Day Fourteen

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Please post today's updates/excerpts/thoughts/etc. in comments.

Here's today's daily prompt for your updates, excerpts, any thoughts, etc.

Yesterday's post: Day Thirteen

Comments

[octavialuna.livejournal.com]

i don't have an update to post yet today but i just wanted to say how much i am enjoying being a part of this and how grateful i am for your (plural) support. :-)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

I'll second that :)

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

Absolutely :)

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I’m off to a late start and had a little change of plans, but I more or less expected that. The Mithrellas and Imrazor story is back on the shelf because I was having the same problems with it that I did when I first tried it a year or so ago. It just won’t go anywhere, and it was getting frustrating, so I dragged out my dwarf story instead. I’d thought all along that it would be easy to write that one if I could just get an hour or two when I wasn’t exhausted and constantly being interrupted to figure out how the fight with the troll ought to go. I was right! I got 564 words written last night (which is actually fairly productive for me) and about as much in drafting the skirmish this morning and I’m up to 1164 now. I suppose it’s even possible that I could get a little more in yet tonight, though not likely. That answers my question of whether I can still write if there’s no one actively preventing me.

I’m not sure that the section of the story that still needs to be written will reach 5000 words, but there are plenty of other stories on my to do list. I have two weeks off from work and I plan to write all I can. In the meantime, here's an excerpt.

The troll gave howl of fury when it saw the stream, and began to cast for their scent up and down the bank. The wind blew the rank smell of the creature towards them. For once, thought Balin, something that could have gone wrong did not. The wind was in their favor.

Behind him, there was a sharp clack. He turned to glare at whatever dwarf had been foolish enough to make the noise and found himself staring at a crow instead. It stared back for a moment, looking as disdainful as he had ever seen a bird look, and then sprang into the air cawing. The troll snapped around, looking up at the boulders and the crows circling above them. It ran to the water’s edge, barked in distress and fell back. Then it stared again at the crows and plunged into the stream.

[salsify.livejournal.com]

Drat! That was me, forgetting I wasn't logged in.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Oh, well done! I always find action scenes the absolute hardest to write.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

At last, time to make some more progress on the Houses of Healing-set AU.



An excerpt. It's a bit solemn, but then that's what the edit is for...

It had been a damp and grey morning when the second son of the Steward had arrived at Meduseld, in search whatever aid the Rohirrim might give him on his journey. Éowyn, standing as ever at the king’s side, had looked coldly upon this man. But as she had stood and watched, and seen him look at the king, and at the Worm, and at her – at the king’s side, as ever – she had watched him come to full understanding. Even as he had spoken to the king, his eyes had remained on her, and they had been full of pity...

[paranoidangel]

I can't believe you're doing this and Nano, you must be mad!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It might not have been my smartest move.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

I think one thing JRRT excelled at was mixing slightly irreverent with solemn; hobbits are a good key, I suspect!

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favourite AU departure points so I'm anxious to see what you do with it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I hope it turns out OK, I've been a bit uninspired with fanfic recently.

[valderys.livejournal.com]

I've been ill for the last day or two with an unspecified fever, and general ick. So I've been neglecting the fic - but on Saturday night I got an idea for what I need to write for undermistletoe, which had been stumping me for a while, and today I wrote 635 words of it. So. Win! Yay!

Snippit: The chin sticks out like John is going to throw up his hands in horror, but John just keeps on smiling, wondering if he’s missed a briefing.

“Rodney McKay? The Rodney McKay? Butcher of Beatty? I’m sure there are other names, if that one’s too passé.”

(And this fic isn't for an exchange, so I reckon I'm not spoilering anyone with excerpts :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Sympathies on the ickiness! May it go away and bother someone else very soon. Congratulations on getting your idea; that's often the hardest part with challenge stories.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

You remind me that there's other demons than procrastination and distraction ... such as the demon of ickiness. Well done in battling your way past it to the keyboard and showing it won't stop you pico'ing!

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Ooh, McSheppiness! Looking forward to seeing more of that :)

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

Well, today was a day of trying not to keep upsetting people. And largely failing. And maybe that's why the self-esteem gremlin kicked me just before lunch time, and all I really wanted to do was curl up and make the world go away.

However, I know this gremlin for what it is and after distracting myself for most of the evening with the rubbish on TV, I finally picked up the laptop during "The Ghost Whisperer" (yes, it was that bad) and forced myself to write.

Writing is good therapy. Only 330 words (ha! hark at me! that's twice what I was expecting to average only a fortnight ago and tonight it warrants an "only"!)

Ironically, today's scene involves Owutt trying hard not to upset people and thereby to avoid a fight.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Sorry you had such a trying day; I'm so glad writing proved a cure. And, yes, I think most of us here are being so successful we're forgetting that the target was only 167!

[tawek.livejournal.com]

This comradeship in trying times is food for the soul. Glad to hear you've shown that gremlin the sunlight (obscure reference to Spielberg's film), and are carrying on plugging away :)

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

538 today, and a draft of the elusive chapter 8. I fear it's rather weak, and it doesn't achieve everything I wanted, but still... Most of what I wrote today is a spoiler for the chapter's sole surprise, so a short, not very exciting snippet...

‘Fobbed off with taking her in to tea!’ exclaimed his grandmother, in quite a different tone. ‘I never mistook you for a genius, Gilbert, but I had thought you less of a slow top than that.’

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Exhausting weekend = 2 days with no words. But I did manage 425 today, however uninspired they may be.



And 222 for Yuletide! I'm feeling giddy about that story; it's a blast to write and (I think) reads pretty well. Wish I could post an excerpt of it.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel, it's frustrating when you can't write for a couple of days, but it's a good feeling to get back into the creative saddle, isn't it?
So well done on the 425 :)

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Torchwoods 4 and 5 uploaded at small a.m. this morning, and since I'm now counting them towards my Pico total, that leaves me at:



Not doing so badly really. Hope I'll have more energy for non-fanfic soon, once I've shaken off this cold...