Charcoal Box - Writing Post

[heavensqueen]

Peer pressure or cheerleading?

This is the post for all of you who write better if they don't feel alone.

Comments

NaNoYuleMo Nov 15 check in

[(Anonymous)]

Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.~Stephen King

Re: NaNoYuleMo Nov 15 check in - avita

[(Anonymous)]

Today: 1287 words
Pledge: 500/day
Total: 10,843 words

I've broken the 10k mark for November, 3 days ahead of schedule. I wish more of those words were on my Yuletide assignment, but the closer it gets to Thanksgiving, the more I tend to buckle down on it.

(My very first Yuletide fic was written in a marathon session on Black Friday. Seven hours in bed with a laptop, only emerging for basic needs. I still look back on that with a sort of bemused fondness; to be in college again!)

500drabbles coalie crowing

[(Anonymous)]

I have written one hundred treats, coalies! And I'm not even finished for the day!

Re: 500drabbles coalie crowing

[(Anonymous)]

Good for you coalie! Keep going!

Monday blahs

[(Anonymous)]

Last year I was "Monday"!anon. It's almost Monday here, so I maybe want to reach out again and hold myself accountable. I double-matched with my recip, and want to write in both fandoms; I also have an non-Yule WIP (ideally due by the end of this month, eep) in one of the fandoms, and there's another treat I really have my eye on. Canon review went well, but I'm worried that I won't be able to stick to writing time amid RL work/other games through the coming weeks.

Anyway, once I buckled down tonight, I was able to knock out the first 1k for one of my assignments, and in the worst-case scenario I could make it a complete fic without too much more angsting. Just...hold my hands and me accountable, plz?

Congrats and pompoms to the nanoers, you brave souls!

Re: Monday blahs

[(Anonymous)]

Good luck, Monday!

Do you have more chunks of time blocked out for writing like that?

I started off with NaNo goals but have abandoned them. My current goals are: a draft of my assignment and two treats done by the end of November. YES, ROUGH DRAFTS, SELF.

We can do this!

/frofa

NanoYuleMo Nov 16 check in...

[(Anonymous)]

because we forgot to do it yesterday.

Re: NanoYuleMo Nov 16 check in...

[(Anonymous)]

Finished a treat, starting another.

pledged: 1000 words
wrote: 1401 words
cumulative total: 24,788

A couple of weeks ago, I never thought I'd get everything written by Christmas. Now I think I may even finish this month. Go Nano!!

NanoYuleMo Nov 17 check in

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, I'll admit it. As one of the nonnies who occasionally posts this thread, I don't post it if I don't write anything today.

Re: NanoYuleMo Nov 17 check in - avita

[(Anonymous)]

Today: 432 words
Pledged: 500 words/day
Total: 12,351 words

All of it on my Yuletide fic. I should have started writing earlier, then I would be done today. But it's definitely tomorrow unless I get cold feet!

NanoYuleMo Nov 18 check in

[(Anonymous)]

"I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found." -- Kurt Vonnegut

WELL?

Re: NanoYuleMo Nov 18 check in -- LB

[(Anonymous)]

Big fat goose egg, as I'd expected. Actually, I've written a couple of hundred words from the very end of the fic, but I'm not sure I'll keep them, so they don't count.

pledge: 1000 words
wrote: 0
cumulative total: 27,208

NaNoYuleMo Nov 19 Check In

[(Anonymous)]

Now that I'm writing again... :D

Re: NaNoYuleMo Nov 19 Check In - Marshmallow

[(Anonymous)]

Pledged: 500/day
Should be at: 9,500
Actually at: 10,100

I'm caught up! \o/

Nov 20 progress

[(Anonymous)]

:) ?

Re: Nov 20 progress

[(Anonymous)]

Monday anon wrote just about 1600 words, for 3800 overall on the main fic! I've written medium-to-long fics in the past, so I was hoping this one would get up there too but worried that the pacing felt like "and then they just arrived at the place; and then they picked a fight with the bad guys under lucky circumstances; and then the contrived plot fell into place so that...thematic things could go down." At this point I think it'll be decent though even if my transitions are clunky.

Nov 21 - NanoYulies Sound Off!

