Fanfic Writers' Virtual Water Cooler

[SaraBahama]

*saunters in...looks around thread...listens*

*cricket chirp, cricket chirp*

Where IS everybody??

*makes new pot of coffee, leaves flavored creamer & cinnamon rolls out on counter*

Ok...discussion: writing motivation. How does one foster motivation?

I'm beginning to believe that writing on the computer for me is becoming increasingly impossible, as I tend to jump onto GW or Facebook and have "ooo...shiny!" moments. Grrr. Perhaps I need to sequester myself on the back deck with a notepad and paper? Maybe I'm just an unmotivated whimp and need to give myself a lecture? WHAT?

RL also interferes: clothes still need washing, floors vacuuming, child fed, time spent with hubs...

what is right and wrong? Where do you draw the line??

[mathpiglet]

*adds a cake with a candle beside the coffee*

It's my one-year anniversary here!

Writing motivation? I set a goal for the number of words for a day. I have also used the 30/30 approach. Thirty minutes of work (whether writing, laundry, book sorting or whatever) followed by 30 minutes of something that isn't work. I often find myself immersed in the work at the 30 minutes, but even if I'm not, it's a doable chunk of time.

[Sealurk]

I have to admit to not having any of Murray Gold's music in my collection.
But that might change.

I highly, highly recommend his stuff, especially since Matt Smith became the Doctor. For your consideration:

The Greatest Story Never Told
The Doctor's Theme (Series 4)
I Am The Doctor
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (listen through to the end)

There are simply too many good tracks to list, but hopefully that's a half-decent sampler.

Music does help me write. Usually it's Enya, Clannad, The Corrs, Celtic Woman that I listen to.
But sometimes a little Jean Michel Jarre or Vangelis helps.

At the moment for me it's Murray Gold, the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack and Two Steps From Hell.

*saunters in...looks around thread...listens*

*cricket chirp, cricket chirp*

*stops making bad cricket noises, looks sheepish*

Where IS everybody??

Well, I can't speak for anybody else but I'm hiding from Mass Effect 3 spoilers until I actually, finally get hold of the damn game (which will be some time between half seven and half seven tomorrow, and I have to camp out to catch the driver so he doesn't play 'pretend nobody's in and return parcel to depot').

Oh, and writing. Yeah I think there's been some writing going on in my life at some point recently. Which, to be honest, is a nice change!

*makes new pot of coffee, leaves flavored creamer & cinnamon rolls out on counter*

Ok...discussion: writing motivation. How does one foster motivation?

I'm beginning to believe that writing on the computer for me is becoming increasingly impossible, as I tend to jump onto GW or Facebook and have "ooo...shiny!" moments. Grrr.

Just one of many, many reasons I finally deleted my Facebook account today! If I need to write I just close the web browser and listen to music appropriate to what I'm trying to write and it tends to help - if I'm having a good day writing wise. Unfortunately, all too often I get bogged down with researching unimportant minutiae ("Argh! Just what kind of portable lighting would they have at an archaeological dig in a cold climate?!") and lose pace, or end up editing and rewriting as I go and again, lose pace.

Perhaps I need to sequester myself on the back deck with a notepad and paper? Maybe I'm just an unmotivated whimp and need to give myself a lecture? WHAT?

RL also interferes: clothes still need washing, floors vacuuming, child fed, time spent with hubs...

what is right and wrong? Where do you draw the line??

I don't know. I find I can't write at all if there's a good chance of being interrupted (which is most hours most days), hence why I do much of my work late at night, though this hasn't exactly helped my sleep problems! Occasionally I'll have a very good day and just spend it churning out text (today was much like this, thankfully), but I haven't yet nailed the 'formula', so it's just a matter of taking each day as it comes and hoping that today's the day I get a lot of writing done.

*adds a cake with a candle beside the coffee*

It's my one-year anniversary here!

Awesome! *starts singing "Happy First GateWorld-joining Anniversary to you!"*

[Choo1701]

I'm beginning to believe that writing on the computer for me is becoming increasingly impossible, as I tend to jump onto GW or Facebook and have "ooo...shiny!" moments. Grrr. Perhaps I need to sequester myself on the back deck with a notepad and paper? Maybe I'm just an unmotivated whimp and need to give myself a lecture? WHAT?

*GLOMPS Sara*

THANK YOU! Someone else whose in the same situation!!! The internet is just full of too many interesting things.

Ok...discussion: writing motivation. How does one foster motivation?

