The Far, Bright Center

Hello on Thursday, sorry about missing yesterday, it was a crazy day with a major computer issue that thankfully got solved eventually.

Anyway, how's the day going so far for fic? (If you haven't gotten started on your day as yet, how did yesterday go for writing fic?)

- Excellent!
- Terrible
- Somewhere in between
- Nothing doing

How much time have you spent on writing fic today, roughly?

- None
- 30 minutes or less
- 30-60 minutes
- 60-90 minutes
- More than 90 minutes

In five words or less, how do you feel about that?

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Hi all!

I'm doing some minor operational work tonight. It should be transparent, but there's always a chance that something goes wrong. The main thing I'm touching is testing a replacement for Apache2 (our web server software) in one area of the site.

Thank you!

linaewen posting in

Hello on Tuesday! How are things going in the world of fic?

Did you write?

- Yes!
- No!
- Not yet!

If yes, what kind of writerly activity did you engage in? How do you feel about it?
If no, what were the obstacles/situations that affected your writerly pursuits? What will you do differently tomorrow to get more writing done?
If not yet, because the day hasn't gotten going yet, what kind of writing activity are you planning (or hoping) to accomplish?

Snowflake Challenge: A flatlay of a snowflake shaped shortbread cake, a mug with coffee, and a string of holiday lights on top of a rustic napkin.

Challenge #8

Talk about your creative process.

You know, I don't think I've ever sat down and thought through my creative process before. This should be fun.

My solo-written fic, as opposed to my cowrites (/waves to

rhi ,

ilyena_sylph ,

t_vo0810 and others/) is one of two kinds, usually: either it's written for an exchange fic, or a bunny ups and grabs me.

When I sign up for exchanges, I try and craft my sign-up to get specific recipients, although I try and make sure that I can write for all potential recipicients. (I've only hit 'oh God no DEFAULT' levels of DNW a couple of times, which considering my Cursed Exchange Luck, I'm pretty proud of.) Once I get my assignment, I sit with the prompt that calls to me the most, and see what kind of story I can create that fits both the wordcount requirement and what the recip wants. Depending on how much plot there is, I throw myself on rhi's mercy for help, lol.

Once I've figured out what the story is, then I write it. Very rarely, I finish my first draft before deadline; usually I'm butting right up to it. (Being several hours ahead is a wonderful thing, sometimes. It feels like a sneaky little extension, lol.) I use the period between submission deadline and reveals to edit and polish my fic, although (thankfully) I write very clean drafts so there's rarely all that much editing, SPAG aside, to do. Sometimes my brain is a hunk of mouldy cheese and poor

rhi has to talk me down and remind me that I am a good writer and my fic will look better once I have had a snack and a nap.

When it comes to non-exchange fic, it usually starts with a bunny nibbling on me. Once the nibbling becomes too hard to ignore, I sit down and write - sometimes just scenes, sometimes snippets, sometimes whole-ass fic. Then I let the for-publishing stuff sit for a few days before going back over it, then getting it beta'd.

Regardless of whether it's exchange fic or for my own satisfaction, there's one step of the process I find utterly loathsome: titles. There's a reason most of my fics have either lyrics or quotes for titles - titling is the worst, even harder than summaries. I am in awe of people who find it easy. But works need titles, alas, and so far I've somehow managed, lol.

And that's my creative process! Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

linaewen posting in

Hello on Monday! How's the day going so far for fic? (If you haven't gotten started on your day as yet, how did yesterday go for writing fic?)

- Excellent!
- Terrible
- Somewhere in between
- Nothing doing

How much time have you spent on writing fic today, roughly?

- None
- 30 minutes or less
- 30-60 minutes
- 60-90 minutes
- More than 90 minutes

In five words or less, how do you feel about that?

two log cabins with snow on the roofs in a wintery forest the text snowflake challenge january 1 - 31 in white cursive text

So I had to take a break from posting because my eyes decided to act up (After a Deeply Stupid Eye Injury back in college, my left eye likes to throw the occasional tantrum to remind me it's got its eye on me, boyo) but I'm back with challenge #7.

Challenge #7

LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.

Okay! Three things, huh? I'm going to go with one physical thing, one skill, and one emotional thing.

1. I try really hard to be kind.

Especially in the world we live in, where it's so easy to fall into snark, or into the trap of valuing nonexistent moral purity over imperfect action towards a better present and future, this is one of the things I like best about myself. So while I have certain bedrock principles I won't deviate from, I try very hard to give people grace, both IRL and in fandom. At the end of it, you've gotta be kind.

2. I am a good writer.

There's a Discord I'm in with a writing vent channel, and it always discomfits me a little to hear people tear their own writing down. Now, am I a literary great? Ha, nope. But I am a skilled writer, enough so that I enjoy rereading my own work, lol. Perhaps once Snowflake is over I'll create a self-rec list?

