January 2009 list

[donutsweeper]

Overall, a pretty good month

Great Fun To Be Had- TW, Jack/Ianto, It was great fun, but it was just one of those things, PG-13, 300 words (karaokegal lyric prompt)
Back To It- DW, Ace says goodbye to the normal life to return to her old one, G, 100 words (karaokegal lyric prompt + dw100)
Leaving a Mark- TW, Jack/Owen, Owen's learned some things in life, PG, 100 words (karaokegal lyric prompt)
The Long Day- NCIS, Tony's creative when annoying Tim, G, 543 words (for chatona + karaokegal lyric prompt)
Longing Looks- TW, Jack/Ianto (with squick warning), Ianto ages, Jack doesn't, PG, 477 words (for karaokegal)
The Changing of Me- House, dark themes, House thought he changed those around him to be more like him, but maybe it was the other way around, PG, 300 words (karaokegal lyric prompt)
A Case of the Nerves- NCIS, Jimmy's nervous, G, 100 words (ncisdrabble100 challenge: beginnings)
Marks of a Hero- TW, None of Jack's injuries ever leave a scar, PG, 509 words (karaokegal lyric prompt)
Throwing the Pebble- DW, spoilers for "LotTL," the Doctor thinks about how much Jack had changed, G, 337 words (semi-coda to "Telepathic Talks")
The Incident On The Docks- NCIS, A fight on the docks ends badly for DiNozzo, G, 509 words (for mad_jaks)
Breeding Character- DW, Tegan tries to get Turlough to help, G, 230 (for pointytilly)
Laying Claim- TW, Jack/Owen dynamic, Jack teaches Owen a thing or two, PG-13, 136 words (for sistercarrion)
A Night At The Morgue Opera- TW/due South crossover, Ben gets a call from the morgue, G, 353 words (for travels_in_time)
Tossing and Turning- DW, The Doctor couldn't sleep, rated G, 335 words (for unfeathered + karaokegal lyric prompt)
Silent Symphony - NCIS, Gibbs and Abby can say a lot without speaking, G, 200 words, (for awanderingbard)
Holding Down the Fort - Dresden Files (bookverse), Harry has a quick conversation with Mouse and Mister, G, 235 words, (for aeron_lanart)
Straight Flush, Jack High- DW, The Doctor makes a tactical error in taking Jack to the Rybar Nebula, G, 464 words (for _medley_)
The Fix-it Man - SPN, Dean does what he has to so he can get the job done, G, 441 words (spnflashfic)
Caffeinated Killings - NCIS, Ducky knows how to keep Abby happy, G, 100 words (kensieg and the ncisdrabble100 challenge: sweet)
An Atypical Rendezvous - NCIS/TW crossover, Gibbs meets up with Jack Harkness again, G, 300, (for secbeth, sequel to "An Atypical Investigation")
A Moment In The Morgue - NCIS, Gibbs and Ducky ready the morgue, G, 232 (for nakeisha)
The Ache- TW, Jack was Torchwood now, and tired of it, G, 100 words (for snakewhissperer and tw100 challenge: politics)
Acceptance - NCIS, Tony broods and Gibbs tried to help, G, 200 words (for thaddeusfavour and ncisdrabble100 challenge: reflection)
Happydale Horrors - SPN/TW crossover (sort of), The ‘Happydale Home for Seniors’ was living up to its name, unfortunately for Sam and Dean, PG, 644, (for morgynleri_fic)
Just Another Day - SGA, It had been a long time since Ronon had been part of a team like this, G, 400 words (LFWS entry)
In The Shadows Lurk - NCIS/SPN crossover, in Peoria Tony DiNozzo becomes entangled with both a serial killer and a mysterious man in a black Impala, PG, 7612 words

5 drabbles, 20 ficlets, 1 full length story. 26 stories total. 15257 total words

I signed up at findyourwords for writing a total of 85,000 words this year (last year's total was 77653) and the resolution to write or edit every day and do a big bang. We'll see what happens.

Only two things this month were not written as responses to requests or challenges. I need to work on that.

Comments

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

I'm fascinated by the idea of knowing the ending before you start. It might be a result of being more used to writing non-fiction

Hmm, might be, though I guess with formal writing I did have to train myself to plan before writing, because it goes much better that way. (It has still managed to surprise me though!)

"Knowing the ending before [I] start" sounds funny all of a sudden, because even though we were talking about the actually writing down of the words, I guess I do think of the mental process before that as part of the writing. It has twist and unexpected turns as it's taking shape. I just don't think I'd be able to write anything of any length without having a pretty good outline, because I can't write much in a sitting, certainly not more than 1000 words. If I can write in chunks, though - "I'll write this scene today, and then I can stop and do that scene tomorrow" it seems manageable.

Did I remember wrong, thinking that you said you write to see what happens? It's a good point about the "character story" - I know what you mean, and I know you always have that in mind. It's what always rings out so strongly in your writing.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

What you say about writing in manageable chunks definitely makes sense. I can see that being a really good thing, being able to just stop, knowing where it's going and how much more you've got to go.

In terms of plot, I always write to see what happens. I know what I want to say about characters, and that steers the story overall (dictates reactions and thereby the plot), but I usually have absolutely no idea 'who did it' until I've really got going. As a rule of thumb for long stories (ie over about 3k), I'll get to 1/3 of the way through and figure out the major plot point, then get to 2/3 of the way through and figure out the ending. For me, it has to gather momentum in my head as I go, rather than being spaced out evenly. I'm definitely a binge writer (well, I'm a binger generally, but particularly with writing) and I need that impetus to get done.

Z bears the brunt of this. When I was writing 'Moonrise', I knew I wanted the ninja monks, but I had no idea whatsoever who had done it and I was coming up to the end of Jack's part, where I really *had* to know. We were talking about something related, when I suddenly went "OH GOOD GRIEF IT'S SARAH!"

Then had to explain myself ;) I have to do that alot...