January 23rd, 2026
trobadora: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 09:51pm on 23/01/2026
Good news: not as tired today!

Bad news: extra stress at work and otherwise!

Today's writing

I did manage to write a few paragraphs, but it feels like I'm just treading water right now. I really need to make some progress over the weekend; the next deadline is fast approaching ...

Tally

Days 1-20 )

Day 21: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 22: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 23: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
January 22nd, 2026
trobadora: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 10:44pm on 22/01/2026
I'm incredibly tired again today for no discernible reason. *sighs*

Today's writing

Still slowly working on things. Still not gaining any momentum, but haven't thrown in the towel either, so there's that?

Tally

Days 1-20 )

Day 21: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 22: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
runpunkrun: chibi spock holding up the vulcan salute with the asexual flag (scientifically rigorous asexual)
Photograph of a tray of eye shadows in a rainbow of colors, text: Maybe He's Born With It (Maybe It's GlaxosEpsilonYor), by Punk.
Author: Punk
Fandom: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series
Pairing: Kirk & Spock friendship
Rating: Teen
Content notes: No standard notes apply.

Size: 1,600 words

Summary: It's maybe the first real conversation they've had where one of them isn't accusing the other of academic misconduct or not loving his mom.

Read it on the AO3 or here »

Maybe He's Born With It (Maybe It's GlaxosEpsilonYor) )

A/N: Thanks to [personal profile] garryowen for support and beta. Good to have you back, dog.

January 21st, 2026
trobadora: (mightier)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 10:49pm on 21/01/2026
61% of respondents find shorter fic easier to write than longer! And the majority of respondents mostly write stories between 1 and 10k words. Interestingly, the 10-50k range seems to be the rarest!

For me, I find longer fic easier because I can much more easily come up with ideas for longer stories than shorter. Self-contained small things? I wish I could write them more often! But most story ideas I have want to be longer, alas.

I used to write more shorter fic, but I've mostly lost the knack, possibly because my current fandoms lend themselves to that less? Or it may be me that's changed. *g*

Today's writing

So far I'm failing at gaining any kind of writing momentum this month, but I'm still working on things. A little progress.

Tally

Days 1-15 )

Day 16: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 17: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 18: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 19: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 20: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 21: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
omens: yellow heart on red (pom heart)
posted by [personal profile] omens at 10:20am on 21/01/2026 under ,
Gaaaames:

Been back in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the 3.0 update! The hotel is just a less good version of the resort, lol. And they want me to craft? UGH :P I did all my rooms. I will say it is 🥹🥹🥹 so good 🥹 to see islanders that have moved away come to stay at the hotel and say hello 🥹

Did a slumber island visit with discord pals and it seemed pretty cool. Our host made a little study room where we can hang out and chill while learning but the switch doesn't like to just sit idle forever so some adjustments are needed. The same idea as that game "On Together" you can get on steam, hang out in a park or a library and body double while you're working. Basically already do that on discord pretty much every other day in voiceless voice chat (or on focumon)... I got it to try but I am having a really hard time figuring it out, lol. I hate keyboard/mouse controls in games (I immediately fell in the water). I should have thought this through lolol.



When you wake up from slumber island being disconnected you look so zonked 🤣 best sleep of my life

I think I'm already bored of ACNH tbh and it's the same problem I was having with New Leaf. They didn't need to add so much stuff. There's too many things to do and I end up feeling like I have to do them all and get overwhelmed. Why is there five games in my game. Yes, I realise this is a me problem :P



I have my switch set in Spanish for a discord challenge, and I will say that reading Animal Crossing is way harder than comics for 8 year olds. More frustrating than helpful, at this point! But anyway, this made me lol. Pigeon milk, anyone????

The 9 years with nintendo switch thing that they sent out: 2 images )


TV:

Since Kelly's been home we've been watching season 1 of 1670 with dinner (he's never seen it), it's a very silly fake documentary Polish comedy. This was on my goals for 2026 so knocking it out early :P

An overdue Kdrama review: Beautiful Gong Shim. This drama started out really strong!!! But then started to become the Dantae Show and we were like, well, I hope they get back to Shim soon, but Dantae is fun so, okay. They never got back to Shim. She became a side character and the Dantae Show got SO BIG. And it was tedious, too. And Dantae became mega un-fun. Every piece of the plot rolled out sooooo slowlyyyyyy. The pacing was insane, especially considering there were 20 eps, and in so many of them it seemed like nothing had really happened, just silly fakeouts.

