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edenfallingDecember 15: how do you sustain writing over a long period of time, for example: the guardian in spite of herself? (for anonymous) [Tumblr crosspost]
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure! I certainly don't keep stories constantly 'alive' at the same level of interest in my head for the entire stretch, but if there was a big enough spark at the beginning to create a story I bothered to world-build and outline and get at least a few thousand words into, I have thus far always been able to dredge that up again with a bit of time and attention, even years later. It may simply be the fact that they're incomplete. Unfinished things nag at me; somewhere in the background of my mind, I'm always turning them over and wondering what happens next.
On a purely technical level, I keep outlines and timelines and background world-building files, so I can refresh my memory on the details that inevitably slip away when a story is on hiatus. It always pays to write stuff down, even things you're sure you couldn't possibly forget. Because trust me, you will forget them. *wry*
Tangentially, I've been lucky not to run into a problem I've seen disrupt other writers, where incessant reader interest and demands for updates turn a beloved story into a chore. This is mostly because I don't receive a lot of those reviews, which may be related to the kind of stories I tend to write, or may be related to my deliberately low-key fandom presence. Additionally, I turn writing into a chore purely on my own -- for various and sundry reasons, I treat a publicly posted chapter as an implicit promise that I will finish a story, however long it takes and however little anyone may care by the time I reach the end -- so outside expectations only add a little to a weight that already exists instead of creating pressure out of nowhere. I have gotten choosier about posting unfinished stuff over my years in fandom because I don't want to box myself in with too many of those promises, just in case.
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December Talking Meme: All Days
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure! I certainly don't keep stories constantly 'alive' at the same level of interest in my head for the entire stretch, but if there was a big enough spark at the beginning to create a story I bothered to world-build and outline and get at least a few thousand words into, I have thus far always been able to dredge that up again with a bit of time and attention, even years later. It may simply be the fact that they're incomplete. Unfinished things nag at me; somewhere in the background of my mind, I'm always turning them over and wondering what happens next.
On a purely technical level, I keep outlines and timelines and background world-building files, so I can refresh my memory on the details that inevitably slip away when a story is on hiatus. It always pays to write stuff down, even things you're sure you couldn't possibly forget. Because trust me, you will forget them. *wry*
Tangentially, I've been lucky not to run into a problem I've seen disrupt other writers, where incessant reader interest and demands for updates turn a beloved story into a chore. This is mostly because I don't receive a lot of those reviews, which may be related to the kind of stories I tend to write, or may be related to my deliberately low-key fandom presence. Additionally, I turn writing into a chore purely on my own -- for various and sundry reasons, I treat a publicly posted chapter as an implicit promise that I will finish a story, however long it takes and however little anyone may care by the time I reach the end -- so outside expectations only add a little to a weight that already exists instead of creating pressure out of nowhere. I have gotten choosier about posting unfinished stuff over my years in fandom because I don't want to box myself in with too many of those promises, just in case.
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December Talking Meme: All Days
