#hopefully a little motivating

[narastories]

ramblings about writing longfic

So as you probably know by now I've been busy writing a chunky little fic over the summer. I wanted to look at the statistics of the process and ramble a little.

We got permission from Bob (@dresdenfilesbigbang) for a little vagueposting, although I don't think this post will even count because I'm not going to talk about the fic, I'm just going to use the process as an example to make a few points.

This time, I've used NaNoWriMo to track my word count, and that is the first thing. If you are motivated by tracking your word count, this is your reminder that besides being a yearly event, it is also a great tool that you can use all year around. Plus, you can create a project with any time length or word count, not just 50k in one month. I actually started off with 20k as the word count, since that was the minimum for the Big Bang, but ehm... well, it soon became clear that 20k is not going to be enough lol Point is, you can also update your goal as you go and it doesn't mess up anything in the slightest.

And I guess November is coming up if you want to do NaNo "proper". I did that once, and it was great to just see that I could. But honestly, 1600 words a day is way too much for me and I don't see the point. I would rather write 50k words over 3 months and push myself less. With the NaNo pace if you miss a day it really puts you behind, and that is just plain stressful.

Which brings me to my second point. If you look at this graph, your first thought might be "oh that looks so linear and disciplined" ...

(Well, okay your first thought may be "why the heck doesn't it start from zero?" I've written 5k before the start date, okay? It was a sort of "proof of concept" to see if this story was going to work out. And it's not like it was cheating, I've still written way too much lol)

And you know, you kind of would be right, I've neatly stayed above that dotted line, sure.

But then you look at my daily word count graph, and it looks like this:

(Again, ignore the anomaly of the first day please lol)

What I'm trying to say is this: if you write often enough, over a long enough period of time, it will look like consistent progress.

You don't have to write every day if it doesn't work for you. You really don't.

And I think it's nice to just pay attention to your process if you decide to start a bigger project because it will give you valuable info about how you work. And it will make writing the next longfic or bigger writing project easier.

My first multichapter work on AO3 is still unfinished at the 75%-85% point mark. I was posting it as I wrote and then I hit that point which now I know is critical for me. Now I know that when I'm 3/4 done with a fic of this size I usually want to go in and move things around, have a little crisis, and generally that I just go back and forth between writing and editing a lot. And because of that, posting as I write is a really bad idea for me.

So I guess the most crucial thing you can learn is how you write, and then everything will become a little easier.

Also, since this is a Big Bang fic with a deadline, it will drop all chapters at once which is something I haven't done before. Very exciting. (To me at least. To other people probably not, because of the tiny nature of the rarepair. But that never stopped me, has it?)

#nara's dresden phase #rambing about writing #dresden files big bang #hopefully a little motivating

[thethoriumreactor]

more radio demon cause why not (cause I love him)

Not very proud of this one, but I’m sick and I feel like absolute shit and I can’t really be bothered to work on it anymore so there u go

Bonus close ups with and without glitch effect

#Hopefully next post will be some nice radioapple #Praying for motivation #Once again this little man got me to open my drawing app for the first time in too long #thorium.art #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin hotel #alastor #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor the radio demon #radio demon #the radio demon #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin alastor #hazbin art

[eldritchparasol]

#welcome home #welcome home project #welcome home fanart #julie joyful #frank frankly #welcome home julie #welcome home frank #sketch #Oh boy art block is gone #My motivation is pretty low right now but I was able to do a quick little sketch #I wanted to line it and colour it but I have no energy to do that right now #(and im sick right now ....so that erases my motivation even more) #But hopefully I will be able to draw more again.

