Hey there, Switcheroonies!

I thought it'd be fun to have a thread where we can share our joys and woes of writing. Who's in?

It's been a crazy while at work, and I haven't had as much time or energy to devote to my fic as I'd have wanted to. That said, I'm still pretty happy; I've picked out the work I'm going to be basing my fic on, and I have the general concept of my sequel picked out. I've got a nice opening written out, to the tune of 250 words or so.

So, how's it going with you fine fellows?

6368442

Narrowed it down almost instantly to one, and even then that's mostly because it was short and had the one (admittedly major) concept I could use. Truth be told, I was assigned a tricky user.

I think I can make the story work, but I suspect it'll involve a lot of improvisation, and goodness knows how the recipient will take it.

6368442
After a false start with one very tempting but low-continuation-potential story, I have a source, an outline, and both story and chapter titles.

The whole 'you don't know who has you until they post your story' is so tantalizing. Every time I read one of your replies, my first thought is "is this the person who got my name?"

6368459
Nice! Titles can be so hard.

6368442
Switcheroonies. I love that.

Between work, a six-year-old, and doctor's appointments, I haven't had the time to read many more of my author's stories. I want to paw through them all before settling on one idea. There's plenty of material to choose from, though, and I'm excited to see what idea jumps out at me next.

I was assigned someone who has a theme in several of their stories that I'm not adapt at. I'm in the process of reviewing one of the side stories and have ideas for a series of snippets from around the world while the story is going on. Need to finish reading to make sure it's viable and there is at least one other story I want to read first.

6368442
Good idea, here. :)

I've started reading my selection's stories. Got some good ones, too. More than tempted to Follow... but that might tip him/her off. ;) I won't be able to really write until Monday, my next day off.

Not gonna lie. I'm a little... nervous. I used to post fics at theforce.net, and every Christmas the fic boards would host a fic-swap, where we'd all post to a thread what we wanted written, our names would be put into a metaphorical hat, and we'd get someone else's names. I did it four or five times, always wrote the fic premise I got. But I only had one person write my fic request. :(

I went through some of my assignee's stories, and maybe I got an idea. My main problem is that I don't want to risk ruin twists, discoveries or other nifty stuff with a spoiler-risky concept.

I also tremble at the idea of facing some of those thematics, as they are quite unfamiliar to me. On the other hand, I signed up for a challenge, so I won't complain (much).

6368695
That's half the battle, isn't it: writing a story that complements and adds to someone else's work without ruining the original for new readers... or the author, I suppose! It's a challenge, but well worth the effort in the spirit of the contest.

I (hypocritically; I'm a little shaky too ) feel that the only thing that should worry us is the thought that we won't finish our story. After all, these are a gift of sorts, and even an unpolished gift is a sweet gesture.

6368459
i'm at a similar point, plus i've written a draft for the first chapter.

but i'm having second thoughts and doubts- just how connected does our story have to be to the original? tumbleweed's announcement blog only said "based on/inspired by".

One of the hard parts about this is resisting the temptation to ask for some pointers on how some aspect of their universe works so you don't get anything wrong. Right now, I'm in the idea phase, and I've managed to find something that struck my fancy. Just need to figure out how it to make it work.

But, I also have some fun speculating on who got me and what story they're writing a little spin-off of.

I have cover art!!!!

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I'm legit sorry that happened to you. And good on you for doing your end of the bargain.

I'm nervous about mine. I don't wanna screw this up for the person whose work I'm expanding/adapting.

Uh-oh. I've now read over half of my author's library and I'm beginning to realize just how good they are at tying up loose ends and giving their readers closure. Once I saw their name, I knew that writing a direct sequel wouldn't be the right choice, but this is beginning to grow worrisome.

Oh, I'll mock something up, I'm sure of it... I just hope it's something we'll both be pleased with in the end.

My assigned author has a pretty good AU that I can work off of. It's basically canon except a notable secondary character has an additional relationship with an original character (man, how vague can I get?). They have a couple stories set many years into their relationship, and a smaller one setting up how they met, so I'm thinking I can do something in-between in the "implied, but not specifically spelled out" area and it shouldn't mess up their canon any.

My main concern is that this is overlapping with the last week before my senior thesis is due, which I had planned to have finished two weeks ago (a plan which did not pan out). So I may end up with something shorter than I'd like. I'd say possibly unpolished as well, but I'm very neurotic about checking over my work and rereading and rereading and rereading to catch every possible extraneous comma or poor adjective choice, so even if it's short it should look pretty.

I think I found something I can work with.

Time for outlines.

6368500

The whole 'you don't know who has you until they post your story' is so tantalizing. Every time I read one of your replies, my first thought is "is this the person who got my name?"

Ha, I'm getting that feeling as I browse through other people's replies too. Maybe we should start a betting thread?

I got a little work done my fic tonight despite having had a busy weekend.

I'm expecting it to be pretty short, but then so was the original work. It's a kind of fic that doesn't really lend itself to long plots.

I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far.

Mine ended up being a short and sweet piece, befitting its original inspiration. I'm getting my editors on it to polish it to a sheen since I have time.

6375247

Good grief, you're fast. I haven't even started mine yet.

Well, I've got my idea. I think I know the direction I wanna go with mine.

I've finally finished all of their stories. I swear, their work is so perfectly contained that it feels sacreligious to try to expand upon any of it. I'll do my best—I have a few ideas—but oh my stars, I have my work cut out for me.

Outline done, started to write. And it's hard, but I think that's just my fault for what I've chosen to do. Still, I'm optimistic.