Anyway, if I was the actor who played Gong Shim I would have been pissed, lol. Hired to be half of the main couple, character name in the title, and yet, she was an absolute afterthought after about halfway through. She loses all her abrasiveness, all her goals, and now she dreams of product design (and Dantae treating her like an actual adult he wants a relationship with, instead of the baby he keeps on the shelf). She seriously had no idea what was going on in the main plot 98% of the time. What could have been, etc etc.

I'm in the last season of Amphibia and really enjoying it. I liked the show a lot more while they were on earth, the opposite of Liam, haha. But then my tablet died and I don't really want to sit at my desk and watch it uncomfortably. We went out trying to find someone to fix my tablet and found out that generally only Apple can fix apple tablets because they're so thin and they have to go in thru the screen and 99.6% of the times the screen will shatter and add 400$ to your repair which the people do not want, lol. Anyway, there is an apple repair in the next town so we're going to see what they say. The cellphone repair guys in the mall said it was either the charging port or the battery connections. Alas.


Language stuff:

I keep meaning to post about this and then dithering but whatever, anyway. I spent a lot of 2025 learning Spanish through comprehensible input (dreaming spanish, with a minor in Polish, lol), and every month I looked back at how I'd spent the month. I wanted to be able to see a sense of how it was going, or that I was actually making progress. I locked them down as I went because, especially at the beginning of the year, I felt suuuuuper sensitive about it, with no idea if it would work, or how it would work. I really liked the idea of a comprehensible input based approach, but I really wasn't sure if it would work for me, not being a youtube-enjoyer. I was also afraid that I wouldn't even stick to it. That I'd flake out within the first few months. I am a great abandoner of hobbies, even though I always come back at some point.

Anyway, I've unlocked those posts now, and linked them in this index, if anyone is curious. You might have to be ME to find it interesting 🤔 Also made this small resource list in progress for general language learning things.

If anyone wants to learn Spanish and isn't on a time crunch (there are obviously faster ways), I think dreaming spanish is a great option (faq link). It has been, just, so SO fun. I spent an entire year just watching goofy videos every day while my brain did shit in the background like a baby with a shape sorter. That's so amazing, imo. Psyched to learn more this year!

location: ❄️🏘️🌨️
Mood:: 🗣️
Music:: ࿐𖡎
January 20th, 2026
trobadora: (terrible)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 11:21pm on 20/01/2026
What I did during my lunch break: assemble Ikea shelves \o/
What I didn't do during my lunch break: write /o\

(And then the entire afternoon was non-stop meetings until smoke came out of my ears.)

Today's writing

A little more than an alibi sentence, but not much more.

WED Question of the Day

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18


I find ...

View Answers

shorter fic easier to write than longer fic
11 (61.1%)

longer fic easier to write than shorter fic
4 (22.2%)

something else (see comments)
3 (16.7%)

I mostly write ...

View Answers

drabbles and ficlets (<1k)
2 (11.8%)

short fic (1-3k)
5 (29.4%)

medium length fic (3-6k)
4 (23.5%)

longer fic (6-10k)
4 (23.5%)

long fic (10-20k)
0 (0.0%)

very long fic (20-50k)
0 (0.0%)

epic fic (>50k)
2 (11.8%)

I often write ...

View Answers

drabbles and ficlets (<1k)
9 (56.2%)

short fic (1-3k)
12 (75.0%)

medium length fic (3-6k)
8 (50.0%)

longer fic (6-10k)
7 (43.8%)

long fic (10-20k)
3 (18.8%)

very long fic (20-50k)
1 (6.2%)

epic fic (>50k)
3 (18.8%)



Tally

Days 1-15 )

Day 16: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 17: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 18: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 19: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 20: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
January 19th, 2026
trobadora: (terrible)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 11:01pm on 19/01/2026
In the first draft poll, 30% of respondents usually produce a first draft that's very close to the final draft, and no one usually produces first drafts that barely bear resemblance to the final draft. And most respondents (57%) at least sometimes produce a first draft very close to the final draft. *g*

For the "usual" question, slightly more people have too-wordse first drafts (25%, compared to 20% for too sparse), whereas in the "sometimes" question, too sparse is more common (38%) than too words (23%).

(70% of respondents believe that tickyboxes know no such thing as overkill, btw!)

As for me, it differs wildly - I used to produce very clean first drafts that didn't get changed much during editing/betaing, but for the last several years now it's been much more inconsistent. The more I struggle with either writing or finding time/energy to write, the worse my first drafts get - because sometimes I just have to get something, anything, down first, or I won't get anywhere at all. But it's pretty frustrating, so I want to get back to how I used to write, and I need to figure out how to do that with less time and energy than I used to have ...

