Work Room - Week 6

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

At the end of each Topic post I end it the same way: "Have fun". (I said it in the most recent Topic post: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/884842.html)

I've been saying that for years.

Because writing should be something you enjoy. Granted, it usually involves a lot of struggle and hitting your head against the wall as you wrestle with torment, but at the end of the day, there's also a lot of fun involved as well.

What part of the process of writing do you find is the most "fun" for you and where do you struggle the most?

***

Btw - in case you have forgotten, the deadline for any changes to the Teams: people forming new teams, leaving teams, new people joining them, etc... is 24 hours before the Topic deadline! I know some of the established teams are in the need of some new blood! (And new teams would definitely help shake things up over there, with an increase of Rivals eliminations)

Comments

[yachiru]

I have a really bad impulse to write some filthy m/m pirate love story action.

The most fun part of writing for me is the initial spark. That great idea. I struggle with all the rest that comes after. When it's easy you love it. When it's work you want to go do anything else but you struggle through it anyway.

[idekmybffjill.livejournal.com]

What is this

Topics I actually like?

I forgot what this feeling felt like.

As for the fun parts of writing vs the work?

It's all work to me, now. I struggle most with rewriting and editing a piece. I enjoy the idea but even that is a struggle, at this point. I have the most fun with writing when it's something mindless -- smut, really. Me being shipper trash. That's when I love it most. xD

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

Well, this is the first time I believe I can work with all the prompts in one entry. We'll see.

To me, the best part is molding the prompt into an outline. Real world? Historical fiction? Alternate reality? Then the main character wanders in. Male or female? Leader or follower? are they in love? Are they human? What relates them to the prompt?

And then comes the first line. And THAT is always glorious.

But then, of course, things go downhill. The first line doesn't feel strong enough, and it must be shoved down so there's some explanation for the world first. And then the main character calls their friends in, or tells you a different story, or they decide to stick to the background instead.

It's all so very annoying. If you follow me on FB, you'll see my 'Dear Character X' entries.

But the struggle comes once you have all those smart moments you wanted to include, and then you have to tie them together. In an orderly, understandable fashion.

It's torture.

But when I get to the final line? And I type The End after that final period?

Bliss.

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

Do the pirates! Do the pirates! XD

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

The first three make me want to rant about tumblr.

I don't think this can possibly end well.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

None of the topics are inspiring me at the moment. Hopefully that will change.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

It seems like these are getting worse every week! *cries*

No ideas so far, though I can imagine we'll see a lot of rants this week.

Gary, did you realize your Work Room entry is before the Topic post? You can fix that by updating the times to make this entry "later."

[watching-ships.livejournal.com]

One of these topics stuck out to me immediately, then as things began to form in my mind I realized all of the topics fit in some way. Things may get really personal in a nonfiction way for me this week.

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and to answer the actual Qs that were asked and stuff -

Once I get really revved up when I'm doing a rant post. That's where I'm really in my groove, like shit just FLIES and I let the Dark Side flow through me and I shake my fist at the heavens and love every second of it. I also have the same thing happen with graphics posts sometimes, like shit will just CLICK and it's pure bliss and stuff just snaps into place of its own accord and all I have to do is sit there and move the mouse. I think those are my two most natural "zones" - yelling at shit and using visual gags to make fun of shit.

Not entirely sure what that says about me, but I'll just leave that there. >_>

As for struggling - trying to get a stubborn idea to jell is just the ultimate RAWR. Sometimes an idea comes to me and it's just - boom, off like a shot. This is rare but feels quite magical. Other times I think I'll have some brilliant plan and it will unceremoniously fizzle the moment I attempt to make it take form. That's annoying, but at least the damn idea is being honest by rejecting me outright instead of sending mixed signals and stringing me along. It's the mixed-signal ideas that are my downfall. Like, it comes up to me all "hay bb, looking for a date?", and I waste a ton of time trying to chase it down and bribe it back to my apartment so I can get it in my keyboard, and then it's just like "lol j\k, NOPE" and it's back to square one. LAME LAME LAME. (Edit: okay, that sounded way sketchier than I intended. I'm not going all Criminal Minds on my ideas or anything, PROMISE.)

[kickthehobbit.livejournal.com]

My mind immediately went to Tumblr too. Not diggin' it.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

The fun parts are the bits where I'm writing and/or editing, of course!

The bits between projects, or the business side of it ... Not so much. So being between novels and having to write query letters= all the angst.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

Truly, your ability to "even" is beyond compare.

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

I think that's gonna be the "totally obvious idea is totally obvious" route this week.

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

But the real question is... is being able to even the same as being able to literally even??

[logical-fallacy.livejournal.com]

Writing and I aren't exactly bffs right now, so most of it is a struggle. If I'm not staring at a blank page (or editing a single paragraph) for hours until I have a panic attack, I count it as a tiny victory.

The fun part, for me, is the characters. I love learning who they are, why the hell they do what they do and what shaped them into them whoever they've become. The problem is turning that into anything resembling a coherent narrative. I'm not so great at that.

But inside my head, it's fucking magical.

[logical-fallacy.livejournal.com]

One of these topics strongly suggests a particular character to me, one who's been mentally body-slamming me to write things about him for a few weeks now. Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly what I'd write about him for this topic. But it's a start.

[witchwife.livejournal.com]

The process of writing that I find the most 'fun' is just putting words down on an empty page and seeing what happens. Which kind of ties into where I struggle the most - any sort of planning.

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

I can totally relate to this ^^^^… It takes me forever to write coherently and longer to edit.

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

Should I really write a HMIYM entry? I'm so tempted.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Dammit I think he finally came up with some topics I won't be able to use all of. I mean ovary punch really isn't gonna fit in that well.. nor the mall. Jesus, I can't even!

[idekmybffjill.livejournal.com]

So I'm not the only one who thought of Robin Sparkles first? Because I totally did and now I have that stupid earworm stuck in my head, xD

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

What I like best about writing is watching how my mind works. For instance, I can be all "Oh, I've got something for THAT topic!" but when I sit down to write something entirely new tends to pop up. Sometimes it's for THAT topic, sometimes it's for another. Last week was a perfect example...I didn't want to write on "Void", but that's what happened.

To that end, I wonder if my writing reveals more of my subconscious than I realize...

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

Absolutely do the pirate story!

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

Same reaction here.

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

My favorite part is seeing where I end up. At least half of my entries here at LJ Idol are things I did not plan to write.

Another interesting part is transferring my stories from the spoken word to the written. They aren't the same, and sometimes the story changes drastically when I write it down.