#nanowrimo 2025

[miakate-writes]

what’s more thought daughter than writing the final draft of my book (coming out may 2025) while also planning to write for a different book for nanowrimo this year while also making pinterest boards for 3 other possible books that don’t even have a plot yet, just vibes 🎀

[ariadnewordweaver]

🥲

[comfortlesshurt]

October 2024 Plans!

Now feels like a great time to say wow, I really didn't plan for this burst of inspiration from back in... June? to go on this long. Anyway, I'm here to say it is still here. Still Voltron, still primarily Keith. Still really stuck on that series idea.

I thought editing was going to go well last month, but I got started and was not feeling it. So now it's more of a "when it gets done" goal. To hold myself accountable, I'm still gonna include the remaining list of fics to be edited on these monthly goal posts. At least I'll have to look the work I'm avoiding directly in the eye on a regular basis as I procrastinate by writing.

General goals:

Newly published WC: 11,928/3,000

Have VLD WC surpass Spider-Man: 63,314/100,258

2024 total published WC: 54,677/50,000

LTS(LTFH):

If you didn't see my quick lil post about it, I'm getting burned out on this! So I'm giving myself a month off. I'm allowed to add to these fics if I feel like it, but there is no daily or monthly word count goal for October.

Fic 4: work on figuring out the timeline

All fics: use the downtime this month to work on chapter titles & flesh out outlines

Change the whole damn series name this late into drafting

Oneshots:

Bingo fic (I promised this AGES AGO, so this has GOT to be the month I finally deliver istg)

Oneshots or ficlets, whatever this month's inspiration tells me to do

Editing:

Flu: title change, style update

on the run: deadass don't remember this one, so we'll see

5 Times Lance Doesn't Matter +1 Time He Finally Does

Smiling 'cause you're used to it (a house that's always haunted)

Chemicals, chemicals in my brain (where'd you go, where'd you go anyway?)

Nowhere to call home (so I'll pack and run away)

5 Times Peter Struggled with Spider Metabolism, +1 Time Tony Helped: possible style update

Whump Bingo: major edit--these were barely edited in the first place, oops

Anywhere but Here: style update

Sick Days

Take the worst situation (make a worse situation)

We are the reckless (we are the wild youth)

Cocktails and Consequences: content edit since I barely drank before I wrote this and didn't research alcohol at all

Sickdays 5.0 Day 7: Temperature: title

See me here (meet me here)

And it hits between the eyes on this side

Sickdays 2.0 Day 2 & 5: Sick at a Party & Gently Tinged with Red: title, brainstorm for a closing chapter

Sickdays Day 5: Rapid Onset: title

Impressions

Sickdays 4.0 Day 1: The Oblivious Partner: title

Sickdays 4.0 Day 7: Chain Reaction: title

Sickdays 5.0 Day 6: Public Illness: title

I've got you stuck on my mind (and it's driving me crazy)

Days locked in a haze (trying to forget you)

Sickdays Day 6: Public Illness: title

I want to know who you are (I want to know who you were)

Will you stay with me for another day? (I don't want to be alone in this state)

I'm keeping you at bay (and I'm lonely)

Sickdays 5.0 Day 3: Caretaking Focus: title

Weightless (only wait for a fall)

Hiding It

I feel strange

Bullies and Bailing: possible content edit because I just don't like this one at all

Made a Mess

Season Three

Oh god

I'm not saying I told you so...

Sickdays 5.0 Day 4: Not the Norm: title and possible content edit because I HATE this fic with a burning passion

Accident

Don't ruin this

Rapid Onset

No Right Side: content edit because I don't like how this came out

Frostbite

Happily Ever After

Wes

Touch of the skin brings trembles and shivers

Favorite Outfit

Sleepless folks watching light grow (through their early morning windows)

Origins

Ember

Peace

Road Trip

+2 anon works

Longer term:

October 2024 - light month! doing whatever I feel like, but probably some oneshots or ficlets.

November 2024 - unofficial NaNoWriMo (fuck AI).

December 2024 - finish rough draft for LTS(LTFH) fics 1 & 2.

January 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 1 & 2 major content/continuity edit. Technical edit for fic 1 & begin posting depending on how long edits take.

February 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 3 (drafting) & 4 (outline and early drafting).

March 2025 - LTS(LTFH) fic 3 & 4 drafting.

