things I learned from writing Educational Endeavors

[salixbabylon]

In no particular order:

-- I hope I never write/post a WIP ever again. While the feedback during writing is great incentive to keep going, the pressure is just too much. Real Life got in the way far more than anticipated, and it took me 15 months to write 9 chapters/~150 pages. I lost momentum, focus, and any urge to work on the story at all. Plus, in that time my perception of the characters changed radically.

(Bitch - I think this happens to everyone when they work on the same thing for too long.)

My resolution for future long fics is to mostly write the thing, send it to beta, and post one chapter at a time, with no more than a month between chapters. That way reader-interest stays high and I don't lose focus or momentum while I am still writing.

-- Having an outline for any story helps, but for a multi-chaptered one, is essential. There is no way on earth I would ever have finished EE if I hadn't known where I was going.

(The bitchy side of this is that it makes me much less tolerant of the long, meandering, and frankly plotless fics out there. If you don't know where you're going as a writer, I'm not interested in going there with you, as a reader.)

-- Writing guys who are guys is much more difficult than writing girls with penises. Still need to work on that one, as Orli wibbled way more than I wanted him to. At least there wasn't any crying, though.

-- I can't write a sex scene that doesn't turn me on at least a little bit. *blush*

-- Every writer needs a beta/editor, no matter how great they think they are. (Not that I think I'm great, trust me.) They should be used for plot and pacing, as well as grammar.

(Bitchy case in point - the most recent Harry Potter book really needed someone to tell JKR that the bit with Hagrid's giant brother did nothing to further the plot and added about 100 pages of increased reader-restlessness.)

But oh, my grammar problems... When I get good at not using epitaphs, I overuse adverbs. When I reduce my adverbalisciousness, I get dangling modifiers and parallel construction. When I improve in one area, another area seems to get worse, like the suitcase that just won't close without something popping out the edges. Either that or lostiawen is deliciously picky and likes to teach me grammar skills one lesson at a time. ;) (*hugs* Losti - you know I love it!)

-- Finally, I learned that I can do it. I can write 100+ pages of a story. Even if it totally sucks, I finsihed it. Maybe I can write a novel someday after all. :)

Comments

[abluegirl.livejournal.com]

I can't write a sex scene that doesn't turn me on at least a little bit. *blush*

I think that if it doesn't turn you on when writing a sex scene, then something's not going right with the scene itself. :D

[bitofaspaz.livejournal.com]

Please don't ever stop writing. Every minute of the wait was worth it.


As for the Harry Potter... She also seems to take forever to put novels out. Although I can understand where you are coming from wrt to reader restlessness thing, I'm kind of shameless in that I don't care how long it was. The more Harry Potter the better. More! More! More! That much more for me to read and re-read until she puts out the next one. And I really hope that Hagrid's brother gets put to some phenomenal purpose in the Half Blood Prince...

[lostiawen.livejournal.com]

n. When I improve in one area, another area seems to get worse, like the suitcase that just won't close without something popping out the edges. Either that or [Unknown LJ tag] is deliciously picky and likes to teach me grammar skills one lesson at a time. ;) (*hugs* Losti - you know I love it!)


Nah, that's typical. I have the same problem in dance -- I correct my elbow hanging at a weird angle and then my wrists go all wrong...I fix that and then my arm movements get too jerky. I fix all that and my posture goes to shit. I think what it is is that while you're trying to figure out how to fix something, something that you were mildly doing suddenly rears its ugly head.

The thing I like about serial writing is that my readers give me insight in their FB that helps clarify some of the characters' motivations. However, I think I'm safest writing a chapter or two ahead. I just don't have time to do it like I used to.

[soar38.livejournal.com]

I've said that about WIPs so many times. Still haven't actually managed it yet. :-)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I think I agree. It's a touch embarrassing to be "sharing what turns me on" with everyone, but hey. I'll survive. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I do appreciate your encouragement. *hug*

And re: HP Yeah, I'm already on the pre-order list for Amazon, too, so I guess I don't have that much room to criticize. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

(I fixed the lj tag - sorry about that)

And now that you mention it, I had the same problem with dance, too. I guess fixing one bit kind of accentuates the wrongness of the other bits. Ah well. Eventually I will be perfect and leave you nothing to do. In like, thirty years. Yeah. Right. ;)

And that's a good point about serial writing... I'm not saying I'll never do a WIP again, just that I'm not eager to intentionally do that, at the moment. Plus, I don't get fb like you do. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Well, we shall see how long I stick to that resolution. So far I have a lot of one-offs in the draft stage, but two of them might turn into serials... We'll see how that works out. :)

[soar38.livejournal.com]

LOL well there really is no controlling the muse once it takes hold. :-)