meridian_rose

Monster in the Woods
567 words
Original fic
For the

getyourwordsout prompt Dungeons and Dragons class: ranger, occupation: fisherman

( Read more... )

This post is because I asked for prompts for Get Your Words Out Yahtzee challenge. (I've asked for a re-roll as I got a repeat of a picture prompt I used last time). And I completely misunderstood the assignment on one of them.

Oddly I'd just had nice discussion with

smallhobbit about making guesses as to what small images actually are showing, and I had similar during the Snowflake Challenge (or maybe a lands-of-magic entry?) in which I described something in a photo as a fountain/bird bath which was actually a memorial feature.

Is it a writer thing, to see something without context and make an (un)educated guess about what it is? To start filling in the blanks? Or am I just not paying enough attention ;)
Do you ever have moments that like?

So, one of the prompts I'm keeping is this

What do you think it is?

Under the cut is my first guess.
In the first comment is what google lens insists it is.
I suppose in writing, what we see is what we write.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: puzzled

Challenge #12 - Tell Us about a Personal Win.

I'm almost done with my first draft of Small Fandom Big Bang (Jungle Cruise movie). After a good start and lots of work done during November in no small part thanks to the

ushobwri month long social event, I got stalled a bit. It now has a beginning, middle, end, and while there's a couple of small scenes/extensions to scenes I want to make, and there'll be a ton of editing no doubt, I can meet the first draft submission date.

I think I mentioned previously that I met my GYWO goal again last year and signed up for same 180 day habit pledge this year.

Joining my local church gave me what I was missing, a real life sense of community. I was welcomed warmly and made to feel part of the church family. I've helped out at summer fair and Christmas fair, attended karaoke, read at the carol service, and attended the Christmas eve Crib service. I don't think I've ever been hugged by so many people, and made to feel so immediately part of of something.It's pushed my boundaries and while there are great places online to meet people, and I've loved getting back into using Dreamwidth, I was missing the IRL aspect of community and connection.

GetYourWordsOut: Year Sixteen!
Pledges & Requirements | getyourwordsout.net

I've signed up for the same as previous years, 180 habit days (this year called the Excursionist)

3 short stories for

getyourwordsout Yahtzee challenge

Prompts:

( Prompt Five: Adventure )

( Prompt Four: A Thoughtful Gift )

( Prompt Three: A Twist in the Tale )

I...am still here, in the world. I am changed, however. I feel every part of my life including my belief system and things I trusted has been turned upside down. I'm not ready to talk about that in more detail but I will say that I can no longer be truly on the Left - this tweet resonates with me - though I cannot be truly 'far Right' either. More Libertarian perhaps. Politically homeless. I don't want to write, right now, about any of these things but maybe one day.
I have participated, barely in Yuletide 2020, and spent months unable to write a word beyond journal entries of anger and pain. I did finally write a fanfic, and then a bit more and completed Yuletide 2021. A few more fanfics, enough to post some towards 100_fandoms. And recently Yuletide 2022, which I might write more about at some point. I've read some fanfic, but my fandom interaction has declined. I'm more on the sidelines right now.
I did the GYWO habit days after skipping 2021, and found it a welcome change from wordcount (though I was able to track both).
I also haven't posted any original fic since mid 2020. I did somehow manage to complete NaNoWriMo this year, though the 'novel' is unfinished and to my mind a mess that would/will take massive amounts of editing.
Meanwhile I might participate in some of the Snowflake Challenges due to start 1st January. I miss parts of fandom and community, but it has become a double edged sword the last 5 years.
So I'm not back, fully, and unfortunately, probably never will be. I have no idea how many of you are still here, still blogging. But I'm around, and writing sometimes, and posting at AO3 on occasion, and trying out other crafts, and loving spending time with my family including my nephews, and my sister's pets, and smiling at strangers - especially dog walkers who are on the whole the most friendly people you meet out walking and who are likely to greet you.
Best wishes for 2023.

