes, I will resurrect The Reading Thread at that point, haha. I think my near future of fanfic reading is to catch up on History, read If I Knew Then (see I thought reading an in-progress one would help me stay on top of the updates and it did not because I am a failure at multi-tasking, lol), start MBK, and then reread Why I'd Do It All Again. Then go back to the initial suggestions y'all made.

Sounds like a good plan!

LOL! I'm glad the drugs worked out for you. Don't tell them that when you refill your stash. I think we all need a break from Team Dark every now and again. It's why I was so gungho to churn out my holiday story as quick as I did, I needed something heartwarming about halfway through PNecklace.

Holiday stories are a great palate cleanser!  Mine still involve death and destruction, but it's definitely more tongue-in-cheek and not serious.

I feel that. That's part of why I've been trying to stay in my inspiration bubble as much as possible this past month or so. I know, I love three day weekends! Three more days to be really productive. Fingers crossed for next week! Although, you'll be in Summer break then, so you have months to remain in your inspiration bubble.

Yay! More writing! I say write until you're hungry, then watch 90 Day Fiance!

I did finish it, or kind of. This scene that I started that I apparently didn't know I wanted was one that flowed into the next part and into the next part and so on... And now I'm about 400 words away from being able to call it a chapter. So... I'm taking a little break here, then hoping to finish it before I get hungry and potentially derail myself! lol I guess the nice thing is that it's about time to edit this week's update chapter, and I can usually get back into the groove of editing after derailing myself from writing.

I totally get that.  One of the most frustrating things is to get derailed right at the end of a story. 

Good for you!  It's nice when one scene flows into the next so seamlessly.

I wrote another 600 words or so and then went to eat dinner and watch some of 90 Day Fiance.  Now I'm back.  I dunno if I'll get any more written tonight, but altogether I had a decent writing day.  Now I just have to keep the streak alive five more days, and then it will be summer!

[RokofAges75]

Here is a Reddit thread on author's notes in fanfic, since we were just discussing them: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/njm5n8/do_you_prefer_authors_notes_at_the_beginning_or/  General consensus seems to be that most people like or at least don't mind author's notes, as long as they're not too long or distracting.

[nicksgal]

That's awesome!  What an accomplishment and a good feeling to know you can take it easy for the next few months if you want to.  Hopefully you'll finish PNecklace and have plenty of time to get your next project going so you'll have something new to post after November.

Yeah, I wonder how many people reading now were original readers back when you first posted PBox and know you back then.  I don't know.  People come and go.

It is nice! Especially since I'm just trucking along. At the moment, it feels like I'll be ready to keep going with a new project, but I guess I can't say for certain until I finish this thing. I probably won't invoke the bubble quite as much as I have here recently though, lol.

I'll be honest, right now it doesn't feel like I need a total break from the PBox universe, so my next long project will probably be PDemons, plus I already know exactly what happens in the first two chapters or so. I was going to reread Gobosei again though and mull around in some research for Nick is Brian's Guardian Angel, just to enjoy the idea of being able to WADD without pressure to do anything right away. However, as I've mentioned, Snail is the top of my priority list post-PNecklace, then I think I'm itching for a shorter comedy to break up the dark and that "Nick becomes genre saavy" one where the other Boys take on his typical roles keeps popping up in my head, lol. That feels more like a novella than a whole novel, though.

Not sure either! I thought about adding a new chapter to the AC one that said something to the effect of "I'm giving PBox a major overhaul and started writing the sequel finally" because in theory, it would have pinged anyone who tracked and possibly favorited (unclear) PBox, but I saw that was against the posting rules and ultimately decided against it. I think a few of you have me marked as a favorite author here, did it tell you when I posted something new like it does on AO3?

Yep, exactly.  I think the way I structured Heroic Measures forced me to stick with my outline.  Each of the ten chapters was written in third person limited from a different character's POV - each of the five Boys and five of the main characters from ER.  So I just let each chapter go as long as it took to write the scene I had planned for that person's POV.

I do remember you mentioning that, I think. You're right, it would be weird if a character got more than one POV chapter, but no one else did. It would make it really imbalanced. Were all the chapters still around the same length or were any of them much longer or much shorter than the others? I guess I could just go look, lol, but if you know offhand...

Holiday stories are a great palate cleanser!  Mine still involve death and destruction, but it's definitely more tongue-in-cheek and not serious.

