Little bit of direction....

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

Okay, so, I've been working on a rather long Due South fic for a few weeks now, and I was really pushing through it at full steam. Everything seemed to be going 100% until, all of a sudden, dead stop. But I'm not claiming writer's block, not at all. I've got notes and notes written down, and I know (mostly) where I'm going with this, and I definitely do NOT want to stop. I'm determined to contribute something, here. But, no matter how much I sit down and want to work on it, I get nothing.

So what do you other Due South writers do when you've lost motivation, or real life seems to be getting in the way or your beta isn't doing quite what he/she is supposed to be doing. Any advice or pointers? Should I sit down and run through a DS marathon? Read other fics? Play the soundtracks at full blast? Or just stare at the computer until sentences start showing up on the screen. Because goodness knows I'm not tired of Fraser and Ray and the lot, but something's got me a little off the track.

Comments

[grey853.livejournal.com]

You named two of the things that help the most for me, watching the show and reading other fics. The more I watch or read, the more likely the "voices" will return.

The key is don't force it. If you do, you'll likely not be pleased with the result.

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

You're quite right. I made myself write the last scene, and I didn't like it at all. So I think I'll try that - watch some episodes with an eye to starting over from there. Thanks a bunch. :)

[grey853.livejournal.com]

Good luck with whatever you're writing. I know how hard it is to keep the momentum going with a longer piece. I'm just winding down from a novel that's running at over 550 pages and still has several more scenes to go.

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

Wow...good luck with that. Friend of mine just finished her novel, but I know it's not quite that long!

[grey853.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's the fourth in a series, so it's been a really long, long journey. It feels strange that it's finally getting to an ending.

[sharon28.livejournal.com]

running at over 550 pages and still has several more scenes to go

Wow, the most I ever wrote was about 70-odd pages and I had a terrible time doing it. Is it a DS one by any chance?

[grey853.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's DS, Fraser/RayK. It's the fourth book in the BYGONES series. The first two are at my website, the third in a zine about to time out about the same time this one goes into zine form. It shouldn't take this long to write, but it just goes really slow when you're trying to tie up all the pieces from a couple of thousand pages.

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

Hm! Mind if I ask for directions to links where I might read the other three? (especially if a zine is about to time out...!)

[grey853.livejournal.com]

My site is at
http://grey.ravenshadow.net/

Just scroll down to the DS section. The third novel will probably go up at the end of September.

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you!

[buzzylittleb.livejournal.com]

Oooh, more Bygones. And nicely coinciding with reclaiming the computer desk in my room from the brother for bother-free reading.

[grey853.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Glad to see there's still an audience. I really, really didn't intend for it to take so long, but RL can be such a contentious bitch.

[revbiscuit.livejournal.com]

Glad to see there's still an audience

Oh, there is, there is. Don't you worry about that. To be honest I never realised you were you, if that makes any sense (probably doesn't) or that you were still writing dS. Anyway, very happy to know there's more of that to come.

[grey853.livejournal.com]

To be honest I never realised you were you,

>>Yep, been me a long time now. *G*

Yes, I'm still working in DS. Once I finish BYGONES, I hope to write more DS but in shorter forms so there's not such a huge gap between one story and the next. Don't know how successful I'll be. I tend to start with a small idea and then it just gets a life of its own.

[tallykat668.livejournal.com]

That tweaked my interest, so I counted up the pages in my current dS novel. 338 pages and counting! w00t! I feel productive, all of a sudden.

[grey853.livejournal.com]

Yea, that sounds good. I like longer stories over shorter ones. As long as it's Fraser/RayK, I'm likely to read it.

[audaxfemina.livejournal.com]

Drink Molson and start talking to yourself, reading the dialogue/story out loud from start to finish. That's what I do. Swear to God it helps. :) Of course, I live alone, and my cats don't mind listening to me pretending to be Fraser and Ray. The more I get into their heads, the more they write themselves.

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

LOL...sounds like a plan. My cats certainly won't mind either. But, believe it or not, I don't know what 'Molson' is. ^_~

[audaxfemina.livejournal.com]

Canadian beer. Molson, Moosehead, Labatt Blue... they all help get me into the groove. But no more than two a night. Cause after that, I start writing crap even a beta couldn't decipher. Barring that, just about anything Canadian in either food or drink helps. :) Don't know why.

Canada Dry is a great ginger ale if you don't drink beer.

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

Canada Dry! Yay! XD

The only beer I've ever had is Guiness. I don't think I've ever seen a Canadian beer in this town, to be honest. Now I'm going to have to check -- just to satisfy my curiosity.

[audaxfemina.livejournal.com]

Ah. I am a grad student at a state university where the main things to do on weekends involve copious amounts of beer one way or the other. It's just that I abhor Shiner Bock and Lone Star beer... and I like Newcastle Brown Ale, Microbrews and Canadian beer. :) I also won't refuse a Heineken.

Besides, one of my current WIPs takes place in Canada, so I'm having to research brands that exist there that a person would buy. :)

[ashkta.livejournal.com]

And part of the research definitely involves taste testing, right? ^_~

[audaxfemina.livejournal.com]

Of course. As well as the trip I took with family to Sault Ste. Marie. :)