vilakins | PicoWriMo: join me!

Crossposts: http://vilakins.livejournal.com/562214.html

PicoWriMo: join me!

I am going to be doing picowrimo again this November. It was set up, to quote their profile, "for people who wanted to participate in some of the madness and achievement of NaNoWriMo, but wanted a more realistic target - say 500 or 5000 words". You can write anything: short stories, part of a novel, essays, whatever you like. There are daily posts for people to comment with their progress and an excerpt if they like, and the other writers are very supportive.

I should really write the final instalment in my Blake's 7 Lynx series but I'm not sure that I'm in the mood for space battles. So if anyone has suggestions for something lighter and fun, I'm open to them. :-) The first time I took part, I wrote a B7/Narnia crossover due to a suggestion. :-)

I wish I was better at writing: more prolific and didn't need a challenge to get me going. After all, being unemployed should give me the opportunity to write a novel but the thought of sorting out all my various and chaotic ideas into something that may work just brings on a feeling of utter inadequacy. Let's face it, I'm a dabbler. :-(

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picowrimo must be like mininanowrimo--I signed up for that already. I'll look forward to seeing what you do.

Oh good, the more writers, the more fun.

You are a good writer! You are The Vila Person!
What you might need is someone to brainstorm with. I find it invaluable myself, but then I'm the kind of person who needs to think aloud in order to sort out the chaos in my brain.

And for goodness' sake, tell those voices that are saying "you should write a novel" to shut up. It angers me that we, fanfic writers, have to keep on defending our right to have writing as a hobby. I am a dabbler and proud of it! How dare they declare that I'm not allowed to do this for fun, that I have to do it for money! Maybe part of the reason I get so angry about this is that part of me has listened to those voices for years, and getting angry about it helps me to defend myself against them.

(gets off soapbox)

So if anyone has suggestions for something lighter and fun, I'm open to them.

More Vila and the Doctor.
Vila in the Labyrinth. (sorry, I've got Labyrinth on the brain)
Vila in the Star Trek Reboot universe (crossover or fusion)
Vila gets turned into an alien.
Avon gets turned into a cat, and Vila looks after him.
Genderswap (unless that squicks you)

Well said!

I do miss all the B7 authors that used to be around before. I think they sparked me off with ideas and challenges.

It wouldn't matter if I had a job and an interesting life--didn't matter in fact, then I'd feel I had some value. If I could write something worthy of publication, I might be in some way a success. Being the Vila writer doesn't count for much in a tiny fandom that seems to be dissipating.

I'd have to think of a good plot and file the serial numbers of my characters, but I need that idea to write even a decent short story.

Was it you who gave me that B7/Narnia idea? I think it was, :-)

We're not dissipating! Just busy.

I've signed up for the full NaNo. I've never won the thing, but I did write 10k last year, so maybe it's worth doing. Not writing a Tarrant fic though; writing my novel (that features a protagonist that looks a lot like SP, lol).

You'll come up with something!

I'm going to write some original stuff about a space exploration crew who may bear some resemblance to characters we know ;-) but I won't use that for pico because I won't be able to link people to the completed story if they're interested. I do need to get back into fanfic again though so it will be some B7, crack or one of the more serious unwritten stories.

Will you ever finish the one you were writing? Vila is in orbit and Avon and Travis on the planet, and the OC's child in captivity. If not, can you tell me what happens? :-)

Don't suppose you'd fancy writing a little Vila/Soolin piece? Blakes 7/Sarah Jane Adventures crossover (with plenty of K9)?

I love your stories. I don't want you to go off & write a novel, I prefer you to stay here & write us lovely fic. :-)

Awwww, thank you! There's Vila/Soolin in the Lynx series. :-)

Sometimes I wonder if there are many B7 fans left to read my stuff which probably adds to my lack of motivation to write the unwritten stories I still have in my head. So many seem to have left in the last couple of years, but thanks again. That's encouraging.

I would read it! Just because Snape and Hermione have taken over my brain doesn't mean I don't like B7 any more!

Oh yes there are fans it's just we tend to be introverted and shy and don't comment as much as we should. And I have been very poor of late in that field. You are not worthless you are just judging yourself by other peoples standards. Worth lies in making people happy, you do that. It also lies in caring for the lesser creatures of this Earth, that's you again. Basically it lies in what you are not what you do and having met you I would say you are very far from worthless. I lead the most boring life in our mini fandom but it suits me, when it didn't I did something about it(Art Class)and soon taking on a puppy and becoming a PAT pair(pets as therapy I'll post about it soon))Find something that you have always wanted to do, not work involved and go and do it.

I suppose I need a passion, something that will drive me to act. That's the thing though; I don't really have one.

