keiliss | Entries tagged with writing and stuff

No reference to covid_19 this time. Too scary.

The laptop - Crowley, his name is Crowley - had to go in to the shop because of a nasty habit of going to sleep uninvited. I am finally back on the 10 year old and no, they don't make them like they used to. In some ways this is good. In other ways, not so good. Still, better than trying to keep up with the world via phone.

Oh, the 10 year old doesn't have an H key, just.a little plastic nub. Makes for interesting typing. Certain other keys seem to be in odd places. And there is no room to download the latest Word so I'm using the 2007 version - also interesting.

But Flamingo chapter 20 has resumed and is off to visit the beta tonight. For a while I thought I may never write again so even a string of 'not there yet' comments are welcome. ~~Maybe post next week~~ ... nonono, not tempting the muses and their evil sense of humour.

I feel busy

It's March 1st and time for the final Back to Middle-earth Month in its current shape and style. I decided I should post a banner and went to look at this year's crop. Soooo many good banners! Eventually I scrolled and was going to pick whichever was mid-screen when I stopped, but this one was at the bottom edge and it's the one I'm going with --- love the feeling of epic drama, the visual balance, the fact that the colours work well for my journal layout... I've had some much-failed B2MeM attempts but also wrote a few things that made me happy and still have half-completed ideas from the first Bingo that I am working through. I would love to get a few tiny pieces out this time, endings and all.

Back to Middle-earth Month 2020 - Endings and Beginnings

Back to Middle-earth Month 2020 - Endings and Beginnings

I feel busy
Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/401609.html

Back to Middle-earth Month 2019 Participant

7 official cards, 3 unofficial cards. No N42. Nowhere.

I feel amused

Not as organised as some (many?) but ready to go. I have my 7 cards in a desktop folder, I have my 3 extras for inspiration in a sub folder, I have a list with the card details in case I accidentally get Bingo.... I don't have an icon, but that's because my DW icon slots are full and I can't deal with deciding which to temporarily cull.

I hope I'm still as cheerful when the time comes to stop talking and write!

I feel cheerful
Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/391482.html

Skipped Day 9. Have been posting the links on the comm but that's not really practical when there's catchup and combined days.

Day 10: Create a fanwork. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Ha. Oh god, I need to write a post about that damn fic when I've caught up on Snowflake. Seriously. Want an example of current fanwork? Here's a scrap I'm probably not deleting:
“They learned how to fall back and let enemy forces get across the river and into our trap,” Elrond said, ticking points off on his fingers. “One of them also learned how to fall into the river and had to be rescued lower down which drew away defenders."

“In an actual incursion I’d have left him to drown,” Glorfindel said. “The one sacrificed for the many. I made it clear to them all afterwards.”

Elrond nodded. “For a few minutes I thought it was one of Ereinion’s men, but no such luck."
(will be in chapter something of Pink Flamingo - 16 or 17)

Day 11: In your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

Depends if it's a challenge fic or something I just decide hey, I want to write X (or 'more of X').

Challenge fic -- like a swap or a big bang - starts with me flailing and saying I can't write this prompt. In other words, I struggle with Plot. I make a few useless attempts and delete them. This can go on until I realise there are ten days left, which is when I finally wake up and get on with things - have established that ten days is a reasonable time for me to write and edit and have beta'd up to 10K. Less time than that and I'm in trouble.

Fic I just decided I want to write is different - I write it when it's ready to be written.

Things I need in place: a couple of signposts, either points to cover in a short fic or possible chapter themes for a long one - none of them more than a few words, just to remind me. And I need to know the end point. I PANIC IF I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT ENDS. I have carried an ending in my head for 25 chapters. I find it comforting. The fic goes somewhere and then it's over. I find I've done this for too many years to change now.

How I feel at the end? Relief. Bitter loathing turning to love or at least fondness (any fic I don't hate at some point during the process is not a good fic in the end). Occasionally proud of how it turned out - those are normally the ones I had to work for, or just carried me off and were fun and interesting. Usually scared to go near it again for a few weeks. Still haven't reread my Tolkien Reverse Bang fic, though it got really nice comments. I need distance so I can actually read rather than scan for typos/horrendous plot holes.

I feel busy

Day 8. In your own space, post self-recs for at least three fanworks that you created. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

When I've done this prompt before I've chosen fics that taught me something about writing or that posed special problems or challenges or -- whatever. Tonight I couldn't think what to pick and went through Ao3, looking in on fics I've not read in ages, collecting links. These are the ones that spoke to me loudest. No particular reason, just - they're me.

