Fanfic Writers' Virtual Water Cooler

[Whytewytch]

Honestly, if it ain't sweet or done in shots chased by something sweet, forget about it. My poor hubby bought champagne on the night he proposed to celebrate my saying yes (or drown his sorrows if I'd said no?) and I barely could swallow an obligatory drop.

Anyway, how's everyone's writing going? Any lost muses meander back home? Any muses take off for parts unknown?

[Amara D'Angeli]

I'm brand new to writing for this fandom and I got a good start but I've been a little stalled. Honestly, I think, by all the reading I've been doing. I'm really, really, new to the fandom so I've been making up for lost time. I've probably read 1000 fics in the past six months. (Well, attempted to read - there have been a bunch I couldn't force past the first paragraph or two.) But anyway, the story is going.

Which is good because I got stalled on some fics from old fandoms when the love ran dry for one reason or another.

I'm writing without a net right now, though, because my usual beta isn't a Stargate fan (though I can't really imagine why - I'm giving her a pass for being too busy to start a new show... ). It's tough breaking into a new group when the show's been off the air for a while. But for the most part, people here have been very welcoming.


And non-fic writing goes in cycles for me depending on if I need to get something on stage or not.

[fems]

I've been experiencing computer problems so have been mostly preoccupied with that and haven't had much time for writing.

[Falcon Horus]

Anyway, how's everyone's writing going? Any lost muses meander back home? Any muses take off for parts unknown?

Mine keeps freezing up on me. She really wants to me to write but when I open a window to actually do some meaningful typing, nothing comes out and she's just gaping at me with a wide-eyed expression. And my bunnies are starting to become overweight real fast now.

I seem to have lost my mojo.

[selene0789]

I think my muse is taking a break. I worked her like a dog for a few weeks, and now we're starting to slow down. But that'll only be until the next big idea strikes. Then the resulting lighting bolt of awesomeness will wake us both up.

You know how it is.

[Starfist]

I wish my muse would return. She's sadly MIA at the moment. Perhaps she'll return when I'm on holiday.

[Falcon Horus]

I fear the cause of muse's condition right now is my overabundance of stress in my life right now.

That whole holiday-idea, I bet you anything she's back in shape then. No stress for me, lots of writing fun for her.

Starfist - at least you know what's coming!

[Starfist]

I have to admit to feeling a bit stressed at the moment. I was training new officers for cover duties last week. Discovered that one would be a problem if left on his own. But the PTB didn't listen.

[Starfist]

.

Starfist - at least you know what's coming!

I am beginning to wish I didn't...

[mathpiglet]

Honestly, if it ain't sweet or done in shots chased by something sweet, forget about it. My poor hubby bought champagne on the night he proposed to celebrate my saying yes (or drown his sorrows if I'd said no?) and I barely could swallow an obligatory drop.

Anyway, how's everyone's writing going? Any lost muses meander back home? Any muses take off for parts unknown?

It's a good then that the water cooler replacement arrived today. I'll just clean up all these empty beer and wine bottles.

My writing is going very well. The sword fight is written, so it's just the last bit and then I can edit. (Oh, and I have no muse. I was absent the day they were handed out.)

I'm brand new to writing for this fandom and I got a good start but I've been a little stalled. Honestly, I think, by all the reading I've been doing. I'm really, really, new to the fandom so I've been making up for lost time. I've probably read 1000 fics in the past six months. (Well, attempted to read - there have been a bunch I couldn't force past the first paragraph or two.) But anyway, the story is going.

Which is good because I got stalled on some fics from old fandoms when the love ran dry for one reason or another.

I'm writing without a net right now, though, because my usual beta isn't a Stargate fan (though I can't really imagine why - I'm giving her a pass for being too busy to start a new show... ). It's tough breaking into a new group when the show's been off the air for a while. But for the most part, people here have been very welcoming.


And non-fic writing goes in cycles for me depending on if I need to get something on stage or not.

Hi there! What other fandom do you write for? I write mostly Highlander fanfic, but wandered here when I did a couple of crossovers with Stargate.

I have to admit to feeling a bit stressed at the moment. I was training new officers for cover duties last week. Discovered that one would be a problem if left on his own. But the PTB didn't listen.

Isn't that always the way? So frustrating!

[Starfist]

Isn't that always the way? So frustrating!

It is on both counts. The funny thing is I like training people.

[Amara D'Angeli]

Hi there! What other fandom do you write for? I write mostly Highlander fanfic, but wandered here when I did a couple of crossovers with Stargate.

