Kill Winter! (also known as a CHEERLEADING post!)

[scifishipper]

Hello writerly friends! Several of us, including me, have been feeling a little uninspired and down about writing and other life things. I would love for us to rally around and give each other support

Comments

[millari]

ETA: I forgot when I was writing this comment that you have a giftfic with a deadline of a week. I realize that my advice is blithely ignorant of that reality. The one thing I can offer by way of advice about that is, remind yourself of the following:

a. people love getting gift fics. they tend not to be picky. and even if they were, they'll generally just find something okay. and they certainly won't tell you that they didn't love it, unless they're a total jerk, and in that case, they're not worth stressing over anyway.

b. it doetsn't have to be perfect, it just has to be done. this is a mantra I have to tell myself often to get out of the avoidant loop. it always amazes me whenever I follow my own advice on this, and i turn something in I feel less than great about, and I get very positive reviews. I'm often like, "Seriously? You liked that?" But it got done and they're happy, so what more can I really ask for? Maybe just try writing "crap" but get some narrative down on paper, any narrative, stream of consciousness writing even. Then look it over. You might find a kernel of something you like and can pick up a thread with. Tell yourself that it's simply a brainstorming exercise and you're under no obligation to make it be your story, and see what happens.

Good luck!

I have been recently finding out anew how valuable it can be to work with another person in the way you describe, and I'm sorry you are getting less of that due to circumstances beyond anyone's control.

I think the key is in what you said about life being stressful right now. I'm a big believer in needing mental space to breathe before one can undertake anything creative. If you're stressed all the time, I feel that writing is unlikely to happen unless you're using it as an avoidant means of escape. ;/ So don't beat yourself up about it right now. And you're ahead of your deadlines, so you're really probably doing okay, and you'll make up the lost ground later when you're in the zone to write and you'll most likely write in bursts of activity. :)

Good luck!

[lanalucy]

It's good to be reminded of things we already know. For me, anyway.

I do tend to write in bursts sometimes. Usually, it's steady, then three or four times a month, I get bursts of several thousand words, and I feel all special. And probably high. lol

When I first got into writing, it was something of an escape hatch - my depression was extraordinarily bad, and writing was like the shiny new boyfriend, taking my mind off everything icky. I need to stop taking the shiny boyfriend for granted. :/

You're right. The stress is making everything worse. I planned my goals for times of no writing, and maybe I just have to accept that this is one of those times I planned for.

And the giftfic is something I wanted to write. It's not expected, I don't think. So maybe I just have to get over myself, make it to Friday, and see if the muse will play nice with me.

{hugs}

[millari]

Oh, the bsg fandom and writing was a total escape hatch for depression for me too when I first got into it. I keep having to remind myself not to judge myself by that standard, when I was putting *everything* aside - even important work things - to write. Of course I was productive: it was a shiny new fandom and I was doing nothing else but writing in it, with other excited fans around me constantly talking about a show that was on the air each week. It was the perfect storm for a lot of writing, so I shouldn't be surprised that I'm not nearly as productive at writing nowadays. But it's a nice, slow burn rather than a fevered intensity, and I guess that's okay too, if you know, i want to have a RL as well. ;)