[img: notebook and pen on wooden desktop with "GYWO 2020"
printed in large white letters with a black shadow. under that,
"writing decathlon" in handwritten white letters with a black shadow.]
GetYourWordsOut: Year Twelve!
Pledges & Requirements | getyourwordsout.net

Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/677309.html

I just made my GYWO goal for the month! It’s only the second month this year I’ve even met my goal (you can see how far I am behind my annual goal in the right hand column)
That’s mostly due to Good Omens reignitaing my passion and Whumptober for giving me the excuse to write all the h/c. (and how I’ve combined both)
So yay and thanks to those in the fandom who’ve been welcoming and to the whumptober2019 team and everyone participating including reading, commenting, and reblogging :)

Cross posting from tumblr where I added these tags

Current Mood: accomplished
Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/669820.html

One of the tumblr posts GYWO shared recently was by ladykit and begins "4 reasons you shouldn’t just tear it all down".

"Sometimes, it’s very tempting to start tearing things down, to disconnect and disengage when you’re upset. Because you feel like you don’t belong somewhere or you feel like no one wants you or you feel like the things you make are pointless and stupid. It’s tempting. It is. I know.

Destruction is so much easier than creation. Even easier now—click a button and an account is gone, a file’s erased. Easy.

Here’s why you shouldn’t—

1 )Someone, somewhere enjoys the things you made. Sometimes they feel like your works speak directly to them. They identify with the struggles and hardships of your characters. Or maybe they just enjoy the softness of the scene. The sweetness of it. Don’t take that away from them. Just because you can’t find value in it doesn’t mean someone else can’t. Let other people enjoy the things you’ve made."

The other three things are explained in more detail but can be summarised as 2) it's ok to be niche, 3) You are not defined by the quality or quantity of the things you make (or how many people read them) 3)You have value as a person

I admit I very much privilege my creativity as essential to my worth though...

It continues "Destruction is easy. Disconnection is easy. Creation is hard. Connecting with other people is hard too"; it acknowledges the highs and lows.
It made me think of "Desperado" and I reblogged the post with the relevant gif:

Gif from cloudcity, https://tmblr.co/ZbQKHc2V_H2Sp
Gif shows a close up of Antonio Banderas in the movie Desperado, dialogue text reads "It's easier to pull the trigger than play guitar. Easier to destroy than to create"

It's one of the things I've thought about lot since that movie, that line and what it means for creative people and for the world.

The post ends "And remember, it’s okay to step back and retreat for a little while. It’s not all or nothing. You can put a hold on things. You can back away. And you can do that without destroying the things you’ve made and cutting off from the people you care about."

The post itself is worth reading in full and reblogging for those still using tumblr in some form, especially the writeblrs: https://itsladykit.tumblr.com/post/180381876834/4-reasons-you-shouldnt-just-tear-it-all-down

I've seen a few things lately talking about how sad it is when fiction gets deleted, when whole journals and communities were lost at LJ, and yet on the flip side a few comments on how it's probably better to delete your fics with no comments as if they're now worthless, and you should just delete your blogs because they're pointless anyway...and I was glad of that post this week that says "No, don't be hasty, think again."

Current Mood: thoughtful
Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/649881.html

[img: notebook and pen on wooden desktop with "GYWO 2019"
printed in large white letters with a black shadow. under that,
"writing decathlon" in handwritten white letters with a black shadow.]
GetYourWordsOut: Year Eleven!
Pledges & Requirements | GYWO.net

Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/627033.html

[img: notebook paper with "GYWO 2018" printed in large black
letters with a blue shadow. under that, "writing decathlon" in
handwritten black letters with an orange shadow.]
GetYourWordsOut: Year Ten!
Pledges & Requirements | GYWO.net

I've done GYWO for 3 years and highly recommend it. The wordcount tracker is invaluable!

Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/593109.html

Just a quick update.

