Fanfic Writers' Virtual Water Cooler

[mathpiglet]

I work all day and when I come home and pull out the computer and write until midnight, my family kinda glares at me. I also don't write on the scale that you all are talking about (500 to 1000 words per day -yikes). Wish I could.

I admire your persistence. My brain is not good for much once it's after 7 in the evening. Along with teaching, my family, modding another forum and other activities, I don't always reach my goal. It's a hobby. As long as you're enjoying yourself, then it's terrific!

[mathpiglet]

Eragon, many more outgoing people do not understand introverts. Tell me about it! My sister loves to be the centre of attention and has constantly berated me for preferring my own company. I can handle being with a crowd, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it! Introverts tend to live in their own heads and do not need people around them to live their lives.

Smile politely and do your own thing.

As for conversations, they are as long as they need to be, but if it's just 'he said,' 'she said', it can be boring to read, don't you think? I find I need to add bits to the conversation to keep readers interested.

Finally, I had a very surreal day. I got an email late yesterday from my principal saying there would be guests from the Ministry of Education at school observing the use of technology in the classroom, and would I mind if he brought them to my class. No problem. I'm used to people wandering in and out, since I'm the school's expert on the use of a Smartboard (interactive white board).

I had just started my lesson, when he appeared at the door. In they filed, more and more...by my guess 25 of them! ( I have four students and one was absent). They stayed for fifteen minutes, thanked me and filed out. Phew.

Ten minutes later, principal was back with a second group of another 25 people!

I felt a little overwhelmed!

[Aragon101]

shrug, personally i'm a very social person, but i can be alone if needed. I do prefer social situations though to being alone. My brother is very much a solitary person so i do understand where it's coming from, even if i can't agree with it. That doesn't mean i go out barhopping or clubbing every night, or get wasted/trashed/pissed every weekend. In fact i hardly ever drink beyond a pint if i go out. I go out if my friends are going and i typically have a good time (unless the drama starts, then it's time to walk away)

It does seem weird to me that people can be so solitary, i don't think forcing them to be more 'social' as in doing something they're uncomfortable with helps, but having some communication and contact with others whether it's gaming or conventions or whatever is better if they do feel better because of it.

I also find i write better when i'm in a loud noisy environment with people around. Almost like i feed off that energy. That being said, i've also had spurts of creativity while i'm all alone that refuse to go unwritten.

I do wonder, if alot of people who write fanfiction are solitary, is that some kind of social stress relief all its own?

[SF_and_Coffee]

Good grief, Mathpiglet, that would have overwhelmed me, too. Only four students, and fifty visitors? Yeesh!

On a tangential note (see what I did there? ) I found myself playing with math last night, in relation to my writing and some historical stuff regarding the civilization I'm depicting, in relation to another. I just hope I've gotten it right! I think I did... I'm actually not half bad with it.

[mathpiglet]

Aragon, that observance about solitary folks using fanfiction as a substitute for social activity is quite possible for some. Writing is a creative outlet that would appeal to a solitary person, since it is done alone and does not even really need to be shared. Good point.

Good grief, that would have overwhelmed me, too. Only four students, and fifty visitors? Yeesh!

Absolutely! Very odd. My students found it strange too! Thanks for understanding.

[mathpiglet]

Good grief, Mathpiglet, that would have overwhelmed me, too. Only four students, and fifty visitors? Yeesh!

On a tangential note (see what I did there? ) I found myself playing with math last night, in relation to my writing and some historical stuff regarding the civilization I'm depicting, in relation to another. I just hope I've gotten it right! I think I did... I'm actually not half bad with it.

Well done! You did say you were good at math, so I'm not surprised.

[SF_and_Coffee]

We'll find out eventually, I guess. It's for a chapter I haven't published yet, but if I've done it right, things will synch up the way I want them to. If I've done it wrong, eventually some perceptive soul will notice the discrepancy between Event A as depicted in my story and its relationship to Event B as depicted in SG canon history, and tell me my timeline is out of whack. Time will tell.

[mathpiglet]

The only writing I had time for this weekend was to set an exam for my grade 11s. Since it's a math exam, there were more numbers than creativity!

[WraithRichard]

Haven't gotten much done. Just been watching SG-1 to figure things out and working on my MTG deck (I suck).

I SHOULD be working on BiAA since I saw Daniel's ascension and the next chapter discusses that, but my brain insists on working out WTF instead, despite efforts running into dead-ends 90% of the time.

[mathpiglet]

I have a name for a new character. Pamela Pettigrew.

[Sealurk]

Yesterday I decided that I'm more or less giving up on all writing for an indeterminate period. Lately it has felt like an incredibly annoying, tiring chore rather than a hugely enjoyable past time, so I've decided to walk away from it for a while, hoping to recharge my batteries.

So, naturally, today I found the ideal spot for writing, had a number of interesting ideas and read an interesting article about how my personality type might affect my writing.

[mathpiglet]

Isn't that always the way. I felt the same way a few months ago and something similar happened and I finished the story last week.

[SF_and_Coffee]

I just wrote an outline for the remainder of the chapters in ATWLB, so as to help tweak the flow by seeing it actually written down.

All I can say is that my Muse had better have a pot of coffee ready. This thing scares ME, and I've already got half of it pre-written!

[WraithRichard]

I really want to write, but I keep getting stuck on planning.

[SF_and_Coffee]

I usually just end up writing. Now that I'm trying to plan, I'm a little freaked out.