Happy Lunar New Year!

Time keeps slipping away from me again, and I keep thinking of things I want to post about, but when I finally sit get to down and open DW, I've forgotten all about it.

But I remembered the New Year, at least! *g*

I expect you've all seen this?

Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
Discord will soon require age verification to access adult content

Just, UGH.

Thank you all for being here in January! And good luck for February over at sakanawords!

Tally

( Days 1-30 )

Day 31: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

How have we already reached the end of the month?! Final check-in for January today! Tomorrow I'll post the final tally, and WED will continue over at sakanawords. :D

Today's writing

A lot of writing - my deadline is in about 7 hours hours, and I've filled in all the gaps in my story by now, but there are still a few things I want to add before I post later tonight. *flails*

Tally

( Days 1-25 )

Day 26: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 27: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 28: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, chanter1944, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme
carenejeans,
Day 29: badly_knitted, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 30: badly_knitted, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula@sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 31: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Rushing towards the deadline ...

Today's writing

I have once again reached the "should I just scrap all of this and start over?" point. I tell myself to just keep writing for now; I can still start over and write a whole new story after the deadline. For now, I need to finish this draft so I can post it.

So I keep writing. For now.

Tally

( Days 1-25 )

Day 26: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 27: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 28: badly_knitted, brithistorian, china_shop, chanter1944, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 29: badly_knitted, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 30: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Turns out I do have a cold! But my next exchange deadline is on Saturday.

Today's writing

Writing! Wrangling! All of that. I'll get there ...

Tally

( Days 1-25 )

Day 26: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 27: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 28: badly_knitted, brithistorian, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 29: trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

1. Many thanks to sakana17 for offering to host WED in February! We'll continue next month over at sakanawords. :D


2. This morning I had the plumber in to have my my gas boiler serviced and the flue replaced. "Oh no, you don't need to remove the stuff under it, it'll be fine," they said. - Never mind the stuff directly under the boiler, the entire room ended up covered in dirt.


3. Mystery of the day: am I developing a cold, or did I just breathe in too much dust/soot? /o\

Today's writing

More exchange fic wrangling.

Tally

( Days 1-25 )

Day 26: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 27: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 28: china_shop, trobadora, ysilme

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

We're nearing the end of the month, and I don't believe we have a host for February yet. Who's up for hosting?

Today's writing

Mostly structural work on an exchange fic, trying to wrangle it into a viable shape.

Tally

( Days 1-25 )

Day 26: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 27: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Hi! Someone please tell me where I can buy some extra hours for my days ...

I'm a bit behind on a few things, and nothing is going very quickly, but I'm catching up! This week will be busy both at work and otherwise, but my schedule should be regular again overall, and check-in posts should go up at the usual time.

(I also haven't done this week's Guardian rewatch yet, but soon, I hope!)

Yesterday's and today's writing

Some much too slow writing yesterday; an alibi paragraph for today. Faster and more substantial writing tomorrow, I hope, because the next deadline is close ...

Tally

( Days 1-20 )

Day 21: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 22: badly_knitted, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora

Day 23: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 24: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 25: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora

Day 26: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Sorry for lateness; will reply to comments and update the tally tomorrow!

*rushes in* Where did the day go?!

Today's writing

Still treading water. *sighs*

Tally

( Days 1-20 )

Day 21: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 22: badly_knitted, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora

Day 23: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 24: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Good news: not as tired today!

Bad news: extra stress at work and otherwise!

Today's writing

I did manage to write a few paragraphs, but it feels like I'm just treading water right now. I really need to make some progress over the weekend; the next deadline is fast approaching ...

Tally

( Days 1-20 )

Day 21: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 22: badly_knitted, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 23: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

I'm incredibly tired again today for no discernible reason. *sighs*

Today's writing

Still slowly working on things. Still not gaining any momentum, but haven't thrown in the towel either, so there's that?

Tally

( Days 1-20 )

Day 21: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 22: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

61% of respondents find shorter fic easier to write than longer! And the majority of respondents mostly write stories between 1 and 10k words. Interestingly, the 10-50k range seems to be the rarest!

For me, I find longer fic easier because I can much more easily come up with ideas for longer stories than shorter. Self-contained small things? I wish I could write them more often! But most story ideas I have want to be longer, alas.

