Fanfiction Sucks and That's a Good Thing

Today's writing habit course topic is "Just show up".  It's all about the deceptive simplicity of simply doing writing on a daily basis.  It sounds really easy, but that's the deceptive bit.  Simple doesn't mean easy.  It means not complicated.  Like the old joke about Michelangelo, where he starts with a big block of marble and chips away anything that doesn't look like David.  Simple, but difficult.

I'm not here today to write about that.  I'm here to do it, but I'd like to chat about something else for a bit.

How about...fanfic?

Character Design

And now we get to the crisis point.  Today, I celebrate one solid week of daily writing, which is a great feeling.  I've accomplished something, yay!

On the other hand it's going on lunchtime on a lazy Saturday and I really want to chuck this work stuff and go play Skyrim and drink tea.  What to do, what to do...

So Time, Much Words

Moving forward with the writing habit course, today's focus is on productivity.  Or more appropriately, measuring productivity.

Need a Lift?

And so I arrive at day five of my attempt to build a writing habit, and already I've arrived at an important point.  A day when I really have no idea what to write about.  I have no outside direction for today, the course I'm following simply tells me that what I should be focusing on right now is momentum.  Not quality, not craft.  Just building that forward motion, getting used to producing every day.

So this may be a bit of a ramble.  I'm thinking of maybe doing some fiction over the weekend, a bit of a longer version of my earlier short story.  But for today, I thought I might talk a bit about the source of my writing habit course.

My Oral Fixation

Honestly, I really don't feel like writing today, but the whole point to building a habit is doing it even when you're trying to find excuses not to.  Besides, it's good for me.

Worldbuilding Wednesday: Land Beast I

One thing I really admire in fiction is good worldbuilding.  So before I go further, let's define that for those who might not know the term.

Deliverance Klondike ninja

I realized earlier today that although I've started working on developing a writing habit, I hadn't actually tried working on any fiction in that time (granted only two days, but still).  So here's my first attempt.

This is the first work of fiction I've made public in more than a decade, so it's rather a landmark for me.  It's also a completely unplanned first draft, created from a three-item prompt (the words in the title) from the Brainstormer app.  So while comments are definitely welcome, keep in mind that I warned you.

3,625 words, approx. 2 1/2 hours