Fests, Fests, Fests

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

Since re-joining Livejournal in August, 2011, I have discovered these little challenges called fests. They are addicting, never-ending and excellent fun. The Harry/Draco fandom seems to be compacted with them, but that only makes the writing a little more exciting, right? Every part of the fests is all part of the fun: Prompting, claiming, the writing, deadlines, anonymous postings, and the big reveals.

However, after prompting and claiming comes the writing and whether the story is small or large, there has to be some planning put into it, right? If not just for the plot, but for your own schedule. With writing comes not only real life, but other fests which you have signed up for when you really shouldn't have (What? I told you they were addicting!).

This is what I have found since I've discovered fests. It starts off as one fest, then you realize how fun it is, so you sign up for another and another and then before you know it, you are signed up for at least ten! So with these fests, there has to be at least some sort of schedule, right? There is for me. Or at least, I try.

I don't know whether it's because I'm just pedantic or something like that, but I feel as though I need to always have myself organised for these fests. However, it doesn't always happen as we plan it, does it? It doesn't for me.

The Planning of the Story

For me, I have to have a basic plan written down. I have to know when my deadlines are and what my prompt is. Then, I jot down a summary and go from there. One of my weaknesses is my planning. I plan each chapter and it ends up running off in a completely different direction, but I don't stop it. Is this my mistake? When your muse works, you have to let it work it's own magic, right? My planning isn't always the best to begin with.

I start with this:



It's simple. Just the basic idea of what I want to do and the deadlines. Sometimes, I even write down when I want to start writing.

Diaries

I don't know if it's my fascination with having a diary (I have three 2012 diaries at the moment) or whether it's a common thing. I like to write down when stories are due in this diary. Every day I look at it and see what's coming up. Even though I really do try to stay ahead of the fests, it doesn't always happen. With me, there is always something that distracts me from writing the story earlier. Whether it be writing a pinch-hit for another fest or the muse dies, either way, I always seem to be behind.

This diary is my best friend:



Daily Word Counts

I try to write every day which is sometimes hard to do when I've been working all day or if my muse just doesn't want to work. However, I've convinced myself that if I write every day, even if it sounds bad, I can always go back and fix it when my muse is working, right? And there is always a beta or a cheerleader, who's there to help you and guide you. They can tell you where you went wrong and what needs fixing.

For daily word counts I have this habit of making myself a schedule. I write down how many words of each fest I want to write that day. If I miss a day, I try slot it in to another one. It's hard to write these words when something comes up and it distracts you. Get a surprise visit from your parents? I have. Did your friends message you to ask if you want to go to the movies? Mine have. There is always something to distract me, personally, and I'm starting to wonder if it's just an excuse on my behalf for not writing when I'm tired or when my muse just isn't working.

Here is my schedule:



Conclusion

So you are probably wondering, 'what in the bloody hell is she going on about?' right? The whole point of this post is that I want to know what you do. We all have different ways of planning; we all have distractions and ideas. So I want to know this: how many fests are you participating at the moment? Have you made a schedule for your writing? Do you have a daily word count? How do you manage them all? Tell us about your writing adventures, because everyone else's ideas intrigue me and I want to know how everyone does it.

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE. I hope all your dreams come true in 2012. :)

Comments

[kitty_fic]

I LOVE to hear how people plan! Very excellent!

As for me! I always have too many fests I'm trying to do and not enough words a day!

I'm not nearly as detailed as you are. Though I need to be! My plan is to write 500-1000 words a day and if I do that then I can mostly stay on top of things, but it doesn't always happen! My muse comes and goes and by the time I get to sit down and write I'm so tired!


I do keep track of my deadlines in my calendar on sticky notes and I keep an online checklist as well as one on paper just so that I can keep myself focused!


Thanks for posting this bb! <3

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

I don't think my detailed plans help, not when I get in the mood where my muse is dead and I keep saying to myself "Oh, I'll write these words tomorrow." When tomorrow comes, they still aren't done. But 500-1000 words a day is a good plan! Even if they don't come out how you want them, you can always go back to fix them up later, when you aren't tired or when your muse is working.

I love your checklists. lol. They are awesome! Very organisational.

You're welcome <3 It would have sounded better, if I wasn't so tired. :P

[kitty_fic]

I think I'm going to buy myself a planner today for keeping track of fandom commitments. LOL Something weekly/monthly maybe? I'll look at what I can find and then post here when I do get it! <3

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

YAY. Planners are good!

[tryslora]

I'm not nearly so detailed, but I do try to stay organized in my own way.

At any time, I'm working on a mix of fics for fests, fics for myself, as well as original fiction (a novel and possibly short stories). One change I made recently is to treat workshop posting dates and short story calls for submission in the same way I treat fest dates, so everything falls together in one schedule and doesn't get lost.

For the schedule, I have two whiteboards, one of which needs updating currently. The big one is twelve quadrants, one for each month, and as I get due dates, I write them in the proper quadrant on that board. I plan to update that one this weekend. I also keep track of my far away dates, like when I want to finish the next novel by, or what months are going to be dedicated to editing, on that calendar. It went to hell when I had to blow off NaNo which just wrecked all my original fic planning.

The second whiteboard is a small one and just holds the immediate upcoming dates, so I know what I'm working on right this second. Right now it says: workshop (1/4), edit sloan story (1/3), bbm draft (1/10), and nextgenfest (2/13). It also has notes on whether I want to pick up a second harrysubmits or fourth wizsprogs based on if I finish up the workshop, sloan story, and bbm draft this weekend.

