Entry 600

[virgo186]

...wow, really? Huh.

So it's been a while since the last post, but luckily not as long as some of my other breaks have been. My birthday was two days ago, and it went rather well.

The 'rewrite' gang surprised me with a lunch meetup and gifts, which I really didn't expect...especially on the actual day! I thought for sure they'd both be too busy.

Nothing fancy for lunch, we did pizza and I got to bring home the leftovers. :)

While we were out, we decided to go browse the toy store, and I bought a few new pony blind bags. Five new friends for my display shelves!

As for what the girls brought, well, I'm sure I won't have to worry about buying more starlight mints for a long time, haha. I also got a bar of really nice chocolate (dark with raspberry, sounds wonderful~) and a small bottle of sparkling apple cider.

The crowning glory, however, is the wonderful Princess Twilight plush they created with love for me at the local Build-A-Bear. She currently sits in my room, staring happily at my well-stocked bookshelves. I think she'll enjoy being here. :)

(Hey, with our group? I'm the Twilight, so it all fits.)

Not only did I get a party offline, but I got a party in my Animal Crossing game too! Rather fun to get gifts and celebration from my villagers. Quite a day~

In other news, the house we've been working so hard to clean out? Finally done! The last truckload was brought home this week, so we're officially out and the new owners no longer have to deal with us being around. I finally have my lamp, which I plan on giving a nice coat of paint to and a new plug before I bring it in and set it up.

Also, I've been working on my writing more. It feels good to be spinning stories again, and when I feel ready, I'll start posting chapters of this latest piece to FDD. Things have been quiet in there again, so I suppose I should get back to it. Even if nobody else joins or posts anything, I rather like the fact I've gained enough courage to post my work online. It feels like a step in the right direction. :)

Oh hey, this is another milestone post! Like with the others, I declare this an open-request post. Maybe we can get to high comment counts, maybe not, but if anyone has questions they want answered or just want to chat, or request ficlets, or whatever, drop a message.

Let's hope I can keep going for a long time!

~Virgo

Comments

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to adapt my former OSW characters into something more original, but I'm kind of lost on where I want to set it (our world versus a world a lot like ours but with magic always having been there to one degree or another, yet still pretty modern). Cheering on would be appreciated.

Without getting too long-winded, the basics are: my aunt died without leaving a will or appointing a power of attorney, so there's been a free for all on who gets what and why.

[virgo186]

Ooooo damn, that is some major family drama. No wonder you're dealing with a bunch of crazy people. Hopefully it all gets settled fast, so you can be out of the mess.

I can do cheering on very well! I've done it for Lan a lot. :) I'm more than willing to cheer you on. If you need someone to bounce ideas back and forth with, we can even do that in here.

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

Sure thing. I hope so too, and work had me work close tonight, and open tomorrow, so I'm tired and not too coherent right now. There's so much I need to do for my own writing that it's stressful and I don't know where to start.

[virgo186]

Hmm. Do you have an idea to start with? Characters you want to work with? Those are usually good starting points. I know the feeling on the stress, I actually have a few current ideas in-progress that I shoved aside because I just have too much stuff to fix on them before I continue.

I've also found that with characters, if I draft up profiles I can figure out better what sorts of details I should include in the actual story. At the very least, you can keep track of names and all. Format is up to you, computer document or physical notebook pages. Whatever feels most comfortable to you! :)

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I do, but the settings aren't coming together and neither are the plot conflicts. I have no idea what to do to fix those, so I want to give up. People try to be encouraging, but I think each struggle is unique to each person, and while the encouragement can be good, it doesn't help me overcome the obstacles, be a better writer, not feel like a hack, and so on. I have the characters and have had them set up for years, so that's not my problem. Neither are their conflicts. It's just the settings and wider plot arcs and the motivation and finding time and life that's sucking the will to want to work on it and not think it's garbage that are issues.

[virgo186]

Those do sound like tough issues. So basically it's the really major "threading everything together" stuff, not the nitty-gritty details? Man. :(

Motivation is always a hard thing to work through, I know this. Stress will take a lot of time and energy away from everything, so hoping all the more that you're able to escape the high stress levels very soon.

...I wish I had more I could do for you, besides offering you a place to rant, and someone to rant to.

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, that's enough. Keeping it all bottled up is bad. But yeah, right now I'm working on magic and what it can and can't do and what gaps technology and medicine need to pick up in this setting I'm making as well as how 'modern' to make the setting (it's fantasy) and I'm driving myself insane.

