Writing woes

[urbandruid]

I'm having a moment.

You know, one of those moments most of us who are writers have. I'm sitting here flipping through my notebooks (ignoring the Myths reading I have to do by tomorrow, ignoring the fact I really ought to pick up around the apartment a bit) and wondering if any of this is good enough to type up and post. If it's worth continuing any of it. There are a few drabbles in there, stuff that is done for sure, but most of it is screaming, hey, continue me and I'm not sure I can deal. :)

There are 7 bits of Moody/Penny fic in one notebook alone. Yes, I said 7.

Plus the Tom/Minerva that is just sort of taunting me. Yo, penemuel, is this your Tom muse?

And as if this wasn't enough trouble, I have 4 .doc files sitting in the Harry Potter folder, along with another drabble. Now, one of the .docs is almost done, but there's another that wants to be an epic when it grows up.

I don't know about the notebook stuff- I don't know if I really want to go there. That is 11 different bits of fic. 12 if I'm still speaking to the Minerva fic, and I'm not sure I am just now. Plus everything else I have going.

I need to update that unfinished fics meme, but I fear very greatly the total number of fics that will be on it.

And- and -there is that pesky little voice whispering in the back of my head, the one that says, pick up the notebook, grab that pen... we're not done talking yet, girl. And I am either losing my mind- a distinct possibility, no doubt- or that voice belongs to one Alastor Moody. I suspect the muses of my new pals pandoraculpa and evil_whimsey have been a bad influence on my Moody. Damn you guys. :) Tell me again how you don't kill him?

*facepalms* Let's make this easy. Could someone please just shoot me now?

Comments

[pandoraculpa.livejournal.com]

Don't feel too bad about the WIPs. Twelve is small potatoes; I'd consider things manageable if that was all I had! Of course, this would also indicate to me that you probably finish far more than I do, which is a serious point in your favor.

Lessee...my WIPs currently encompass eight one-shots, seven chaptereds, three smutfics, and various and sundry 'completed' drabbles that someday need to be smoothed out and polished. Oh- and I forgot to add the Junk Drawer fic and the new...whatever you want to call it fic that I just began on the LJ. So that's twenty right there. Maybe a few others I forgot, or that are on paper. I'm a masochist.

And how do I not kill Moody? Dude- masochist, not an idiot. I know who'd end up dead in that match-up. Nope, I pick my battles. (*looks around hastily* but I've found that if you just say, 'okay, whatever,' and start to write about someone else, he'll be all up in your face in no time. Go check out evil_whimsey's Moody/Gilderoy fic. I put her up to it because the Old Man is as much of an attention hound as Lockhart, though that intent doesn't exactly carry through on the fic she produced--- but omg- the funny!!!)

[urbandruid.livejournal.com]

If 12 was only all I had...but that's just the Moody/Penny stuff. You add the Snape/Minerva, and I'm in trouble. Let alone every other fandom I play in...

We're both masochists. And insane, besides. :)

Um...yeah, that's a good point. That's a very good point, really. I'm pretty sure he'd kick my ass, too. (Really? So you mean if I picked up that Minerva fic and played with it for a while, he might behave himself? My Moody muse has definitly drawn inspiration from yours... the things I do for a character I really like, I swear... Whoa, wait a second, Moody/who? *clicks, reads* OMG! Now that is funny! Off to fangirl evil_whimsey some more...)

[evil-whimsey.livejournal.com]

Hear you loud and clear, about The Fear of unfinished symphonies. (*points at pandoraculpa. I seriously admire the hell outta her, for being able to turn to and update all those WIPs.)
Every time I have to set something aside due to stuckness, I get terrified. Mainly due to having works numbering in the hundreds of pages, that I have neither desire or intent to revisit.
Maybe it's due to having a highly partitioned brain, or maybe it's pure neurosis. Whatever, the point is I'm learning from brave examples, to love and pet all the fic fragments and ideas that come up, and to be very open to cross-pollination with like-minded writers.
'Cause really, the learning that happens, when you run with stuff and throw it out there. Amazing.

And the Moody muse? Oh man, I don't dare mess with him. He's kinda like Santa Claus, y'know? He sees you when you're sleeping, and all that. And yeah, the Old Man does tend to muscle in and monopolize one's life.
(*shrugs*) It's the Moody love gone wild. No cure for it I know of.
But. Troublesome and interfering as he is, I miss the crusty whacko when he wanders off. Badly.

Sorry. I'm in the habit of running off at the brain with comments. Don't mean to spam or overwhelm.

[urbandruid.livejournal.com]

*nods* Wow... you sound like you know exactly what I'm talking about. Which is very cool. If I'm going nuts, at least I'm not there by myself. I have...*counts* four chaptered fics, various fandoms- 2 are HP, and they're the only ones that have seen any work lately. And 'lately' is kind of a relative term. And half the time I'm afraid I'm never going to finish them. The other fandom ones, sometimes I really wonder. The HP ones will get there someyear... I hope.

But yeah, I'm getting to the point where I'm less "eh, this sucks" and more "hey, you wrote something. go me!" And yeah, some of it sucks, but some of it just needs a little polish, too...

Cross-pollination. I really like that. And am probably already doing it, as I was compelled to borrow that lovely image of Moody in the blue jeans and white shirt... 'scuse me a sec... *fans self* Uh yeah. Anyway... If what I did with that ever goes anywhere, and I think it probably will, I can only imagine the credits. "I stole the outfit from Pandora and Whimsey, who got it from..." I find this amusing for some reason. :)

It's funny, you know? Even the most indimidating of characters who've visited me as muses, I've been able to reason with. Or threaten with the might of the all-powerful Pen or Keyboard. I browbeat Palpatine from Star Wars, came to an understanding with Bellatrix... I try it with Moody, and he just looks at me. Sometimes the eyebrow goes up a bit. There might've been a mumble, which it's probably just as well I couldn't hear. Anyway, I'm starting to understand... he's...different. Drives me nuts, but I'm starting to think maybe it's the good kind of crazy.

(And I do sound nuts, don't I?)

But I know just what you mean. I guess he just got tired of playing it subtle- I was looking through some old fic today, and I realize he's shown up in damn near everything I've ever written. I can only think of...one fic he could possibly have shown up in that he didn't. Two at most. And this started with my first HP fic. So now he's shown up and I don't think I'm getting rid of him... and I'm sometimes not all that bothered by this.

Speaking of running off with comments... sorry about this. I get going and sometimes don't know when to shut up. :)

[urbandruid.livejournal.com]

And I lied, actually. 7 chaptered fics. I forgot a fandom. :)