I've written for X-Files (eons ago), West Wing, Studio 60, and Bones. I happened upon Stargate thanks to a Netflix recommendation and during my viewing of season 3 realized I was hardcore shipping Jack and Sam and had to go find fic. Eventually I landed here at Gateworld and it's been so nice to meeting people so into the show!

[Whytewytch]

mp--thank goodness you showed up with the new water cooler! What a bunch of drunken sops we've become in its absence.

amara--I had the same problem with my beta. She mostly betas for grammar and I hope I get the characterization right. BTW, you've read 1,000 fics in the past 6 months?

fems--sorry about your computer issues. Hope they clear up soon.

Starfist, Falcon--may calm thoughts float your way, bringing your muses back with them.

selene--I feel your pain. The past few weeks have been a blur of activity around the WW household. I've been doing the writing chats to force me to put words on "paper" in the hope of luring her back. She's been peeking around corners but so far, she has not burst out and started dictating my stories to me like she used to.

[Amara D'Angeli]

amara--I had the same problem with my beta. She mostly betas for grammar and I hope I get the characterization right. BTW, you've read 1,000 fics in the past 6 months?

Read or attempted to read, yeah. I have pretty high standards. Authors I read must show at least as much of a command of the English language as my freshman did when I was a grammar TA. (I'm not going to get upset over a typo or a missing comma here or there, but no real grasp of punctuation marks is something I can't deal with.) I have a tough time with poorly formatted fics, too. So I'll open a fic and within a few sentences can usually peg whether or not it meets those criteria. After that it has about 500 words to prove to me the author can string words together and has a feel for proper characterization. If we can get past that it's touch and go whether I'll make it through the rest of the story. If the plot is good (or sometimes if it's only okay but is something I've never seen before) I'll read. I tend towards novel length and adult fics. If the sex is crazy bad and/or obviously written by someone who has never had any, those'll likely get closed too. So, I've probably read, from start to finish, around 400 fics. I've given the old college try to at least 300 more. Another 300 (or so - it's not like I keep hard data on the subject, though now I may attempt it) didn't make the first couple of cuts.

And, in the interest of fairness, I haven't watched seasons 9 and 10 because I'm traumatized by the idea of Jack being gone. So fics that deal with seasons 9 and 10 are mostly tabled for me to read at a later date and those are figuring into the rough count I've got going. I watched seasons 1-8 and then immediately started back over at the beginning. I'm back at the end of season 7 and am about to watch season 8 and season 1 of SGA concurrently. In the next month or two I'll probably start picking up a lot of fics I've tabled.

These days I keep a database of the fics I read and enjoy so I can find them later for myself or for someone else who might be seeking them. I have a hit list, too, of authors I found that have library wide spelling/grammar/plot/characterization issues.

(Yeah, I'm fully aware I'm anal-retentive about fic. I read like most people watch television so I can power through a lot of written word in a week.)



I have a tough time forming beta relationships with people so mine tend to last a long time and become friendships more than anything else. I require someone who can be straight with me. And, since beta relationships tend to run both ways, I require someone I can be straight with in return.

I'm a writer in real life and spend a significant amount of times in writers rooms. It's a tough place. Of course, when done right it's also a safe place to write. But you've got to have thick skin when you're a writer and I've stumbled across a handful of people I've tried to beta for that weren't comfortable taking constructive criticism. That's fine, but it's not the right kind of relationship for me. The beta I've got now - she and I have been working together for a long time and I guess I'm a little spoiled. We write and then send it off. When we get it back, it's all marked up in track changes with grammar fixes, plot suggestions, word choice suggestions, humorous asides/reactions and the like. It takes FOREVER to get through one of those documents, but when you get done, it's worth it. Then, if one or the other of us doesn't take the other's advice or suggestion, no harm, no foul. We're just there to help.

I've had beta's get personally affronted when I didn't use their suggested changes. (And this one particularly sensitive beta called me out in the comments section of a fic when I left in all my commas. She was of the impression that all commas indicated a run-on sentence and I never could break her of that notion. Oh, and I have a tendency to write in fragment sentences when writing dialogue or stream of consciousness and it drove her nuts!)

Anyway, a good beta-relationship is so very important and, bottom line, I like people I can just talk to rather than have to mince words around.

[Starfist]

Starfist, Falcon--may calm thoughts float your way, bringing your muses back with them.

Thank you for your kind thoughts.