[virgo186]

I'm more than willing to let you rant. Here, IM, or both, you know where to find me. :)

Those are definitely some interesting details to hammer out. I can see why it's making you crazy, though, narrowing things down like that is never an easy thing to do. Is it just overall "magic" or are there different categories/types/what have you?

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

All righty, I'll keep it in mind. I haven't really worked on the magic stuff enough to say whether there are classes or not, but I have a feeling magic in this setting is an environmental thing that different people can be taught to manipulate and use in different ways. I keep thinking someone in my setting has aggravated the gods, so magic has been erratic and people are using alchemy and technology as substitutes for traditional magic. However, since people are tied to the world and the world is tied to the gods (according to some beliefs), people can't truly escape magic or the gods and now some people are trying to find ways to appease them while others disagree and feel that there's something in nature that needs to be found and fixed before magic is stable again. I haven't really hashed out details and haven't figured out if that's the plot I want, but I guess I can try it and scrap it if it doesn't work.

[virgo186]

That does sound like a really interesting plot idea, though! If you can find a way to sort out the details, that'd be really good to read. Hopefully something falls into place for you and your mind can finally get untangled.

So it'd be like a magical war, in a way?

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I don't know yet. I hashed out some things in one of my notebooks (not too much, though), so right now I have nothing concrete decided. Most of it's been overshadowed by an overwhelming feeling of not going in the right direction and wanting to give up on trying to write for myself, so I suppose the best I can remain is a hack writing for other people.

[virgo186]

...if you want help shooting down the negative feelings, we can start with that, maybe? Those definitely won't help you get anything done, so we should start with that.

After that, well...is this something you're writing for yourself, or as a request? If it's original, maybe you can try posting stuff to RPW and ask for help and suggestions?

I admit, I don't really know what else I can help with.

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I'm doing it for myself, but the worldbuilding is always a hard part. I need to get more things decided on before I start writing, but once I do, I can try posting some of it to RPW and see what people have to say. Thank you for the help. I may be slow responding since work has me doing late shifts tonight and tomorrow night. The night after I'm working until kind of late, but not 9 PM like tonight and tomorrow.

[virgo186]

Feel free to join RPW and post! I created it for useful help in writing original works anyway. :)

Ugh, I know the crazy hours bit. I'm working super-early shifts this week, but it's only three days. Hope you're able to get sleep between work shifts.

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I'm probably headed to bed early tonight for an early shift tomorrow. I may have joined RPW before, but I'll double check after I get home tomorrow. How early are your shifts?

[virgo186]

Lately my morning shifts have been starting at five. At least when I get out, it's usually still morning and I can come home and nap after, so it's a little easier to adjust. Do your shifts change from week to week, too?

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

Quite a bit. It depends on who we have in, what number of customers there are, and so on, but I try to do a 10-5 shift when I can. However, the latest I've stayed is until 9 and then I need to open the next morning. x.X;

[virgo186]

Do you get a weekly schedule, or do they just call you and say when they want you in?

If it is weekly, how far in advance do you get your schedules? At my job, we get schedules printed up to a week or two.

Nine at night closing, and then back in the morning? Do they have you come in super-early? That's never easy to adjust to.

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I come in at 10 when I open, but for me, that's early since I'm up at least two hours before my shift starts to get ready. I do get a weekly schedule, but it changes almost constantly since October is their big month. I think I also work on my birthday next week, but that's beginning to devolve into just another day.

[virgo186]

Well, if you happen to be online for your birthday, I'm sure we can at least have an online party for you :)

(If you're still playing AC, then your villagers will have a party for you on your birthday, too.)

I hear you very well on the schedule changes and the getting up an hour or two early. Any idea what you'll be doing when the month is over?

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

Crap, sorry this was late. I missed my AC birthday party. I've been kind of down about a commissioner doing some things they probably shouldn't have (I'll note you if you like about it), so I'm sorry I've been absent. I'll be on AIM though, feel free to message me anytime.

[virgo186]

We need a way to cheer you up, then. Any topics you want to get discussed here? We could probably get a few others involved. If you want it to just stay us, well, nobody else has joined in anyway. :)

Sucks you missed your village party. Did you get to enjoy your birthday at all?

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

I don't mind if other people join in. I had to work that day, but I did have Chinese and cake and got to go home a little early. :)

[virgo186]

Food is always good on birthdays! Plus, a cake you actually get to eat, unlike virtual cake.

So what sort of topic should we start? I can see if Lan wants to join us. A lot of my usual LJ buddies have taken off for other sites, though.

[fic-for-all.livejournal.com]

My mom makes awesome pound cake. :) Hm, is there something all three of us like and can talk about if she decides to join?