LMAO! I love that even your holiday stories are dark.

I totally get that.  One of the most frustrating things is to get derailed right at the end of a story. 

Good for you!  It's nice when one scene flows into the next so seamlessly.

*eyes six month hiatus from writing PBox* Yup. Luckily, everything is going fairly smoothly this time around. I was able to finish that chapter, it just needed a few hundred more words and a good cliffhanger because I am a sadist. Then I went back through my little outline and shuffled the chapters I had planned together in the most sadistic way possible with lots of cliffhangers after dramatic moments for the two arcs. Now I only have to decide if I leave any of the last four chapters on longer cliffhangers or if I let their last scenes play straight through. However, I think I have to switch arcs for a minute and finish the chapters leading up to that portion before I make a decision, then I think I'll know for sure one way or the other.

So on that note, seven chapters down! I am officially halfway through the last fourteen chapters I had to write! And I'm glad I just focused on one arc to begin with, because this last chapter wasn't originally in my loose outline, but it definitely needed to be in the story. I'm now two weeks ahead of my word count goal (though I did need to add another 3,000 words, since it tracks word count and not chapter count... darn me for being wordy) and up to 9 words per minute typing, whoo boy! I'm fast as lightening! lol Nano says I'll be done on June 7th, but I know better and June 20th or so is probably more accurate. Who knows though! Three day weekend next week could be an unexpected boon. I did finish two chapters this weekend. I think it's bedtime though, lol.

I wrote another 600 words or so and then went to eat dinner and watch some of 90 Day Fiance.  Now I'm back.  I dunno if I'll get any more written tonight, but altogether I had a decent writing day.  Now I just have to keep the streak alive five more days, and then it will be summer!

Woo! 600 more words! Whether you write more or not, you were able to start a new chapter and keep writing after breaks today, so that's awesome. You've got these next five days! I believe in the streak!

[nicksgal]

Here is a Reddit thread on author's notes in fanfic, since we were just discussing them: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/njm5n8/do_you_prefer_authors_notes_at_the_beginning_or/  General consensus seems to be that most people like or at least don't mind author's notes, as long as they're not too long or distracting.

Hmmm... We'll, y'all know I always have a lot to say about my magnum opus, lol. Maybe the people of AO3 would enjoy it too. Not to the length here though. Can you imagine reading "The History of PBox parts one and two" at the bottom of a 3,000 word chapter? Yikes!

This person was my favorite: "Wait, you don't put your author's note in the middle of the 2nd quarter of your chapter? Never gonna make it." I laughed so hard; it reminded me of Mare sarcasm.

[RokofAges75]

It is nice! Especially since I'm just trucking along. At the moment, it feels like I'll be ready to keep going with a new project, but I guess I can't say for certain until I finish this thing. I probably won't invoke the bubble quite as much as I have here recently though, lol.

I'll be honest, right now it doesn't feel like I need a total break from the PBox universe, so my next long project will probably be PDemons, plus I already know exactly what happens in the first two chapters or so. I was going to reread Gobosei again though and mull around in some research for Nick is Brian's Guardian Angel, just to enjoy the idea of being able to WADD without pressure to do anything right away. However, as I've mentioned, Snail is the top of my priority list post-PNecklace, then I think I'm itching for a shorter comedy to break up the dark and that "Nick becomes genre saavy" one where the other Boys take on his typical roles keeps popping up in my head, lol. That feels more like a novella than a whole novel, though.

Not sure either! I thought about adding a new chapter to the AC one that said something to the effect of "I'm giving PBox a major overhaul and started writing the sequel finally" because in theory, it would have pinged anyone who tracked and possibly favorited (unclear) PBox, but I saw that was against the posting rules and ultimately decided against it. I think a few of you have me marked as a favorite author here, did it tell you when I posted something new like it does on AO3?

Hey, if you don't feel like you need a break from PBox, definitely keep going and tackle PDemons!  It's probably easier to just keep writing within the same universe than to take a long break and come back to it.  But I also like the idea of WADDing for a bit and/or writing something short and light in between if you want to.  That's the perfect time to write those short stories you don't want to step away from your novel long enough to write.

I have you favorited here, and I think I did get an email when you posted new stories.  It's supposed to send one anyway.  It's been a few months, so I don't remember for sure.

