#2 - Off and running

[Astinus]

I very nearly forgot about this trend of increasing activity.

Speaking of which...

GO AND NOMINATE!

Obnoxiousness brought to you by Astinus liking blinky ****.

Now that we got that out of the way, we can get to the topic of this thread. We're going with something simple because my original topic was just not being worded correctly.

How long does it take you to write a one-shot/chapter? What makes certain ones easier to complete and other ones more difficult? Do you feel that people who can't complete their stories in a short length of time "hate writing" compared to people who can snap out completed projects quickly?

For me, it depends on what fandom I'm writing in and what project for said fandom. For my Pokemon fics, I'm currently balancing between editing chapters for one fic and writing new chapters for another. With the first, I can finish a chapter in a week because they're short (around seven pages for most) and mostly planned out. For the other, it takes me a while to work on them because they're not really planned out and they're longer, being nearly double the length of the first's. Plus there's more research put into writing those chapters.

For my Digimon fic, it takes maybe two weeks, and those chapters are at over twenty pages. And I just hate writing Digimon battles with all those evolutions. There's also the fact that my Digimon fic has more of an overarching plot that gets hints for it in the early chapters that make sense towards the end of the story, so I need to think more about what I'm writing.

And then for That Other Fandom, some nights I just have to stop myself from writing too much because it just doesn't end. Chapters for Current Project A are right now short, but I know that'll change as the story goes along. Current Project B is going along well enough that I'll have the first chapter done soon and I just started it last night. And the one-shots that I write for that fandom only take me a few minutes to write. Reason why these stories go so quickly? Just something about the canon that inspires me and gets me to write faster.

Though it doesn't matter what I'm writing, it's difficult to do so when a kitten is eating the pen or sitting on the keyboard.

And hell to the idea that writers who are more prolific enjoy writing more. Especially when real life gets in the way of finding long stretches of time to write, or the words just won't come out correctly. It doesn't matter.

 

[Dagzar]

How long does it take you to write a one-shot/chapter?
Depends how long it is. My average chapter length is over 5000 words, but it also depends on how lazy I am. I try to aim for 1000 words a night, so it takes me about a week to write a chapter on a very, very good week. Though I can get bogged down if I'm unhappy with a scene and decide to rewrite it, which I do a lot. Happens almost every chapter.

What makes certain ones easier to complete and other ones more difficult?
Content. It depends how interesting I find the chapter. If I want to get to the next chapter already, I will find myself procrastinating and day-dreaming. If I'm interested and pumped up for the chapter's events, then I will write until I'm burned out (which happens after an hour or so).

Do you feel that people who can't complete their stories in a short length of time "hate writing" compared to people who can snap out completed projects quickly?
Uh, no? It all depends on work ethic.

 

[JX Valentine]

GO AND NOMINATE!

brb, saving the mess out of this tag set.

Anyway...

1. How long does it take me to write a one-shot/chapter? Depends on a whole mess of factors. I have, for example, taken a week to write sixteen pages. I've also taken two months to write five.

If we don't count distractions or whatnot, I can get a chapter done in a few days. However...

2. What makes certain ones easier to complete than others? I HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN OF A GOLDFISH. Seriously. If I don't feel like writing, even if the chapter I'm on has a massive amount of interesting things going on and even if I know exactly what I want to do in that chapter, I will not write that chapter. Then, I might sit and write for a half an hour straight about characters doing nothing but talking at each other (at, not to), and that might get me five pages. I get distracted very easily, and I'm also inherently lazy. So, if I happen to feel like playing video games instead, I'll blow off writing in lieu for that.

Also, real-life and other online duties are usually a massive factor. I work a lot, for example, and for the past couple of years, I've been bouncing all over the country. As a result, updates have been very slow. Before then, I would write a major paper a month, which consumed even more time. Or I might spend time replying to a VM instead or organizing something or managing bits of my own board or betaing for someone or a million of other things.

So, I guess what I mean to say is it's not so much the chapter itself that gets in my way. I've written mindbogglingly boring chapters in very little time at all, and I've written exciting chapters with months in between. It's mostly just what I'm doing at a particular time of the year and what my mood is like.

3. Do I feel that people who can't complete their stories in a short length of time "hate writing" compared to people who can snap out completed projects quickly?

Ha.

Haha.

Hahaha.

Hahahahahahahaaaaa oh I'd be a massive hypocrite if I said yes.

 

[Bay]

How long does it take you to write a one-shot/chapter?
Depending on real life, other non-writing projects I'm doing, my mood, and distractions, I can do a chapter in a couple days to a couple of months. Sometimes I might go and write a few short stories quickly instead of my chaptered fic if I feel more inspired to do those instead, so that can be a factor too.

What makes certain ones easier to complete and other ones more difficult?
I already mention how I tend to write quickly with action scenes and character's FEELINGS~, but if I have to do dialogue that's when things are stalled.

Do you feel that people who can't complete their stories in a short length of time "hate writing" compared to people who can snap out completed projects quickly?
Pffffft, this is why I'm annoyed at writers that say, "hey look, I wrote this much in that short amount of time, why can't you?" Like Astinus said, sometimes the words won't come out easily and there are more important things to take care of than fanfiction writing.

 

[IanDonyer]

How long does it take you to write a one-shot/chapter?

Usually anywhere from two or three days to (my longest so far) four months (the next chapter of Best Laid Plans has been sitting half-completed in my documents for that frickin' long. *sigh*)

What makes certain ones easier to complete and other ones more difficult?

The content, as others have said.

Do you feel that people who can't complete their stories in a short length of time "hate writing" compared to people who can snap out completed projects quickly?

I don't mean to be rude to anyone, but anyone who says that needs to get their damn facts straight. Writing is one of my sanity savers: I've been doing it so long now I don't know what I would do without it. But I can take forever to churn out a chapter I'm satisfied with. I also tend to procrastinate, admittedly.