Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[RokofAges75]

Julie, how do you get productive post nap? I was exhausted and took a nap this evening, then tried to get back into writing and made myself a hot chocolate and it's going, but it's going so slowly. Like I sit and contemplate each line, then I type it, then I think about it, then repeat. But then I feel like if I hadn't taken a nap, I wouldn't be typing at all, I would just be a zombie. Are you really productive post nap usually or also kind of ruminating?

On a weeknight, I'm exactly like you - not tired anymore, but also not really productive.  My writing is going the same way as yours tonight.  On a weekend, I can drink caffeine after a nap, and then it usually goes better.

[nicksgal]

I can definitely see that too.  A lot of my Scenes involve bad things happening to the Boys, so there's always that fear of, "What are the readers going to think about this?"  I have learned by now that readers generally enjoy bad things happening to the Boys, just as we enjoy making them happen, so I really shouldn't worry about their reaction, but I still get that nervous feeling when I post a big part like the choppage or the gunshot.  When it's a happy moment, like Nick and Claire finally getting back together, then I look forward to the reaction, but I'm also happy for the characters.

There's just something cathartic about experiencing something bad through fiction. I'm not really sure what it is... the emotional roller coaster, seeing what-ifs, I don't know. Like you hate it, but it's still enjoyable in that way... As I've mentioned, my brain is not braining tonight, lol.

LOL This is like me renewing my Hulu last year as a pandemic gift to myself, only to use it to watch old episodes of ER instead of catching up on The Handmaid's Tale like I intended to.  And I own all 15 seasons of ER on DVD... but damn, it's so much easier to just click through Hulu then get off the couch to change the DVD LOL.

I watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix all the time and also own it on DVD. I have also watched it on that UP TV channel with commercials. It's so much easier to click through Hulu. Or let it do its thing until it asks if you're still watching, lol. Meanwhile, I'm only halfway through Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, lol.

Oh no, definitely not.  I didn't even read Signal to Noise in one sitting.  But I guess I got what I wanted out of them because my writing went well.  I tend to read less when the writing's going well and more when it isn't.  I guess that's why I haven't read very much in the last year.

That's how I'm feeling. I feel like I should spend some more time reading anything... but I've been a writing machine.

Yeah, it is horrifying!  And after Nick tweeted that video out, there were fans going, "I wanna be the frog to your chimp!"  Effed up.  I think that was during your hiatus, 2011 or so.

OMG! Y'all! Why?! My google search said it was from 2007... why was Nick posting it in 2011? Unless there was more than one. Why was Nick sharing that? 2011 Nick, were you okay? lol

Ugh, now I feel so sad about my cute little scene of PBox Nick seeing a frog for the first time and being fascinated. And he doesn't say anything, so now will people be like, "Nick wants to have sex with that frog." Sigh... I unintentionall y included something weird.

Plans with friends are fun, but do interfere with writing.  As an introvert, I sometimes have to force myself to break out of the writing bubble and be social because I would rather just stay home and write.  But I usually end up having fun when I do go out with friends.  I hope you enjoyed the birthday lunch!  And even if you didn't write as much as you thought you should, at least you finished a chapter!  That is definitely an accomplishment .

It was really fun! It was just a steakhouse lunch instead of the brunch we'd discussed and there was a lack of eggs in my life, lol. It was good to see all of them, just less productive on the writing front.

And now I'm dragging through my next chapter, as I mentioned.

On a weeknight, I'm exactly like you - not tired anymore, but also not really productive.  My writing is going the same way as yours tonight.  On a weekend, I can drink caffeine after a nap, and then it usually goes better.

You know, I thought about making a coffee, but then I would never sleep tonight and have the same problem tomorrow, lol. At least our streaks are alive and well.

[RokofAges75]

There's just something cathartic about experiencing something bad through fiction. I'm not really sure what it is... the emotional roller coaster, seeing what-ifs, I don't know. Like you hate it, but it's still enjoyable in that way... As I've mentioned, my brain is not braining tonight, lol.

Absolutely!  The catharsis is why we enjoy a good tearjerker.  It's not like we're wishing for anything bad to happen to the Boys; they just happen to be the characters in a piece of fiction.

OMG! Y'all! Why?! My google search said it was from 2007... why was Nick posting it in 2011? Unless there was more than one. Why was Nick sharing that? 2011 Nick, were you okay? lol

Ugh, now I feel so sad about my cute little scene of PBox Nick seeing a frog for the first time and being fascinated. And he doesn't say anything, so now will people be like, "Nick wants to have sex with that frog." Sigh... I unintentionall y included something weird.

It probably was from 2007 and Nick was late to the party LOL.  I almost forgot about that until I saw Melissa Schuman had brought it up of an example of how Nick thought rape was "funny." 