Burning Bright: The Road
The outbreak of war in Eregion and the hiding of the rings of power as experienced by a musician, a lord with an agenda set beyond the sea, an exiled Noldorin princess and an elf with an uneasy conscience. Cameos by Durin the Deathless, Ereinion Gil-galad, Celebrimbor, and Annatar the Giver of not always welcome Gifts..

I wrote this one NaNo. Writing it was easy, it was a story that had waited at least three years for me to find a way into and it knew where it was going. Editing the mess into the final draft though, that was HELL. Now, I am proud of what this became.

Secret Garden
A chain of mysterious events lead Erestor and Elladan to Mirkwood in search of answers. There they and Gildor face deadly danger that has nothing to do with orcs or giant spiders.
With more than a passing nod to Chris Carter's incomparable X-Files.

This was an OEAM Big Bang fic. Binky gave me the core of the idea but it took on its own life and I have no idea where the rest of it came from, or what possessed me in the little prequel to write Erestor/Elladan, or how their chemistry worked so damn well or - anything about this. Anyhow mystery, danger, some action, man-eating plants..... Maybe read the prequel first.

Star's End
Maglor meets Arwen on the road to Lórien after Aragorn's death

What it says on the tin. And I did not know it was going to end as it did until I'd written it, looked at what I'd typed, and went "......... oh." Maglor, first person. He is the only one I write in first person. He prefers that.

Sanctuary
I have decided that every time I get asked to rec one of my fics, I will include this because it was wonderful to write (and research and find pictures for) and the only place it ever got any attention was on MPTT. It's elves in modern times -- some of them never left, some of them were reborn and allowed to come back, no I don't know how that worked - but now they all finally have to leave because the Straight Way is closing. And Glorfindel has vanished. So Gil-galad, Erestor and Elrond go on a South African road trip to find him.

Even Quicker Than Doubt
Set in the weeks before Elros departs for Númenor, Doubt explores the reason the twins chose different paths, Elrond’s emotional coming of age, and the evolving relationship between Gil-galad and Glorfindel.

It's old, yes. I see I finished it in 2006. I had only been writing fanfiction for about six months when I started it and the first eight or nine chapters could use a thorough edit, but then the heart would be lost and the heart is everything in this story, so no. All this time later, I still love these people and this world so much.

I feel cheerful

TSS made it out on time, though that was a case of writing (rewriting) down to the wire. It's fluffy and sweet and makes me happy, mainly because in the end I just wrote something I wanted to read. And the giftee seems to have liked it, it has a decent amount of hits, it has a goodly number of kudos, and it has one comment --- from someone I'd not heard from in YEARS, which is amazingly cool! So that went from hair-tearing to a really nice experience.

I received a piece of e/g art that was even fluffier than my fic, and it is very sweet and soft and warm-looking. I had actually given it a like before I knew it was mine - Tumblr was messing with the artist and she had to tag me a second time. I think there is stuff the mods really need to tighten up on, but it is a swap with a lot of potential.

Got my MSV assignment. Red says of course I can write it, it's what I do. It's been a rough year, don't feel like writing is the thing I do atm, more like writing is the thing I bleed over? This is why I'm not officially doing the writer's meme that's going around. I don't think I've managed more than 40k this year, not sure what I'd answer to some of those questions, but if anyone who's seen it wants to throw a few at me I'll try and answer them.

Good lord, three posts in a week. Feast or famine.

I feel okay
I hear George Michael - A Different Corner
Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/388198.html

As per tradition, here is my annual Christmas tree post. Tree 2018 is one of a kind: small, cute, bushy, and strong enough to qualify as the first tree ever to carry the big red and gold star on top. How he does it, I'm not sure.
( read the rest )

I feel hopeful
Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/388084.html

It seems the TSS is meant to be posted by 1pm my time. Silly me, I assumed it didn't matter when, as long as you got it up on the 24th. I don't think I'll be home before late afternoon (with luck). It does not help that I scrapped the other rubbish and wrote a bit over 2k in the last two days and am still cleaning it up. And I have never posted a fic on Tumblr, just a link, and still have to figure out how that works.

Fandom = never boring. Lord, I have such a headache!

Oh gods, I have to give this a title!!!!

Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/387744.html

Yes and indeed the time is running out fast for MSV signups. Why are you hesitating? Go and sign up! What's not to love - long established swap, assignments hand matched by Mod Red, good people writing anything from Angbang to dwarves to femslash to Everyone's Favourite Pairings.

I know you're busy now, but you won't have to think about this before January. Please sign up, it's events like these that bring us together and keep fandom fresh and alive.

Important Dates:

Sign-up Period: December 3rd to December 17th (that's Monday folks)
Assignments distributed by: December 27th
Deadline for first time participants: January 31st
Deadline for veteran participants: February 7th
Archive opens: February 14th, 2019

Go here for the rules and general info..
Or click here to sign up.

