#writingprogress

[exploresmallworlds]

Interregum: writer tales

My two projects are vastly different. These are different styles. A deeply personal introspection on the world outside and the other one is exploring the world of the characters which aren't necessarily myself (although somewhat myself of course).

I have written a bit and yesterday i had to give myself the strength to look at the things that I have already written and published. Even as a blog, I still get scared about what I am going to put to my goblin persona. i had them sitting in my scrivener and I wasn't even sure that they were good enough. And they have to be good enough to update because there isn't anything else that is compelling it except the strange impetus of missing out on a couple of months while I had a break.

So if anyone reads and thinks that they have been creating stuff and it hasn't felt strong enough to publish or even that it needs more work please know that even though I have hit my my modest goal of getting better at writing I am still looking at my work and I am still having concerns about the validity of publishing it.

And I am comforted by my conversations with one of my friends that have the same issue with writers block because this person is one of the smartest and most skilled writers that I know and he can't even open a book or listen to audiobook or even write due to burnout. And that is a sobering thought. That our output doesn't have anything to do with our blocks in our brain. That person is still the smartest and most skilled writer even in their blocked state. And that is the trust you have to have in yourself.

[scriptwriters-network]

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming virtual event. Won’t you join us?

[fmaden]

Writing Update

Currently wrapping up revisions on The Court of the Undead. A dark YA Fantasy featuring vampires and history. Can't wait to get this story out to the world.

[spencerrussellsmith]

Just realizing right now that I never updated my spreadsheet from 2021 dates to 2022 dates…the entire year… Unfortunately, I didn’t hit my goal of 1 million words, falling about 15k short at ~985000 words, but I did publish 2 novels, a short story and a novella, and get married, AND I edited over 2 million words this year. (Quite a few passes going over over 300k words of content). Hopefully this year. I’ll pass that 1million word goal, and publish at least four books! I already made some good progress today! #spencerrussellsmithauthor #bookstagram #wordcount #writingprogress #2022recap https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm5eqLeOaDs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[clarislam]

Hello, fellow readers and writers! 

Thanks for the recent follows! I know I haven’t been active on here much lately, but that’s because I’ve been busy writing and prepping new projects for 2023!

You can read my recent writing progress blog post for more details here: https://clarislam.ca/december-2022-writing-update/

[greyeyedmonster-18]

Hi Grey.

If you ever have the time I would really like ti hear more about your writingprogress.

Like. How do you come up with your ideas? Do you do a outline? Where and when do you write? Are you finishing all your stories before posting them? Do you fact check things? How long time does it normally take for you to finish a story? Have you ever regretting posting a story? Why do you write? Do you have a beta?

Youre one of my favorite authors here and I’m really just curious of the mind and work behind the story’s that I’ve spent so much time with.

weeping. I'm one of your favorites???? what the hell??? thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for being so nice. that just made my day.

i am going to put the answers to all those things below a cut to not spam my dash with a long post. but also, i shouldn't give writing advice ever and while i appreciate you asking your questions, everything with a grain of salt. because...i know absolutely nothing and this is just what I do. (and also, im an affectionate idiot so <3)

How do you come up with your ideas?

often my ideas start with a very very specific image in my mind, and then i go from there. sometimes they happen while im listening to a song (for example, FFTF happened because I was listening to Since We're Alone by Niall Horan and there's a line in there that says Why would you want to be someone else? I love you best when you're just yourself and an entire wolfstar narrative exploded, but i had to figure out how Sirius would be guarded in this particular way and....here we are) or sometimes when im on a walk or driving. also, as a total cop out, i write romance-- i get ideas from making foolish scenarios in my mind where people should fall in love and I'll never have a shortage of those.

Do you do an outline?