[prettylittlelyres]

Violins and Violets - Series - WIP page

1784: Katharina Schmidt and her brother Hans grew up composing and performing music for royalty all over Europe. Now they are adults, only Hans is allowed to pursue his music, while Katharina's father tells her it's time to find a husband and settle down. Katharina's attempts to do as she's told only convince her that it's not what she wants to do, and she must decide how far she's willing to go to keep making music.

Hello, friends! It's been a minute since I updated the links on my blog, and I have just seen that I still have the "Beta Readers Wanted" post linked to the "Violins and Violets (WIP)" button... from the draft I finished and started querying in 2019 / 2020!

Things have... changed somewhat since then...

"Violins and Violets" is now a series, of (I expect) five books. None of them have titles yet, so I'm just referring to them as "Violins and Violets 1," etc. I thought it was time to make a new WIP page.

Book 1 tag - WIP page - first draft completed in December 2023, second draft in May 2024. (Earlier titled "Ladies Don't Write Music" - but this may be a better name for Book 2.)

Book 2 tag - WIP page - first draft completed in January 2024, now writing second draft in June and July 2024.

Book 3 tag - early planning stages, hoping to create outline in October 2024, with a view to writing the first draft in November and December 2024. Hoping to redraft in 2025.

Book 4 tag - hoping to plan and draft in 2025.

Book 5 tag - hoping to plan and draft in 2025 or 2026.

Series tag - all posts made about "Violins and Violets" since I realised it needed to be a series, no matter what book I'm talking about.

Everything "Violins and Violets" - the whole story, right from the beginning, when I started writing the first draft of a single book for Camp NaNoWriMo in April 2018.

One-Shots - short stories that I've written for the "Violins and Violets" world.

"Vogeltje" - another novel that takes place in the same world, and features some of the same characters.

I'm trying to bring each book in somewhere around 75,000 words, taking three months to write a first draft, and two months for each subsequent draft. I find it easier to focus on the story proper when I write quickly and regularly, so when I have a draft on the go, I try to write every day. Between drafts, I am trying to take whole months off writing, so that I can rest my creative muscles, as it were.

You can follow my progress here on my writeblr, and on the NaNoWriMo website.

Characters:

Katharina Schmidt - musical prodigy and composer who performed for royalty as a child, but is no longer allowed, because she's a woman. Disguises herself as "Sebastien", and flees Salzburg to start a composing career in Prague

Hans Schmidt - brother of Katharina, who is also a musical prodigy and composer, but is allowed to pursue his music as an adult.

Franz Schmidt - solicitor; father of Katharina and Hans, who wants to see his daughter married well enough to put silly ideas of music out of her head.

Julia Schmidt - lady of leisure; mother of Katharina and Hans; wife of Franz, who loves to make tapestries and knitted garments; wants the best for her children and is willing to let Franz decide what this is.

Barbara Kirkmann - housemaid to the Schmidts, Katharina's closest friend and confidante.

Elisabeth Meyer - daughter of Franz' boss, Katharina's first "acceptable" friend, and the oldest sister of many siblings; keen to get married and start a life of her own.

Miléna von Tritten - Elisabeth's best friend, and daughter of one of the Meyer firm's wealthiest clients, Baron von Tritten; expected to marry a noble, but totally absorbed in Johann Schneider.

Johann Schneider - training to be a magistrate, under pressure to get married, but totally uninterested in... anyone? All the ladies want him; none of them can catch him. Absolutely tone-deaf, but loves to watch musicians play; friends with Katharina.

Louisa Schneider - Johann's younger sister, also tone-deaf, but keen to become a musician under Katharina's tutelage.

Magdalena Fialová - an opera singer who wants to get more young women into music; one of "Sebastien's" first and best friends in Prague.

Miklós Kovács - a fellow violinist who persuades the management of the Malá Strana Opera House to give "Sebastien" an audition. Best friend of Magdalena, and very close with "Sebastien".

Background:

Yes, Katharina Schmidt is based on Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart, who deserved a much better life than she got. I have always wondered what would have happened if she had defied her father when he told her to stop composing. Would she have known as much fame as her brother?

Yes, Katharina Schmidt is a lesbian. That's because she's only based on a real person; she isn't actually Nannerl Mozart. I have no idea what Nannerl Mozart would have called herself, or how she felt, and I think it would be rude for me to try to guess. This part of Katharina's character is inspired less by history than by my own experiences and desire to see more representation of Queer people in historical fiction. (She's not the only person in the series who isn't straight! Who are the others? You'll have to read the books to find out... or just follow here; I'm yappy about it.)

