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sholio and I are testing out an accountability buddies setup, where we meet to talk writing shop, discuss goals, and analyze how well we're meeting them. (We're still in the first week, so neither of us have any idea how well it will work. But one of the best pieces of advice I got last year was "Failures are just experiments that yield negative results," so even if we find that this format doesn't work well, that's useful information! And I'm hopeful that it will work, and be awesome for both of us.)The theme I want to engage with this year is of productivity, and constant storytelling: I want to be creating and putting out a lot more work than I do currently. Getting back to my Clarion West levels of a short story per week would be amazing, and the fact that I'm making my living off freelance stuff which doesn't eat as much time as a full-time job tips it into the realm of possibility. (If I could transition to making my money off writing, that would be incredible. I am looking into ways to start on that path, specifically through Patreon, but my ability to write and produce complete works on a consistent schedule is something of a prerequisite for that, so that's where I'm starting.)
The two goals I had for this week, to support my theme of producing lots of fiction, were:
1) To take a look at how I choose stories to work on, and
2) To take a look at how I go about moving stories through to completion.
This is an interesting week to look at how I decide what to work on, because I've switched projects a couple times earlier this week. Which... probably requires some explanation of how I work on things, because even that's changed up a bit from how I used to do things.
Anyway.
My drafts folder (...er, folders; I have a big folder with subfolders for all my long projects, a separate folder where short fiction is kept and organized by what phase of the writing/submitting/publication process they're in, and a Gmail conversation with myself where I keep miscellaneous bits that haven't crystallized into stories yet) are something of a controlled chaos of snippets and fics in various stages of completion. I'll start new projects at the slightest provocation, and then spend time off and on over the next few days adding clips and scenebits and turns of phrase and maybe even big chunks of text, as inspiration hits. Then, as inspiration wanes, I'll drift away from the project until it hits my radar again. At that point, I'm generally left with something that looks like an ancient, worn tablet: my job is often reconstruction. (Fortunately, I write so nonlinearly that I'll often have most of the high points down, and can use those as a kind of outline.)
Recently, I've built a 25-minute period into my morning (...er, post-wakeup; I tend to sleep in until afternoon and stay up until 4AM when there are no external demands on my schedule) routine where I sit down and focus on writing. I have a timer, I put a "Do Not Disturb" note up on my door, and I close everything except the writing program and whatever I'm listening to. I'm hoping to up the time to an hour, once I've gotten the habit fully solidified.
During the ~morning writing period, I've adopted the policy that I can only work on one thing, and I'll work on that through to completion, day after day. This is how I managed to get the fanfic piece After Every War finished after it kicked my ass for months; this is also how I managed to get the story I started submitting on the 1st finished, despite its recalcitrance. If I'm blocked on the story on the docket, I have to outline or brainstorm. But I have to spend that 25 minutes engaging constructively with that particular work.
For the rest of the day, whenever I'm writing, I can work on whatever I feel like; that's more my natural state. And being able to work on whatever I feel like is important for the way in which I generate fiction. But having that structured time at the beginning of the day ensures that I'll get something done on a timescale that isn't dependent on when inspiration comes 'round again.
So, what I need to look at is how I choose what goes into that morning slot to get focused attention. What makes this week interesting is that I broke one of the rules up above, and have actually switched up what I'm working on.
The precipitating event for that is that, for the first time ever, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is open to electronic submissions for an issue. F&SF is regarded as one of the "Big Three" of the speculative short fiction magazines, and it's one I've never broken into. And, to be honest, one I stopped submitting to because printing out a submission, getting letter-size mailing envelopes, and mailing submissions off was too much trouble for me. (Now especially much, considering I don't have a printer.) So I knew I wanted to send something in while I had the opportunity. The opportunity which will vanish after January 14.
As I only had one story in submittable shape and it was under consideration elsewhere, I had to whip something else into shape, and fairly quickly. So I grabbed something I had technically finished last year but which was languishing for want of revisions, and moved that to the front burner. Which is actually a pretty good illustration of three of the big factors in how I decide what to write:
* I like to pick up things that are close to being finished, or which I have a strong idea of how to finish,
* I consider publishability, and my overall having-submissions-out status, and
* If something is time-sensitive, I tend fall on that first.
Those cover three out of the four big criteria I've identified that influence my writing schedule. The fourth is:
* If I've told someone I'm going to write something, and have the sense that they really want to see it, I feel motivated (and a bit obligated, heh) to get that done.
This last one is one of the big things that dragged me through finishing the troublesome epic that was Beneath a Beating Sun, and accounts for no fewer than three of the things on my shortlist now: more scenes in the Gay YA (for
thebaconfat and squeemu), and both Mansions of the Dead and U is for... for fignewton. It's also why I think a crowdfunding platform like Patreon could work really well for me, if I can connect with an audience who's excited about my writing: excitement is infectious. *grin*
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Date: 2014-01-06 11:59 pm (UTC)From:Ting the first: I am tempted to steal your morning writing plans. It might help me get through some of the things i need to finish up and it would be a lovely way to start off my days.