No! I don't. Once I have the idea, i usually start by writing the specific scene that came to me first (so for ten reasons, i wrote the voicemail scene first. i heard remus's voicemail in my mind so loud and clear and wrote it out) and i go from there. this is for my own unpacking but i almost always can see how things end in my mind before they begin (lol, isn't that a fucking metaphor; for a fun personal fact, I've always said since i was like...very little that i wasn't planning on living past 33, which is horrifying to hear out of a ten year olds mouth, but like...i still think its true). for almost all my fics, i wrote the ending first and then wrote around it. never chronologically. just everything that i want to happen and then i put it in some sort of order (i wish i could show you my doc for tight ends right now). and then i make them lead into one another.

I DO. however, do an obligatory chapter count. and i mean, so arbitrary, with no thoughts applied to it. NMTW i literally said 14 chapters, and stuck to it. this is the only structure i give myself when i write. and its my job as a writer to make sure i fit in there.

i do the same when im writing tumblr series. so like fault lines got SIX, chosen at random, and six it was. it was my job to tell that story in six parts. no more no less. (this is admittedly weird, i understand most writers dont work this way, but this actually helps me immensely. the only time i deviated was with FFTF when i added more chapters because the chapters i did have ended up being like TOO LONG in my eyes for a chapter, so i broke them up).

but also--i know other authors who DO outline and its helpful for them!! Find what works for you!!! I tried to outline once and the fic never left my drafts.

Where and when do you write?

To quote Shakira, "Whenever, Wherever"

I write a lot in parking lots on my phone. a lot of my tumblr drabbles are written on my phone and in a parking lot, ten reasons and tight ends were both started in parking lots.

otherwise on my desktop! in google docs! or if its smut, in a word doc! i write the best early in the morning or super late at night when i should be sleeping. I write when i can! Usually at my desk, or i'lll bring my laptop over and write while my kid is playing video games or we're watching something on tv. sometimes i write in the middle of my work day when i have a second in my office (this is also very quick and very on my phone). i just wrote smut at a nail salon. whenever, wherever.

Are you finishing all your stories before posting them?

yes. head to toe, top to bottom, signed sealed delivered. the stories are written before i post. this works better for me! i need to see the whole thing finished!! it also makes it very fun for me when readers are commenting and are like...in anguish, and im there like "tee hee, i know what happens next".

tumblr drabbles no. i pants those. fault lines, mercy, the pact (is part four written? nah but its started and i have no idea where its going to go!!!), the best worst thing to have ever happened-- PANTSTED. sat and written flat into the tumblr post machine. no outline, no plan, just feelings and vibes. (and yes this means that the end of fault lines was a pants decision and im very sorry it ruined everyone, whoops).

this again varies from author to author! most of my writer friends write as they go because they like to be align with the readers! or they work better chronologically and will just write and post and write and post, but again, this is something personal! do what works best for you!

Do you fact check things?

Lol sometimes? I probably should more often, tbh. I do a lot of geography fact checking because i couldn't map my way out of a paper bag, but otherwise, not...really. But also, my fics dont tend to have a lot of....information in them that needs a fact check. People are just falling in love. also, not to flex, but i have a big brain that stores a bunch of useless information and remembers a lot of things, so if i write something i usually believe myself (writing tight ends right now and putting my football knowledge to good use and there's been a few times I've been like "...hmmm" and referenced google and WE WERE RIGHT! so i mostly just trust my brain.)

Writing NMTW was also challenging because i had to reference SOURCE MATERIAL to see if there was a designated teacher for x subject, or when exactly school breaks were etc etc. but that said, i did not care about being accurate with full moons or course timestables or hogsmeade visits or anything like that. we...simply do not care. (this obviously does not apply to things that very much need fact checking such as if i were to write a medical procedure or something relating to disability or race/ethnicity/languages spoken; obviously do your homework for that.)

How long a time does it normally take you to finish a story?

Cop out-- it depends! Sometimes less than a week. (The pact is short, will be done by tomorrow most likely). I wrote ten reasons in four days. it took me 3 months to write an alleged wip though. it just....depends on my time and my schedule.

