Haven

Hi! This is my (queenitsy's) writing journal. If you're looking for anyting about me, my life in general, or even more generalized fannish squeeing, that's where you want to be.

What this place does have is a lot of talk about writing in general, a good deal of which is pretentious and even more of which is self-indulgent. I talk about my own original projects, as I develop and write them. Most of the talk about and all of the snippets of original stuff is friendslocked to protect the first publication rights, but I will friend back anyone who friends this journal.

There's also a fair amount of fic and discussion of writing it, which is usually (but not always) less pretentious. I write mostly in the Newsies fandom, but not entirely; and mostly, but again not entirely, slash. Fic list, as well as some basics on original stuff, below the cut.

So I failed this week. Well, I was successful at screwing word count -- I did not write anything -- but I failed at finishing the read-through of my novel. I'm close to the end, but not there yet. Alas.

I did edit and post that Splinktrack smut, though. And made lots and lots of little updates around the Refuge/Nobody Told the Horse. So...there's that?

Fail.

Let's see.

-Refuge birthday fic: ~ 2,000 words
-Splinktrack smut: ~4,000 words
-Edited: 1.5 chapters

So... good on the word count, not so good on editing. But hopefully after the Refuge birthday stuff is completed Tuesday, I'll get some focus back on that. So that'll be my goal for next week: finish the Refuge stuff, screw word production, and finish this readthrough of the novel. (I'm about two and a half chapters from being done.)

( excerpt. adult content. )

You know, I'm pretty sure there was a time when my writing brainpower was used for plotting actual fics and not just mentally choreographing threesomes.

...

I should probably write this while I'm still inspired.

Weekly word count time!

Mostly random projects: 1,200
Review for AV: 1,100
PLUS
Editing: A couple chapters marked up

I didn't get as much done editing-wise as I would have liked, or writing-wise, frankly, but it wasn't a total bust. I'm making headway. Goals for next week are the same. Hooray.

But have an excerpt. ( Blink/Mush phonecall, EYDW!Universe (unrelated to current arch) )

Well. I barely wrote enough to require counting this week. Less than a thousand words total (though they were at least fun, smutty words!). HOWEVER. I made it through about half of my former nanonovel with red pen in hand! I'm discovering a lot of issues with it just by paying attention, but this is good, because just about all of them are fixable -- and as I'm thinking of how to fix them, other bits and pieces occur to me, like things that will heighten the tension and make the protagonist's arch make more sense. I'm even starting to get an inkling of how the darned thing ends, which is good seeing as how I just never wrote that part. (Oops.)

But the upshot is, even with the low word count, I do NOT feel unproductive! Which is what I was talking about a couple months ago now as one of my issues with editing. So huzzah! I know, every time I go through one of these phases, I get that super-jazzed this could totally be a salable novel! feeling, but seriously! This could totally be a salable novel!

Goals for next week:
-Continue the red penning
-Write something for the Refuge Birthday Extravaganza
-Work on the next chapter of G&D

Let's see what we've got.

G&D: 2,000
Cut from G&D: 800
Complete random thing: 300
Total (I didn't even need a calculate for it): 3,100

Bah. Not so good. I didn't even finish the G&D chapter; it's not working as I'd wanted it to, and now I'm distracted by a shinier object.

Goals for next week:

-Continue rereading, marking up, and working out pieces of the novel temporarily dubbed Stormcorps (aka Nano2007)
-Ideally, figure out how that damn thing ends
-Also G&D

So, as I was talking about a few weeks ago, possibly this week will be more devoted to editing than anything else, and I will strive to remember that that is also productive and important.

Gaining momentum!

G&D (chapter 18, compete!): 2,300
G&D (chapter 19, in progress): 1,300
EYDW: 600
Active Voice review: 900
Nerd blog: 1,400
TOTAL: 6,500

So, overall...getting there! Certainly more than I've managed in awhile. Most of it wasn't even while I was home sick, since I spent most of that time lying on the couch coughing.

Goals for next week:
Finish G&D chapter 19
Work on the stupid EYDW scene (Seriously, when I finish the Reunion arch, I'm just going to post ridiculous fluff for awhile, chronological order be damned. Nothing fluffy happens for ages...)

Slightly better, though not good, this week.

EYDW!universe: ~3,500

And that's it. Still better than last week. (I'm finally nearing the end of this arch. I think once I'm done posting it, I'll post something ridiculous and happy like... I don't know, porn or something.)

Goals for next week
-Work on/finish this snippet
-Actually make myself write the next G&D chapter

So we're watching Empire, because...so god! And the fact that I think the exchange between Han and Leia at the beginning ("What, afraid I'd leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?" "I"d sooner kiss a wookie!" "I can arrange that! He needs a good kiss!") is the most romantic dialogue ever written says a lot about why I write the kinds of relationships I do. By which I mean kind. Because there's really only the one.

OTP 4evah.

I wrote less than a thousand words this week, and accomplished pretty much nothing in general. No idea what happened. Epic fail, yo.

Yeah, I sucked this week.

Gents & Dames: 2,700
A Walk Home One Night: 1,100
Total: 3,800

And there was no good reason why I didn't write more. Huh. Oh, well, I guess it happens...?

The oddest part home is that the referenced ficlet above is Newsies het. (Um, here.) I go through phases. Odd.

Next week, I should at least be able to get out the next G&D chapter. Which is exciting, since it's the climax! Specifically of the Jack/David story line. Angry kissing may be involved.

Mediocre word count again.

-Tart: 1,600 words
-G&D: 3,400
Total: 5,000

However, I did get my most important goal -- finishing the Tart chapter -- done, so that's something. And the chapter of G&D is completed and up, which is a good feeling. So... hm. No outlining work this week, though. Alas.