[diginuisance]

The benefits of having a ridiculously tall sibling

#hollow knight #the hollow knight #hornet hollow knight #ghost hollow knight #i've been hyperfixated on this game for like 2 months now #my motivation for art is at an all time low but i had to draw at least a little bit for it!! #hopefully i can make more polished stuff for it in the future #digi art

[heynhay]

you know i got halfway through this before realizing i probably subconsciously ripped the concept from an old tumblr post sorry

#and then keith would say something rude and they would get into an argument for 3 hours #klance #vld #voltron #art #my art #ok guys we're in the tags time for my character debrief that no one asked for or cares about #i imagine this as like. far enough into their friendship that lance doesnt IMMEDIATELY come to blows #but keith feels the immediate need to make his emotional constipation everyones problem. and instigates a fight. #obviously that fucker would have to be on his actual deathbed in order to speak from tjhe heart #BUT if he somehow felt the motivation to fess up before then. it would be. such. an ordeal. #lance would be scratching his head like. why is keith insulting me out of nowhere 3982 times this week. i thought we were doing better #little does he know every time is just a try and fail on keiths part #because he needs an emotional miralax. #bless his heart. #if youre writing keith and he isnt dragged kicking screaming and dyiing into his feelings #are you even writing keith? #anyway this one goes out to katie klanced #hopefully you approve

[clownsuu]

Art block fucking sucks so

Poppet got pastries for the gamers :]

Hope you feel better my gamer🏵️🥄🥄

aWEE look at thembs ;;;

#AUGDHDHD I really wanted to draw something for this but alas art block is way too strong #But it was gunna be poppet comforting a very distressed Dusty smhh (a bun ate a pastry when they weren’t supposed to and he got v worried) #They care very much for his children’s health- the vaults are absolutely infested with large ass bunbuns #No matter where you look- a bummy #How they haven’t ate all the money like a fine piece of lettuce is truly a mystery- Dusty taught them well NDHDHD #aWEEEEEEEWEEE themb;;; #So happy and care free- just enjoyin snacks and gossips in the ye ol vaults #If anyone was to see poppet and Dusty talking they would never believe their own eyes smhhh #Such a talkative mans! #Also thank you gamer! Hopefully I’ll get my motivation back soon! (And this wicked stomach issue-) #At least this gives me more time to play yakuza smhhh I have so many games to go through so little time- #Not to mention I keep getting distracted in game MDHDDHD #Damn it Majima and your quirkiness smhhhh

[liriostigre]

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

#hello i'm rereading Gone Girl 🫡 #fucking me up a little 😮‍💨 #and i'm also reading The Hobbit and Atonement (which i started back in May) #finally feeling motivated to read 🥹🫰🏼 hopefully i'll be more active on this blog #gillian flynn #gone girl #quote

[marenwithanm]

Chapter 3 part 25. Y'all college chemistry is actively killing me send help. Also I know it isn't Tuesday but it's Thursday so that's basically the same day so this is basically on time 😎

First | Previous | Next | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

End chapter 3

#luckily next chapter is one I'm excited for so hopefully that makes me more motivated to work on it #little links #loz #legend of zelda #comic #comic page #art #fanart #digital art #fan art #link

[thefirstknife]

I love all the little details that directly quote Books of Sorrow this season.

Eris in the cutscene last week:

All things must prove their right to exist. The rest will die in terror. There is neither escape nor exemption. Simple. Essential. Beautiful to know.

Books of Sorrow:

I’m glad I learned that the universe runs on death. It’s more beautiful to know.

Eris in her chat with Drifter:

Books of Sorrow:

I am war, and you have conjured me back with war. ... I am trickery, and you have conjured me back with trickery.

And this week, with all the mentions of the species they exterminated, but especially the Ammonites:

The "bait stars" goes back all the way to when they were still krill, from a life form (stormjoy) on the Fundament that Xivu (then Xi Ro) was proving herself against by cutting off the ends of the tentacles called "bait stars" from them:

A STORMJOY. A stormjoy is a living cloud. When it passes over our continent, it lowers its feeding tentacles. On each tentacle are the BAIT STARS. Although light makes you happy, you must avoid it. You will be eaten. A stormjoy is a good way for an old person to choose death. Also, a daring knight can cut the bait stars from the tentacles. I have six!