[eurydicees]

current thoughts on nanowrimo while i only vaguely do work from home (<- dont tell my employers but i don't think i should have to work when i could be writing).

***i will not be using the website due to the pedophilia and lack of moderation issues. i don't want to involve myself in anything even remotely related to that. however imo the challenge of nanowrimo is bigger than the website, and so i'll still be attempting it.

current potential project ideas!

go back to the iwaoisuga atla au. i've got a lot of snippets but nothing substantial, so i would feel fine starting over and just working on that through the month. bonus is that i get to finish my rewatch.

do a prompt/request/event speedrun again. i have a lot of projects i committed to that i need to complete but haven't been looking at recently and i could just work on all those miscellaneous pieces. i actually have around 25 requests that've been waiting for attention so tbh writing a ~2k word one shot per day, give or take, could be great pacing for this challenge. unfortunately i'm probably incapable of keeping a oneshot to 2k. but this could also be an exercise in pacing myself. maybe.

write something original for the first time in so so so long. idk what it would be but i've been wanting to work on original writing again for a while now and this could be the opportunity.....i just don't have any plot ideas. which makes this idea hard. for obvious reasons.

re: original writing. i could do original short stories. this could be fun. it would involve coming up with a new idea roughly every day or every few days. which would be hard. but i've done it before and while i'm out of practice with original writing, surely i can do it again? idk it could be a fun exercise. i do love writing fucked up life altering short stories.

return to my roots and finish the poetry collection. i want to finally complete this. i've been chipping away at it for a while but i want to commit to it. but also i don't think i could get to 50k words with just poetry.....so maybe not this month. maybe save for april 2025 with a lower word count goal? idk. much to think abt with this one. or honestly maybe i can make it 50k. like if i try REALLY hard. very hard maybe on this one.

attempt the iwaoi soulmate + MCD au. i've been tossing this idea around for a while but it's looking like a huge undertaking so i haven't really worked on it. maybe this is my chance? but also it's probably the project idea i'm least passionate about so maybe not this one. i need to choose something i'm crazy abt lol.

finally finish the transforming of the skts mental illness study fic to original writing. this was a project i started AGES ago and then never completed. i actually just remembered it exists while scrolling through old drafts lol. it was a neat project to work on for a while but i got a little burnt out on it, which could bode badly for nanowrimo, which is such a passion-and-stamina-necessary challenge lol. but also maybe the commitment and accountability that's also so necessary for nano would inspire me? kind of a toss up.

thoughts on my november goals!

goal is 50k words in 30 days. go big or go home hit it till it breaks etc etc. i am going to work so fucking hard. i am pouring everything into this. i'm not manifesting, i'm DOING.

i'm 26,266 words away from 1mill words written for nanowrimo (all time, incl april/july camps). this could be such a fun milestone. i will get there. i WILL get there.

i'm also 54,800 words exactly away from 1mill published on ao3, which is also a super exciting milestone.....so maybe i do really want to just write a long ass fic for this.

i'm currently at 12 nanowrimo wins to 11 losses all time, and 6 wins to 5 losses in the november 50k challenge specifically. i am on cusp of something great.

i am also at a streak of 4 november wins in a row. i am DETERMINED to keep it up. like there are literally no consequences for not doing this. i know that. i promise i know that. but still. i am DETERMINED.

[deadtime-stories]

hi michael!! hope youre doing well :) are you doing nanowrimo this year?

I'm doing very well, thank you! 😊 It's funny you decided to ask, because I was just talking about nanowrimo with someone no more than an hour ago.

The result of this discussion was that I am going to try.

I haven't done any writing in a while. Partially because I've been insanely busy with personal things, but mainly because I got extremely frustrated with my writing. I was getting so bent out of shape over it, I decided to spend 2024 studying story structure and writing methods some more and try again in 2025.

But for nanowrimo, I'm going to try.

I have a standalone vampire novel I started to outline before I burnt out, called Blood Like Sugar, and its companion novel Hate Like Spice (the second one is about some side characters from the first). These are very low-stakes works for me because I have no intention of trying to query them to agents.

I make no promises I'll finish Blood Like Sugar in November, or even that I'll manage to hit 50k words on it. I'm just going to post it here as I write and see if the no-pressure approach can get me back into writing the way I used to when I was doing fanfics.

If you (or anyone) is doing nanowrimo this year, I'd love to hear about your project!

