Blegh

[dragonimp]

Writing has ... not been happening, the last several days. Work has been crazy busy with the summer reading game starting, but I was off Sunday and today and just .. haven't been able to write. I got a little done on Sunday, but nowhere near what I wanted. It's not that I don't know what's going to happen, the plot actually resolved itself fairly well Sunday, but when I sit down to write everything that tries to come out is flat and clunky. Like I've regressed back to high school or something.

I read over some of my fics and parts of them read like a tennis shoe in the dryer. And I think, why didn't anyone tell me this was awkward? Then I remember that most people are afraid to leave negative comments. And I start thinking that everyone's just being nice and is too polite (or scared) to tell me it sucks. And, oh yeah, did I mention I've kinda been in one of my "the internet fucking SUCKS" moods lately?

Really, though, I think I've been worn out from work and either allergies or a mild cold/flu (probably allergies), which hasn't been the best for my mood OR any sort of thinking.

I did get a tiny bit of painting done today, so it wasn't all wasted. I really should wash my watercolor palette, though, it's running out of clean places to mix colors. And now my wrist hurts.

Comments

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

Despite what I said above, I actually also edit as I go while I'm writing. It's something I'm personally trying to kick, since it slows down my progress (argh), and I really do think practicing the write-first, edit-later is beneficial, since the brain actually truly does use different parts of the brain for editing and creative writing. Also, you've gotta have something to edit before you can edit.

But to each her own! Seriously, whatever works for you is great. :)

As for betas - they are indeed hard to get. I usually use close RL friends or other writers I've opened up lines of communication with over email to do spot-checks for me. It's not in-depth betaing, since in-depth betaing takes hours and hours and hours of work (i.e. http://www.kekkai.org/synecdochic/meta/bonebeta.html), but it's better than nothing.

And for what it's worth, this is how I opened up lines of communication with those online writers who turned into betas: I left a critique on a story. They replied and asked for more clarification. We took it to email. It evolved from there. (It's really haphazard and completely based on luck, so don't feel bad if you don't have a beta; one of my favorite writers doesn't have a beta either, so . . .)

In lieu of a beta, though, you could read a bunch of writing meta and try to improve from there on your own. No, I'm serious here. Stuff like this (http://synecdochic.dreamwidth.org/282057.html#cutid1) is amazing.

And now I'm going to stop spamming your page with my babble. Good luck! :)

[dragonimp.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, I used to edit obsessively and it really can slow things down. But I get twitchy if I don't go back and edit a section after it's done, if only to make sure that the story is heading in the right direction.

My mom has always edited my original work, and she's great about pointing out things that are shaky or don't work well, but fanfic and yaoi aren't her thing. Same with the RL friends who used to edit for me. So I am beta'less -_- at least for the moment.

Thanks for the link! Those essays look interesting.