I used to write more shorter fic, but I've mostly lost the knack, possibly because my current fandoms lend themselves to that less? Or it may be me that's changed. *g*

Today's writing

So far I'm failing at gaining any kind of writing momentum this month, but I'm still working on things. A little progress.

Tally

( Days 1-15 )

Day 16: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 17: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 18: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, cornerofmadness, luzula, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 19: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 20: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 21: alightbuthappypen, trobadora, ysilme

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

What I did during my lunch break: assemble Ikea shelves \o/
What I didn't do during my lunch break: write /o\

(And then the entire afternoon was non-stop meetings until smoke came out of my ears.)

Today's writing

A little more than an alibi sentence, but not much more.

WED Question of the Day



Tally

( Days 1-15 )

Day 16: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 17: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 18: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, cornerofmadness, luzula, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 19: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 20: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

In the first draft poll, 30% of respondents usually produce a first draft that's very close to the final draft, and no one usually produces first drafts that barely bear resemblance to the final draft. And most respondents (57%) at least sometimes produce a first draft very close to the final draft. *g*

For the "usual" question, slightly more people have too-wordse first drafts (25%, compared to 20% for too sparse), whereas in the "sometimes" question, too sparse is more common (38%) than too words (23%).

(70% of respondents believe that tickyboxes know no such thing as overkill, btw!)

As for me, it differs wildly - I used to produce very clean first drafts that didn't get changed much during editing/betaing, but for the last several years now it's been much more inconsistent. The more I struggle with either writing or finding time/energy to write, the worse my first drafts get - because sometimes I just have to get something, anything, down first, or I won't get anywhere at all. But it's pretty frustrating, so I want to get back to how I used to write, and I need to figure out how to do that with less time and energy than I used to have ...

One thing's remained the same, though: my first drafts are generally too sparse, which is why they always grow - sometimes considerably - during editing as I flesh them out and add in all the things that I had in my head but didn't put in the actual text. *g*

Today's writing

Again not as much as I'd like. I need to actually sit down and finish something, but it's hard to find the energy.

WED Question of the Day

Today I don't have a poll, but instead a request for advice: when you're low on energy, do you have any strategies that make it easier to write? Or to get started writing, at least? Because I often find myself just staring blankly at a page for way too long until I somehow get going, and I'd really rather not. *g* When I have more energy, I can usually get there much more easily, which is really unfair. :p

(I want to be writing! I feel better once I actually get started writing! But getting there is such a pain on some days. *grumbles*)

Tally

( Days 1-15 )

Day 16: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 17: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 18: badly_knitted, chanter1944, cornerofmadness, luzula, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 19: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Rushed post again - time keeps getting away from me!

Today's writing

Not as much progress as I'd have liked ... see above re: time. *sighs*

Tally

( Days 1-15 )

Day 16: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 17: alightbuthappypen, badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, trobadora, ysilme

Day 18: trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

fandomtrees reveals have happened! I received two excellent sets of cooking/food icons from holyscream and peasina and a Zhubai ficlet from facethestrange. :D

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to finish things myself ...

Today's writing

I wrote a little this afternoon (new, much better beginning for one of the fics), then had a vertigo attack and had to take a break. (Seriously, what's wrong with this week?! I would like a refund!) Planning to write a little more later today, and tomorrow hopefully I'll actually finish something ...

WED Question of the Day

In honour of my icon:



Tally

( Days 1-15 )

Day 16: badly_knitted, brithistorian, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 17: trobadora, ysilme

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

Running late again. Normal services should resume tomorrow!

Today's writing

More fandomtrees work.

Tally

( Days 1-10 )

Day 11: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, daegaer, goddess47, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 12: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, shadaras, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 13: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme

Day 14: badly_knitted, brithistorian, carenejeans, chanter1944, china_shop, cornerofmadness, goddess47, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 15: badly_knitted, brithistorian, china_shop, cornerofmadness, luzula, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, trobadora

Day 16: china_shop, trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

I had a bad day for RL reasons I don't want to get into, so I just watched the pilot of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to distract myself before bed.

Anyone else seen it yet? I really liked it! It's very Trek. :D

(And I can't remember anyone's names yet, but Holly Hunter's character is my favourite already.)