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know but I've been told
My recipient ain't gonna get no coal!

Re: Nov 21 - NanoYulies Sound Off! - G

[(Anonymous)]

One more scene down, so I'm at 5 of 20. Tinkered with a few others, and massaged the plot a little. Total main assignment word count = 3080.

Midnight Oil, back after some time away

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, my fellow writing coalies! :D

I haven't done much writing outside of write-ins...until today! :DDD I finished my banged-outline! Woohoo!! XD It's currently at 3k long. I still estimate the final fic to be around 7,500. This might be my shortest Yuletide fic EVAR OMG!

I'm not giving up on my promised one treat, either. There's still just under a month to write!

Nov 22 check in!!

[(Anonymous)]

Share your woes and successes, coalies!

Re: Nov 22 check in!!

[(Anonymous)]

I think I may finish my last fic before the 30th. (Crossing fingers.) Did a lot of writing now because I won't be doing any over Thanksgiving.

pledge: 1000 words
wrote: 2784
cumulative total: 35,476

Nov 23 Check In!

[(Anonymous)]

Just 7 days left in November! One week to go!

Re: Nov 23 Check In! - Marshmallow

[(Anonymous)]

Pledged: 500/day
Should be at: 11,500
Actually at: 15,400 \o/

This also means that I hit my monthly goal of 15,00. So I'm going for my first stretch goal of 22.5K/month, aka 750/day. ;)

Stretch: 1,000/day
Should be at: 17,250
Actually at: 15,400

Treat Pact Check In

[(Anonymous)]

Coalies who promised to write treats, how are you going overall? Still on track?

Re: Treat Pact Check In

[(Anonymous)]

I have promised 5, and have written 2.

However, I still need to write my assignment.

-frofa

Nov. 24 -- check in!!

[(Anonymous)]

Anyone still around to write?

Re: Nov. 24 -- check in!! -- LB

[(Anonymous)]

May not check in again until later in the week. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!!

pledge: 1000 words
wrote: 2280
cumulative total: 39,086

Nov 26 check-in

[(Anonymous)]

Are you out getting drunk so you can face your family safely hungover for American Thanksgiving, oooooor are you achieving wordcount?

Re: Nov 26 check-in - avita

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't write anything from Nov 19 until today, which is my longest dry streak since I started tracking daily wordcounts in October. Unfortunately there were two birthdays and a death in the family that killed my motivations. Currently I'm staying with my parents and it's really hard to just pull out the laptop and start typing without anyone asking you what you're doing. But I sneaked out to the coffeeshop this afternoon and got some writing done! I'm hoping to get a bit more before I turn in.

Today: 1476 words
Pledged: 500/day
Total: 14,757 words (still on track for 15k at the end of the month!)

Nov 29 Check in

[(Anonymous)]

We've only got two days left in November. Let's finish strong, everyone! Report your last minute NNYM words here!

Re: Nov 29 Check in - Marshmallow

[(Anonymous)]

Stretch: 750/day
Should be at: 21,750
Actually at: 23,844

And I passed my stretch goal for the month of 22,500! I am so tempted to go for my second stretch goal of 30,000 for the month (1k a day), but that would require writing over 6k between today and tomorrow. Which is a number I have achieved in the past, but since I have to work both days... it isn't likely to happen.

Nov 30 Check in

[(Anonymous)]

Final scores on the doors?

Re: Nov 30 Check in - Mels

[(Anonymous)]

I pledged 300/day for a total of 9000.

I got bulldozed by real life stuff these last two weeks but I managed to finish one fic for 4400 words, have another 2/3 done for 2700 words and a treat almost finished at 750, making my final total 7850. I didn't quite reach my goal but I'm pretty pleased with how I got on.

Coalies, how's it going?

[(Anonymous)]

Anyone need brainstorming? A beta? Another challenge to carry us over the finish line?

Re: Coalies, how's it going?

[(Anonymous)]

I think it's just about time for daily challenges, and I'll bet more people will jump in as it gets down to the wire.

I've been wrapped up in RL, but that's slowed down a bit. I plan to post daily challenges, or reply in a challenge post that's already there if someone else posts first! -- Challenger

Challenge 12/11, go, go, go

[(Anonymous)]

It's kind of late in my evening, but better late than never! I have 4 stories in play.

