Ten Rules to Self...

[kennahijja]

... the next time Self participates in a Fest/Exchange:

1) I will not even think about entering unless I know I'll have at least two months' time with no serious projects except the fest fic.**

2) I will not take the "write the fic, then insert the sex scenes" approach because flow and characterisation always suffer. Likewise, I'll not write scenes all over the place and out of context.

3) I will not whine on hummelchen's shoulder, 'cause next time she'll strangle me for sure, and deservedly so. In addition, I will not whine in general! Not just not on hummelchen's shoulder.

4) I will not ask for a deadline extension. Full stop, no exceptions. I'll be in bloody time!

5) I will not pray that my betas will turn around sixty pages in two days. I'll make sure to be done early so there'll be plenty of time for betaing and editing.

6) I will not procrastinate by whipping through my f-list to see if someone's even later with their fic in order to feel better.

7) I will not start wibbling halfway through "this is so bad, I should've written Plot B", least of all when there's no time for even thinking about Plot B, and Plot B would be twice as bad.

8) I will not post-bloody-pone today's pensum telling myself "ah, you'll rip that off easily tomorrow".

9) I will write the averaged word count. Ok, within limits, but I will *not* end up with a story twice as long as what I'd planned for.

10) I will write at the computer when I have the time, not only by hand. I know I can do it. It's just, well, tough and the games are so bloody distracting…

** oops - broke that already. So much for the likelihood of those rules being followed :(.

Comments

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

Ah, I could pretty much copy this word for word into my journal. I'm still working on an overdue fest fic right now as a matter of fact. #7 owns me.

[liriaen.livejournal.com]

Word. OMG, so utterly... ^_-

[masterofmercury.livejournal.com]

I wish I could keep at least half of that rules. Sigh.

[mieronna.livejournal.com]

Amen to 4 and 6 and 8 and some others. Just substitute fic with art.

Wait I think I'm just breaking 6! (Well, the procrastination on lj part)

*hurries off*

[waterbird.livejournal.com]

Heh. I had a nightmare about my exchange fic last night -- and I haven't even received my assignment yet!

[the_con_cept.livejournal.com]

2) I will not take the "write the fic, then insert the sex scenes" approach because flow and characterisation always suffer. Likewise, I'll not write scenes all over the place and out of context.

Wow! I'm the exact opposite! Last time I wrote the sex ('cause it was fun) and then I went back and buffed it up with a little plot, and then went, "Ohhh, what if so-and-so was murdering someone?" and turned the whole thing into a mystery. I'm still not sure that worked, though. If I could only come up with real plot BEFORE the sex, we wouldn't have this problem. *g*

[lazy-neutrino.livejournal.com]

5) I will not pray that my betas will turn around sixty pages in two days. I'll make sure to be done early so there'll be plenty of time for betaing and editing.

You will, however, play that your beta will turn around two pages in stixy days. Because that is reasonable.

*hangs head*

[riibu.livejournal.com]

So true! I should copy these rules on my desktop, there are altogether too many interesting exchanges/fests around just now.

[karaontai.livejournal.com]

Games, what games...
Games and Internet are the reason I never get anything done and procratination is my middle name. So you possibly cannot be any worse then me. No one can :-) LOL.
And don't beat yourself up soo badly...
Hugs

[leni-jess.livejournal.com]

I am guilty of all but #6 and #10 - never looked back once I had a computer! (And I cured myself of #2a, for much the same reason.) I don't suppose I'm going to get much better, either. I'm not affected by #9 - I write till the tap runs dry, or I don't write.

My resolution is more like "Okay, you roughed this scene out in your head at 3 am; now when you get up write it down, instead of waiting for the next one!" This can lead to months of agony, because I keep revisiting that initial scene instead of moving on.

It's remarkable how many and what good fics you turn out nonetheless!

[bellonablack.livejournal.com]

I agree. I wrote more when I wasn't on the internet. >.> Darn it.

-BB