I feel hopeful
I hear 80s radio station has discovered Christmas music

God I miss icons when I'm over on Tumblr!! Not that I actually post there, just reblog....

I am still here. Just got very lazy about posting and slowed down with writing for a bit -- lots of offline stuff was going on including a house move and all the settling in involved (what, there are stil boxes in the corner of the living room that R has to be convinced to get rid of rather than trying to hoard). Also probably more than a touch of depression... I usually am very flat by the end of September when our winter is finally meant to be moving off (it hung around for a long time this year) and I'm only really starting to come out of it now.

Second Last chapter of Flamingo is with beta right now. I tried very hard (and took a long time to admit defeat) to make it the final chapter, but it wasn't having any of that. I need to stop being lazy and stop just posting to Ao3. Never used to like putting everything on one site and the current upset on Tumblr reminds me it's time to spread it around again. Heck, I've been in fandom long enough to remember when many people posted everything to three Yahoo groups, LiveJournal, and maybe two archives. Not planning to do that *shudder* but ja, it's time to start posting on SWG and Faerie again.

And yes, I still crosspost to LJ. It would feel odd not to, there are people I care about who never moved on, they don't post but do look in there now and then. I would hate to finally lose touch -- we were such a good, close community.

I feel calm
Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/386885.html

Did I imagine it or is there a sum to convert number of minutes spent editing into a NaNo word count? I want to use November and Nanowrimo to finish an old wip but it needs a bit of adding and editing to get back on track. Anyone? Help?

And of course, life has to be complicated. I don't think there's 50k in that story without a loooot of padding, so I want to throw in some other wip completion to bring the number up to a rebel but honourable word count. This is assuming I get past Week 1, which is assuming a lot right now.

I feel curious
Crossposts: https://keiliss.livejournal.com/385873.html

I should post more, yes. I get sad that people I know are lurking but no longer post and then realised I do exactly the same thing these days. Not sure what it is - just out of the habit, probably. And went through a spell of not wanting to write ANYTHING, and that included blog posts. Still, I've caught myself telling people I miss them when all they're doing is what I've done for whatever their good reasons are. As we say here, I need to sit down and be quiet. And try and get back to a more regular posting schedule.
( here's a small post )
For those with fond memories of a-ha's Take on Me, here is the ultimate, their unplugged version. Wistful and quite beautiful!

Watch on YouTube

Finally, the Many Paths to Tread year end swap is open for sign ups till the end of October. I love this one, it's the only swap I've taken part in where you get to pick your own prompt instead of having it assigned (if you're quick enough with your claim, that is)

To quote the reminder post:
In case you missed the announcement, lotr_community are taking the requests for this year's Yule Fic Exchange!

Go to the 2017 Yule Fic Exchange Announcement to sign up and make your requests. This exchange is always a lot of fun, and has produced some great stories in the past.

I feel cheerful
I hear Spandau Ballet = Gold

Need to update more often. Ummmm.

June SWG challenge fic is not yet finished but will be eventually. Have a strong urge to pick a song from the July/August challenge too, but fortunately I can't settle on just one. Life is very upside down and upsetting right now, but I will still get the new chapter of Flamingo to Red in a day or two -- yes I've been saying that for a while but I mean it now, cannot expect aspects of life to settle down just because I need a calm mind for writing. Need to get over that. Write out the angst the way I used to as a teenager (I can vaguely remember such a stage in my life, a long, long time ago --- and no, do not want those days back, thanks).

It's finally winter. Snow on the ground in Sutherland, rumours of a sprinkling of snow on the top of Table Mountain itself, snow on surrounding mountains. So yes, it's cold and we are Africa's children so we are huddled around our heaters, whimpering.

I swapped out my DW icons, I'll need to do that regularly. 15 slots, good grief. They don't let you buy more slots unless you have a paid account, which is kind of self defeating. Certainly not getting a paid account at this point. They cost more than LJ and I'm working with an exchange rate of $1 costing around R13, which makes $35 more than I'd be willing to pay for good antivirus protection.

My space bar is still jamming. The laptop is under warranty, which means I can't take it anywhere else, but they won't fix it under warranty as they'll call it wear and tear, so they'll come pick it up, take it away, fix it when they're good and ready and charge whatever they feel like on the day. I keep hoping one day I'll switch on and find it's just miraculously fixed itself. Might need to get my old laptop back from M though, purely to write with. It has a key missing but that's fine, I can type on it anyhow.

