Courtesy of Behind the Couch (actually, Behind the Piano) some advice, found on four large sheets of rolled up paper from a con_txt of olde (probably 2014?) about - uh. I thought it was fighting writer's block but now I have seen all four pages, I am not sure (I have no memory of this panel but it's in my handwriting, so possibly I was too busy being note-taker to remember any of it?)


How do you handle it when the words stop coming?
work on plotting
stop in the middle when it's flowing (before you can get stuck)
"writing down the bones"
delete the last 6 paragraphs
find the lie you told
freewrite the rest of the scene
a long walk or a shower or sth physical
ban yourself from writing for a set time
meditation
write somewhere else
re-outline - emotional
stop re-edits
deadlines - spreadsheets
http://written-kitten.com/?search=
http://writeordie.com

How do you start again?
Fall for a new fandom
Anon kinkmemes
reading - read everyhing - read a lot
fandom-stocking - low-pressure exchanges
read fiction related to your fandom
read crappy stuff
read nonfiction
think about what changed when you quit

Plotting Long Stories
"Save the Cat" - Blake Snyder
multiple outlines at different levels of detail
outline
scrivener - software
writer's cafe
worldbuilding
break it into sub-plots
cheerleaders
sounding board for plot
steal structure from canon
ask someone else what should happen next (do the opposite)
think of worst/best thing that could happen - do that
listen to characters
BE MEAN
think about length
Syd Field - more screenwriting advice

Summaries
don't apologize for your writing
target your audience
don't use a quote for a long fic
summary as back jacket of book
loglines - screenwriting again
don't lie
express tone
don't say 'not slash' etc - be positive!
keep it to the notes
elevator pitch - your chance to show skill
proofread your summary!
summary should reflect tropes

1. I keep scrolling through network and suddenly seeing a locked post on a journal I've been reading in network for awhile and being like huh? since when did they grant me access? And follow me apparently? I am not cool enough for them to follow me! So, here is your periodic reminder that if I suddenly add you back after ignoring you for ages, it's because I am bad at noticing stuff apparently, and also if you want me to add you, you should talk to me, because I am probably PRETTY SURE you are way too cool for me to be the first one to speak up.

2. Speaking of social incompetence, subset mine, anyone else going to con.txt this summer? Anyone else want someone to share a hotel room? It feels much less like I am a loser with no friends if I have a roommate. If splitting the cost is an problem, we can working something out, because as Jamie Kincaid said, I have income now. If you're thinking about going but not sure because you've never been, I promise to be your Native Guide and let you hang around with me if you feel alone.

(...I am bad at finding roommates.)

Also they have put out the call for panel suggestions already, as long as they are ones you want to mod, and for once... I got nothin'? I am still mostly in the same primary fandom as last time (?? how did that happen??) but it's not a huge fandom at this point, and after four con.txts I've done most of the ones I can do, so all that's left is stuff other people would have to mod (like HJOw TO REVISE THE THING).

Anyway if you've been to con.txt and can think of a panel you'd like to see me mod, feel free to suggest something, no guarantees... <_<

3. Hugos? Here is a list I have made, mostly by compiling all the stuff I had bookmarked on Pinboard, of fiction I would kind of like to read before nominating. I share it here just in case anyone cares, and also so I can find it later. I'll be adding star ratings as I read stuff and may be adding new stuff too. I will not be getting through all of it before the end of March.

Warnings: I don't endorse these, they're just things I've seen recs of. Also I don't promise they're in the right length category, I'm just going by what was on the recs.

( Novel )


( Novella )


( Novelette )

( Short Story )

( Supplemental )

The Les Mis panel didn't make it in. So... if I unilaterally declared a Les Mis Room Party on Friday night at con.txt, starting about 10:00 or so to give people time to disco first, would anybody come...?

(DC-area Mis people who aren't going to con.txt would also be welcome, they would just have to call my cell to get let into the elevator.)

I figure I will buy a wheel of brie, a can of oysters, a loaf of French bread, and some cheap wine, and if nobody comes, I can sit there by myself getting lonely-drunk, listening to On My Own on repeat and writing Sad Grantaire fic. Which is also a valid Les Mis party if you think about it.

(no, I am not ready for my panels yet. shush. or else give me more help in my plz help post. :P)

1. I just panicked and booked a room for con-txt. I appear to have a) been too late to get the con rate, but b) have gotten a lower price than the con rate anyway?

IDK hotel booking confuses me, I have no idea if I'm in the con block or not, but I do appear to have reserved a room with two double beds in the con hotel. If anybody is planning to go and also has not booked a room, pm or email me or comment and we can work something out. plz. (We could split it several ways, presumably, if people are okay with sharing double beds.) I am a very accommodating roommate and can basically adapt to whatever sort of roommate you would like to be.

2. Also I am moderating panels! (SURPRISE.)

Is anybody going to con-txt and interested in co-modding a panel about slash before the modern slash era? Stuff like Victorian Holmes/Watson and the shipwars over whether Alexander or Hephaistion topped. Basically if it involves a) transformative works and b) m/m or f/f pairings. Am looking for a co-mod.

Is anybody, uh, not going to con-text but interested in helping me do research for that panel? Because I am not going to have time to do the research it deserves, that's for sure.

And would anybody like to co-mod a panel on nuts-and-bolts writing skills? I'm planning to do that one pretty freestyle too, so it wouldn't be that difficult to co-mod...?

3. There are also a few other panels that, last I saw, were <a href="http://con-txt.dreamwidth.org/25989.html?nc=4&style=mine#comments>still looking for moderators!</a> If you're going to the con and any of those sound like your kind of thing, you should offer! Modding con-txt panels is <i>really easy</i>. You just say hi to a room with a dozen or so fangirls in it, and then talk about your favorite topics until somebody makes you stop. Basically.