Cerulean Blue

Day 11 - Talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

I'm not skipping the other days, I just saw this an immediately figured out something to say.

And *that* is actually a huge driver in my creative process. "Ooo, shiny!" is a bad way to operate, too, especially as a writer. I'm not good at committing to an idea and going the distance; this is true in my life in a lot of ways (hi, I'm an ENFP, we have t-shirts).  It's why I have dropped WIPs despite apparent momentum, why I don't do a lot of work greater than 10k, etc.  It is likely what is stopping me from writing the novel I talk about writing all the time.

So, with that annoying personality quirk aside, a lot of times I start with a title, or a specific scene, and build from that.  When I sit down to write, music is absolutely essential - and I've found that this album is the very best to write to (or do anything that requires concentration, actually), though I'll go to various other genres depending on what I'm writing.  

I don't write as much original work, fiction or non-fiction, as I would like.  In other words, really none at all these days, outside of blogging here.  My brother and I are talking about writing a book together, possibly on something related to the War of 1812, but if so it's not going to happen any time soon.  What I'm writing, when I write, is fanfiction, and the inspiration for that is of course some kind of media.  I do a lot of re-reading, re-watching, re-consuming of various things in order to get the feel for dialogue, character, pacing, etc.  

I'm not a process-driven writer.  I write what it is in my head, I tweak over time.  I've tried writing outlines, doing rough drafts - I can do all this, certainly, but note what I said above about being an ENFP.  Process makes me lose interest.  I try very hard to fight this impulse sometimes, and other times, I just do what I do and call it good.  I can't say this is a good thing, because I know I can do better if I apply myself, and boy doesn't THAT sound like something your high school English teachers said?  Anyway, it is something I'm trying to conquer, because all the big stuff I want to write and accomplish will require me having a better process, and more willingness to write without an immediate end in mind.  I wanted to do this topic today so I could write that down.  

TITLE: Our Own Heart
FANDOM: Game of Thrones
RATING: PG-13
PAIRING: Jaime Lannister/Sansa Stark
CHARACTERS: Sansa Stark, Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Podrick Payne

FOR: thedevilchicken, for rarepairfest 2017

SUMMARY: AU. Jaime has joined Brienne and Podrick on their quest, having fled King's Landing in the wake of Tyrion's escape. Months into the journey, they have found Sansa and seek to fulfill their oath by taking Sansa to the Wall. Sansa is wary, but there is a side to the Kingslayer she has yet to see.

NOTES: I consider Sansa to be, at a minimum, 15 at the time she weds Tyrion on the show. So for this, I put her mentally at 16.

Title from: "Our own heart, and not other men's opinion, forms our true honor." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Story also archived on AO3.

( Click for story )

TITLE: They Who Bear the Cost
FANDOM: Mercy Street
PAIRING: Jed/Mary, Henry/Emma
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: The inhabitants of Mansion House and the Battle of Antietam.

On AO3.

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I had no intention of staying up to actually finish this.  I came into my home office at 11 and picked up a book I have on Civil War battlefields, to get a sense of the timeline of Antietam for this story.  It was originally meant to be a shorter vignette for the series "Sea of Tranquility, Ocean of Storms" (indeed, "Ocean of Storms" was the working title), and I had intended it to be about just one or two of the characters.  It kind of grew as I went, so I just wrote.  It felt longer, while I was writing.  I am sure it could be, if I felt equal to the task of conveying 1860s hospital chaos with no visual aid.  

It is about Antietam, obvs, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg (in the South).  I was struck when watching the series finale (spoiler!) that they didn't really....talk about the battle, per se.  The show went with the political aftermath, which I get.  This battle didn't have the impact on Alexandria that others did, in a physical sense, plus battle scenes cost more, and the show is and isn't about the war itself.  But the single bloodiest day of the war does warrant more than a political tussle onscreen, I thought.  And that's how this grew in my head.

Actually, I think posting this on the 17th day of the year is pretty encouraging, all things considered.

Day 3

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.

The first of my goals is to fill out the goals worksheets I downloaded from Art of Simple.

LOL.

Okay, in reality, my non-fannish goals are:

1 - Maintain non-contract employment.
2 - Write a short story for publication.
3 - Upgrade my wardrobe.

That first one is a doozy.  I'm only a week into my new job, and really, it isn't a huge challenge right now, but I can see the speed bumps down the road.  Summer child care is going to be an issue.  But I'll deal with that as it gets closer, because there's just too much happening right now.

The second one - look, I've been saying for years that I need to do this.  When I try to explain my fic hobby to someone I usually fib and say I write short stories for fun.  Time to put up or shut up.

Finally, well, I have been doing this in pieces for awhile, which is the only way to do it when you haven't won the lottery or have a huge amount of disposable income.  But really, I need investment pieces, I need things I can fall back on easily for the new job, so.  Working on it.

These really aren't grand goals, except for the short story one.  But I feel like, these are the things that would make me feel most accomplished when the year is out, in a personal way.  There are definitely other things brewing.

And some fannish goals:

1 - Do more than two fic exchanges (so, something in addition to Not Prime Time and Yuletide).
2 - Finish the Zootopia fic.
3 - Write more than 5000 words outside of fic exchanges and the Zootopia fic.

I love fic exchanges, and they are a huge motivator generally, so I want to do the usual two and something new.  Any suggestions?  I like non-fandom-specific exchanges the best, but I'll look at others, too.  

Gotta finish the Zootopic fic.  It's sitting there as this open WIP on AO3 and it actively bugs me.  I still have my story notes, and the general inspiration.  Just need to sit down and do it.

Finally, I really want to write more fic this year.  In what fandom, or what kinds of stories, I really don't know yet.  But I want to hit over 5000 words of fic outside of the exchanges and the Zootopia story.  I think that's reasonable and not so ambitious that it'll intimidate me.

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I could list many, uncles and cousins and even friends who didn't come back from where they were sent. Many more who did come back, including both my grandfathers, several uncles and aunts, and my parents. But I'm particularly thinking of my mother. She is a Vietnam and Cold War veteran, and she is suffering today from a disease that appears to hit American veterans at a rate higher than among American civilians. It's only in the last year that the United States government has addressed this specifically.

Amytrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. They still don't know what causes it, they don't know how to predict it, and they don't have anything approaching a cure or even a reliable treatment that improves quality of life.

My mother served for about five years in the United States Navy, in communications and intelligence. She worked at the Pentagon for awhile before working at a base in Rota, Spain, where she met my dad. She got out of the Navy at a higher rank than my dad did, and received an honorable discharge. She is the daughter of WWII veteran, and sister of two more Vietnam veterans (my aunt and uncle, who were both Marines).

I know Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who died while serving, and the idea of Veterans' Day is to honor all veterans, but there you have it.

I know a lot of us are having yucky weeks for one reason or another. So, in the interest of happy-making, a meme I got from cathybites:

The Hypothetical Happy-Making Meme: Take any one of the fandoms you know I write in (or think I should), and give me a bullet-proof happy-making scenario. I will then explain what story from your chosen fandom I would write for your chosen type of happy.

If you're lucky and I'm inspired, I'll write a 500-1000 word fic based on the prompt.

Sound like a good idea?

GO!!