- If your using Google Chrome as a web browser, look up the 'Stay Focused' app. You can set a certain limit in which you can browse websites like GW and Facebook (ie: 10 minutes) and after that it stops you going on them by telling you 'shouldn't you be working'. Little bit harsh, but you can adjust the settings, like switching it off on certain days.

- Less technological: buy an egg timer and set it a certain amount of time, and that's your lot.

-Of course there's the 'do ten minutes off work and then relax for ten minutes' method.

- Or writing a list, creating a schedule, turning the computer off, unplug the internet; basically it's you against your self control here since YOU have to be the one to say yes or no. The conflict is 'I've got so much I want to do, but I can't seem to pull myself away from ...'

It's funny in a way because I've come to the conclusion I'm fighting myself and my creativity. Furthermore I'm not sure if it's a 'ha ha' funny or a 'sad funny'.

*adds a cake with a candle beside the coffee*

It's my one-year anniversary here!

Congrats mathspiglet! Sadly all I can think of is...GANDALF!



hehe.

Gandalf.

I do love how he 'dies' in Fellowship. I thought it was done very causually in the middle of a paragraph. Like his death wasn't as important as the history of the shrubbery he was clinging onto

Good news everybody: I seem to have become a beta. Yes I almost died of shock too ...

[Cold Fuzz]

Goodness! Work has absolutely kicked my ass lately. I cannot stand being on call instead of being on a schedule. Consequently, I have now turned off my phone and will not be turning it on again until Tuesday or Wednesday.

I've had so little time to rest or write the past few days. Thankfully, I found time and focus today to finish up a chapter.

*saunters in...looks around thread...listens*

*cricket chirp, cricket chirp*

Where IS everybody??

*makes new pot of coffee, leaves flavored creamer & cinnamon rolls out on counter*

Ok...discussion: writing motivation. How does one foster motivation?

I'm beginning to believe that writing on the computer for me is becoming increasingly impossible, as I tend to jump onto GW or Facebook and have "ooo...shiny!" moments. Grrr. Perhaps I need to sequester myself on the back deck with a notepad and paper? Maybe I'm just an unmotivated whimp and need to give myself a lecture? WHAT?

RL also interferes: clothes still need washing, floors vacuuming, child fed, time spent with hubs...

what is right and wrong? Where do you draw the line??

Thankfully, I've got some time off so I'm going to devote myself to some actually bloody writing instead of pounding my head at work babysitting adults who don't know how to deal nicely with other people.

So how does one foster motivation to write? For myself, I think that in general, the need to tell a particular story and to get certain points across to the reader is a big factor. Another one is the characters I've created. This is going to sound strange but the characters I've created occupy a large portion of mental energy even when I'm not writing, everything from how they would react to certain situations to how they would feel if I were to personally meet them. As such, I now have a lot emotionally invested in the characters and I feel I owe it to them to complete the story I've set for them. After all, everything has been outlined, over 150,000 thousand words have been written, and the story has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. There's a part of me that feels like that they'll be stuck in the absolutely awful situations I put them in if I don't bring their character arcs to completion. Yes, I know that this smacks of Stephen King appearing in his own books.

*adds a cake with a candle beside the coffee*

It's my one-year anniversary here!

Writing motivation? I set a goal for the number of words for a day. I have also used the 30/30 approach. Thirty minutes of work (whether writing, laundry, book sorting or whatever) followed by 30 minutes of something that isn't work. I often find myself immersed in the work at the 30 minutes, but even if I'm not, it's a doable chunk of time.

Happy anniversary! I found that another thing that continually inspires me to write is hearing good dialogue. I've been watching Being Human UK and the North American version and I absolutely love some of the jabs the characters have at each other sometimes. Even when it's not meant to be funny, it's funny!

I highly, highly recommend his stuff, especially since Matt Smith became the Doctor. For your consideration:

The Greatest Story Never Told
The Doctor's Theme (Series 4)
I Am The Doctor
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (listen through to the end)

There are simply too many good tracks to list, but hopefully that's a half-decent sampler.



At the moment for me it's Murray Gold, the Mass Effect 2 soundtrack and Two Steps From Hell.



*stops making bad cricket noises, looks sheepish*



Well, I can't speak for anybody else but I'm hiding from Mass Effect 3 spoilers until I actually, finally get hold of the damn game (which will be some time between half seven and half seven tomorrow, and I have to camp out to catch the driver so he doesn't play 'pretend nobody's in and return parcel to depot').

Oh, and writing. Yeah I think there's been some writing going on in my life at some point recently. Which, to be honest, is a nice change!