[duhragonball]

Other Months

You know, I was sort of hoping that by now, there would be some sort of course correction from Nanowrimo. I mean, the backlash seems pretty substantial. I keep looking for updates on the situation, and I keep expecting Nano to issue some weak apology, or at least acknowledge the outcry. But instead, I just find news articles about the backlash, or sponsors pulling out because they can see which way the wind is blowing.

And I'm not entirely surprised, but I guess I thought the people running that organization were a little more savvy than this. Then again, all these pro-AI types only seem to know how to double-down, so I guess Nanowrimo has already demonstrated the depths of their incompetence. If they were smart enough try to clean up this mess they never would have issued that statement in the first place.

So I probably gave them too much credit, but... I mean, what other reaction could they have expected? Their whole deal depends on large numbers of human writers coming together to do this challenge every year. By refusing to condemn AI, they basically said that the efforts of the human writers are extraneous, when it's very much the other way around. The Nanowrimo organization thinks it's too big to fail, but without the writers' participation, they're nothing. Even if their sponsors are paying big bucks for AI promotion, it won't do any good if there's no one around to sell the products to. This seems blindingly obvious, but apparently Nanowrimo can't figure it out.

Anyway, enough about them. I'm planning to proceed on schedule from November 1-30, but I started thinking about what to do in the future. The rest of the world may settle on some agreed-upon "official month" to do the 50k challenge, but I'm more interested in picking something that works best for me. I'll run through some options under the cut.

NOVEMBER

Pro: Traditional. I'm familiar with this thrity-day span, so why rock the boat?

Con: The Thanksgiving four-day weekend is a pain in the ass to plan around. Also my mom's birthday is in November, and I usually drive to her place and take her out to lunch, so that's another day where I schedule minimal writing. Oh, and AEW runs the Full Gear PPV, and the NJPW World Tag League starts up in November, so it's actually kind of busy. My normal strategy is to try to get as big a lead as possible in the first week in order to finish well before all this other stuff can slow me down.

DECEMBER

Pro: None. This would suck.

Con: This would just be a harder version of November, since Christmas always falls on a different day of the week.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

Pro: There's not much happening in these months, and I usually schedule some days off from work here just so I might miss a few lousy commutes in cold weather. February's only 28 days, but I've finished so many past 50k challenges early that it probably doesn't matter anymore.

Con: I've tried to do "Janwum" challenges in the past, but it's tough to get into gear so soon after completing one in November. I kind of had this vision of doing four writing months every year, but the non-November ones were always tough. Maybe January 2026 would be better if I didn't do any writing for November 2025. So that would push me towards...

MARCH-SEPTEMBER

Pro: I dunno.

Con: I feel like a lot of stuff happens during these months, which makes it difficult to make solid plans. Then again, this is probably just because I've devoted so much planning to making sure Novembers are as clear as I can make them.

OCTOBER

Pro: It's like November, but sooner. Fewer holidays, wrestling shows, and so forth.

Con: That's when OC-tober happens, and I really would like to keep doing that in October if I can. True, I've only done the challenge once in 2021, but I want to get back to it, so I need to start re-evaluating my priorities.

OCTOBER 20-NOVEMBER 18

Pro: This would mostly eliminate my problems with November. I always get a little anxious to start in the last week of October, so maybe I should just go ahead and start early.

Con: Well, the OC-tober stuff would still be a conflict, if nothing else.

I'm not sure I've come to any strong conclusions here, except that I might want to do these in January, but I need to schedule 2025's challenge for the middle of the year. Like... June-ish? Well, that would get it out of the way in time for the G1 Climax. Huh.

[lordkingsmith]

Writblr wrapped seems fun so I’m gonna do a quick one 😁

Things I accomplished in 2023:

Completed NaNoWriMo for the first time-the camps but it counts! 50,000 words is good no matter what month 😁😁

Changed the name of a main character in that story to something that flows a lot better

Wrote over 20 fanfics in the year

Got better at worldbuilding plotting

Began and halfway finished A Knight As Pretty As Hollyhock Blooms, and realized I want to make it a trilogy and a novel trilogy

Started in the third draft of So Fall Like Babylon

Started on scripts for two planned web animation series :)

My plans for 2024:

Finish A Knight As Sweet As Hollyhock Blooms and start reconfiguring it for a novelization and publishing

Finish at least one draft for the Underpinning Enchantments Trilogy

Start on the second fic for Hollyhock, Let The Lady Do What She Pleases

Begin animation for at least one web show (preferably the power rangers one)

Finish all the fanfic requests in my inbox by the end of next year (a clean inbox to start 2025 sounds fantastic y’know?)