Aww, no, I'm sure your scene isn't weird.  My brain is just weird for making that connection from like ten years ago LOL.  Although what you just wrote about Nick wanting to have sex with that frog reminds me of The Book of Mormon LOL (the musical, not the actual book).  Magical AIDS frog, anyone?

[nicksgal]

Absolutely!  The catharsis is why we enjoy a good tearjerker.  It's not like we're wishing for anything bad to happen to the Boys; they just happen to be the characters in a piece of fiction.

And then how they band together and overcome it. That's the best part of that.

I mean we've all done some pretty terrible stuff to them... in fiction, lol. But we've discussed this ad naseum.

It probably was from 2007 and Nick was late to the party LOL.  I almost forgot about that until I saw Melissa Schuman had brought it up of an example of how Nick thought rape was "funny." 

Aww, no, I'm sure your scene isn't weird.  My brain is just weird for making that connection from like ten years ago LOL.  Although what you just wrote about Nick wanting to have sex with that frog reminds me of The Book of Mormon LOL (the musical, not the actual book).  Magical AIDS frog, anyone?

2007 Nick had better things to do than hang out on fledgling YouTube, clearly, lol. I feel like it was less that and more "animals doing weird stuff," but can't say for certain.

LOL! Magical AIDS frogs. That musical is great. I'm thinking you must keep this thought about Nick and frogs in the same box in your brain as Book of Mormon, which I imagine you access with some regularity. Although, I'm sure any of us mention anything and we try to think of time when we've experienced that before. So I guess... I'm more surprised that "Nick and a frog" is something that has a connection.

[RokofAges75]

2007 Nick had better things to do than hang out on fledgling YouTube, clearly, lol. I feel like it was less that and more "animals doing weird stuff," but can't say for certain.

LOL! Magical AIDS frogs. That musical is great. I'm thinking you must keep this thought about Nick and frogs in the same box in your brain as Book of Mormon, which I imagine you access with some regularity. Although, I'm sure any of us mention anything and we try to think of time when we've experienced that before. So I guess... I'm more surprised that "Nick and a frog" is something that has a connection.

I'm sure that was it - animals doing weird stuff.  It's less funny and more... interesting?  Morbidly fascinating?  WTF-worthy?  He probably came across it and thought, "I'm gonna share this and make everyone else feel awkward too."

I definitely have a part in my brain that can make a South Park reference for just about anything - and I consider The Book of Mormon (and Team America and everything else Matt and Trey have made) an extension of that part.  They're both random and prolific enough that you can connect almost anything to their work - it's like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

[nicksgal]

I'm sure that was it - animals doing weird stuff.  It's less funny and more... interesting?  Morbidly fascinating?  WTF-worthy?  He probably came across it and thought, "I'm gonna share this and make everyone else feel awkward too."

"I have stumbled on a weird thing and need to share it with other people. Fans: look at this weird thing." I'm not positive, but I feel like a bunch of offers for blow jobs was not why he shared it. Maybe he just wanted someone to say, "Animals can make you say 'WTF' sometimes, huh, Nick? Here's a video of a dog trying to get a stick through a door, but the stick's too big. Not WTF-worthy, but funny in a different way."

I definitely have a part in my brain that can make a South Park reference for just about anything - and I consider The Book of Mormon (and Team America and everything else Matt and Trey have made) an extension of that part.  They're both random and prolific enough that you can connect almost anything to their work - it's like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

I love that. Six Degrees of South Park! I'll bite. Orange.

[RokofAges75]

I love that. Six Degrees of South Park! I'll bite. Orange.

Kenny's coat?  The color of Snookie's skin in the Jersey Shore episode?  Cartman putting together fruit baskets to "make, make it right" with people he's wronged?  https://youtu.be/xT_zt5tMv4g

[nicksgal]

Kenny's coat?  The color of Snookie's skin in the Jersey Shore episode?  Cartman putting together fruit baskets to "make, make it right" with people he's wronged?  https://youtu.be/xT_zt5tMv4g

I've failed you. Orange was easy, lol.

Kevin Bacon.

[nicksgal]

I feel like we need new writing questions, but I can't think of any...

[RokofAges75]

I've failed you. Orange was easy, lol.

Kevin Bacon.

Hm, this one was harder because I don't think South Park has ever referenced him directly.  But in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fashion, I will say that Kevin Bacon was in the original Friday the 13th, and Jason was in the Imaginationlan d trilogy.

[RokofAges75]

I have started browsing the writing and fanfic boards on Reddit for ideas for new questions/topics.  Here's one, inspired by this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/ng4q3k/am_i_supposed_to_overwrite_in_my_first_drafts/  Do you tend to overwrite or underwrite in a first draft?  In other words, when you go back and revise, do you find yourself adding more detail or taking out unnecessary details?