I do remember you mentioning that, I think. You're right, it would be weird if a character got more than one POV chapter, but no one else did. It would make it really imbalanced. Were all the chapters still around the same length or were any of them much longer or much shorter than the others? I guess I could just go look, lol, but if you know offhand...

Most of them were in my 2,000-5,000 word range.  The only outlier was Chapter 5, which was an 8,000-word monster, but that was The Scene, so I knew it would probably be a big one and let it go on as long as it needed to.

So on that note, seven chapters down! I am officially halfway through the last fourteen chapters I had to write! And I'm glad I just focused on one arc to begin with, because this last chapter wasn't originally in my loose outline, but it definitely needed to be in the story. I'm now two weeks ahead of my word count goal (though I did need to add another 3,000 words, since it tracks word count and not chapter count... darn me for being wordy) and up to 9 words per minute typing, whoo boy! I'm fast as lightening! lol Nano says I'll be done on June 7th, but I know better and June 20th or so is probably more accurate. Who knows though! Three day weekend next week could be an unexpected boon. I did finish two chapters this weekend. I think it's bedtime though, lol.

Woo-hoo!  You're definitely on the final stretch!  I love that feeling.  And a three-day weekend coming up!  You're got this!

I am still behind where I should be with my goal, but that's why I made it a two-month goal.  June is going to be my catch-up month!  I'm a few chapters away from the part of the story I've most been looking forward to, so that should help too.

[RokofAges75]

Hmmm... We'll, y'all know I always have a lot to say about my magnum opus, lol. Maybe the people of AO3 would enjoy it too. Not to the length here though. Can you imagine reading "The History of PBox parts one and two" at the bottom of a 3,000 word chapter? Yikes!

This person was my favorite: "Wait, you don't put your author's note in the middle of the 2nd quarter of your chapter? Never gonna make it." I laughed so hard; it reminded me of Mare sarcasm.

LMAO I know; I laughed at that post too!  You could always put a link to your behind the scenes posts here, and then people who are interested could come here to read!  Though I guess they would probably need to register an account to see it, so maybe that's not the best idea.  But it would be nice to attract some new people to the forum!

[nicksgal]

Hey, if you don't feel like you need a break from PBox, definitely keep going and tackle PDemons!  It's probably easier to just keep writing within the same universe than to take a long break and come back to it.  But I also like the idea of WADDing for a bit and/or writing something short and light in between if you want to.  That's the perfect time to write those short stories you don't want to step away from your novel long enough to write.

I have you favorited here, and I think I did get an email when you posted new stories.  It's supposed to send one anyway.  It's been a few months, so I don't remember for sure.

That was my thought. If it still feels motivating, then it's probably easier to tackle now then to wander off and come back. But I'm saying this now as I'm excited to be finishing. I might change my mind after actually finishing, lol. My plan was to make a decision one way or another by July. Unless these next seven chapters take me the entire month to write; we'll see.

Your WADD was pretty short this time too, wasn't it?

So really, it all depends on if people still use the emails they have linked to here and were excited to see me posting again, haha.

Most of them were in my 2,000-5,000 word range.  The only outlier was Chapter 5, which was an 8,000-word monster, but that was The Scene, so I knew it would probably be a big one and let it go on as long as it needed to.

I feel like of all chapters, "The Scenes" are much more likely to get unruly (in terms of word count) than any others. I don't know if it's because they're feverish fits of inspirational buildup or what, but I feel like they're always enjoyable.

Woo-hoo!  You're definitely on the final stretch!  I love that feeling.  And a three-day weekend coming up!  You're got this!

I am still behind where I should be with my goal, but that's why I made it a two-month goal.  June is going to be my catch-up month!  I'm a few chapters away from the part of the story I've most been looking forward to, so that should help too.

It's pretty exciting. I thought these next couple of chapters were going to go a little slower inspiration-wise, but I already have almost 900 words written on the next one. I may just spend all of my free time this next week glued to my keyboard, lol. I did spend half an hour researching deserts again today though. Who knew that deserts would take up so much of my time, ha.

I am glad I listened to you and made mine a two month goal. I'm impressed with my progress, but there's no way I would have finished 14 chapters in a month.

You knew that May could be more up and down anyway, you planned for it, and you still wrote a lot and more than you typically write during the school year, it sounds like. I call all of those things pluses. I think you're right, once you get school out of your brain and get to the part you've been looking forward to, it'll all be smooth sailing and productive.

