[Bunny #3] No.

[kalloway]

No. Nope. Not this time. Not today. Nah. I don't think so. Not a good idea. Got too much going on...

I am on pretty much ever fandom/community promo list I can find, because I really like new things and knowing what's going on in general. So yes, I see a lot of temptation. That's because there are a ton of great communities/bingos/big bangs/fests/etc. out there. I'm never going to say that you shouldn't sign up for any of them, just that moderation is a good idea, too.

When given the option, I am a huge fan of 'sleeping on it' or waiting a few days to see where I fall on the spectrum of 'uncontrollable excitement--|--can skip this one'. I'm actually surprised how many times I can safely delete a sign-up bookmark, wish the fest/big bang/bingo the best of luck and put that energy elsewhere.

How do you decide what projects to sign-up for? How do you decide what projects not to sign-up for?

This is also a weekly check-in! You do not have to check in, of course, but if you would like to comment on the last week, feel free! (And my apologies for it being a couple of days late.)

Comments

[kalloway]

I do sometimes feel guilty for not signing up for or participating in certain fests. I've missed the Poly Big Bang twice... Well, I've told myself that if I had 3/4 of the fic written by when sign-ups ended, I'd sign up. And it's not happened. Maybe this year?

++++++++++++++ 14 belated no_true_pair ficlets finished and posted~

- time for new 0tp lists...

++++ 4 chapters edited/expanded/posted on my meta-Gundam fic

+ posted v-day fic for friend (who liked it)

* sequestering self to library later to draft fic for UnconventionalCourtship

* gen_battle prompt list should be up soon

[credoimprobus]

Ha -- my process for deciding whether to sign up for anything pretty much goes "does it have a deadline and/or wordcount minimum and/or set theme? -> LOL, NEVER HAPPENING."

Ahem.

Just saying, the only challenge/fest/etc ever that I've consistently succeeded at participating in is Porn Battle (because apparently it is made of MYSTERIOUS MAGIC), and even that just gets a tiny handful of pieces out of me.

(This topic is actually extremely timely, because I was this close to signing up for scifibigbang last night before forcing myself to -- indeed -- sleep on it. My only excuse is that I have a highly intimidating, languishing WIP in desperate need of some motivation. XD;)

The past week: er, we'd better leave that subject be. *cough*

[kalloway]

I was so looking at scifibigbang and had it bookmarked and finally just told myself that it was a good idea for a year which is not this year.

This week will be a better week!

[silverr]

The only challenge I've done consistently is yuletide (since 2005) ... but I skipped it (and a few others, like rarewomen, younotakefanfic, and the Saint Seiya exchange) this past year because I couldn't think of enough things to ask for (outside of the few things I've been asking for for years which no one has been interested in doing.)

Now I basically track comms with pinch hit/treats needs, and jump in if inspiration zaps me and I'm able to dash something off right away. I like the one-sided gifty-ness of writing pinch hits or treats, but I also admit that a side benefit has been that the tight deadline seems to prevent me from overthinking/overplotting (and has resulted in some of my most successful stories ever, all in fandoms I normally wouldn't have written in).

Last week for me? Still struggling with chapter 3 of my dustiest, most emotional WIP. I did make some progress--it's up to 2300 words---but most days that Oscar Wilde quip about the comma applies.

[kalloway]

I will totally get your StS fic written one of these days. ;_;

(you should give me a deadline - it might help)

[silverr]

Sometime before the next Holy War? :p

(Let's see: 1986 + 243 years ....)

ETA: Amending my comment about requests: I realized after my first Yuletide that the fandoms I was asking for were just too small to get any takers, and so I started throwing in a request for a larger fandom every year simply to make myself easier to match. But as I've run out of ideas even for those---and writing pinch-hits give me as much satisfaction as a custom-made fic would--I just don't do that sort of exchange anymore.

[kalloway]

*sporfles* Sounds good.

[silverr]

I'll tell you what: since I expect that when I do get around to finishing Hades and watching Lost Canvas my Shion/Dohko will roar back out of hibernation, if you see me start to post more chapters for Legacy you can start poking at a fic for me.

Deal?

P.S. It'll probably be toward the end of the year, at the rate I'm going. :p

[kalloway]

Excellent~ I also put a sticky on the wall beside my 'desk' (which is actually the floor), so at least I'll be thinking about it~

[peaceful_sands]

I have over the last few years signed up for a bunch of challenges - big bangs and reverse bangs in numerous fandoms, bingos and other tables of prompts. I've also completed a good proportion of them. I never sign up for a reverse bang unless I'm absolutely certain I can get it done on time, but the others I have at times been far more liberal with my signups than was good for me.

Of the current 12 outstanding items on my list, 8 are in some way challenge related (1 outstanding prompt from 1 table and 4 from another). I have 1 big bang underway that is currently sitting at over twice the minimum count and is probably about 1/2 written. A further two are challenges that I would really like to do, but haven't fully committed to at this point.

I was looking at the scifibigbang in a 'being very tempted' fashion, but I am trying to resist, because really... I have more than enough to fill my time without trying to commit to anything else.

