It's...going

[tamchronin]

I've picked up on revisions on Elemental again.

Holy CRAP it's a much better story now, but I STILL hate the end. D: I don't know how I'm going to fix the war to make it right.

I'll get to it when I get to it.

Still, so far it's a MUCH better story than it was. I love it, love it, love it. I'm dying to share it with someone so they can love it just as much and gush over it with me and tell me how completely amazing I am, BUT I can't do that.

I'm trying, and trying so very hard, to keep access down to three people. And those three people are too busy to read it. So there is no gushing. And there is no amazing.

For the first time ever, I am writing in a complete void.

It's unnerving.

How do people live like this?

How do you normal writers do it?

I'm just completely wigged out.

It is what it is. And now, I have to finish chapter seven. At this point in the rough draft I was at 24,049 words. My second draft stands at 34,442 words...and rising. So, slightly more than a quarter of the way through, and I've added 10k words. Well. It needed it, that's all I can say.

:D

Comments

[jupiter-star.livejournal.com]

I keep having issues with Google Drive ;( email?

[tamchronin.livejournal.com]

It's not on Google Drive, it's on Dropbox.

I've been hesitating to email it to you only because you're so very busy. I don't want you to feel obligated/I don't want to set myself up for disappointment if you can't get back to me. My ego is a fragile and selfish little thing.

I'll email what I have so far, but I'm in the middle of a chapter right now. Is that okay?

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

Share snippets? No?

[tamchronin.livejournal.com]

It's a thought. I used to do that over AIM a lot when I was feeling particularly pleased with the way things were going. I still do that sometimes on FB, but not as often and not for large snippets.

I don't know, though. People might get tired of that. And not many people actually look at my LJ anymore, I think.

Worst of all? I've stalled out a little. So I'm losing enthusiasm. Meh...

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

We share snippets often among my PCGs because it seems to help keep momentum, both for the individual writer as well as for the group. Community is always good for that. Isn't that the advice given for sticking to exercise, for example? You're right, though: LJ is a quiet place these days. There are probably more readers still than you realize, but lurkers seeking fanfic for the most part. (If you had new fanfic, especially in one of the "hot" fandoms, I think you would see that you are still on people's radar.)

Don't lose confidence! You always get the muse to come back. Your stall won't be forever. If you are like me in that, the guilt pressure of not-writing makes it that much harder to pick a story up again. Creative energy is a little like social energy (for an introvert). It doesn't go away completely, but when it is used up, it feels like it will never come back. (But it does!)

It *is* hard to stay enthusiastic in a vacuum, no matter how much you love a story and its characters. That is the real reason that it is so hard to succeed in writing. Maybe think about what inspires your creative energy? Perhaps a writing con?