LMAO I know; I laughed at that post too!  You could always put a link to your behind the scenes posts here, and then people who are interested could come here to read!  Though I guess they would probably need to register an account to see it, so maybe that's not the best idea.  But it would be nice to attract some new people to the forum!

An interesting thought! I wonder what AO3's policy is on linking off-site. Something to look into...

Edited to Add: I see no policies on linking to elsewhere, but I ended up in a rabbit hole of "fannish next-of-kin" policies... I didn't know that was a thing, lol.

[RokofAges75]

That was my thought. If it still feels motivating, then it's probably easier to tackle now then to wander off and come back. But I'm saying this now as I'm excited to be finishing. I might change my mind after actually finishing, lol. My plan was to make a decision one way or another by July. Unless these next seven chapters take me the entire month to write; we'll see.

Your WADD was pretty short this time too, wasn't it?

So really, it all depends on if people still use the emails they have linked to here and were excited to see me posting again, haha.

Yeah, you never really know until you're finished.  I thought I would be more in the mood to write that Brian horror story than MBK after Bethlehem, but here I am.  But yes, my WADD only lasted a week.  I started Fallen Angel one weekend, then went back to MBK the next and have only been working on that one since.  It would have been worse if neither one of them had gone well.

And if they actually got the update email, or if it went to their spam folder.  We had such a problem with spam reviews before they were turned off, a lot of AC email ended up in spam.

It's pretty exciting. I thought these next couple of chapters were going to go a little slower inspiration-wise, but I already have almost 900 words written on the next one. I may just spend all of my free time this next week glued to my keyboard, lol. I did spend half an hour researching deserts again today though. Who knew that deserts would take up so much of my time, ha.

I am glad I listened to you and made mine a two month goal. I'm impressed with my progress, but there's no way I would have finished 14 chapters in a month.

You knew that May could be more up and down anyway, you planned for it, and you still wrote a lot and more than you typically write during the school year, it sounds like. I call all of those things pluses. I think you're right, once you get school out of your brain and get to the part you've been looking forward to, it'll all be smooth sailing and productive.

I love weekends spent glued to the keyboard!  I don't think I could write 14 chapters in a month either, even in the summer.  Giving yourself more time takes off some of the pressure.

I'm just looking forward to having more time and more energy.  I have the most energy in the morning, but no time.  I have time in the evening, but no energy.  I'm sitting here yawning so much, my eyes are watering, which is not conducive to writing.  Can't wait to be able to write on my own schedule!

An interesting thought! I wonder what AO3's policy is on linking off-site. Something to look into...

Edited to Add: I see no policies on linking to elsewhere, but I ended up in a rabbit hole of "fannish next-of-kin" policies... I didn't know that was a thing, lol.

I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I have linked to stuff on my site on there and never had an issue.

What are fannish next-of-kin policies?

[nicksgal]

I think hacking doesn't bother me as much because if I truly want to hack, then I feel like it's unnecessary. I probably do more hack and replace than true hacking, but I'll let you all know after I edit next week's chapter. I'll keep track of what I got rid of too, just to experiment.

So I did this. I wrote 146 new words, I cut 64 words and replaced them with something, I cut 20 words and replaced them with nothing, and I kept 55 words, but moved them elsewhere in the paragraph. The net difference is 62 new words.

I didn't change a lot in this chapter, so it's not a very exciting example, lol.

[nicksgal]

Yeah, you never really know until you're finished.  I thought I would be more in the mood to write that Brian horror story than MBK after Bethlehem, but here I am.  But yes, my WADD only lasted a week.  I started Fallen Angel one weekend, then went back to MBK the next and have only been working on that one since.  It would have been worse if neither one of them had gone well.

And if they actually got the update email, or if it went to their spam folder.  We had such a problem with spam reviews before they were turned off, a lot of AC email ended up in spam.

You were pretty gungho about that Brian horror story until you WADDed, but I'm glad it all worked out for the best. It was the right time to pick MBK back up again. And I'm glad it was a short WADD with a satisfying ending. It's good to see so many of us keeping the most recent page going. I think I'd be sad if there was no one on it at all.

So many factors! But, aw, poor spammy AC. I still enjoy you.

I love weekends spent glued to the keyboard!  I don't think I could write 14 chapters in a month either, even in the summer.  Giving yourself more time takes off some of the pressure.