Try to integrate back into writblr and be a more active participant again :)

[ettawritesnstudies]

do you have any overarching goals for your writing going into the next year ? yes i know i am a month early for new years resolutions but they are ON my mind !

Ok so my goal is to publish Runaways for October 31st 2025 because the story is set over Halloween/All Saints/All Souls and I desperately want to release it at the right time for all the "dark fantasy spooky season vibes" marketing, so the timeline looks somewhat like this over the course of the next 2 years.

Finish current draft by Tuesday of this week before my family comes for Thanksgiving and let it sit through the end of the month.

With the rest of NaNoWriMo, start writing companion stories for the anthology.

December: Do a second pass edit for this draft to make sure all the new scenes flow well together and the pacing isn't bad. Start asking for beta readers around the holidays

January 2nd, holidays done, send out beta drafts

February 1st, check in on betas, hopefully some of them are done??????

March 1st: check in on betas hopefully some of them are done?????

Through February and March finish the anthology project and edit the other prewritten stories

March 31st: break into betas houses and get my draft comments like the Duolingo Owl. Start editing.

April-June: Edit Draft 4 of the book? I have NO IDEA how much I'm going to have to fix. Depending on feedback this could be a complete rewrite that takes the rest of the summer or it could be as simple as a line edit. Hoping praying begging that it's on the less intense side. Recruit betas for the anthology.

End of summer idk: Shop for an editor, send book to editor. Pray. Edit the anthology myself

Fall 2024: Make the edits my editor gives me. Send the editor the anthology.

Winter 2024: do all the final editing and proofreading steps ASSUMING I don't need multiple more rounds of betas or major changes or an extra proofreading

Starting January 2025 I have a polished manuscript and start hiring artists for cover design and illustration and get it formatted.

(start writing the next thing)

Springtime 2025 the books are formatted and I research publishing process and upload them to sites to get the process rolling

Summer 2025: publication date announced, maybe run a Kickstarter or a preorder? Get proof copies, do all the final checks, source merch and goodies, start calling bookstores idk

Fall 2025: Ramp up all my marketing campaigns on Instagram and everything

Release date on October 31st

Do not stop do not pass go do not collect $200

Profit sell three books

Sleep for a million billion years.

(rinse and repeat)

[goldeneyedgirl]

day 125 asking for home again please i'm begging u i don't mind if you have a new chapter an idea or just rambling randomly about this fic i'm only asking for crumbs i hope it will touch your heart

Anon, you moved me. I'm so sorry I forgot your request. I have a memory like swiss cheese.

The rewrite has temporarily stalled, only because I have four chapter fics going, three one-shots needing to be finished, and I'm plotting out Whumptober, Nanowrimo, and Ficmas. Plus I have uni work which involves planning and writing a manuscript in 2025. Soo rewrites have escaped me for the time being.

But I do have plans to add a couple of fics to that series. The next fic I was going to publish was second chronologically - Cynthia's wedding. So this takes place maybe eight weeks after Home Again, so everything is kind of new and Jasper gets to experience Alice's family nonsense and how the insanely rich live.

Other fics I was messing with in this universe (the file for these has disappeared, so I have to do a deep dive on my harddrive to see where it was filed but it's totally gone at the moment) includes Alice's father showing up in Mexico for a surprise visit at a very inopportune time; the Brandons deciding to have a pre-Christmas gathering at Alice's house so that Alice's mom can get a bunch of photos for social media; Alice and Jasper in Seattle (I mean, we need to have Maria show up at some point - I love writing Maria); plus drama around the rest of the family - Edward and Bella having a baby, Peter and Charlotte getting married, and just other wholesome nonsense.

I might also drag the OG drafts for celebrity Alice out of the archives for Ficmas because, listen, the original Vision was very different. I think there were three different versions in 24 hours, lol.

Anyway, here is some of the draft of Cynthia's Wedding/the Spectacle.

jasper.

Flowers.

That was Jasper’s first thought.

He’d never seen so many flowers in one place before.

Or ribbons.

Or people.

“Breathe.” Alice was standing beside him, looking much more at ease than he felt. She looked beautiful but almost foreign on his arm; she’d had hair and make-up people in their suite early, and had emerged with an artfully messy updo and an almost porcelain-doll appearance.

