Still Not Dead...

[ratherastory]

You may have noticed (ahem) that I haven't been writing. This is due to many things, all of which can be summed up as Real Life Has Eaten ratherastory's Brain.

In bullet points:

- New job
- New schedule (a very fucking early schedule)
- Commute to a different city (2-3 hours one way)
- Toddler
- Family stuff
- Crappy/not enough sleep
- Various minor health issues
- Massive anxiety issues

The result is that, essentially, my brain is fried. I can't concentrate long enough to even read one chapter in a book these days, let alone write anything. If I'm lucky I can focus for the 40 minutes it takes to get me through an episode of TV, but even that is hit-and-miss. Sometimes I'll be watching something and realize close to the end of the episode that I stopped paying attention 15 minutes in and have no idea what's happening.

That being said, I miss writing. I even picked up a prompt for the fic challenge at ohsam to see if I could get the juices flowing again. I doubt it'll happen this month, what with the holidays and all, but I'm setting myself a goal for January, to start writing again.

In light of that, I'm going to write down a list of all the projects and ideas I have simmering in the back of my mind. Not that all of these will get written, but it'll be good for me to have all the possibilities laid out before me. The emphasis for me right now is to work on finishing stuff. If I want to be a "serious" writer, I need to not let myself get distracted by shiny new projects and instead work out structural problems in the stories and fix them, then finish my projects. For my original stuff, the focus will be on structure and outlining, which I am not good at, since I think that will really help me get it all written and finished.


Original Work

1- Every Breath You Take (m/m novel, draft about 60% complete)
2- She Gave Me a Rainbow (short story series, still in conception mode)
3- Untitled 1 (m/m story or possibly even a novel about a cop & the owner of a knitting store, originally a J2 fic)
4- From the Ashes (in conception/research stage)
5- Untitled 2 (m/m supernatural mystery, also originally a J2 fic)
6- A Lamentation of Swans (YA novel, abandoned long ago, but I'd like to revive it)
7- Conflation (sci fi serial, abandoned long ago, also to be revived)
8- Untitled 3 (m/m short story, set at Christmas)
9- Beyond the Pale (western serial, abandoned at the same time as Conflation)

Fanfiction

-SPN
1- ohsam prompt for challenge
2- Fusion 'verse
3- Garden 'verse
4- Mockingbird 'verse (no idea how that's supposed to keep going, but I want to try)
5- The sequel to Roses in December (again, no idea how to do that)
6- The Angel Pin (Noir AU to Season 6)
7- Time Traveling!Dean (Season 7 AU)
8- The one in which Sam makes a deal with the faeries to get Dean out of Purgatory
9- The one in which teen!Sam is targeted by a serial killer
10- The Dean & Cas AU in which Cas is a dragon and Dean has to save him

-H50
1- Ferret 'verse
2- The one in which Danny nearly drowns & that's the least of his problems
3- The bank robbery/hostage fic

-Other
1- Death Curse (that poor Dresden Files fic I never finished a million years ago)
2- Leverage (the one in which Eliot goes blind)
3- The Teen Wolf hiatus fic in which Stiles stops sleeping
4- The Teen Wolf one in which Jennifer lives and she helps Stiles become a druid and it's basically Stiles/Derek/Jennifer and IDK.
5- The Person of Interest thing in which Finch suffers from a bone infection in his spine

Oh, and While I'm At It

Definitely no promises, but you can always leave prompts here, to see if they spark anything. Any fandom I write for is fair game, or even original stuff if you want. Fandoms are as follows:

- SPN
- H50
- White Collar
- Leverage
- Teen Wolf
- Person of Interest
- Avengers


And that's it for now. See you all on the flip side!

Comments

[phyllis2779.livejournal.com]

Anything for Fusion 'verse -- yes,yes, yes.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Heh. Seems that one remains a universal favourite among my readers. I have ideas simmering at the back of my mind...

[tabaqui]

*waves*
Heya! It's nice to know you're still around, though. :) 2-3 hour commute? Dude. That is just insane.

Hope things level our for you soon. Be well!
*hugs*

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

The commute is killer, and learning a new job while juggling everything else is a heck of a challenge, but I'm hoping things will level out soon as well.

*hugs*

I'm mostly hanging out on Twitter these days. It seems a more manageable format for me. ;)

[primrose-1.livejournal.com]

Bless you, Lady! I hope you find a way to get your writing time back, because those all sound wonderful! Happiness and Joy to you!

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I hope I can manage it too. The time is less an issue than the energy levels and the ability to focus. With those two, I think I'd be able to find or make the time.

[morganoconner.livejournal.com]

So many things on that list sound all kinds of wonderful! :D (FERRET!VERSE!!!) I know things have been crazy for you, but if you ever need a writing partner to try and get the writing juices flowing again, you know where to find me. ♥

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

I may well take you up on that come January. I'm going to take December to brush up on my outlining and structuring skills, to make sure I'm properly set up to start writing with a purpose again.

[peppervl.livejournal.com]

I don't have any prompts, because time to read? What? Practically all I read anymore are submissions. All the original stories sound great, though. ;)

Anyway, I've been having trouble with discipline and focus on writing too (apparently, it all revolved around me being miserable). Maybe we can help each other sometime. Or, more likely, distract each other, but it'll still be fun.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, discipline and focus on writing are so, so hard when you don't have a set routine (like me because of my schedule), or when your routine is entirely self-imposed and therefore subject to being derailed.

I'd love to bounce ideas and stuff with you. I'll be working this weekend but will have access on and off to gchat, so maybe we can discuss stuff more at length then!