Have you ever regretted posting a story?

Sometimes! There was a moment when i was fresh on AO3 (pre-tumblr) where i got a few really nasty comments and it made me regret posting the story at all and made me regret joining AO3, and made me regret thinking my fics could be a thing or that my writing was worth sharing etc. I know I give FFTF a hard time because they're....out of pocket, but there are parts of that fic i really really like, and it seems to connect with a lot of people, so i can't have regrets about that.

i have deleted a few one shots off my AO3 though, because i decided they didn't need to be shared, but i wouldn't necessarily call that regret. just...re-evaluation.

Do you have a beta?

No. I do have one trusted person though who i send things to before i release them into the public, not as a beta but as.....a litmus test (to see how the fic reads but also for me and how i feel about sharing it in the first place; I've done it before with this person where they got something and then WEEKS later tumblr got it. Sometimes months.). I 10/10 recommend doing this. and i feel so so so so so so lucky that i found someone like that here and they tolerate my existence. but pre-tumblr, it was just me myself and i doing the thing. and also it took some time before i even trusted this person (did i mention im paranoid? and private?) to get my work because you can't take it back. and what if it didn't need to be shared? there are a few things this person has gotten that i havent and will never post. but like...im so fortunate to have that. you know?

I...am way too chaotic for a beta. and also have a very particular way i edit my stuff (because ND) and adding another person into the flow of that can get confusing. Too many cooks, you know?

Why do you write?

i saved this one for the end because my heart.

i think i've said before that like...a lot of my time as a child and a teenager and young adult in spaces was spent believing that i was a bad writer because neurodivergent and i don't understand mechanics of grammar or...words or...write in a way you're supposed to (outlines for example). and spent a lot of time giving my ideas to other people who i thought were GOOD writers.

but i...am a creative person. and sometime in 2019, i hit the biggest artist block of my life where i literally didn't draw or paint for a year. and picked up writing instead.

poetry, and then it evolved into romance, which i...turned into fic and here i am. and ultimately, i write because i like to. because its creative and it makes my brain happy when a sentence just hits, you know? because i believe in love and want to see more queer love stories and if i...can do the thing, i should, right?

i write because i...realized that i had stories in my head that needed places to go that i couldn't express visually through my artwork. also, ive mentioned it here before, that i am...young and have experienced an absurd amount of death and loss in my life (personally and professionally). and...well, i write a lot of fics about grief for that reason. i don't think i could ever run out of words for this (and have also published ACTUALLY on grief, both creatively and academically), and sometimes i write to like...sit with those feelings for a bit.

i...also think i write because i am a soft human in a very hard world in a hard career path who experiences things deeply and these things and observations need places to go. i cant carry them around all day, that's too heavy and my hands aren't big enough.

so i make art. and i dance. and i play music.

and i write.

i hope any of this is helpful. and if you get the courage to come off anon, i am more than happy to talk with you in DMS about processes or answer any more questions <3

[susantbraithwaite]

Author Journal 30th January - 5th February 2023

Join me on my writing journey as I reflect on last week's progress, share my goals for the coming week, and overcome challenges. Let's inspire each other to achieve our writing milestones! #writingprogress #fictionwriting #nonfictionwriting

Hiya 👋 Last week was one of those weeks where I felt like I wasn’t making any real progress. I was getting work done, but it felt like wading through porridge that’s been left on the side for so long that you could set fence posts in it. Have you ever had those weeks? I seem to get them a lot. Anyway, last week I added my non-fiction writing goals into the mix. That could be what made things…

[authormarieasano]

Camp NaNoWriMo: Week 2

A new post is up where I give a progress update on week two of Camp NaNoWriMo. 