3. I like how my face looks.

So I grew up in a deeply colourist society, although I've been lucky in that my immediate family has never held with that or given me crap for it. What I didn't like about my face was that I don't have the kind of open-mouthed smile that is considered classically beautiful. (My teeth are fine, just small.) Add to that some baby fat that stubbornly stuck around, and nope. It took the pandemic, and seeing my face on Zoom for hours on end to realize that hey, just because I don't photograph well, it doesn't mean there aren't nice things about my face - how my eyes crinkle when I smile, how animated my expressions get when I'm excited about something, how well bright red lipstick contrasts with my dark skin. So yeah. It took a while, but I can safely say that I love my face.

linaewen posting in

Hello on Sunday! What kind of a writing day has it been so far today -- or if today hasn't gotten going yet, how did you fare yesterday?

- I thought about my fic once or twice

- I wrote

- I did some planning and/or outlining

- I did research and/or canon review

- I edited

- I've sent my fic off to my beta

- I posted today!

- I'm taking a break

- I did something else that I'll talk about in a comment

Sunday Discussion: It's a new writing week, and that means a fresh start. Maybe you had a great writing week last week, or maybe last week wasn't the greatest for getting writing things done -- what kind of goals do you have for keeping up your momentum or starting off fresh this week?

anghraine

I posted this on AO3 a little while ago, actually, but wanted it here, too!

Despite having increasingly felt "oh, so everything I've heard about how TOS Kirk/Spock was overblown by fandom was just brazen lies, though otherwise I think I might disagree with about 90% of the fandom at all times" as the show went on—and shipping them like crazy—one of the TOS relationships that I found most endearing (and also surprisingly persistent) was actually a platonic friendship. So, in a shocking twist here at Anghraine dot Dreamwidth dot org (>_>), my first posted TOS fic ended up being a ... gen brotp AU one-shot. I've written more of it, but I posted it as a one-shot because the rest would entail a much longer fic that needs to bake in the drawer for a lot more time.

title: the only ones who can do it
characters: Spock, Nyota Uhura, James Kirk; Dr. Piper
length: one-shot, 2k
stuff that happens: Uhura is the captain of the TOS five-year mission, but not because Spock and Kirk aren't there.
notes*: all of my TOS fic is only for TOS; part of why the show clicked so hard for me was that it felt fundamentally different from other ST I'd seen (the original movies, TNG, AOS etc) to the point that I couldn't reconcile them in my head, even when I like them.

“I’ve got a problem,” he announced. “In life sciences, that is, which makes it your problem, too. Starfleet’s transferred dozens of social scientists into the division for this huge exploration they’re sending us on. More archaeologists, xenoanthropologists, psychologists, you name it—a lot more. New people from all over.”

Spock felt very certain that from all over meant humans from various parts of Earth and perhaps some Terran colonies. He had never served on a vessel in which he was not the only alien, and even he owed his post to the impossibility of splitting him between human and Vulcan vessels. He would not have put it beyond the admiralty to try, had there been any possibility of success.

“Assigning an increased number of experts in the social sciences is entirely logical for this endeavor,” he informed Dr. Piper. “A five-year mission into primarily unfamiliar regions of deep space will benefit from their knowledge, and in all likelihood, advance their disciplines.”

Piper waved this aside. “Yes, yes, undoubtedly. The problem is that I’m not exactly a cat herder.”

“A cat herder,” Spock repeated. For the first time in a year, two months, and six days, his bafflement at the idiom was entirely sincere.

( Read more... )

Current Location: Washington
Current Music: Princes of the Universe (Queen)

lilly_c posting in

How is the writing going today?

Poll #34151

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2

Today I

View Answers

wrote
2 (100.0%)

edited
0 (0.0%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

planned
0 (0.0%)

had a break
0 (0.0%)

dealt with life
1 (50.0%)

We're at the end of the month, have you made any progress on your goals?

It's also Saturday, feel free to share a snippet of something that you're working on. Link to some you've posted recently. Ask for any help, if you need it. Chat amongst yourselves.

lilly_c posting in

How is the writing going today?

Poll #34148

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

Today I

View Answers

wrote
0 (0.0%)

edited
0 (0.0%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

planned
2 (50.0%)

had a break
1 (25.0%)

dealt with life
2 (50.0%)

Discussion: what are you working on this weekend?

bleodswean

“He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Come join us at a new Wuthering Heights community where we are beginning our Wuthering Heights read-a-long and will soon be discussing this complicated novel! Is it really a love story? Is Cathy certifiable? Does Heathcliff have a wounding story that justifies his revenge? Why is everyone so reprehensible? Or are they? Do the children shed the legacy of betrayal and rage?