[peppervl.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! I'll be around. Ping me whenever.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Good to know you're still around--hope everything is good for you!

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Things are great but crazy and hectic and more than a little overwhelming. Real Life basically just took over, leaving me with little time to properly devote to my previous fannish activities.

How have you been?

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Spent Christmas in Nashville with one granddaughter, going to Germany in March for 2nd birthday of the other granddaughter!

Was losing hope in Supernatural until the midseason finale, now it has revived my fanning of it so fingers crossed it keeps going in the right direction.

Sounds like you haven't had time to watch it much anymore. Miss your stories :)

[reapertownusa.livejournal.com]

It's certainly next to impossible to write in that head space. I hope things inside and out do settle down for you in the coming year. You have a fabulous assortment of stories there. It's excellent that you're sorting through things now so that you can be ready to go as soon as inspiration returns, which it always does.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

The inspiration is always there. It's the other 99% of the components of writing that I'm lacking (time, energy, focus, and a quiet place to sit down and write for a few hours). Alas. Here's hoping the New Year brings me everything I need. :)

[annj-g80.livejournal.com]

Wow, I think we're pretty much the same person with same current life situation... except for the new job. Instead I'm expexting #2.

We should form a Help Group. *headdesk*

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Congrats! Toddlers are exhausting, aren't they? No matter how much we adore them. :)

Good luck!

A Help Group sounds great, except who has time for it, am I right? ;)

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

Glad to see you back! :D

SPN prompt: Jody looks up. "Sam?"
"No. Sam is far away now."

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, creepy prompt. :)

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

That's a HUGE, but delightful, list of tastiness. I don't dare leave any prompts because I'd love to see you inspired to work on something you've already started, amongst the craziness that is real life. Wowsers.

Wouldn't it be great if you could combat some of the anxiety issues by just breathing out and losing yourself in writing, dwell on someone else's misery for a change? So maybe Fusion 'Verse is in order? ;) (I confess, I don't recall the Garden or Mockingbird 'Verses very well, but that's probably because I didn't art them, like Fusion. Might just have to revisit!)

Anywho, good to see you rallying a bit. Your such a damned good writer. Always love to see it pop up on my dash, even if I don't share all your fandoms. ;) I'm a one-fandom woman, for now! Trying to watch Sleepy Hollow, and upon first blush it certainly looks like a great prospect for a crossover (as Orlando Jones keeps touting), but I dunno. Feels a teensy bit over-the-top to me and rips from about 19 different other shows. Just doesn't feel fresh. Might give it a coupla more watches, though.

More anywho, hang in there. You are mighty!

PS ... "Beyond the Pale" sounds delicious. Are any of your original fics meandering towards that anthology we talked about? I keep toying with the idea myself, but I share your same reservations ...

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be great if you could combat some of the anxiety issues by just breathing out and losing yourself in writing, dwell on someone else's misery for a change?

It would totally be great if it worked that way, yes. :P

I adore Sleepy Hollow with much adoration. Don't watch for the mythos, watch for the characters and the themes of repentance and responsibility and guilt and absolution and the meaning of patriotism and doing the right thing and remaining true to one's authentic self. This is a show that knows what it's about, and it is a delight. Also, the banter between Abby and Ichabod alone makes it worth it.

Beyond the Pale is an older work that's basically unpublishable (for copyright reasons) but that I love with much love and want to finish. It's already 200k works long. Aie.

None of my works are for the anthology, no, but I'm keeping an open mind.

As for the 'verses, the Garden 'verse is the one with de-aged!Dean living with Sam and Lisa and Ben, and Sam and Lisa fall in love and Everything Is Awkward Forever, except for how it's not. The Mockingbird 'verse is a misnomer, because there's only one story in it so far ("If That Mockingbird Don't Sing"), but I want it to become a 'verse. So that's what that was about. :)

[marchia43.livejournal.com]

Good grief, no wonder you haven't written anything lately. New job begin 2-3 hrs away! Blimey that is hard. Toddler? even worse. In a good way I mean LOL
I hope you find the time to do some of these and as always I will be very happy to read anything you write, including the novel? would you be self publishing it?
M

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the vote of confidence!

No, I would not be self-publishing. I am leaning toward the traditional publishing model if only because I am terrible at self-promotion and thus would never be able to get my own book off the ground without the backing of a company that knows what it's doing.

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

You have every reason to be less active in fandom lately. Wow! (We miss you, though!) I hope 2014 brings you much less stress and time for creative energies to flourish.

I'm in a related mindset of tying to figure out what my priorities should be for the new year. Maybe I'll even post about it in the next month or so. Or maybe not.

If you're looking for votes, I'll add one for the Fusion 'verse!

For the original fic that you said started out as J2, it seems like some folks write/post J2AU and then withdraw it and rework it and market it to publishers. have you decided against that? (Just thought that it might get you more motivated if you were writing to a J2AU audience initially...)

Whatever you do, take care of yourself! {{{hugs}}}

[jesseofthenorth.livejournal.com]

Immeant to comment when you posted this last weeek but as you are clearly aware RL gets a hold of a person and next thing you know ...
Any way. It's great to see there is still fic brewing even though you are too damn busy to write much. You have quite a full life right now, I know how that feels lol. But you can cont on the fact that as long as you are thiking up stoies life will give you a chance to write again. Here's hoping it shakes loose in January :D

[bymagajones.livejournal.com]

Of course I immediately looked at your Hawaii 5-0 list first, but the Leverage Eliot going blind story REALLY captured my interest.

My goal is to write more this year too. Here's to both of us finding the time (and the energy) to make this happen!