Plays well with others
So, finally updating again, kind of! Falling off the LJ wagon sucks, but I suppose I've sort of had reason to in the last few days/weeks. My life does seem to be settling down at least somewhat now, though, so I hope that will continue. I think I've earned a bit of quiet, heh.
To address something that's come up in a few PMs and comments from various folks, yes, I have heard about starwarsland, and in all probability I will not be applying or seeking to join. The fact of the matter is, I simply do not need or want another commitment right now, and since the comm is team-based, the chances are high that I would have to produce some kind of fanwork in order to stay a member. I have NO idea when I would find the time for that, since I am just barely keeping up with my regular stuff as it is. (Mind you, a TON of that is catch-up and resetting of schedules from the horrible summer I had, made harder by the fact that I'm working full-time, but even once that's done I'm still not too crazy about taking on something else.)
There are three other issues as well, ones that I need to consider. First is that I will not give up any of the commitments in which I'm currently engaged. I love all of them, and I really want to continue working on my stillness comms, the newsletters, my fics, etc. Ordinarily I have a certain schedule that allows me to accomplish all the tasks I need to for those, and I'm concerned about something else just tipping the load to a point where I can't handle it and it's not fun anymore. DO NOT WANT.
Second is the fact that for many months now, I have had a major fic project on the go in each of my two fandoms, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything but those fics when I write. I don't make graphics regularly (i.e. I have to be in the mood, which doesn't happen often) and I don't vid (although it's my ambition this winter to learn, finally). That means that any fanwork-type contribution from me would have to be in the form of fic, and my muses are firmly pointed in the direction of To Ignite the Stars and Insanity Underrated right now. I doubt that chapters of an established fic would be acceptable for the team games. And yet, I can't write anything else. When I try, my mind invariably wanders back to TIS and IU. If I forced myself to write something else, it would turn out crap, and I would not be comfortable sharing it publicly. Again, not exactly a recipe for me to be a good team member! It's for this same reason that I won't be participating in the fall edition of bsgficexchange. Not to give, and not to receive. I had such trouble with my fic submission last time, even though it turned out basically okay, that it took all of the fun out of it for me and I just didn't want to do it anymore. Maybe I'll get back into fic exchanges after I finish Insanity Underrated, and maybe I'll join the Star Wars comm when TIS is done. But until then, nope.
Third and last, I have to think about the future. Obviously my fall will not end up looking like how I thought or hoped it might, which is something that I am still coming to terms with right now. (That's a whole 'nother post on its own, heh.) But there will be certain commitments, like doing the prediction posts and blogging games for ottawa_senators, that will come into play again this fall. There is also NaNoWriMo, in which I'm now hoping to participate. (With a few caveats - see above re me potentially not being able to write anything other than TIS or IU ...) Those things will also take time, time that I need to plan to expend. The good thing is that I won't have school to think about, for the first time in a long LONG time, and so once I arrive home after work, my time will - mostly - be my own to do with as I please, free of essays and papers and reading and such. That's why I can contemplate doing NaNo, where before I would almost certainly not have been able to seeing as many major assignments are due late October-early November. I've made plans for taking on NaNo and devoting more time to the Sens comm, and at the moment, yet another commitment does not fit in. I'm busy enough - just check out my profile for proof! ;)
Unless - and this is absolutely the only situation in which I would consider taking on something else - a certain stillness community focusing on a certain Girlfriend needed a new mod. But I seriously doubt that will happen.
It might seem silly to make a whole new post explaining why I won't be joining a comm, but as I said, it's just something I wanted to address since I've had several folks ask me about it. It's definitely a good thought, and I really appreciate you guys linking me to it and pimping it and so forth. :) But, at this point in time, it's just not for me. I hope those of you who join it have fun, though!
And, alas, I have now run out of time on my lunch break, and must head back to work. So, another friends-locked real life post to come this evening.
To address something that's come up in a few PMs and comments from various folks, yes, I have heard about starwarsland, and in all probability I will not be applying or seeking to join. The fact of the matter is, I simply do not need or want another commitment right now, and since the comm is team-based, the chances are high that I would have to produce some kind of fanwork in order to stay a member. I have NO idea when I would find the time for that, since I am just barely keeping up with my regular stuff as it is. (Mind you, a TON of that is catch-up and resetting of schedules from the horrible summer I had, made harder by the fact that I'm working full-time, but even once that's done I'm still not too crazy about taking on something else.)
There are three other issues as well, ones that I need to consider. First is that I will not give up any of the commitments in which I'm currently engaged. I love all of them, and I really want to continue working on my stillness comms, the newsletters, my fics, etc. Ordinarily I have a certain schedule that allows me to accomplish all the tasks I need to for those, and I'm concerned about something else just tipping the load to a point where I can't handle it and it's not fun anymore. DO NOT WANT.
Second is the fact that for many months now, I have had a major fic project on the go in each of my two fandoms, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to focus on anything but those fics when I write. I don't make graphics regularly (i.e. I have to be in the mood, which doesn't happen often) and I don't vid (although it's my ambition this winter to learn, finally). That means that any fanwork-type contribution from me would have to be in the form of fic, and my muses are firmly pointed in the direction of To Ignite the Stars and Insanity Underrated right now. I doubt that chapters of an established fic would be acceptable for the team games. And yet, I can't write anything else. When I try, my mind invariably wanders back to TIS and IU. If I forced myself to write something else, it would turn out crap, and I would not be comfortable sharing it publicly. Again, not exactly a recipe for me to be a good team member! It's for this same reason that I won't be participating in the fall edition of bsgficexchange. Not to give, and not to receive. I had such trouble with my fic submission last time, even though it turned out basically okay, that it took all of the fun out of it for me and I just didn't want to do it anymore. Maybe I'll get back into fic exchanges after I finish Insanity Underrated, and maybe I'll join the Star Wars comm when TIS is done. But until then, nope.
Third and last, I have to think about the future. Obviously my fall will not end up looking like how I thought or hoped it might, which is something that I am still coming to terms with right now. (That's a whole 'nother post on its own, heh.) But there will be certain commitments, like doing the prediction posts and blogging games for ottawa_senators, that will come into play again this fall. There is also NaNoWriMo, in which I'm now hoping to participate. (With a few caveats - see above re me potentially not being able to write anything other than TIS or IU ...) Those things will also take time, time that I need to plan to expend. The good thing is that I won't have school to think about, for the first time in a long LONG time, and so once I arrive home after work, my time will - mostly - be my own to do with as I please, free of essays and papers and reading and such. That's why I can contemplate doing NaNo, where before I would almost certainly not have been able to seeing as many major assignments are due late October-early November. I've made plans for taking on NaNo and devoting more time to the Sens comm, and at the moment, yet another commitment does not fit in. I'm busy enough - just check out my profile for proof! ;)
Unless - and this is absolutely the only situation in which I would consider taking on something else - a certain stillness community focusing on a certain Girlfriend needed a new mod. But I seriously doubt that will happen.
It might seem silly to make a whole new post explaining why I won't be joining a comm, but as I said, it's just something I wanted to address since I've had several folks ask me about it. It's definitely a good thought, and I really appreciate you guys linking me to it and pimping it and so forth. :) But, at this point in time, it's just not for me. I hope those of you who join it have fun, though!
And, alas, I have now run out of time on my lunch break, and must head back to work. So, another friends-locked real life post to come this evening.