Grandmother section of the post under the cut --- grandchild dealing with A Situation. It was either this or one of the pictures where she looks like she's planning world domination - creepily focused eyes, dead serious face.
( pictures )

I feel accomplished
Crossposts: http://keiliss.livejournal.com/373792.html

No, I'm still alive. Just loooots of family stuff lately, all bunched together so I barely had time to breathe. Pink Flamingo is waiting patiently (because it's a nice, understanding fic). I have final edits to do on a chapter, (which should be a day's work really), and then the final chapter to write. I do not know what happened to my creativity, but it took off and hibernated. I have never experienced anything quite like it. I suppose at least part is to do with how quiet fandom has been lately.

My space bar sticking every third word doesn't help inspire me to type, lord knows. I need to get it looked at but it is such a business following the warranty instructions (knew there was a reason to get the extended warranty) and they will take it away and spend forever fixing what is probably a tiny problem so I keep putting it off.

My SWG Hero challenge fic will be late. I was on target and proud of myself but life happened (plus it was so cold that on two nights I just went to bed and left it - we people of the far south do not do single digit temperatures well). Current personal challenge is to finish it before the end of the month. I have to work this around a colonoscopy/gastroscopy and the prep therefor so we're talking less time than the calendar suggests :D

Otherwise life is as it is. Grandbaby is gorgeous and started smiling at 5 weeks (I told her mother she was talking nonsense, but the child does in fact smile, eyes light up and everything). She has discovered Making Sounds and has a sweet, very girly voice. She hardly sleeps at night. Daughter has that hollow-eyed, deathly pale vampire look. I say it's karmic revenge for her 3 months of colic.

I'll be crossposting this. I know I had all these ideas about using the two blogs differently but it's too quiet right now and I'm not exactly posting up a storm so that seems a bit silly really.

I feel cold
I hear Duran Duran - Girls on Film (lord I feel old, still know all the words)
Crossposts: http://keiliss.livejournal.com/373017.html

MEME - taken from the wonderful

minuial_nuwing:

Choose a scene from any of my writings, and I will give you one to three sentences that didn't make the final version.

--======--
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers on my flist, I hope you were suitably spoilt today. I got flowers and was taken to see The Avengers (I was forced to wait for this, but it was worth it). I remember wanting to be the Black Widow when I grew up. Saw nothing today to make me change my mind. Brilliant movie! Also saw the trailer for Snow White and am really looking forward to that.

I feel bouncy
I hear Coldplay - The Hardest Part

Taken from

red_lasbelin

Name a character from one of my fandoms (let's confine this to Tolkien :)), and I'll give you either:

(a) three facts about them from my personal canon/fanon,
(b) a reason he/she sucks,
(c) a reason he/she is awesome,
(d) five things that never happened to that character, or
(e) five people that character never fell in love with and why.

I feel creative
I hear something by Josh Grobin

I never imagined any of my MEFA fics would be placed - it's usually the well-loved pairings and themes that do best, and Gil-galad, a Celeborn and Galadriel adventure/romance (or something), a Second Age gap filler, and Arwen don't really fit the profile. So when I got the email today, I was completely stunned. These stories are very dear to me and I am so damn thrilled!!!

Star's End

received First Place in Races: Elves: House of Elrond

Circle of Silver

received Third Place in Races: Elves: House of Finwe

Footsteps in Time

received Third Place in Races: Elves: General

Spaces in the Heart

received Third Place in Races: Elves: House of Elrond

To Be A King

received an Honorable Mention in Races: Elves: General

To those on my flist who reviewed my babies, and to those who did me the honour of nominating them, thank you so very much, this was a wonderful gift.

I feel thrilled

Borrowed from several on my flist.

It always feels good to be able to tell friends what you think makes them special, so...

If you leave your name to this post, I will

1. tell you something I enjoy about your creativity
2. tell you something I appreciate about your communications with me
3. tell you what is most original, unique or special about your lj presence

I feel procrastinating

Book meme - taken from Red, Jane, everyone...

1) Look at the list and

bold

those you have read.
2)

Italicize

those you intend to read.
3)

Underline

the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them

( book meme )

I feel sleepy

About Kei

Kei

Braided Light

April 2025

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Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Arthur Ashe

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Winston Churchill

The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.
Dr. Paul Farmer

You cannot make everyone happy, you are not a bottle of wine.
Kate Richards, author

Vodka doesn't ask silly questions. Vodka understands.

Style Credit

Style: About Time for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Page generated Jul. 8th, 2025 11:29

the journey

Entries tagged with writing and stuff

(no subject)

B2MeM 2020

nope

2019 B2MeM Bingo

Fandom Snowflake

Fandom Snowflake

(no subject)

Tree 2018

moan

My Slashy Valentine 2019 (Tolkien fanfic exchange)

waves

anyone remember?

yes, an update

writing, weather, pictures of grandchild

(no subject)

3 M post - meme, mother's day, movie

Meme. No, really.

MEFA placings

meme

book meme

About Kei

April 2025

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