I mostly focused on planning; for one thing, I went through my writing goals and plans at the moment, exploring them in form of a diagram that's a bit like a mind-map but I shaped it like a multi-branched tree instead, because that felt freer. That was helpful in sorting out through all the ideas and plans I have active now, and how to go on. Basically my current vague plan at the moment is to get a first draft of my current novel-in-progress by the end of the year or so (I'm not holding on to hard-and-fast deadlines when I don't need to, but it's good to have a time scale in my head), while also preparing and brainstorming for possible future projects. I hope I'll have a clear idea of what to write next by the time I finish this first draft. And also, make time to finish stories for a submission call I'm really interested in. I also spent some time musing how to keep my current novel to a manageable size, which parts of focus on, and I even looked at the Scrivener project for it and pruned the plans a bit, removing planned scenes that don't fit my current plans. So while I didn't produce any new words for that as such, it was much-needed planning and musing at this stage.
I also worked a bit on an unfinished piece of fanfic.
For me, reading and writing varies, both with original stuff and fanfic. I generally believe in reading voraciously and widely, and being influenced and impressed upon by so many pieces and writers that no one influence comes through as the only strong one. I get so much out of reading other stories, picking up themes or details or characters and going "hmm, what could I do with something like this but another context...?" But while I'm actually writing a specific story, I don't usually read another fic on just the same topic, because I want to discover my own vision. However, if I feel stuck, it often helps me to read a story about that character/pairing/situation, because then I can pick up something as a point of departure, even if I end up writing directly against that. Or someone else's fic might remind me of an aspect I could explore in my own story, a piece of background that I could include, etc. It doesn't always help, but sometimes it does. I don't really have hard-and-fast rules about any of this, I just go with whatever seems good at the moment.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2019-10-03 08:23 am (UTC)I also worked a bit on an unfinished piece of fanfic.
For me, reading and writing varies, both with original stuff and fanfic. I generally believe in reading voraciously and widely, and being influenced and impressed upon by so many pieces and writers that no one influence comes through as the only strong one. I get so much out of reading other stories, picking up themes or details or characters and going "hmm, what could I do with something like this but another context...?" But while I'm actually writing a specific story, I don't usually read another fic on just the same topic, because I want to discover my own vision. However, if I feel stuck, it often helps me to read a story about that character/pairing/situation, because then I can pick up something as a point of departure, even if I end up writing directly against that. Or someone else's fic might remind me of an aspect I could explore in my own story, a piece of background that I could include, etc. It doesn't always help, but sometimes it does. I don't really have hard-and-fast rules about any of this, I just go with whatever seems good at the moment.