I'm doing yoga and language classes which I'm enjoying but I'm not sure I can afford to continue. Anyway I need more than that. Lack of money restricts me a lot too. I can't even medicate myself with food. :-P

You're getting a puppy! Wow, you didn't say anything! :-D

Yes Saffron (http://s499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/bartlebee_01/Sue%202010/?action=view&current=100_3836.jpg) is coming to live with me. It has been a posiblity since late August but wasn't definite until now.

Oh what a fuzzy sweetie! I look forward to hearing about her. I hope she becomes a good friend for Losyn as well as you. :-)

Have fun with picowrimo! I think that femtowrimo would be more in my line. : (IIRC femto is the next size down from pico.)

Writing should always be fun (at least when one isn't being paid for it), so if writing a novel doesn't feel like it would be fun then don't do it. As an aside, I think that the literary world tends to greatly underrate short stories in comparison to novels. Some of the best and most memorable pieces of SF I've read have been short stories.

Femtowrimo would be a drabble or byatt (half-drabble). :-)

Maybe I should set up the crack ficathon so I can choose from lots of bizarre ideas. In the meantime I must finish my "walks into a bar" story. Mayhem in an alien pub!

I will have to think up some good ideas I can use for short stories. They'd certainly be more my style.

Writing for fun is a perfectly legitimate hobby, damn it! You should *not* feel shame about it. Wouldn't you feel insulted if someone from outside of fandom would call fanficcers "dabblers", when we all know how fantastic fanfic can be (and how it can be many times more satisfying than crap profic)? I hate it when people do that, and you and I know better than that. Whenever I'm proud of having drawn or written something, my bitch of a maternal unit comes in and says "but you should use this to get some profit". Which always makes me want to choke her, basically, because it makes me so angry. The value of this kind of writing is in the experience and the sharing and it's not something you can do with a published novel (it's far less immediate). And fanfic is something that keeps you alive, whether you feel inspired at a certain point in your life or whether you don't. I'm not a professional erotica writer or a sex educator, but funnily enough, my chatporns have got me through crazy bouts of depression and have (or so I'm told) saved people's marriages and have helped them explore their sexualities. And that, to me, means more than having many hits on a popular fic or something--it's worked for someone, even if it's just for me:).

Anyway, *HUGS* you are a wonderful person, whether you're writing or not.

I certainly don't think others are dabblers. I feel discouraged that I've lost the ability to write the amount I did a few years ago, I've lost a lot of my potential audience since then anyway, and I'm aware of my limitations as an artist. I feel as if I dabble in life in general. I've let my yoga go now the class is in hiatus. I need a push to do anything.

I was only talking about myself there. Really. :-) Maybe apathetic procrastinator is a better description.

[hugs back] At least I've almost written a story for the ficathon walks into a bar. See, I need deadlines and reasons to do things.

That's perfectly okay, too:). Life isn't a straight line, it ebbs and flows. I've been pretty quiet recently with creative stuff myself (and the fact that the artwork I *have* done has been for an unpublished WIP and can't be posted yet isn't helping!) but that's just how things go. And ficathons and deadlines are good for getting stuff posted, yeah:). *SQUISHES HARD*

I still want you to illustrate "The Cactus and the Flowers". Please?

Ahhhh, yes! Can you point me at the post again?

http://kerravonsen.livejournal.com/44826.html

Eh, I mostly need challenges to get me going, too, especially these days. I don't think it's something to feel bad about. :)

It's one of many things, I suppose.

How's your "walks into a bar" thing going? I've almost finished mine.

I, uh, have a vague idea what they're doing in the bar and what they might talk about. So far. :)

Mine have caused some mayhem now, probably helped by your and

kerravonsen's suggestions on your journal. :-)

Yay, mayhem!

I'm glad you're doing

picowrimo again--me too. It's such an encouraging environment. I am a slow and dilatory writer until I really get into a story. I'm trying to stop feeling guilty about it.

You shouldn't agonize over not writing a novel, it just keeps you from working on something more appealing to you--work on stories; if any of them inspire you, you can expand them at some point.

I've had ideas for novels in my head since I was about 10, but that's all they are: characters and the occasional scene. I basically use them to entertain myself when I'm bored, and some are very derivative of things like Star Wars and Gormenghast which affected me so much as a teenager.

Short stories are certainly more my style. I need some nifty SF ideas I can use standalone. I'm considering having a small space exploration team I can have some of them happen to. I dunno, I just need some motivation and energy.

Have you ever seen this site?

http://750words.com/about

I've been using it--not for serious writing, but for noodling with ideas and so on, not just story ideas but stuff for work. I don't know that it actually helps my writing in any measurable sense, but it's made me actually write and that's carried over into working on a story. Which seems to be never ending the way I'm going, but at least I'm working on it:)

Of course writing for fun is valid! I'm looking forward to reading everything that comes out of

picowrimo this year.