There might be icon challenges! And fic prompts! And discussions of other writings female and gothic!

OUR SOULS ARE MADE OF

our_souls_are_made_of | Recent Entries

sartorias

I seem to be the respository for old papers in various lines of descent. None of them worth a damn, except their voices are such a joy to "hear". But on recent visit my daughter asked for the little iron box containing her great-grandfather's letters from WW I.

Jack Murray was a typical nineteen year old and it comes across so clearly. He joined the army early on, and was shipped from CA to Florida to base camp. There, they went around asking if anyone was familiar with automobiles. He said he fooled around with them, as many Los Angeles boys did.

They yanked him out of infantry and put him in the nascent motor pool, before shipping them off to France. The ship journey, their arrival in France, and the rapid development of Motor Transport is fascinating to read from his ground-level perspective. After the war, he was one of the last to leave France, as he was vital for the transport system.

My daughter commended on how very, very earnest he was about his longing to marry Great Granny (then seventeen or eighteen) RIGHT NOW. Also, she commented on the slang of the day. Everything was a peach. A peach of a car, a peach of a trip, a peach of a meal. She was a peach of a girl!

Next Ihope she wants to read the letters of a great-great grandfather through her grandfather's line--these beautifully written copperplate letters from California right after the gold rush, through a quake, and a riot . . .

lilly_c posting in

Sorry I missed yesterday, it turned out to be one of those days with far too much on.

How is the writing going?

Poll #34144

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 2

Today I

View Answers

wrote
0 (0.0%)

edited
0 (0.0%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

planned
0 (0.0%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

had a break
1 (50.0%)

dealt with life
1 (50.0%)

Discussion: resources. What are some of your go to resources for writing?
These can be software, fandom specific, general research, and pretty much anything all that you consider a resource.

bleodswean

READ UP TO CHAPTER FOUR AND CHECK IN SATURDAY MORNING!!!!

OVER HERE -

our_souls_are_made_of | Recent Entries

lilly_c posting in

How is the writing going today?

Poll #34141

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

Today I

View Answers

wrote
2 (66.7%)

edited
1 (33.3%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

planned
0 (0.0%)

had a break
0 (0.0%)

dealt with life
2 (66.7%)

Challenge #6

Top 10 Challenge. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers.

( That got long, lol... )

And that's my top ten fandoms! What are yours?

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #5

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.

Here are my (fannish) wishes for this year!

1. For fandom to be a source of joy for everyone, not just me. May your fannish experiences be what you want, or need, them to be, and may they bring only good things into your life.

2. Recs for a certain kind of HP fic. Back in the day, before HBP released, there was a specific kind of fic that was almost standard - Harry gets training from competent adults, the DA plays a big part, the Houses come together, there's all kinds of fun magic and worldbuilding. I'd love recs for fics like this, with the following DNWs: Snape being portrayed in a positive light or having a large role, Weasley, Hermione, or Fleur bashing, pureblood supremacist apologia, Muggles rules wix drool nonsense, the WW being terribly sexist/backwards.

3. Relatedly, I'd love some Viktor/Hermione fic, either recs or written. No Weasley or Harry bashing, please, and I'd love fics where Viktor is smart. (Because he is, in canon! He speaks at least three languages and does some pretty advanced Transfiguration!)

4. I have fallen in love with the Electra McDonnell cozy thriller series by Ashley Weaver, and I would LOVE Electra/Ramsey fics. Just no kidfic, please!

5. This is an utter longshot, but hey, asking for the N3 extras got me a link, so. Does anyone have the complete prompt list, or even a partial one, for the numb3rs100 community? I do not relish the thought of scrolling through the entire community so I can note down the prompts manually.

6. This wishlist is mostly fic, I swear. If any Austen fans are around, I'd love some Jane Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam fic. Just no Bingley bashing, please.

7. Finally, and this is another longshot - if there are any fontmakers out there, I'd love an (English) font that is visually influnced by the Tamil script. All the India-influenced fonts I've seen use the Devanagiri script, because of course all Indians speak Hindi /rolls eyes/. One of my favourite fictional characters ever is Tamilian, and I'd love to have a font that reflects her heritage, and mine.

lilly_c posting in

How is the writing going today?

Poll #34119

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

Today I

View Answers

wrote
3 (60.0%)

posted
1 (20.0%)

edited
1 (20.0%)

researched
1 (20.0%)

planned
1 (20.0%)

had a cheeky break
0 (0.0%)

dealt with life
2 (40.0%)

Discussion: do you have favourite characters to write? or do you like to write a variety of characters?

lilly_c posting in