#1 is complete at 1k, but I decided to add more scenes and expand it. It's at 2,100, with maybe another 1k to go. No more than that.

#2 is at 6,200, and I've just started a sex scene, probably the last scene with maybe a tiny denouement. Another 2k, maybe, total?

#3 is at 2k. It's a casefic, so I'm guessing I have another 3-4k minimum left.

#4 is at 1,350. Just started what will be the bulk of the story, a long bit of sexual tension that leads to the sexin'. Probably 2-3k left.

There are a couple more treats I'd like to write, but I'm not even going to entertain the idea until these are all done. It's almost 10:30 my time, and I've had a long day, but I'm doing 2k on one of these, or spread between them, before I do anything else tonight. --Challenger

Re: Challenge 12/11, go, go, go

[(Anonymous)]

Welp, I'm almost certainly finishing everything up this weekend. Whether I write more treats depends on a lot of things, including my dad's health, but I will likely have to spend all my time on the writing that pays, considering how far behind I am thanks to his failing health and the move. So I'm kind out of over and out for the year, whether I manage to write more treats or not.

I hope anybody who throws down or joins challenges between now and reveals has a great time. See y'all. Happy holidays, and write like the wind! :D - Challenger

Challenge: Take the first object you see and incorporate it into a story

[(Anonymous)]

In the title

I need to finish a draft today

[(Anonymous)]

anyone with me?

Re: I need to finish a draft today

[(Anonymous)]

I have an 8300 word story finished and a 2700 worder finished. They both just need careful proofreading. \o/

I want to add a final sex scene to my finished assignment (it's fine as is, but I hate to cut off the pr0n), and I want to finish a treat. I'd like to finish them today, because I'm eyeing other treats have so little time between now and Christmas eve night. :|

So here's where I stand.

Assignment's at 6300. (I should just leave it, but fun)
Treat's at 1350.

I'll post revised numbers every 30-60 minutes (I get interrupted a lot, so can't guarantee a specific time). Maybe nobody's around now and I'll posting in a vacuum (I see your post was hours ago), but maybe it'll still motivate me to get these done today!

Good luck!

Seeking fellow combatants vs bear

[(Anonymous)]

Hiya, Sweet-eater from last year here :)

I'm semi on holiday from work now, yay! I'm already eating my Christmas sweets... but I need to write my assignment.

Anyone up for some barefist bearfighting with me? Word sprints, mini challenges of some sort, idk?

Hope all is going well for everyone else.

Re: Seeking fellow combatants vs bear

[(Anonymous)]

Frofa here. Probably not in your time zone, but sending encouragement! I too have bears to fight. What's your goal for the day?

Eek, we're getting down to the wire!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi again, coalies! It's Sister here from last year. Thanks to work/life I haven't been able to spend nearly as much time on Yuletide as I'd like, but my goal is to finish up my assignment tonight! I have one more scene to go.

Anyone else around and want some encouragement? :) I'm in EST, by the way. It's 8:25 pm now!

Re: Eek, we're getting down to the wire!

[(Anonymous)]

You can do it and I can do it.

/frofa

December 18th!

[(Anonymous)]

Hey all! Sweet-eater again :)

How's it going today? I'm hoping to finish off my assignment. I was eyeing one of the PHs that went out earlier, but I restrained myself. Not until the main assignment is done. I also have a porny treat idea for another recip, so I feel like I'm already organised with things to do before deadline/reveals.

Anyone else still finishing off stuff and doing treats today, too?

Treats!

[(Anonymous)]

Turns out that getting to the airport way too early is the perfect place to finish off a short (at least for me) treat. Maybe it's also the perfect place to start a new one, if I can decide which among a handful of similar letters is the most inspiring.

~Monday

Re: Treats!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm 1171 words into my third treat, though one of those was Madness-sized. I have to work tomorrow and Wednesday, so I'm blowing off all my responsibilities today to take advantage of a last-minute surge of inspiration. Considering how hard I struggled with my assignment, it feels good to be inspired, even at the 11th hour.