It is, but I haven't even been doing that lately which worries me. I only seem to get going if there's a ficathon or some reason to do it. I've lost all forward momentum, stagnating here at home. :-(

picowrimo is great for getting a story out of me and I enjoy reading others' excerpts. :-)

I know a little how you feel; I have a head full of stories that I'm unable to get down. Although in my case I've never even had proof that I can do it -I haven't properly finished a story since back in my school days, though I keep trying. I did manage to hit 50K in in NaNo '08 (though did not complete the story) which was pretty amazing experience for me; last year it wouldn't work at all however. Maybe something like this would be worth a try! (I do have an Avon&Vila AU storyline that I haven't been able to completely let go of yet... Hm. I shall think about this.)

I have no useful suggestions I'm afraid. But I absolutely love your more light-hearted B7 stories, like 'Beta Release' and 'Mistaken Identities', so if you're thinking of something on those lines I would encourage it most strongly! ;-)

Ah, so you do like AUs too. :-) I'm glad; I like playing with the possibilities. One of mine is an AU, but I know it will be long so I've been putting it off. I'd love to read yours. Join

picowrimo with me; you'll get lots of encouragement and it's great practice. And whatever you do with the story, I'd love to read it.

I enjoy writing the lighter stuff! All my remaining ideas are for more serious stories so I'm on the lookout for suggestions. I might start a B7 crack ficathon which would run during

picowrimo so people could use that for it.

I feel guilty that I've never gotten around to writing my B7 fusion crossover with The Sentinel, where Jim and Blair are in the B7 universe. (sigh)

I know what you mean about putting things off because they're long; I have more than one plot idea that I've put off because of that.

Oh yes, AU's and crossovers can be great. That's where I get my happy endings for this series...

I need to think a little more about it, but thank you, yes, I might give it a go. And if I do write that story, it would make me very happy if you would read it! Though I feel I have to give you fair warning: the whole 'not having finished anything for years and years' unfortunately also means not having had my writing beta:ed for that long... o_O And in my non-native language as well. I seriously have no idea whether the things I write are even remotely readable for other people. :-/

Hm, suggestions... How about something from early S1 when they were still exploring the ship and finding out how things work (or don't work)? After all, the ship wasn't designed for this sort of crew, there must have been a lot of potentially hilarious misunderstandings before they figured out how to use the various facilities, or adapt them to fit their own needs better. (And what is up with that wardrobe-room, anyway?) I don't know if that sparks anything for you, but I know I would love to read it. A bit like an extended 'Beam me up', maybe?

I can't even tell English isn't your native language! In fact you write it a lot better than many native speakers; I've yet to see a spelling or grammatical mistake. And I'm picky that way. :-)

It'd have to be Jenna, Blake, and Avon then unless you assume they got to Cygnus Alpha in a few hours using time dilation. Which is possible. I'll think about it--and also maybe set up a crack ficathon and give people two weeks to post suggestions for the buffet.

Oh! Really? Thank you! :-D Though in way, I think my problem is that I only know how to be correct in a textbook sort of way, while a lot of the informal uses of the language are beyond me - I suspect I may come across as rather more stiffly formal than I really am because of it (which is unfortunate as I know it can annoy people.) It can definitely be a problem when writing dialogue as I have difficulty with the cultural and social nuances, such as slang or regional differences. For example, so far I've failed miserably in my attempts at writing Donna Noble from Doctor Who, because while I understand her social context (I think), I simply don't know how to express myself in "her" language. :-/

On top of that, there are likely non-language problems with my writing - i.e. when it comes to structure and so on. But then of course I can't get any tips on that until I actually finish something for someone else to read...!

Regardless of how long it took them, I'm sure there were things they didn't figure out until the others got on board! Maybe they had to live off the Alta equivalent of cereals before Vila found out how to unlock the fridge... ;-)

True, natural dialogue is often difficult to get right for a character. For me, the B7 people and other British ones are easy, especially Avon and Vila who are very distinctive--I can almost hear them speaking--but I don't have the confidence to write most American characters.

I will be there! Probably with Labyrinth.

Yay! I saw the film when it came out--so long ago--and don't remember that much of it. But I'll be happy to read your progress and excerpts. :-)

As you can probably tell I am catching up on lj. RL has been hectic for me lately so I have fallen woefully behind. Nothing new I suppose. lol

Yay! You're writing again! Good for you! I'm so happy to hear this.

You know what I would like to see? A Blake's 7/Hustle fusion. You have snap and wit to pull it off.

You are a wonderful writer! Your muse just hasn't found a steady source of inspiration. If it's like mine it takes a lot to spark it but once the old girl gets going look out!

I look forward to seeing what you create for this! :)

I'll add that to the suggestions! I'm really in the mood for something light, so I hope I get some inspiration. In the meantime, I have to finish and post my "into a bar" story this month. :-P

Thank you! :-D

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PicoWriMo: join me!

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