Be sure to check it out 🌸: https://authormarieasano.com/2021/07/16/camp-nanowrimo-week-2 

[katzenente]

Inspired✨ . #writingcommunity #writing #writingprogress #writingtime #writer #author https://www.instagram.com/p/B6yMTPsCTPO/?igshid=1h7k951rxjnph

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Reworking an old story: observations

I’m currently reworking a story that I began in 2016, but never finished. Only today, while going for a walk, did I solidify the real plot problem and vehicles for character development therein. 

On Thursday, I read through the existing chapters and wrote 2 717 words by hand (almost 8 A4 pages) of analysis. Beforehand, I believed that while the story required work, I might be able to keep some of this existing work. In fact, I preferred to do so, as I was attached to the chapters (particularly chapters 1, 4, and 5). 

But on rereading, I found all kinds of problems. The main one was that despite having set up a protagonist in the first chapter, she did nothing. From my old plans (sadly, I deleted all the story notes and plot timeline!!), I had wanted her to act in Chapter 6. But that action only involved a conversation and observation. 

I have since learned that characters must act, not just think. But I think that this problem comes as a reflection of my own life, where I often struggle to act as opposed to overthinking a situation. Only by pushing myself to achieve goals in small time-frames (such as 15 minutes), as well as other methodologies, have I broken through this barrier. 

In addition to this, I had implausible situations. This came from the fact that I had an entirely different plan back in 2016, but one which clashed with the end of the television series episode I was shadowing. So, after having established the protagonist in Chapter 1, I switched to another POV which unleashed a chain of (coincidental events) that affected the protagonist. And for coincidental events, I needed coincidental characters. 

This meant that Chapters 2-5 were unusable, despite my presumptions. That basically leaves Chapter 1 stranded, though I can certainly recycle material from any one of these chapters. I am unhappy with Chapter 1, because the protagonist’s goals were clearly stated and then muddied (and even those goals didn’t involve much forward action). 

My story planning practices back in 2016 were shambolic. Had I not foolishly deleted all the notes I made, along with the timeline and original drafts, then I could have pieced something together from the ashes. The one benefit I can see from having burned all the bridges behind me (thankfully, I have fragments of handwritten notes) is that I can start afresh!

Because I had no clear end goal, and only a vague summary from the beginning, I was never going to finish this story. I was at least developing to the point where I could plot in advance (using a plot timeline, and then highlighting each completed event green) and write detailed character notes (which I now miss!). Since reading more on writing technique in the following years, I now know better than to plunge into the unknown without a clear plan. 

So I have prevented myself from writing anything on this story until I am sure about the goal (which was worked out this morning on a walk), and have done all the preliminary writing for it. This includes detailed character notes, some modest research on medieval warfare and medicine, as well as a completed Table of Contents. From then, I can complete the entire draft in advance, before rewriting, editing, and publishing chapters for review. 

When I do get around to the chapter stage, I will use the same method I have been using to review existing chapters and the relevant episode: numbered notes. That way, I can return to the pages I wrote and look up some particular issue. I am also relieved that these are written by hand, therefore the worst fate they can suffer is stagnating inside my bag, not being deleted online and lost forever!

I find that making notes on the chapter for developmental editing is an excellent way of thinking through and reacting to what I have written, as well as spotting problems in the draft. I wish that I had been more rigorous with my work back in 2016, as well as with my other unfinished (and nearly abandoned) work. Furthermore, I am more strict with counting the number of words written (a real pain when writing by hand) and the time spent on each piece of writing. That gives me an idea of how much time I typically spend writing in a day, which I then log into my spreadsheet. 

Beforehand, I used to envisage hours and hours of uninterrupted writing time. Reality didn’t cooperate with that vision. Often, I could spend hours and hours writing, but often at the expense of important tasks, which piled up. Eventually, I became so exhausted that I would crash and burn. 

Or, I would get busy and then put writing on the backburner. The longer I spend away from writing, the harder I find it to get back in. This applies particularly to fiction, where I become paranoid that my technique has slipped and so I need to read more craft books and fiction (which I do need to do, but that is a lifelong habit, not just one to be used while drafting). 