Goals for next week: the next chapter of G&D, and some progress on the outline. EYDW and/or Ortegaverse as time/inspiration allows.

( Tart excerpt )

Not my most productive week:

EYDW: 5,300
Gents & Dames: 500
Total: 5,800

I mean, it's not a bad output, I guess I'm just used to having a more scattered variety. Goal-wise, I failed big time at Tart. I'm still not done with this section of EYDW (it just won't die). I did work some on my outline for the Underground, but it didn't really progress much. However, I did get that chapter of G&D up and posted, so that's something, I guess. I was also productive for other things -- I'm putting together a professional portfolio website, and I finally got some major work done on that. I mean, there's miles to go before it's done, but I finally got a workable design and one major chunk completed.

Goals for next week:
-Tart. This has been giving me fits, but getting it done is important to me, so I will make it my priority.
-EYDW as my fun-and-easy project (ie, what I turn to when Tart isn't coming at all)
-G&D and/or Ortegaverse. I'm nearing the end of G&D (the last few chapters shouldn't even very long), and I don't want Ortegaverse to end up in my (massive and getting massive-ier) abandoned fic folder.
-Outlining. If I'm inspired, I wouldn't mind starting the Underground rewrite...

I was all set to complain about how unproductive I was this week, until I actually totaled up what I did:

Ortegaverse: 800
Tart: 1,300
EYDW: 5,700
Gents & Dames: 3,200
Total: 11,000

And on top of that, I have five pages of random notes and semi-outlined bits for the Underground.

Say WHAT?

Actually, it's worth noting that, while I don't revise most of my actual writing as I go, I occasionally get moody with it and will just delete bits that I feel aren't working (anything from a few paragraphs to a few pages). But if it's more than a couple hundred words, I generally save it in an outtakes file (I am a verbal packrat). So at least a thousand of those words were deleted, but hell, I still WROTE them.

Dude. Who knew? I really had no idea until I actually looked at things.

Goals for next week:
-More Tart. (That was one of the ones I cut half of after I wrote it, ick.)
-Finish the freaking EYDW segment! It has gotten totally out of control.
-I'd like to get the chapter of G&D I started on a whim into shape where I can actually post it -- I wrote the whole thing today (I was inspired after watching the movie last night), but it's not...good. Heh.
-More outline! I'd like to get going on the, uh...story. You know.
-Ortegaverse, if I get around to it.

Let's see what I got. I failed to hit any of my goals, really, but:

Ortegaverse: 800
EYDW: 2,500
Active Voice: 2,300
Total: 5,600

Okay. Getting there, a little at a time... I feel like I should maybe re-evaluate my goals, but then again, 10,00 is supposed to be a stretch, encouraging me to write more than my usual. So hmm.

That said, the reason I'm not worried about my sad count for this week is that yesterday, I had a pretty excellent breakthrough with the Underground. Nothing like, you know, writing it or even outlining it, but a very clear idea of some of the issues it had and how to fix them. By completely reworking my premise into something WAY MORE AWESOME that also includes the original vision (and actually, in some ways, brings it out better than my first draft did). I've got a pretty good idea of what the reworked plot will be, too, which is nice. Not enough to write a real outline yet, but it's on the brain and that is good news.

Goals for next week:
-Tart, for real this time
-progress planning either Underground or Dear Mom
-Ortegaverse or EYDW

(Because some of that is plotting, I'll worry less about the words and more about getting stuff done, I think. Maybe. We'll see.)

( EYDW!universe excerpt )

We just got my kitty a new laser pointer and cat nip. She's hilarious, y'all. Anyway. Writing meme!

( 20 questions )

Yesterday, I was talking with harmonyangel and poisonivory about writing. This is not exactly a huge surprise. Jess made a point that almost made me double-take, though. I am a very determined writer, in that I can make myself write and be productive pretty much no matter what. (I don't always, but I can, and often do). I don't, however, apply that same skill to editing. Which is where my big block is: I have a couple of manuscripts shoved in drawers over here, but none of them are good enough to submit to anything. And none of them are getting any better, because I just ignore them and pretend they don't exist.

( more )

Current project list, ( fannish and original )

I think that's it. Uh... anyone want to teach me how to edit a novel? 'Cause I got nothin'.

Hey, my least productive week so far this year... (I figured. What time I didn't spend at work, I spent recovering from work. A process that requires shutting off my brain, generally, so no real writing got done...)

Review for Active Voice: ~700
EYDW!universe: ~1,500
Ortegaverse: ~1,800
Total: ~4,000

Blehhh. This week should also be busy, but I'm hoping to get back on track a bit. Let's see, goals...

1) Start the new Tart chapter;
2) Finish this EYDW!universe snippet;
3) Some work on Ortegaverse.

I feel like I'm floudering with Ortegaverse lately; I've gotten the boys through the last bit I was really excited about (the end of part two) and now am floundering around trying to get them out of the drama I created. I have a pretty good idea how plot number one ends; it's number two that is lacking resolution. Sigh. Hopefully it'll work itself out as I go.

( Long-ish snippet. Lest you thought the Ortegaverse was only fluff and wackiness... )

As predicted, I failed miserably this week. I actually wrote more than I thought, but whatevs.

Ortegaverse: ~4,000
Active Voice entry: ~700
EYDW Universe: ~400
Total: 5,100

Yeaaaaaaah. I'm not expecting myself to make it this coming week, either, as work will be significantly crazier. I should finish part two of the Ortegaverse, though; I'm only a few pages away from that. (I think it's going to be three parts total, but they're pretty long parts. By which I mean part two is already more than 12,000 words. Heh.

( excerpt )