In the last week, I've written more than twice what I did the week before, but nowhere near enough to get me back on track or to finish anything.

[kalloway]

I'll cheer you on for the next week! \o/

[silverflight8]

I always do yuletide, because I prefer my small fandom. For the rest, I kinda look at how the timeline looks compared with my schedule, and make sure it's not asking for things I can't (or will have trouble) doing. But mostly I go for low-pressure, no one waiting on the other end for my work challenges. Fandom writing is unfortunately the first thing to drop once rl starts intruding, so I try not to sign for too many challenges.

[kalloway]

*nods* Totally understandable. I like the low-pressure stuff, too.

[fujicori]

I only sign up for small exchanges between a group of friends, and those don't happen very often. Not really helpful to anyone who wants to participate in Fandom At Large, but I figure with four big writing projects looming at all times (for the past several years), not giving myself a big, high-pressure other Thing To Do is good. Too many of those and none of them get done. (Also, I'm more a fanartist, so there are a lot of exchanges I can't participate in in the first place. :P )

I've been making a teeny-tiny bit of slow progress on one of those four projects this past week. In terms of pure wordcount, it's nowhere near done, and it's more side parts than main writing, but I'll take my victories where they happen, especially since it's side parts that do need to get done rather than fluff/filler.

[kalloway]

\o/ Sounds like you're making good progress. ^_^

[green]

how do I decide? If it's something I'm interested in and the minimum word count seems doable, I'll probably sign up. unfortunately, I sign up for more things than I don't sign up for. :\

check-in: I finished my purimgifts ficlets & graphics on time and turned them in, and I turned in my tentacle big bang rough draft today.

I need to write 3k more of my harlequin big bang before march 8th, and that's what I need to focus on. however, other bunnies are jumping all over me and BITING. >:(

[kalloway]

You can definitely get 3k done by March 8th, and great job with everything else! (even if you get bitten by something else in the middle)

There are just so many awesome challenges/bbs/etc. out there. ^^;;

[pebblerocker]

I don't sign up for things because I know I can't do them -- I'm here to help myself learn to finish stuff! But I'd love to get to the point where I could think of signing up to write something.

So far I've opened my story file a few times and Had Thoughts about the sort of questions I need to answer to make progress on the story, without actually writing anything.

[kalloway]

But you're still thinking about the story! Make some notes on paper that you can refer back to, and you'll have it all organized and rolling along in no time, I'm sure.

[snowynight]

I sign up to things when I think that the min. word limit is doable and the theme interests me. Th only thing I keep a constant to join and finish is Yuletide

Check-in: I did nothing on my fic-to-write list this week. Work eats my energy.

[kalloway]

Some weeks are just like that. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the next week isn't so exhausting for you.

[lassarina]

For huge prompt fests like AreYouGame, I tend to copy all the prompts I think I might want into a document, then winnow them the next day, and the day after, and the day after that. Usually I find that the things that made me sparkle at first are things I want to read, but not necessarily to write.

This week I got all my contributions for Kiss Battle (FF and Dragon Age) posted up! I was proud of that.

[kalloway]

That's a really good method and I'm trying it for gen_battle.

\o/ That's awesome!

[wallwalker]

The ones I feel most guilty about not doing are the ones that involve rare fandoms, or things you don't see often in exchanges. I always feel like I need to sign up for those, because if they don't get enough support they won't happen again. But more often than not I just end up failing at them anyway, so I might as well have passed.

I just signed up, so I can't really check in at the moment. I did do a good job with writing entries for FF Kiss Battle and a couple weeks' worth of daily Femslash February ficlets, though. I feel good about that. :D Now I just want to do some editing and revising before I post them elsewhere. (Granted there WAS some overlap, but that's fine by me.)

[kalloway]

I always feel like I need to sign up for those, because if they don't get enough support they won't happen again.

Oh, I know that feeling. I try to at least pimp said challenges/fest/etc. on to my f-list even if I can't participate so maybe someone else will. Helps me feel a bit better, too.

Welcome! And good job! I wanted to do something for Femslash February, but the month just sort of got away from me (HOW IS IT MARCH?!)

[osidiano]

I really want to be more active in Fandom At Large, and participate in more things, but I usually decide against it after looking over my List. It's kind of a combination "what would I have to NOT be working on to do this," "have I written for this fandom/character before,","when was the last time I managed to write [whatever the wordcount minimum is] in [# of days before the deadline]," and "how many other people are already signed up?"

Usually, though, I make a note of the timing somewhere so that I can stick a reminder on a calendar and try to give myself more wiggle room next year. (This only sometimes gets confusing, as I'm then like, "wait, is Rhodeyfest in October or July?? There were posts about both!")

[kalloway]

Sorry this is a late reply, I've been really busy with offline stuff. ^^;;

It sounds like you're really good at figuring out what you have going on and where you can do events, etc. which is good. (I should definitely try a calendar for next year, hmmm...)

[osidiano]

Thanks! I try, haha. I'm a slow writer, and offline responsibilities take up a lot of time/energy, so being able to glance at my calendar and see what's coming up really helps me combat creative exhaustion.