It's hard for me to say I underwrite because I tend to be wordy in the first place, but I am more likely to add more during revision than take out entire sentences/paragraphs... which definitely does not help with my wordiness LOL.  Like I've said before though, I don't usually make major revisions, more minor changes involving word choice, fixing typos, and so on.  In scenes with a lot of dialogue, I tend to focus on the dialogue itself first, and if the conversation is flowing well, I won't spend as much time on getting the dialogue tags, body language, and description just right the first time around.  I'll go back and beef up that stuff later.

[RokofAges75]

In other news, I thought I was going to make it through the entire pandemic school year with perfect attendance, but alas, I finally came down with a cold - my first cold in over a year!  Since it's not a good year to drag myself to work sick like I normally would (and did not relish the idea of wearing a mask over a runny nose all day), I made myself take a sick day yesterday and today.  And it was glorious!  I basically stayed in bed all day both days and caught up on sleep and wrote for hours!  I hit over 1500 words yesterday and over 1200 so far today.  So my writing slump seems to be over.  Hooray!  Apparently this little sickation was just what I needed.

[nicksgal]

Hm, this one was harder because I don't think South Park has ever referenced him directly.  But in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fashion, I will say that Kevin Bacon was in the original Friday the 13th, and Jason was in the Imaginationlan d trilogy.

Perfect! And excellent Six Degrees of South Park.

I will ponder on another one.

[nicksgal]

I have started browsing the writing and fanfic boards on Reddit for ideas for new questions/topics.  Here's one, inspired by this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/ng4q3k/am_i_supposed_to_overwrite_in_my_first_drafts/  Do you tend to overwrite or underwrite in a first draft?  In other words, when you go back and revise, do you find yourself adding more detail or taking out unnecessary details?

It's hard for me to say I underwrite because I tend to be wordy in the first place, but I am more likely to add more during revision than take out entire sentences/paragraphs... which definitely does not help with my wordiness LOL.  Like I've said before though, I don't usually make major revisions, more minor changes involving word choice, fixing typos, and so on.  In scenes with a lot of dialogue, I tend to focus on the dialogue itself first, and if the conversation is flowing well, I won't spend as much time on getting the dialogue tags, body language, and description just right the first time around.  I'll go back and beef up that stuff later.

I was doing the same, but most of the ones I've seen pop up anywhere are all things we've discussed.

Team wordiness! Like you, I feel like I am wordy already. I don't think I make it through a whole chapter before I start editing it. If I stop writing in the middle of a chapter, I always go back and reread anything I'd written before continuing. As far as major revisions... It's a little bit of both. Sometimes I add and sometimes I hack. I think which one I do varies based on how I'm feeling about the chapter when I go to edit it. Being able to let the chapters sit for... what... five months for this week's update? I feel like it helps take away some of the freshness and gives me a different feeling for it. The earlier ones I posted were a lot less removed, but the removal has only grown over time.

This doesn't mean that my hacks don't turn into hacking and replacing, because they do that also. I'd say in general, my chapters do get slightly longer after an edit, but usually in the 50-200 word range more than major additions after the fact.

[nicksgal]

In other news, I thought I was going to make it through the entire pandemic school year with perfect attendance, but alas, I finally came down with a cold - my first cold in over a year!  Since it's not a good year to drag myself to work sick like I normally would (and did not relish the idea of wearing a mask over a runny nose all day), I made myself take a sick day yesterday and today.  And it was glorious!  I basically stayed in bed all day both days and caught up on sleep and wrote for hours!  I hit over 1500 words yesterday and over 1200 so far today.  So my writing slump seems to be over.  Hooray!  Apparently this little sickation was just what I needed.

Sorry you got sick! But I'm glad it wasn't majorly sick that you could still write and catch up on sleep! That's awesome that you're inching toward 3000 words for the two days! I always consider that a productive weekend. And now you get a whole other potentially productive weekend ahead of you. Congrats!

But... did you pass your slump on to me? haha I wrote about 400 words on Monday, which isn't too bad, but lower than the average Monday. And then only three words yesterday. I wrote a little this morning (about 62 words), so the streak lives, but I'm hoping to be semi-productive either now or after the Masked Singer tonight. However, as you all know, I'm pretty useless on update day. On the plus side, my writing speed is now eight words per minute, lol. And I'm just shy of two weeks ahead of myself, so... baby steps. Nano says I'll be done on June 8th, but I doubt that's true. I see this chapter taking a little longer, so at best, I'll be finished around June 20th or so. Which is still good.