She didn’t seem entirely real, honestly.

None of this did.

They’d arrived in New York City the afternoon before and this had been the most eye-opening twenty-four hours of his life.

First of all, the chauffeur that had picked them up from the airport had swept them to one of the most expensive hotels in the city - he knew Alice had vetoed the Plaza, where Cynthia was getting married, citing a complete lack of privacy - and they had been quickly and efficiently swept up to a suite that was, frankly, nicer than his Seattle apartment. A perfectly tailored suit and Alice’s dress for the wedding had been waiting for them, along with a handwritten schedule and half a dozen floral arrangements - as well as a bottle of champagne and a ‘good luck’ note from Carmen, which made Alice snort.

There had been a dinner reservation made at the hotel restaurant with Alice’s godmother - a pinched woman who downed three martinis and left citing a need for a cigarette before they’d even received their entrees. Alice had laughed at his total bewilderment - “I’ve known her my whole life, Jas, and I’ve never seen her eat anything more substantial than a martini olive - or stay at an event longer than thirty minutes.”

The next morning, Alice had disappeared to spa treatments, hair, and makeup after breakfast, and returned to the room looking rather blank and popped two pain pills on a relatively empty stomach but had reassured him that she was fine. He’d even gone out to get her something to eat, but she’d only picked at it and blamed nerves about being in front of the camera.

And now they were at the wedding.

Alice’s dress was beautiful - dark plum lace tailored close to her body with a high neck and buttons running down her spine. The hem brushed the floor, concealing the fact that she had insisted on nearly four inch heels despite the pain they caused her. A small fortune of diamonds hung from her ears and around her wrist that Alice claimed belonged to the family trust, from a long-dead family member. The suit Carmen had arranged for him was tailored so perfectly that it was one of the most comfortable things he’d ever worn - and one of the nicest, far and away nicer than what he'd worn at his own wedding.

That made him a little nervous - first class flights to New York, the hotel room, the suit… Alice had convinced him that as her date, she was going to cover everything. He was doing her a favour, after all - Cynthia wouldn’t have allowed her to attend without a plus-one. But this whole weekend was costing more than his entire life, and that made him somewhat uncomfortable.

“This is…”

“A lot, I know.” Alice’s smile is pasted on her face, and doesn’t look quite right. “Just look like you’re happy to be here and no one will notice.”

“I’m happy to be here with you, this is just terrifying,” he murmured in her ear and for a moment, Alice’s mask dropped and she gave him a genuine, albeit bashful, smile.

The entrance had an actual red - well, gold - carpet at the entrance, against a wall of white roses. Various photographers were lined up, snapping away. It took him several moments to place a few of the other guests dotted along the carpet - models, celebrities, singers… It was surreal.

Ignoring people calling out to her, Alice carefully guided him inside the hotel.

—

The ceremony room was all gold and white, adored in hundreds of white candles, and masses of flowers in whites, pinks, and lemons. It was dizzying and oddly hypnotic, like standing in a secret garden but knowing that something wasn't quite right about it.

Gold chairs draped in silky fabric were arranged for the guests - rows and rows of them, negating Alice’s assumption that this was planned to be an intimate wedding. A white and gold bar was set up at the back of the room, where numerous people were clustered around - people Jasper had only ever seen on TV.

“You’ll be seated in the front row,” the perky attendant said, escorting them down the aisle, gesturing to two seats.

//

Securing a glass of champagne for Alice and a gin-and-tonic for himself, Jasper immediately returned to where Alice was seated - where a man was looming over her. He wearing a well-worn, rumpled suit, clutching a drink like it was a lifeline, and looked like he needed a shave and a good night's sleep. He wasn't anyone that Jasper recognised, but the way he was scrutinizing Alice made Jasper feel oddly protective of her.

"Mary, Mary," the man said in a rough voice that sounded almost mocking to Jasper's ears as he handed Alice her champagne.

“Alistair,” the fake smile is back but Alice doesn’t rise, merely nods at him. “How are you?”

Alistair, the former fiancé - a long-time associate of Alice’s father and not someone Alice has spoken of fondly. He didn’t know the details of the break up - or even the engagement - and he couldn’t bring himself to google search his own ... what? Girlfriend? Either way, it felt very disloyal to google things Alice didn't really want to talk about.

“You look better than I expected,” Alistair is frank, and is inspecting Alice like a piece of meat. “The way your family has carried on, I expected...”

"To be at death's door?" Alice offers sweetly.