Just one of many, many reasons I finally deleted my Facebook account today! If I need to write I just close the web browser and listen to music appropriate to what I'm trying to write and it tends to help - if I'm having a good day writing wise. Unfortunately, all too often I get bogged down with researching unimportant minutiae ("Argh! Just what kind of portable lighting would they have at an archaeological dig in a cold climate?!") and lose pace, or end up editing and rewriting as I go and again, lose pace.



I don't know. I find I can't write at all if there's a good chance of being interrupted (which is most hours most days), hence why I do much of my work late at night, though this hasn't exactly helped my sleep problems! Occasionally I'll have a very good day and just spend it churning out text (today was much like this, thankfully), but I haven't yet nailed the 'formula', so it's just a matter of taking each day as it comes and hoping that today's the day I get a lot of writing done.



Awesome! *starts singing "Happy First GateWorld-joining Anniversary to you!"*

Excellent choices my friend. I found that there's two Murray Gold tracks that I keep coming back to consistently: The San Man With a Box from Doctor Who series 5 and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from series 6 (which you have listed). The orchestrations are brilliant in my opinion. Furthermore, they are heart-wrenching tracks. The Brigadier's track actually popped into my mind for a very serious telepathic conversation between a pair of characters in Chapter 30.

I'm finding that the internet can be a great distraction as well. I have to continually discipline myself to stay focused on writing and not be tempted to open a web browser. Two of the recent chapters I wrote recently saw me dealing with this issue very often. This afternoon, I asked myself why that was happening and when I analyzed what I was writing, I realized why: the characters were dealing with incredibly painful situations emotionally speaking. In order for me to render genuine emotion on the page and have it seem believable and good I have to put myself emotionally in their shoes. That's really, really hard since Broken Silence is a tough war story and absolutely awful things will happen to some of these characters. But I gritted my teeth and kept buggering on. The story needs to be told.

[SF_and_Coffee]

This is going to sound strange but the characters I've created occupy a large portion of mental energy even when I'm not writing, everything from how they would react to certain situations to how they would feel if I were to personally meet them. As such, I now have a lot emotionally invested in the characters and I feel I owe it to them to complete the story I've set for them. After all, everything has been outlined, over 150,000 thousand words have been written, and the story has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. There's a part of me that feels like that they'll be stuck in the absolutely awful situations I put them in if I don't bring their character arcs to completion.

I have the same thing. It's as though I'm the creator of a particular universe and what I have put in motion there is very, very real. Therefore, I have to be careful what I do with that universe and its inhabitants, and I have to make sure that I tell their entire story and do so properly. They tell me their thoughts, and what they want and how they feel, and I would be incredibly disrespectful of them, I think, if I were to be anything less than thorough.

[Cold Fuzz]

I have the same thing. It's as though I'm the creator of a particular universe and what I have put in motion there is very, very real. Therefore, I have to be careful what I do with that universe and its inhabitants, and I have to make sure that I tell their entire story and do so properly. They tell me their thoughts, and what they want and how they feel, and I would be incredibly disrespectful of them, I think, if I were to be anything less than thorough.

Yeah, it's gotten that way for me too. The main character, in a manner of speaking, has told me quite bluntly: "You put me in this position. You asked me to fight this war. Please don't leave me hanging. Finish my story."

[SF_and_Coffee]

Exactly. And, well, anyone who remembers "A Matter of Time" knows what Frank Cromwell sounds like when he tells you to do something...

[Starfist]

Hi all.
Congratulations mathpiglet on your 1 year anniversary.
Thank you for your suggestions Sealurk. I'll hunt down the soundtracks.

I don't know how I did it but on Sunday I actually finished a piece of fiction.
Non Stargate and non Sci-Fi.

[WraithRichard]

My kitten keeps trying to type for me.

[fems]

I finally had the time and inspiration to sit down and write today. Managed a nice 5200 words and finished up my chapter. I also got the inspiration to write a Pi Day ficlet so I might do that too if I can wrap it up in time

*feels accomplished*

[Princess Awinita]

It is a wonderful thing when one gets insperation while actually writing a scene thanks to a movie going on in the background, in my case, Fast Five was {and still is playing as I am rewatching it} on last night and this morning my time and so, naturally, I am writing a SG1/Transformers/Fast Five mega crossover. All thanks to my muse thinking "HEY THIS'LL BE FUN!!" and here is me going "I'm gonna need a LOT of Pepsi...."

[mathpiglet]

Happy PI Day!

[SaraBahama]

Happy PI Day!

Squee! PI DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Starfist]

Pi day...?
I think I missed it...