Thing the second: I want the AU in which Patreon is actually a site that implements brainwashing in it's formatting so that you are compelled to donate or create. it was supposed to be used for good but obviously something will go wrong and it will be glorious.
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Date: 2014-01-07 01:31 am (UTC)From:2: Ahahaa. On the plus side, us creative types would get a lot of stuff done. On the minus side, I'm now imagining us just writing ourselves to death, a la the cursed dancing shoes.
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Date: 2014-01-07 01:34 am (UTC)From:2) Yeah, I kind of went there too, so yu are so not alone. It would be one of the more productive deaths though.
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Date: 2014-01-07 12:09 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 01:29 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 12:57 am (UTC)From:I would tell her myself but I don't have a Tumblr account.
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Date: 2014-01-07 01:24 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-01-07 04:24 am (UTC)From:Also, I am really glad to know that fourth factor you listed, because there are at least three things I really want you to keep working on. What's the best way to continue encouraging you about things? Because I still really want to see more from Demonology. And Rust City. And definitely, definitely the gay YA. And did I mention Demonology?
Not sure if you've watched the video in which John Cleese speak about creativity, but his suggestions continue to be some of the most helpful, influential pieces of advice I've heard on how to get things done. I would highly recommend watching it if you have 30 minutes to spare.
The other link I want to shove at you is also about productivity and writing more! Obviously, these are all things that have helped me, so ymmv. How I went from writing 2000 words a day to writing 10,000.
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Date: 2014-01-07 08:23 am (UTC)From:And, heh; showing interest in general, basically. Chatting back and forth/brainstorming, commenting on things, nagging, beta-ing and troubleshooting... these are all ways that have demonstrably bumped things forward a burner or two, at times. I am, as I suspect many authors are, easily won over by intelligent and thoughtful responses to works, especially. Like, you can look at this comment to Beneath a Beating Sun or this comment to Misfire or oh my god, people are taking my fiction seriously on the internet, and all of these things deliver the big dopamine hits to my brain that keep me scrabbling, mouse-like, at the buttons on my keyboard.
(Demonology is somewhere around second-burner, at the moment! At least, a couple of the prompt fills and one short story are, because Breaux got quietly, sadly epic in one and the other has Saul going to York, which is apparently just where all the crazy happens in this universe. Which, from what I've read of the real-world FBI, is not inaccurate.)
...one of these days I need to sit down and figure out what the actual structure of Rust City is. It's just kinda... boneless, at the moment. Has most of its major organs and quite a bit of blood, though.
I hadn't run into the John Cleese vid; it's interesting. And it helps explain why last year was such a dry year – I can't imagine I was spending much time in a non-closed state.
I had run into the second link, before, and... then not really done much with it, because outlining to that extent is anathema to me, heh. (Having tried the Snowflake Method, I feel like plotting things out at such a close degree wrings out the story to the point where I can't write it, unless I'm outlining in response to an actual moment of I don't know what to do here.) Still, it's a thing to play with! Especially as I work on systematizing my process.
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Date: 2014-01-07 09:48 am (UTC)From:Speaking in a more general way than a you-specific way, I have this love-hate relationship with leaving comments. I really like taking out my favorite bits and quoting them (as I'm sure you've experienced at some point), but I am also kind of terrified of saying too much. What if my interpretation isn't the one the author intended? And this is kind of especially scary to me when the characters aren't my own. I want to make sure I give the characters the respect they deserve, but at the same time, I want to share my reactions and love for the characters with the author. It's that shared experience that drew me to fanfiction, and it's what I often miss reading published work.
Anyway! Having said that, I also know you and feel fairly confident you won't hate me forever if I have interpreted a thing differently. Although there is still that little bit of but they're not your characters! desire for respect that will occasionally creep in. Ff. THINGS. They are difficult sometimes.
Eeeeee, Deomonology. And hah, yeah, I know what you mean about Rust City. Plots! These things are difficult for me, apparently.
Hah, I pretty much ignored the outlining part of the second link and closed in on the "if you're not interested in writing a scene, maybe you should change it!" bit. And the "set aside a good chunk of time to work on a thing! Don't just set aside the time, but get elbows deep in it." I think part of last year was just me learning how to get myself in the right space to work on something. More than that, learning that even if I wasn't already in a certain space, I could usually create that space for myself. Sure, it took time (and for me, almost always means turning off the Internet), but it was actually possible.
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Date: 2014-01-08 03:54 am (UTC)From:But yes. Talking about things is cool! Being able to see that your efforts and work have had an effect on people is cool! Humans are social beings! And so on, et cetera, with the rest.
In other news, I've gotten the next Gay YA scene more or less unstuck. It just involved adding (1. Unwise decision-making, and (2. Restraints.
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Date: 2014-01-08 03:58 am (UTC)From:I may or may not have just squeaked from excitement. XD :D
This is gonna be the best gay YA ever