"You not to be here," Alistair chuckles, before looking Jasper up and down.

//

Mr Platt is exactly what Jasper expected; an imposing man with salt and pepper hair and generic movie star looks. He doesn’t acknowledge anyone around him, firmly focused on his phone. There’s a haughty looking woman next to him in a shimmering dark blue dress and smooth red hair that Jasper suspects is his wife, even if she isn’t old enough to be Alice’s mother.

“Fourth wife, former assistant,” Alice murmurs to him from behind her champagne glass. “Mother of two daughters, and she’s very upset that neither of them were boys.”

[laufire]

writing woes: may

in general

I decided that this month I needed take a break from my current stories and set those aside for a bit. Instead, I did quite a bit of outlining for longer, future (hopefully mid-long term) projects, often accompanied by writing a bit of them as well. I haven't decided yet but I might end up sharing some excerpts, beginning this month, as part of WIP Wednesday or what have you. Just Because.

original fiction

I mostly did some outlining for "The Leech of Wonderland" (a dark spin on historical and paranormal romance told in epistolary form), and for "Chasing Fanny" (toxic yuri love triangle between a private dick with some medium talents, the femme fatale who once seduced her and betrayed her, and a sob sister with journalistic aspirations who becomes interested in their stories, set in the late 30s). I intend for them to be, respectively, my July Camp Nano and my NaNoWriMo projects. They both used to belong to a larger universe, but I decided they worked best as independent stories. Ideally I'd want to keep them short-ish, but I fear the first one might get away from me if I'm not careful lol.

I also pondered a lot over "The Redstart's Ledger", a longer original series. It tells the story of Latoya and her band of misfits, who I've mentioned before. I've decided the first installment will be my 2025 project, once I'm done with the first draft of "Underground Elysium" (whose first act is done! Now the other four, starting this month).

fanfic

I was kind of all over the place on this front lol. I made a lot of additions to my outline files for plenty of WIPs, mainly the Jason Survives AU series, but also my Damibats future fic, the Jaytim ghost story, and the Jason & Dick Prison Break not-an-AU.

I also wrote scenes here and there for the amnesiac!Jason WIP and even had the sudden impulse to touch some old, semi abandoned projects (one about Natasha Stark, the genderswapped version of Tony Stark from Earth-3490; another about the Wayward Sisters, mainly focused on Claire and Bela; and at last, my vampire!John Silver idea). It was fun to switch things up.

For this month... I have a few complications this upcoming week in my personal life, so I'm going to keep it lowkey by focusing on the kissing prompts in my inbox. After that, business as usual: the young justice cartoon wip, Underground Elysium's next act, and maybe one wild-card if I have the time.

[comfortlesshurt]

July 2024 Plans!

I'm trying something new to see if it works for keeping me more consistent, so don't mind me.

Still insanely obsessed with Keith Kogane so uhh... sorry, that's all you're probably going to see from me this month if you read my stuff.

General Goals:

Get more comfortable with writing shorter fics instead of pushing for record word counts

Work on finding better end scenes for fics

Brainstorm for some longer multi-chapter fics for the future

Newly published word count: 19,920/15,000

Come up with a consistent writing schedule before August

Drafting priority - aim for the minimum viable amount of initial editing (then go back and refine everything in September)

Whumperless Whump Month:

7/1 (emergency first aid) - published

7/3 (like a record, baby) - published

7/10 (your work is never finished) - published

7/16 (say goodbye to filters) - published

7/19 (the whump morning after) - published

7/30 (I don't mean to get emotional) - published

Looking into 1 or 2 more days between the 19th and the 30th, but I haven't picked any yet! (Got sucked into another project and moved on to that!)

Really pushing to finish the days on time for this and move on no matter what at the end of the month. No completionist attempt here!

Bingo Prompts from @builder051:

Addiction/withdrawal - published along with whumperless whump fill

Self-surgery - published along with Whumperless Whump fill

Outlines for 3 other TBD squares, but unlikely to finish those fics in July (I'm short on my projected word count goal for August, so I'm expecting to get these finished and posted then)

Apologize profusely for taking 6 years to get to this

Augusnippets:

By mid-July, decide between path of hurt and path of whumperless whump

Resist urge to say I can do both because I simply cannot

Complete all outlines for chosen path by end of July (did I say outlines? because I accidentally made rough drafts for all of these instead)

Draft the first week by the end of July (I suspect work will be busy in August, so we're getting a buffer ready)

July and August are both planned writing months, but I'm expecting to take September to publish less and focus more on editing some stuff I've posted in the past without polishing as well as I could have. I also think I'll burn myself out if I try to write a ton three months in a row, so this just works out well.