It seems this has turned into some sort of a saying in their language given what she said in the radio and also in Books of Sorrow later:

These are the bait stars the Sky uses to blind its slaves.

The story of how the Ammonite hero, Chroma-Admiral (called Rafriit) went to protect the Leviathan:

...is also in the Books of Sorrow:

The Leviathan has broken cover. The old priest is in open space, moving towards the Ammonite home moon. Chroma-Admiral Rafriit and his elite guard move with it. Rafriit is the hero of his generation, an Ammonite of peerless battlecraft. He’s danced circles around Xivu Arath… but now he has to protect his holy Leviathan.

This is, for the record, the Leviathan from the Fundament. Once the Worms were free, it fled to try and help the Ammonite, as well as still pleading with the Hive siblings to think about what they've done, and also ominously asking them to truly think "who made you monsters" and "who summoned the wave."

I'm sure there's more, especially in Sororicide lore book, and/or that there will be more. I feel like this is such a nice way to tell these old stories that many people have probably not have had the chance to read or even know about. It gives just enough details about some ancient wars to make you interested and maybe point you in the direction to ask someone about it or start looking for more and then stumbling on Books of Sorrow. Like a crash course about this ancient history-rich universe that awakens a sense of wonder and maybe interests you into reading some lore.

Unfortunately, Books of Sorrow have never been readable in the game (either of them), but I hope that stuff like this presented in the main storyline for everyone to hear will motivate people to look deeper into the lore. It's basically like a little teaser and I love it. For us who know, it's such an honor to finally hear this being narrated to us by those that committed these acts, and for those that are hearing it for the first time it should spark curiosity about these ancient tales and battles. I hope so at least! If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading the whole Books of Sorrow which are up on Ishtar in their entirety.

#destiny 2 #destiny 2 spoilers #season of the witch #season of the witch spoilers #books of sorrow #hive #eris #really hope that this helps with the whole issue with lore being largely written and literally in another game #this really nicely adds some details about books of sorrow and will hopefully motivate people to actually read them #even if they're out of the way a little! though it IS only one click away on ishtar so. still. super nice to hear about it in game

[ziptie-bouquet]

Incomplete V1 figure (about 33% done?) creation process, it's a long post

Step 0 (studying):

I ordered yellow plastic for the wings which will arrive in 3 days.

V1 is basically a ball jointed doll, so I was very excited about making one of these!

(Look at those tasty joints, I love love love that about their character design)

I ended up not doing that when I realized that I would need rubber bands I don't have and that this looks too complicated for me. I haven't used polymer clay in years after all.

I did a couple of messy joint tests earlier today tho

I was very surprised that just passing a wire through 2 pieces worked and I'll keep it in mind for future uses! The 3 piece joint is a bit janky but with some tinkering it could work as a shoulder joint. (thanks to the detachable G1 monster high dolls I had as a kid for the idea, I tried to remember how they worked as well as I could)

I'm going with the exposed wire caveman joint style for this tho, it's especially sexy with my red aluminum. (Exposed veins)

Step 1 (wire skeleton):

So this is my first time doing this ever, and since I am stupid, I didn't really look up a guide for this.

This was especially hard to do because of her silly neck bend. I had to add that sort of wire triangle you can maybe see in the pic. It was necessary to pass that shoulder wire through.

Next time I'll definitely have one long section that goes "left arm-shoulders-right arm" (and same for the legs and hips) instead of 3 separate loosely attached parts, it'll be way easier and sturdier.

Next I added some padding with aluminum foil (I ran out of it fast tho since it was the end of my roll)

And yeah done!

Step 2 (the first layer):

This is where I'm at right now (it's curing in my oven).

I realized she was too big for my oven tray with this step, but I'm happy with this.