(And I have to read craft books on nonfiction, as well!).

So I have a better methodology and technique to finish this story, as well as being more consistent with writing by hand (one of my favourite things to do, minus counting words by hand and the pain afterwards). I love making notes, as I feel it better engages my mind with what I am reading and watching. 

This time around, I also will be illustrating my stories. I have longed to do this for years, but stopped short of putting a proper plan into place so that I could achieve this goal. My Art Progress posts now chart my forays into sketching, something which definitely will accompany my fiction and nonfiction works. I love the concentration required for sketching, and the requirement to slow down and think about what I am doing. 

I have often lived in distraction and rushed to get things done. Now I have to do the exact opposite: concentrate on a task, which makes it easier (and quicker!) to get things done. 

While I berate myself daily for having thrown away a good chunk of notes and the plot timeline, I am grateful that I have handwritten fragments. I like the technique of using a numbered timeline, and I will also be using an excellent note-taking method I learned today to keep track of miscellaneous (and in this case, intentional) thoughts. I also find writing on plain paper incredibly liberating, because I don’t have to write in a linear fashion (although I mostly do). 

I will have more updates as the story grows. 

[magellanicpenguin]

whumptober progress

9/29 - Just two more days to October (its like 4:30 am atm). Planned to have a lot more prepared, but I keep writing longer and longer for the prompts. I started and finished prompt no. 7 tonight, Isolation. Honestly, more of a mystery than a whump, with some pretty minor actual isolation. I’ll def have to fix that. It’s 12 pages (~4k), but those last two were written with me pretty dead so they sus af atm

Editing notes: emotional consistency, rhetorical color/description stuff, the fight scene maybe, more of the isolation stuff which is basically the final twist. consider having the twist and then switching pov... fuck why do I see 12 more pages in my future? 

Tomorrow, I start no.8, stab wound... I think I’ll go straight forward for that. Y’kno, classic, oh tis but a scratch...... idk what fandom tho

[hrfiction]

twenty-seven pages

Had some down time today and started working on the next chapter of my fanfic. The synopsis was already written from chapters ago, so I just started fleshing everything out starting with the most important scene first. Now we write the others, then onto proofreading. There is so much going on with each of the characters now it’s getting harder to decide which one to start with first. Before anyone asks though, Yes there is finally some action between Chloe and Lucifer. It’s only going to get smuttier from here so ... don’t look me in the eye. I feel great shame for what I have written.

[scriptwriters-network]

SWN Programs – Have you viewed our script submission programs? The Hollywood Outreach Program (HOP), Television Outreach Program (TOP) and our High Concept Screenplay Program (HCSP). We help improve your craft while providing positive, constructive feedback.  

Find out more here.

[theungrumpablegrinch]

Bahhh.

[spencerrussellsmith]

Productivity definitely dropped a bit in the middle of the year, but I did edit a novel, publish a short story and a novel, whip up and publish a novella at the last minute, get married, and then finished REALLY strong with my best writing month EVER in August. I think I wrote more in that month than I’d written in the first few YEARS of writing. #2022recap #wordcount #writingprogress #bookstagram #spreadsheets #spencerrussellsmithauthor #spencerrussellsmith https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm5dJXYLVme/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[clarislam]

March 2024 Writing Update

I'm a short story contest semifinalist, drafted a whole new book, and Smashwords' Read An Ebook week returns! Find out more in today's March 2024 #writingprogress blog post! #writingupdate #author #poet #update

Happy March, everyone! I hope everyone’s March is just as good as February, or even better! Last month was incredibly productive writing-wise, and I’m happy to go into details later in this post. Since I have a lot to cover, I’ll just dive right into it now! I’m a Semi-Finalist in the Iridescence Awards! I’m so happy to announce that I’m a semifinalist in the Iridescence Awards! The Iridescence…