11. What do you envy in other writers?

The ability to keep on going to the very end of some really long fic idea.

Novels are being written out there today: I've read several written by ardent Arrowverse authors. Mind you, I've also encountered more than a few bogged-down WIPs. But there are people who really do slog on to the very utter end of something that's 200+ K words long. And there's a fabulous comics-based Flash AU by enina that started in 2015, is already well over a million words, and still going.

Once upon a time, long long ago, I slogged my way all the way through a K/S pon farr novel which had, besides that, a main action plot and a subplot involving a set of junior crew members. I made myself write at least one page a day, every day. Longhand. It got written piecemeal; so there were big gaps between the scenes. If you can even call them scenes! Bitty wee bits. Eventually I typed the whole thing out, filled in the gaps, and revised it a few times. The first few months took a lot of determination; but, in the end, I got inspired to real speed and wrote several pages a day. I've never gone back to re-read it, and I dare say it isn't very good; but the point is that I did actually finish it.

Once upon a time, almost as long ago, I wrote an entire 22-episode virtual season. Initially, I was just doing "an episode" (and then another, and another); but I quite quickly got the idea of writing a full set. They, too, were written out of order. Eventually I had to decide how to organize the thing and fill in blanks. It took years.

Nowadays, I often find myself daunted approaching a gift exchange assignment that typically finishes up at a mere 3K or so. And it's not the fact that I'm writing to a prompt, either. What's depressing is the fact that I do still have a "big idea" or three; and I just can't get down to working on any of them really.

There is always something else to do. Witness the fact that I'm doing this instead of my worldbuildingex assignment!


Full list:
1. Tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?
2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project.
3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway).
4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like).
5. What character that you're writing do you most identify with?
6. What character do you have the most fun writing?
7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?
8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?
9. Are you more of a drabble or a longfic kind of writer? Pantser or plotter? Do you wish you were the other? Both, or neither?
10. How would you describe your writing process?
11. What do you envy in other writers?
12. Do you want your writing to be famous?
13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?
14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?
15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?
16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)
17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?
18. Do any of your stories have alternative versions? (plotlines that you abandoned, AUs of your own work, different characterisations?) Tell us about them.
19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe 'too often', trope you can’t get enough of?)
20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)
21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)
22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?
23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?
24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?
25. What part of writing is the most fun?