It's just fun to sculpt. I'm doing the front first and then I'll do the back in, hopefully, the most seamless way possible (but if I notice the legs don't look good, I'll mix it up). I'm sooo happy about the red aluminum wire.

I mostly want to do the black first because it's physically underneath the blue plating in the model anyway but also because that pigment is a bitch to get off my hands and I want to be done with it.

Using colored clay is cool because I want to avoid big paint jobs. I have never painted using acrylic paint before, so I'll be keeping it for highlights or small details.

#v1 ultrakill #v1 #polymer clay #ultrakill #art #ill reblog as soon as i do enough to warrant a substantial update! #hopefully motivated enough to finish this #my little v1 project

[fellhellion]

Something something the spot’s goofy antics distract from how dangerous his own entitlement and resentment is

#I don’t want to be that guy but I feel a little bit like spot gets sanded down a tad into just the fact he’s funny #and he IS funny I get it. but what makes him scary is the power to lash out with his entitlement and resentment towards miles #it’s you did this TO ME (miles didn’t #he was busy getting pummeled by kingpin and then venom shocking him back and the building was being EVACUATED it’s literally no one’s fault #but spot’s that he was there AND miles didn’t even know he was there when the collider exploded) #so I’m owed the role that you made me into <- miles literally didn’t do this #I’m OWED being your nemesis because I created you <- when all of itsv is about its miles own choices that make him heroic and not the bite #spot can’t even take ownership of his own actions. he’s like oh IM not robbing you that’s the bank. well buddy I don’t see you robbing the #bank I see you harassing some guy owning a corner store #like I get it. ur a cosmic horror and it sucks capitalism is pushing u down and u can’t get a job but like OWN UP TO WHAT THE HELL YOU DO #LMAO #and even miles trying to genuinely reach out and say look I’m sorry I made u feel bad (even though this isn’t an owed apology) and spot #STILL is hellbent on breaking miles back for an imagined slight #I AM GOING TO KILL YOUR LITERAL FATHER BECAUSE I BLAME YOU FOR SOMETHING YOU DIDNT DO #like god lmao. he’s a fun silly villain but there’s legitimate anger and spite and RESENTMENT motivating him purely to try hurt miles back a #as* badly as he imagines miles hurt him. when it’s like dude. own tf up to who’s responsible here #I’m not angry at the spot btw I actually think he’s a fun villain but I think recognising that resentment is what makes him effective as a #*​frightening* villain and one that poses legitimate danger #tunes talks spiderverse #apologies xinakwans ik u said you didn’t want to read any spot posts hopefully this snags on ur filtered content block shdjfjfk

[sysig]

Red Tape tied in a bow (P1 | P2 | P3) (Patreon)

Also decided to give a go to the caption thing again since this one’s rather dialogue-heavy!

[Panel 2] Peepers: Uhm...sir? Hater: What. Peepers: Could you- do you have the full paperwork on our health plan?

[Panel 3] Hater: Health plan? Peepers what in grop’s name are you talking about??

[Panel 4] Peepers: It’s really no big thing, I just wanted to see what was (and wasn’t) covered-

[Panel 5] Hater: Commander Peepers. Are you planning to commit insurance fraud on my dime? And you’re asking me how?

[Panel 7] Peepers: P- hahahaha! I would never dream of it, Lord Hater!

[Panel 8] Hater: Then-? Peepers: I just want to see what’s covered, sir. Like I said already...

[Panel 9] Hater: Hrmph. It’s all personally approved by me, so feel free to ask, Commander.