I won NaNoWriMo
In the process I met my GYWO 200k goal
Some days have been tough
Some days have been amazing
I'm trying to be more positive but sometimes you need to just feel the feelings, even the sad ones? Don't fight, just feel, and let them pass.
Some photos of me, my nephews, my mouse, below the cut
( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/590632.html

I exceeded my GYWO goal of 200k on 15 December. (I might manage a few more words so I haven't claimed at the site yet)

One of the good things about the spreadsheet tracker is that you can look at your working patterns and projects and easily make graphs like this:

"misc fic" is the biggest slice, all the fanfic I've written this year that doesn't fall under one of the more specific categories such as mmom.
"yuletide" – over 10k of words over 10 fanfics written for yuletide this year!
"mmom" – merry month of masturbation; "uncon" - unconventional romance fest; "sfbb" – small fandom big bang, 2 fics being worked on there; "regencyau" became part of sfbb.
"meta" – includes reviews posted to my professional blog; "bryony" my 2015 NaNo novel (still unfinished); "poetry" - orig poems; "orig fic", "creative nonfic" and probably most of "other fic" are other original pieces that don’t match these categories.

I've signed up for 200k for next year. I'd like to write more orig fic again; not working on a new NaNo project let me down on that score and the chance at a higher wordcount.

Crossposts: http://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/547738.html

[img: notebook paper with "GYWO 2017" printed in large black letters with a blue shadow. under that, "writing decathlon" in handwritten black letters with an orange shadow. printed at the bottom in black is "sign up dec. 14 - jan. 15"]
GetYourWordsOut: Year Nine!
Pledges & Requirements | GYWO.net

Sign ups are open!

I'm going to go for 200k again. I'm 800 words shy of that goal (will finish) so I don't feel it's feasible to increase my goal again this year, nor to decrease.

Crossposts: http://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/547287.html

There'll be another promo post about this closer to sign-ups but I'm going to link to the Get Your Words Out (GYWO) 2017 update post, giving an outline of changes. ETA: it's a locked post, only current members can see it, but as I mentioned below there are only a few tweaks and you can read more about all the features as soon as sign-ups open.

GYWO 2017

The choice of pledge levels will remain the same, but there are a few new items including writing buddies which, if successful, could be helpful.

GYWO is a low pressure community for writers. All writing bar mandatory work (business reports, school essays, etc) counts - original fic, fanfic, poetry, meta, non-fiction all go towards the annual wordcount. There are no penalties for failing to meet your goal but there is encouragement throughout the year at LJ/DW, Tumblr and Twitter. You do have to check-in with your up-to-date wordcount at the end of each month (check-ins run for 5-7 days) but so long as you have more than zero words by the March check-in you're good to go.

I've participated in 2015 and 2016. I'm close to meeting my 200k goal, up from my 150k goal in 2015 (and would have completed by now had I won NaNo again) and it is worth signing up for the spreadsheet wordcount tracker alone. You can track by projects as well as overall totals so it gives you a good overview of when you write, when your most productive months are, which projects are getting all your love, etc.

Crossposts: http://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/546479.html

Just once a month I make a detailed personal post, and inspired by the Fluent Self blog, I call it a BAG post, where I've Been, am At, am Going. Posts may include good stuff/work/health/family/pets/creativity/general whining and I finish off by including some gifs for people to enjoy.
( Read more... )

Crossposts: https://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/529594.html

Title: Strawberry Memories
Fandom: Blindspot
Pairing/Characters: Jane/Oscar, Kurt
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 517
Prompt: For the

getyourwordsout carrier pigeon prompt "déjà vu"
Summary: Jane and Kurt are eating ice cream but her choice of strawberry triggers a bittersweet memory of Oscar.
Content Notes: No standard warnings apply.
Also @ AO3
( Read more... )

Crossposts: http://meridian-rose.livejournal.com/512426.html

This entry is also posted at my wordpress blog.

In November 2014 I wrote on my personal journal: "I wish anyone doing NaNoWriMo the best of luck! I've come to the conclusion that I'll probably never do NaNo." How things have changed. It's important then to record your thoughts and your plans, to be able to chart your progress and see how far you've come.

Post-NaNo I've allowed myself to slow down and take a breather. I can't let the rest of the novel go for too long but I did need to reassess. One of the things I've been thinking about is the sustainability of 50k in 30 days.
( Read more... )