My second level of organization is in Scrivener, where I've got folders with prompts and labels and dates and everything put in order of what I'm working on and when it's due. The fics that don't have due dates attached have fallen to the bottom of the list, where they are getting sadly dusty. :(

I also have a notebook where I keep random notes to myself (like an opening line and a premise for a novel that I found last night), or where I write longhand when I need to plan something I can't see properly on screen (like taking notes on the songs for bbm last night). I occasionally write longhand when I'm somewhere I can't get out a laptop or the iPad easily.

Generally, I feel utterly out of control and am afraid that I've forgotten a fest. I have to put every fest into Scrivener as soon as my prompt is accepted, or I lose track of it, which is what happened with BBM. I didn't record it immediately because I knew I wasn't going to get to start it right away. In retrospect, I should've just settled in and had fun with it right away, since I bombed out of NaNo anyway.

You look so ORGANIZED!!!

[kitty_fic]

These are great ideas!

I want to know more about Scrivener tooo!

Would you be willing to make a post to the comm describing/reviewing it? What it's all about and what you like about it etc?

I've never heard of it.


<3

[tryslora]

Sure, I can do that! It's finally no longer a Mac only program, although I think it's still better on the Mac than on the PC. I honestly can't live my writing life without it, and I know that I don't even use it to its fullest potential!

[kitty_fic]

Wonderful! Thank you so much! <3

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

That sounds very organised to me! Whiteboards are so useful. And I agree with Kitty, I have no idea what a Scrivener is and I'd love to see it!

[tryslora]

My whiteboard will be waaaay more useful when it has good information on it. And when I stop screwing around and start paying attention to what I'm doing on it. *laughs* I look at it now and all I can think is just how far out of whack I am in my schedule. I need to erase and rewrite it so I stop feeling QUITE so guilty.

Scrivener is the world's best writing program (IMO). It lets me scribble in the margins, and maintain many things, and have notes and pictures and all kinds of stuff carried together in one file. I totally love it. And I will describe it better than that in a review at some point in the near future!

[kitty_fic]

Is it a handwritten table or on the computer? That sounds like a good idea also for longer fics! <3

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

That's still a good way of doing it. I find that the best ideas come from going out and shopping. Do you always have a notepad with you or do you just write them down when you get back home?

[deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com]

O_O Good lord, bb. Your to-do list... looks a lot like mine usually does. *lol*

I've actually gotten my list down to 3 fests, and am working my way to moving it down to 2, hopefully by the end of the ww. My means of planning is a notebook full of prompt details, outlines, and snippets that I jot down as they come if I'm not by the computer, and then my Google Calendar full of deadlines.

[kitty_fic]

I've thought about using google calendar! Does that work for you? I'm horrible for updating calendars!

[deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com]

I open the calendar and add the deadline as soon as I click the post button to sign up for a fest, so even if it's an exchange, the deadline is on my list before I even get my assignment, just to be sure I don't forget to add it. I also set the alert on the deadline to send me an e-mail two weeks before and the day before the fic is due. So yeah, works pretty well for me. ^_^


And, as soon as I turn something in, I go back and remove it from the calendar so that I don't confuse myself thinking I hadn't done it yet. xD

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

LOL. It's a bit full on at the moment, but it's only like this when I'm on holidays. When I get back to uni, I'll only be doing two fests a month.

Ah, I do love the notebook. They do come in handy, yes? And I didn't even know Google had a calendar. I am going to have to check this out.

[khalulu]

Umm - I'm a fairly slow writer and not so good at multi-tasking, so 2 fests at once was a lot for me. Basically I write out lots of snippets of scenes and dialogue and a general list of where I think a story will go, and just do one story at a time, starting with the one that's due first - it pretty much occupies my writing mind until it's done. If I do get ideas for the other I'll jot them down, though. I was jotting down ideas for several unclaimed prompts for the same fest at one point, thinking I might have time to write them after I finished the one I got, but then I signed up for a second fest and that took all my spare writing energy. My fic that wasn't for a fest has languished since there wasn't a deadline.

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

Do you find that your writing follows your planning or does your muse run off to other places? You’re a lot smarter than me. I sign up to way too many fests, I think. :P

[khalulu]

I don't know about smarter, it's just that signing up for a lot of fests at once would be more stressful than fun for me. I don't have a detailed plan to start - it more evolves. I collect a list of ideas for scenes or dialogue and write or research whatever pieces I have energy for at the time, not necessarily in order - I may not know the order yet. That lets my muse follow its whims but still be working on the same story. Later I stitch things together and add connections or adaptations to make it flow, and see what the beta says. (This is for the three 12 - 14,000 word stories I've written.) I know some people have to begin at the beginning and write in order, which may be faster or more efficient, or essential for more plot-driven stories.

[meglw0228.livejournal.com]

I know I'm late to the party, but I just gotta say I sorta love you for this! I don't do much planning at all. The most I did before seeing this was keeping track of my word counts every day, I have quite a few spreadsheets for them and they helped me get into a pattern. Now I got a planner quite similar to your diary and use it to help plan for fests. It's been a huge help this past week, and keeps me quite a bit more organized. Thank you!

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

Planners are so helpful. Planning things out really does help a lot. I think I'd be lost without mine <3