I'm just looking forward to having more time and more energy.  I have the most energy in the morning, but no time.  I have time in the evening, but no energy.  I'm sitting here yawning so much, my eyes are watering, which is not conducive to writing.  Can't wait to be able to write on my own schedule!

That was me this past weekend. I seem to have lost my motivation on the chapter I started today, but that's to be expected as it nears bed time, lol. I don't even think I fully wrote 21 chapters during NaNo, there were definitely pre-written chunks from all over the place. I think I wrote maybe... five or six full chapters and filled in pieces of the other 15 or 16, lol. That's what I spend my time WADDing over, writing elsewhere in the story I'm currently working on.

You really do need to teach vampire kids at night, lol. Then you can have time to write when you have energy. Although, if you spent all night teaching vampire kids, then would you have the opposite problem? Four days until you're the master of your schedule!

I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I have linked to stuff on my site on there and never had an issue.

What are fannish next-of-kin policies?

I wasn't sure if it was considered spam was what made me question it. But I guess as long as it's every now and again like "hey, more things here" in your own work after you've already posted a legitimate story, it's probably not spam. If chapters were only links to other places, that probably is spam.

So, you can designate someone in your fandom to decide what to do with your stories if you die and AO3 will give them full access to your account. If you don't designate anyone and die, then they're just left as is even if someone tries to gain access (like an estate executor). There were several FAQs about it, but that's essentially the gist.

[RokofAges75]

You were pretty gungho about that Brian horror story until you WADDed, but I'm glad it all worked out for the best. It was the right time to pick MBK back up again. And I'm glad it was a short WADD with a satisfying ending. It's good to see so many of us keeping the most recent page going. I think I'd be sad if there was no one on it at all.

I know!  I really thought the time was right for Fallen Angel and wrong for MBK, but apparently I was wrong.  I don't really care, as long as I'm writing and making progress on something.  That's the worst part of true WADD, when I hop around from story to story, writing a little bit here and there but never actually finishing anything worth posting.

It is nice to see a few of us on the Most Recent page at the same time.  I miss the days when it was multiple pages and we had to worry about people spamming by updating a ton of stories at once though.

That was me this past weekend. I seem to have lost my motivation on the chapter I started today, but that's to be expected as it nears bed time, lol. I don't even think I fully wrote 21 chapters during NaNo, there were definitely pre-written chunks from all over the place. I think I wrote maybe... five or six full chapters and filled in pieces of the other 15 or 16, lol. That's what I spend my time WADDing over, writing elsewhere in the story I'm currently working on.

You really do need to teach vampire kids at night, lol. Then you can have time to write when you have energy. Although, if you spent all night teaching vampire kids, then would you have the opposite problem? Four days until you're the master of your schedule!

At least it's productive WADDing when you're working in a different place on the same story.

Ugh, I really do.  Here I sit again, after taking a two hour evening nap, yawning with my eyes watering.  I'm feeling that "There's no tired like end-of-year teacher tired" meme this week.

I wasn't sure if it was considered spam was what made me question it. But I guess as long as it's every now and again like "hey, more things here" in your own work after you've already posted a legitimate story, it's probably not spam. If chapters were only links to other places, that probably is spam.

So, you can designate someone in your fandom to decide what to do with your stories if you die and AO3 will give them full access to your account. If you don't designate anyone and die, then they're just left as is even if someone tries to gain access (like an estate executor). There were several FAQs about it, but that's essentially the gist.

Yeah, that's a good point.  I think as long as you post actual stories, links to extra content are fine.  But yeah, just links would be spam.

I love the next of kin idea!  Is that something you can actually set on AO3 like you can Facebook, or would someone have to contact AO3 after your death?  Being morbid, I have thought about that before.  I would want my stories to stay online after my death, so they'd be fine on AO3, but my site would be the problem.  Eventually my webhost wouldn't be able to charge my credit card anymore, and it would go down.  I would want someone to at least be able to post an update and let people know before that happened.

[RokofAges75]

So I did this. I wrote 146 new words, I cut 64 words and replaced them with something, I cut 20 words and replaced them with nothing, and I kept 55 words, but moved them elsewhere in the paragraph. The net difference is 62 new words.

I didn't change a lot in this chapter, so it's not a very exciting example, lol.

You were right about replacing more than completely cutting and adding more than you take out!