Welcome to 2015!

[kalloway]

Hi! Welcome to onedeadplotbunny 2015! There's a sort of basic FAQ on the profile page, but if you have more specific questions, feel free to ask them here.

If you're joining at a time that's not the first week of February, that's okay! You can join at any time, post at any time, etc. Go through the archives at your own pace and don't feel stressed. There is no 'catching up' to do.

This is a motivation/support community first and foremost. I don't want anyone to ever feel bad about their backlog/signups/whatnot. I don't want anyone to feel that they have to clear out their backlog instantly, or anything like that. I don't want anyone feeling stressed, even though there might be a few tasks right away that can be stressful (or fun, depending on mindset - I like the fun).

But you can do it! You really can.

Feel free to make an introduction post. Feel free not to. Feel free to ask for help unsticking a plot. Feel free to post resources. Feel free to post success! Feel free to commiserate (because sometimes you just need to wonder out loud why you sighed up for the XYZ Exchange again even though you pull your hair out every time you do)... This is everyone's space.

Weekly check-ins, once we get on schedule for the year, will be ~Wednesdays. For the first week or so of the community, things will be very busy. Besides this post and our first activity, a lot of people choose to introduce themselves. You don't have to make an intro post, of course, just like you don't have to participate in activities, discussion, or check-ins. Or you can introduce yourself in June, if you'd like. It is all good.

[Bunny #1] Make a List

[kalloway]

Make a list.

Of every fic/art/icon/whatever-bunny you have that you would like to write/create sometime in the foreseeable future. This includes bingo cards, big bangs, comment fics, exchanges, random plotbunnies, sequels, etc.

Detail it if you want to. You can be as vague as you like. No one ever has to see your list but you and if you know what 'Cabbage No. 2' means, that's good enough.

Do it either in your own journal or in a notebook or in the comments or whatever. I usually find one of those blank notebooks I bought with high hopes and then never quite found the words to put in it. They're really good at holding lists. Quite a few people also use spreadsheets and GoogleDocs.

You can organize however you'd like - ficlets together, epics together, or by fandom, or by what they're for... Or don't organize at all. But one list, in one place.

If a single listing for Super Mega-Epic Fic is a little intimidating, I personally break complicated stuff down by chapter. Super Mega-Epic Fic, Chapter 3 is easier for me to think about, even if it means immediately adding Super Mega-Epic Fic, Chapter 4...

Take your time. Look through old notebooks, textfiles, e-mail, journal entries, and that dusty back-corner of your brain... Round up everything.

And hang onto that list. You'll need it.

Finding motivation through editing

[wordstitch]

 One of the things that I find really helps me to get back into a fic I've left for a long time is to do a nice, thorough edit of it.  I read through the things I've already written with a red pen and pare down the words, try to make the sentences as tight as possible.  Then I make the changes and read the bits aloud.  

I found that in making the fic better, I regain a bit of enthusiasm for working on it, and end up wanting to write more scenes, or expand on existing ones. 

Here are some of the things I check during edits: 

• Deletion of unnecessary adjectives and adverbs.  "Really", "very," "slightly", "slowly", "quickly" are ones I watch out for most! 
• Deletion of repetitive words/names.  Find yourself using the same descriptor a whole lot?  I do!  I usually run my fic through something like this word counter that analyses which words show up most frequently in the text.  Specifics like "growls" or "replies" that show up too often usually get changed to something else, or something less specific like "says."  I also notice during editing that one of my characters says the other characters' names too much in a conversation, and I take those out too.  There's also a phrase frequency counter which helps too!  
• Abrupt scene endings.  This may not be a problem for most people, but I write in short scenes and sometimes those scenes end too abruptly.  
• Passive language.  Self-explanatory. 
• Unnecessary metaphors/similes, or silly ones.  This happens less and less often as I become more aware of it.  But everyone's had a period in their lives when they turned slightly purple in their prose, and it's good to remind oneself those bits don't always work.  
• Tense shifts.  Writing different tenses in the same fic happens, especially when you're moving from one tense to another between different works.  (contributed by rikym)
• POV/perspective shifts.  If you're in third person limited for most of the story and then suddenly shift to third person omniscient that might be weird for the reader.   (contributed by rikym)

Please do let me know what other things you check during your read-throughs that might be useful?  I can add to the list =D