#Doodles #Wander Over Yonder #Commander Peepers #Lord Hater #Oh I had an InOrdinate amount of fun with this lol #Bunch of quiet little inspiration pieces all clicked together into a full page in one sitting that was too fun to set down and go to bed lol #First of all doodling Peepers in a binder? Sparks joy completely #He's not satisfied tho - I considered angsting it up a little or having a discovery mini plot but I feel like those are so done :P #Rather just let him skirt the line and see how close he can get without tripping over it! :D #Hhhhh they're both so fun to drawwwww <3 <3 <3 Peepers with his expressive body language - his leg tucked behind the other in the second! #Also that BG >:3c Hater's room is cool haha #And then Hater himself ah ♪ His face is especially satisfying to work bit by bit until he looks like himself! :D #I was mostly striving for consistency in these so a lot of his expressions are quite similar to the preceding panels - hopefully noticeably! #The ones of him backlit and in profile tho were also very fun! ♪♫ Peepers' posing in the latter as well ahh :D #Even with that I still feel a bit restrained I wanna push him even further!! Cartoony!!! I get excited with every step closer hehe #Also thinking a lot around their early relationship ahh ♪ We never got to see their backstories ouq It's a shame #But we do see Hater and Wander's early dynamic and how Hater changes the more he's exposed to him lol so it's fun to extrapolate from there #A semi-serious paranoid evil electric skeleton man still getting used to having to depend on others <3 Until Peepers proves himself #I mean if he's already a Commander by this point he must've been doing something right but for Watchdogs that's a kind of low bar lol #It's fun to think he was motivated for his own selfish(?) reasons until he started seeing Hater as a proper comrade :) #But until then >:3c Trust very shallow all the way around! Awkwardness and uncertainty! Ah! <3

[shelxvy]

hiiiii i redrew matt watson's monopoly cover to use for my brad tudabone playlist >:^)

orig under the cut (+ playlist link😳)

i like to mess around with it a lot so i dont think it can be considered complete? but i hope u enjoy it if u listen to it!

(sally's playlist here and gene's here!)

#lego ninjago #ninjago #brad tudabone #ninjago brad #ninjago darkleys #darkleys kids #darkley's kids #am i making a whole personality for a little lego boy that showed up for ONE episode and loving him as if he was my child? #the answer is yes. #i havent drawn anything for a while.. hopefully brad motivates me to draw more 😭 #the playlist IS greenflower flavored if that makes yall more interested 💅 #edit!! just fixed brads skin color.. he was a lil too yellow before😬😬

[windshieldwiper]

finally drew wolfwood🕺🏻

#trigun #trigun stampede #trigun stampede art #trigun art #nicholas d wolfwood #nicholas the punisher #SCHOOL HAS BEEN KICKING MY ASS‼️‼️AS PER USUAL #anyways I love wolfwood and his fucked up cigarette #i lost all motivation to draw but now it’s back‼️‼️ #hopefully it’s to stay‼️‼️‼️ #also wolfwood is so bastardous and skrungkly i love him #also its a little plain cuz im still trying to get back into it😭 #windshield drawer (=^･ω･^= ⭑)

[crybaby-bkg]

I’m taking another creative writing class this semester but I’m so nervous bc writing hasn’t been coming as easily to me bc of this time of year + grief but I hope this class pulls me out of this rut 🥲

#like I still haven’t started on the security guard fic bc I’m just so. tired. #and I have little motivation #but I think it’s really bc of me anticipating this semester #and I feel like I can’t do anything until it starts #hopefully I’ll get back into the groove of things soon tho #but I’m excited for the class!!! #we have to write only one short story #and I already think I know what I want it to be about LOL #last time I took a creative writing class all of my writings were about death #so maybe I can change it this time around wkdjdkfjf #anyway the semester starts this week so wish me luck!! #—in store chit chat! 🍫

[violetsareblue-selfships]

good morning!! <333

#hopefully today's the day i actually start the hsr quest lol #depends on what i have to do in genshin & when i finish that #but i wanna make at least a little progress in hsr #i also need to go find a yt video of the zayne card so i can get screenshots since i never managed to pull the card #also i need screenshots from the arlecchino demo + her story quest #both of her and of our kids <3 #but yeah #that'll be a task probably spanning a few days unless i get the motivation to do it all today #but anyways #i hope today/tonight is kind to you <333 #morning rambles