Okay, I have two ideas. One is, I dunno, a couple thousand words, more reminiscing and hopes than storytelling and plot. The other is going to be a lot of work. Perhaps I should write both and see which I like better.

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The plight of authors everywhere. Perhaps you could ask an editor or a trusted reader for their thoughts, if you need a second opinion.

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Did any names pop out at you in the comment sections of your stories? That's how I found the editor's I've worked with. I'd make it easy and offer a hand myself but if we start editing for each other, that could easily ruin the surprise for someone.

Me, right now:

I have a target picked out and a good idea which I find sufficiently amusing.... Nothing has changed for over a week. I am currently catching up to this deadline and other work in much the same way that Po lit a cart of fireworks to chase after Tai Lung in that big fight in Kung Fu Panda, except that I am using caffeine and have not consumed a Starbucks cart worth of it in one sitting yet.

I finished mine last night. At least, I think I did - I have some ideas by which I think I could expand it, but I'm not sure whether they'd go well with the theme and feeling of the work. But then, like 6375247 said about his story, the short nature fits well with the original too.

Now, to see whether my longstanding beta agrees with me...

My editors/prereaders/friends have gone over my fic and it'll be ready to post come the deadline... Except I don't have a title. Ugh. Titles are hard.

Restricting myself to complete stories, and eliminating any crossovers, gave me a reasonable reading task. I selected a story, the characters to use in said story, and have started writing.

First draft done.

I'm not happy with it. At all.

Still, it's something I hope I can polish. Time to throw some pre-readers at it.

Finally, my senior thesis is done, so I can get to work actually writing this down. I've been rolling ideas around in my head for a while, and enough have finally stuck together to grow into something I like the feeling of. I'm at the stage now where I know all the main plot points and scenes that I want to happen, and as per my usual style, I wrote out a bulleted list of every important "thing" that needs to happen as well as a couple of specific lines.

I've also committed myself to another contest with a due date in early May, so my excitement over writing a story for that will also push me to work on this all the more vigorously.

I like what I've come up with, and I think (hope) the original author will too. My only real concern is that one of their stories is well over 100k words, and I just don't have time to read it all and I fear that the crux of my plot (which is an important, yet unaddressed, part of their character's development) will conflict with something that's been written that I didn't read.

I have more thoroughly outlined my plans for my story and done some basic research to ensure that several events which occur are worthy of their importance. More research may be required, but more than anything else, I need to start writing to tease out the smaller details. I have little doubt that this can turn into a worthy story for the recipient (if I actually complete it).

Right now, I've written a few paragraphs of the thing. I still have that nagging thought that I'm doing something wrong, despite re-reading the chosen fic and making sure I don't contradict anything. I wish I could get more info on any ideas the author has for a continuation of that particular story, so my story doesn't clash with that universe, but I have to keep quiet about it per the rules.

Note to self: Don't get nitpicky on the fic of your fic, the author can't read your mind.

YES! Started mine at last. I basically listened to a handful of pony songs endlessly until I went into a trance-like state. Also, I'm really pleased with the direction it's going in.

Although that said:

• I'm becoming uncertain about its size. This is growing into something much bigger than I expected; it's about a third longer than the original plan required, and I haven't even gotten to the finale yet. Since it's likely to breach 10,000 words, I can't tell if it's better to axe it and start again, or let the story take its natural course and hope for the best. I don't want my recipient to say, "Oh my word, I'm not reading that much."
• I fear I might suddenly stall and be unable to pick up the story again before the deadline. How do people regain motivation when that's happened? I've never found a consistent technique. Or is it better to let it come back to me in its own time? I don't want to force it.

Would much appreciate some advice on this issue, if anyone is willing and able.

And my first attempt at the story crashed, caught fire, and then exploded. It wasn't even the spectacular kind of explosion. Pretty lame, 6/10 at most.

Back to the drawing board, and let's see if I can hammer out something new before the week-end ends.

After considering things, I'm going ahead with my current story plan. Increasing word count or no, the story seems to be going in an encouraging direction. Which leaves just the punctuality issue to deal with, but baby steps, baby steps.

By now, I've passed the halfway mark, and stalled too. Now it's just a matter of waiting for inspiration to turn up with my next cue card.

6388786

Man, I hear ya. It's discouraging when that happens. Here's hoping "take two" is more successful for you.

6390399
I'm making a good time on my second attempt, so it's not as problematic as I feared.

And the second attempt is for the drain. But now I got a good idea!

6393305
Woo! Third time's the charm!

6393305 What 6393355 said!

6393355
6393433
I'm confident this time, which is a pretty big step forward.

Time is closing in and my story is rubbish.

If you need me I'll be on the drama couch.

Me right now:

Haha. Losers. I'm still on my first idea.

I mean, I'm still stuck on my first idea. But, but the point is I'm still on it...

Well, I've got myself 2000 and change words in, and I've only just about set up the characters and inciting incident. But I've decided to push myself to add at least 500 words per day (minimum) from now on so I don't put too much off until the night before.

At least I have a good feel for where it's going.

Still stuck. I have a plan I'm happy with, but the motivation to expand it to full prose seems to be lacking. Is this normal, or cause for concern, or evidence that I should try a "take two" second project instead?

6397491
That seems normal, but there's no harm in playing with another idea if you have one.

6397889

Hm... I suppose it would be a good idea to have a backup, just in case. My main worry there is that, if I try and cater for two, the one might interfere with the other. I think I'll leave it as a last-minute contingency, and in the meantime try and get the current project airborne again. Since you say it's normal, maybe my project just needs a little more time to incubate.