Quick overview of the rest of 2024:

July - Whumperless Whump Event focus

August - Augusnippets focus

September - 1 or 2 short fics and a big round of editing my backlog; start to get a detailed outline on my Klance series

October - Whumptober focus

November - NaNoWriMo (either original fiction or a longfic I've been outlining, depends how I feel by October)

December - probably a heavy editing month (I want to get that NaNoWriMo fic edited so it can start to be published as we ring in 2025, but that probably means I won't publish anything new in November or December)

[thenotebookwizard]

2024 Invocation

First of all, 2024, I apologize. I keep trying to skip you and go straight to 2025.

Not smart, given you are twelve months in which I can do things I want to do, avoid things I don't want to do, and write things. Mostly, that last part.

In 2024, I know certain things will happen.

My kittens will turn one, and I will be able to share tiny bits of burger with them. The eating of the burger is a rite of passage in this house, for human or fuzzbeast, and must be respected. (If you are vegetarian or vegan, there are options for that, too!)

But burgers are sacred in our lineage...erm, family.

I will participate in NaNoWriMo.

I will write lists of things to do. Things to write. I will do some of them. I will write some of them. (Hopefully, a lot of them.)

I will fail. Often. With enthusiasm. With gusto. With casual apathy and indifferent lethargy and diffident dismissal of things important to me, because spoons. Because ADHD. Because 'fuck it, I don't want to right now.'

And that? It is okay.

It really is.

2024 isn't starting over. It's a continuation of the day before, but the calendar resets to a new year. A new number.

It's math, not experience. It's math, not mysticism. I always 'start' a new year thinking 'this will be different' and it isn't. It's just another day; I can do rituals like writing or playing DnD as the year rolls over.

I can set up my new planner or notebook. I can make my lists. I can work on them, I can write on my stories.

But at the end of the year, I will have done more than nothing, and I will have done my best. What else can I ask for?

Other than a million words, a million dollars, and a million more chances to start over?

[dragbunart]

Art Goals for 2024

Hey Ya'll I wanted to give you a quick "what to expect" for this year.

So you'll get the usual random fanart of whatever I'm hyper-fixating on. SOme thats just practicing something I feel I'm weaker in (poses, hands, backgrounds). Some thats just to spark joy.

Occasional posts of Commissions (depending on how often I get those.) Don't worry they'll be spread out.

Sometimes you'll get fanfic's (mostly links to my Ao3). There will also be links to youtube videos that will be Speedraws of that art posted here in case you are curious of my process.

Now for more structured stuff:

I will be trying to get UDG: Aftermath pages out faster, hopefully weekly or monthly. As well as the Grand Killing Game.

I probably won't take on much longer form content until one of those is finished.

I also want to participate in NaNoWriMo. And use the Story I write then to make a Comic i release through late 2024 and most of 2025. (someone remind me when November rolls around).

I will also do monthly Dragbun drawings because the hope is to eventually make a calendar. Some will be dragbuns you've already seen like Jade, and others will be ones I've been workshopping.

I've been having fun with daily updates on here and weekly on my youtube!

Hope we have another good year of art,

Hess

[jllongwrites]

State of the Writer: Remember, Remember, the First of November

Once again I'll be focusing on novel writing this month, though I've moved my tracking over to myWriteClub given all the mess with the NaNoWriMo organization. I'll be resuming work on my gay romance. (I just broke them up, after they'd barely gotten together, because I'm a monster.) I'm planning to publish my soft scifi novella sometime in early 2025, and I'm planning to publish my haunted house novella in autumn 2025 ('cause Spooky Month). I'm pretty excited to get both these stories out into the world, especially the haunted house story. I shopped that one to a few small publishers but got no bites, so it'll be self-published like most of my work. Last but (maybe?) least, the last several months I've been working on a second poetry collection, consisting of poems on grief and the grieving process. I'm calling it The Cancer Cantos. I'm currently considering submitting it to a few small chapbook contests and publishers. Time will tell!

[jubilantmedusa]

That urge to participate in NaNoWriMo (though not via their site for obvious reasons).

I definitely couldn’t win this year (not that winning NaNo has actually ever lead to me completing a novel… it has not). I also have no story idea.

Oh well.

2025!