three cheers for literacy

Stuck about what to post about now that snowflake_challenge is over? Have a look at the Stuff I Love: Top Ten Edition challenge for February that dreamersdare cooked up! :D

The few notes I took during my not-really-pacing-check aren't taking as long as the previous chunky edits to integrate (THANK GOD), which means I'm also speed-running through my Having Feelings About The Manuscript cycle... *sigh* I was taking a few notes for a post as I went (seeing how much better it is than before! happy feelings!) but I've already moved on from happy to things to be sad/disappointed about.

Audience: "Wow, you're about 70% into the manuscript and thinking it's bad? Is this where we're supposed to act surprised???"

Like, it does help to know that I literally go through this cycle every time whether writing or editing, but the feelings are still being felt and kind of suck regardless T_T

Here's what the voice at the back of my mind says:

You're enjoying the story because you can see that it's better "than before" but that doesn't mean it's good. It'll probably still look like baby's crappy first draft to someone coming in fresh. You've also had over 2 years to get used to the worst flaws, the ones that can't be fixed because they are load-bearing in the story.

Anyway!

As always the first couple of days were a bit rough while I adjusted to a new way of doing things. I've landed on: I take the written down squiggled notes I made and add them as comments to my Scrivener file (unless they're super straightforward/require 0 thinking, then I just make the change). Then I go through these comments scene by scene, deleting them as I integrate the feedback. In my BuJo I have many many little boxes for every scene that I can tick when I'm done :D Each chapter is about 4-6 scenes so it helps with giving a sense of progress and make the process feel a bit less overwhelming. I do love my ticky boxes.

Vaguely considering adding chapter titles because a few chapters would really benefit, but some others are more awkward and I don't know that I really want to have to find 10+ more titles /o\

I'm still writing ficlets here and there as a pressure valve from editing :D However, there's a mindset thing I'm noticing that I don't like at all:

Me about to write fic: "This should be FUN! If it's not FUN, then you failed!! :D"
Me about to write origfic: "This should be GOOD! If it's not GOOD, then you failed!! D:"

I don't like that. It should all be fun, like, I should always slip into writing mode with a lighter spirit. I don't want my own worlds to feel like a chore, full of associated pressure. So, something I'll definitely want to address, though I'm not too sure how yet.

Community Thursday challenge: every Thursday, try to make an effort to engage with a community on Dreamwidth, whether that's posting, commenting, promoting, etc.

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Over the last week...

Posted and commented on bnha_fans.

Commented on common_nature.

Commented a fill on threesentenceficathon. Omg it's so intimidating to do the first time, even when you were EXPLICITLY BAITED XD Though that probably does help a bit with the nerves :D Obviously, K-9 Made Me Do It.

Posted and commented on getyourwordsout.

Promoted fanifesto, basically the squee community for canon etc promo :D

As expected the pacing check didn't really do anything as a pacing check lolsob. The new bits were super fun and the old bits kinda felt draggy. However I have Thoughts regardless! Also I waited to have a 4h block of time to read but tat wasn't enough orz I think it took over a little 5h to reread overall, for 56k words - just noting this down as a reminder for my future self.

I wanted to just "jot down a few notes" but I'm gonna have to use headers again. Whoops. This got long.

Waiting to have a lot of time to do writerly stuff = no

Also: as much as doing a full reread at once appeals, postponing over and over until such a magical block of time manifests isn't reasonable. This is kinda funny to relearn because this used to be a source for writing block for me back in my early writing days (wayyy back). I had to wait until I had a Big Chunk Of Free Time for focus reasons. Things have gotten a lot happier for me since I learnt how to write in 30 minutes (or sometimes 15 minutes!) blocks, and also that doesn't preclude the occasional delightful Big Chunk Of Writerly Time from happening either.

Full reread good for some things, even if not for pacing exactly

Otherwise, the full reread was good to see how the changes hold together. While a rewritten scene toward the end does need a bit more air, the first half where I did the bulk of the work imo flow super well. While I can see the seams where I attached the old to the new, it's mostly because I remember the old version(s). I'm just really really enjoying what the story is turning into. I was a bit worried because when reworking stuff, you can also see what it no longer is and no longer says, but whatever it is now, it sure is something I like :D The chapter that many beta-readers said felt too long, and which is now nearly twice as long, didn't drag at all for me. It's hard to tell if it's because I care too much already about these characters, or because a lot of was rewritten and therefore falsely feels more fresh to my brain, but that's what valiant beta-readers will help me find out soon enough :D

How many drafts is enough drafts?

( writing writing editing blah blah happy :D )

What next?

( Plans! Rough plans! Bad plans! Compels me though )

Wrote most of this during the blergh days last week. I started this Hugging series while touch-starved during the covid lockdowns, but there's something grounding about focusing on the senses like these fics usually do. It helps.

Obviously a sense of grounding also adds to the angst considering Hawks can fly and what Dabi does to his wings later in canon, but! The baked-in angst is part of their charm and appeal ;)

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Grounding | Boku no Hero Academia | Dabi/Hawks | 500 words | rated T
Part of the Hugging series

Summary: The clock on their time together may be rushing towards its last few ticks, but that doesn't mean they don't get to make every moment count.

Read it on Dreamwidth on AO3.

Got that idea in mind when we saw Momijikawa cooking in chapter 194 a few weeks ago; better get it out before canon manages some kind of version of it XD

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open invitation | Wind Breaker | Sakura & Momijikawa | 615 words

Summary: Momijikawa cooks for Sakura.

Read it on Dreamwidth or AO3.

Reached a couple of milestones yesterday, and I'm mentally basically ready to shift back into working on my original projects. Just trying to remember where I'm at with everything. Also cool milestone alert!

Milestone alert: GYWO monthly goal for January, reached! ;)

With my pledge, I should write 12.5k words a month, and now I'll have reached it at least once this year!! It feels really good to start the year being on track. As much as Time Is A Construct, I think I should be careful not to set myself up for big editing projects in January in the future, in general.

I'm so surprised that over 5k of that was for a Spring Thunder fic. Like. I do write freely for tiny fandoms! But usually it's more like coughing out a vignette or a missing scene, or a tiny fix-it to deal with canon stress. Not a full hurt/comfort rescue mission. In the end though, I wrote it for the same reasons I wrote those shorter vignettes in the past: it feels good :D It feels right. It was fun. AND I get to reread and enjoy something tailored to my id in the future :D I was delighted with myself by the end of the first draft, hopefully that'll hold when I return to it for edits :D

Time-sensitive fics

I'll likely just let most of the unposted stuff I wrote rest for a while. Couple of exceptions I have in mind:

• Well I do need to proofread and post my Candy Hearts assignment. That would be good to do on time XD
• For my last 600 words to reach the milestone yesterday, I wrote something for Wind Breaker that will probably be invalidated by a new manga chapter next week. I'd like to clean that up and post it so there's a chance it can be enjoyed as-is for a few days before becoming canon divergent XD
• Not really time-sensitive, but I want to post a couple of BNHA fics to get them out of my mind. One was written a couple of years ago for a collaborative project that never quite completed its landing and I think it's long enough. I need to free my mind of it before I forget it even exists.

Original stuff

( Cursed Witch pacing check )

( Soul Thief edit preps Take Two )

This was supposed to help me figure out what to do this morning, but it didn't really help in the end! Maybe I'll see if there's a fic in an editable state. I know there's a couple of finished drafts in there, but for some of those I wanted to do a canon review first... Gah!! So many fun things to do, so little time :D