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Trismegistus ([personal profile] lebateleur) wrote2012-02-15 05:59 am
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You know, I paid enough for my education...

...it's a shame I'm trying to undo it.

When I write for ficathons or challenges, I produce good fics--sometimes more than what I'm obligated to write because I'm often left over with spare ideas after I've fulfilled my prompt. When I write fics sans challenge, I rarely produce anything beyond a paragraph or two.

I have realised that this is likely the result of close to two decades of writing-intensive schooling (and to a lesser extent, work experience), where I am obligated to produce a finished product of X pages on Y topic in Z amount of time. When I'm writing to an assignment with a deadline, I can write. Granted, the process may not pretty, but I will most definitely produce a finished product.

When I am not writing to a deadline, I don't write, and I think it's largely due to the fact that no matter how intriguing my ideas may be, I have no idea when I'm through--potentially, the little inkling I have could go on forever. Without topic, page limit, or deadline, how do I know if I'm doing a good job, and how do I know if what I'm writing is "ready?"

I used to really love writing things when I was a little kid, when writing was amazing because I could put ideas on a piece of paper and they would be preserved there. I didn't worry about whether they met or exceeded page limit or went off topic or even stopped halfway through a concrete train of thought. It was fun, which writing has not been for me for quite some time; rather, the relief of finishing has been playing that role instead.

So I have been experimenting with just putting ideas on a piece of paper--every day--without worrying how good they are or even if they are connected to the ideas that come before and after. I am not writing much of anything that is any good at all, but it is more fun than writing has been for a long, long time. The goal is to see if I can't blend the best of both approaches. I am cautiously optimistic that this will be possible.



これで以上です。
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[identity profile] xparrot.livejournal.com 2012-02-16 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
I write better with deadlines (...sometimes, though my track record with challenges is less than stellar >.>) and last year I started giving myself a deadline, write 5K words of fiction (fanfic, original, whatever) a week. It works pretty well - sometimes it means I'm writing Nano-style, padding my word count, but it means I'm always producing *something*, which is much better than having nothing (and if I write more than 5K words I put it in a "bonus pool" and plan to reward myself when the pool reaches something reasonably big, so I'm encouraged to keep writing even after I hit my wordcount...)

[identity profile] metal-dog5.livejournal.com 2012-02-16 12:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you want me to issue you more challenges? I can give you prompts, deadlines, word targets, whatever you want.

(Tonight I'm all a-squee at seeing Yumichika in one panel in the latest chapter of Bleach in I don't know how long. Such a small thing, yet so happy!)

[identity profile] metal-dog5.livejournal.com 2012-02-21 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Things you must see: animated art (http://br0-harry.tumblr.com/post/17892541649/click-to-view-full-size) of John & Sherlock & a very clever vid (http://daasgrrl.livejournal.com/130119.html) in which House is Sherlock's father. Extremely well done especially as Hugh Laurie & Benedict Cumberbatch worked together in Fourtysomething (I didn't know about this prior to seeing the vid. I thought someone had been very clever with edits for a bit.)




And I, err, sorta fell into a new fandom. Completely by accident. I don't have time for a new fandom; certainly not one as with as huge a canon as The Avengers. Until two days ago I wasn't aware of the Ironman/Captain America lovefest (all subtext, 'cept when it's not) happening in the comics (titles I haven't read in forever and stories I don't know). If I hadn't watched Captain America or seen RDJ onscreen with CA I wouldn't be in this mess. I'd seen recs and finally tried one. *cries* I am still in READ ALL THE FIC mode and it hurts 'cause I need to learn many universes canon too. I NEED FEWER FANDOMS MORE HOURS IN A DAY.


edited for html!fail. Damn you LJ for removing the preview function!
Edited 2012-02-21 12:46 (UTC)