Bears!

[dbskyler]

So, apparently hosting a ficathon with a late-November deadline was not the best way to get going on my Yuletide writing. I was way too caught up in it, and way too caught up in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary, to make any significant progress on Yuletide writing. I have finally come back to it, though, and I'm slowly making progress. I've been using WrittenKitten, and it's been really helpful, especially since I haven't passed the magic 1,000-word mark yet. Right now I have 5 kittens to go! Well, 5 kittens, plus however many additional kittens it takes me to actually finish the fic. Right now I don't know how many that will be; I'll have to wait and see where I am once I've gotten a few more kittens.

I feel badly because the last time I did Yuletide, my fic was finished early, and it was well over the word limit, and this time it looks like it's going to be down to the wire in terms of both time and words. Although I guess neither of those things ultimately matters in the end. My recipient won't get to read the fic any earlier if it's turned in before the deadline, and I really do think that fic length is unrelated to fic quality. I once recced a fic on Calufrax that had only 52 words. I wonder if I hold the record for reccer of the shortest fic?

Anyway, this Yuletide fic of mine does have to be longer than it currently is, but instead of just writing it, I feel like I have to anxiously watch the word count go up until I've at least reached 1,000. But after that, I will hopefully be able to relax and just write. And, at least there's a website that will count up the words for me, and give me kittens along the way.

Also, it's fic_rush this weekend! Hurrah!

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, good luck! The DW stuff was very distracting, I have to agree. :-)

I'm over 2000 words, but I'm not done yet, or all that enthusiastic and it's slow... *sigh* Still... *plods on*

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

At least you're well over the word minimum! I still have several kittens to go.

Sorry to hear that you're not enthusiastic about the writing right now. Hopefully fic_rush will help!

[thisbluespirit]

I finished my typed up draft yesterday! I think I finally felt a little less tired, so it got easier. Now I just need to edit it and check it makes sense and get it beta-ed. But it is (just about) actual fic, so... yay! Good luck with yours!

*wards off any stray bears*

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Congrats!

I'm now at 919 words, so I have a lot more confidence that I will actually get to 1000. Only one kitten to go!

[thisbluespirit]

Hurrah! I'm sure you can tackle one more kitten! :-)

[paranoidangel]

I found the same thing with the DW stuff - I've written loads during the Yuletide writing time, it's just not been Yuletide.

I like WrittenKitten - I'd never come across it before. But the idea of getting a reward of a kitten picture every so many words would definitely entice me to write more.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I managed four fics in about a month, which is crazy productive for me, but did nothing on Yuletide. And for some reason, my Yuletide recipient did not ask for "Day of the Doctor" fic for Yuletide. Rats.

clocketpatch recently reminded me about WrittenKitten, and I'm so glad she did. You can even customize it to provide you with other types of pictures -- Doctor Who, for instance -- but I stick with the kittens. They're incredibly motivating.

[eve11]

Oh, I forgot about WrittenKitten! I am trying to get ramped up on my WIP-o-Doom again; I hate being stuck and I hate hating everything I try to write on it. Blech.

I did quite enjoy the ficathon though! I am not really a small-fandom kind of person so I've never done Yuletide before. But, don't worry about the word count; the story will be the length it needs to be! And yes to more short Calufrax recs! :D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

If you're around, come join us this weekend in fic_rush; it's great for WIPs-o-Doom!

I'm glad you enjoyed the ficathon! I was really happy to see the range of fic that came out of it.

I hope my Yuletide fic ends up the length it needs to be. Right now I am slightly worried about running out of time, but I really don't want to default. I'm hoping to be done with a draft by the end of the weekend.

[clocketpatch]

I fell down horribly on the ficathon. There's this great story in my head with Three and the Weeping Angels, but transferring it into words that other people can read is proving to be unexpectedly difficult.

It doesn't help that I keep getting distracted by 1. The Day of the Doctor, 2. Random Origi!fic WIPS, 3. New Fandom... Blake's 7 has eaten my brain so badly over the last few months, I can't even...

Anyway, best of luck with reaching your Yuletide goal! Kitten are very useful allies when being attacked by bears, or so I have been told...

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Aw, you didn't fall down on the ficathon! You went into it with the best of intentions, but your muse didn't cooperate. It happens. It wasn't an exchange, so no one was let down, and if you do end up writing that fic in your head some day, you're always welcome to post it in the future. I for one would love to read it. : )

The kittens are indeed beating back the bears! En garde, bears; here come cute little paws and big eyes!