One thing's remained the same, though: my first drafts are generally too sparse, which is why they always grow - sometimes considerably - during editing as I flesh them out and add in all the things that I had in my head but didn't put in the actual text. *g*

Today's writing

Again not as much as I'd like. I need to actually sit down and finish something, but it's hard to find the energy.

WED Question of the Day

Today I don't have a poll, but instead a request for advice: when you're low on energy, do you have any strategies that make it easier to write? Or to get started writing, at least? Because I often find myself just staring blankly at a page for way too long until I somehow get going, and I'd really rather not. *g* When I have more energy, I can usually get there much more easily, which is really unfair. :p

(I want to be writing! I feel better once I actually get started writing! But getting there is such a pain on some days. *grumbles*)

Tally

Days 1-15 )

Day 16: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 17: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 18: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] chanter1944, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 19: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
January 18th, 2026
trobadora: (mightier)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 11:20pm on 18/01/2026
Rushed post again - time keeps getting away from me!

Today's writing

Not as much progress as I'd have liked ... see above re: time. *sighs*

Tally

Days 1-15 )

Day 16: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 17: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 18: [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
trobadora: (terrible)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 10:03pm on 17/01/2026
[community profile] fandomtrees reveals have happened! I received two excellent sets of cooking/food icons from [personal profile] holyscream and [personal profile] peasina and a Zhubai ficlet from [personal profile] facethestrange. :D

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to finish things myself ...

Today's writing

I wrote a little this afternoon (new, much better beginning for one of the fics), then had a vertigo attack and had to take a break. (Seriously, what's wrong with this week?! I would like a refund!) Planning to write a little more later today, and tomorrow hopefully I'll actually finish something ...

WED Question of the Day

In honour of my icon:

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22


My first complete draft is usually ...

View Answers

very close to the final draft
7 (33.3%)

a bit sparse, but otherwise close to the final draft
4 (19.0%)

a bit wordy, but otherwise close to the final draft
5 (23.8%)

structurally messy, but otherwise close to the final draft
1 (4.8%)

messy overall, but with the important pieces in place
3 (14.3%)

so different it bears little resemblance to the final draft
0 (0.0%)

something else entirely (see comments)
1 (4.8%)

My first complete draft is sometimes ...

View Answers

very close to the final draft
12 (54.5%)

a bit sparse, but otherwise close to the final draft
9 (40.9%)

a bit wordy, but otherwise close to the final draft
5 (22.7%)

structurally messy, but otherwise close to the final draft
8 (36.4%)

messy overall, but with the important pieces in place
6 (27.3%)

so different it bears little resemblance to the final draft
2 (9.1%)

something else entirely (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Tickyboxes ...

View Answers

need no hindsight
8 (44.4%)

make it easy to change your mind fifty times
9 (50.0%)

know no such thing as overkill
12 (66.7%)



Tally

Days 1-15 )

Day 16: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 17: [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
machinistm: (gimme kiss)
posted by [personal profile] machinistm at 01:54am on 18/01/2026 under
Music:: It's You - Peter Peter
January 16th, 2026
trobadora: (Default)
trobadora: (Art Trek - Michelangelo by mrs_spock)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 12:23am on 16/01/2026
I had a bad day for RL reasons I don't want to get into, so I just watched the pilot of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to distract myself before bed.

Anyone else seen it yet? I really liked it! It's very Trek. :D

(And I can't remember anyone's names yet, but Holly Hunter's character is my favourite already.)
trobadora: (Default)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 09:43pm on 15/01/2026
machinistm: (music)
January 14th, 2026
trobadora: (mightier)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 11:04pm on 14/01/2026
I don't even know where today went; suddenly it's 11pm again?! Send extra hours - or a TARDIS, please!

Today's writing

Having a lot of trouble focusing today, argh. I made some progress restructuring one of the stories I'm working on, and figuring out the ending for another, but it's all going much slower than I'd like. Not much time left ...

I don't think chances are good for another [community profile] fandomtrees delay, but I wish!

Tally

Days 1-10 )

Day 11: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] daegaer, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 12: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 13: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 14: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
machinistm: (specs)
January 13th, 2026
trobadora: (mightier)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 11:27pm on 13/01/2026
In yesterday's poll, writing linearly is in the lead with 36%, but 23% of respondents are like me and write bits and snippets all over the place, then stitch them together. Here's how I put it back in 2008:
Backwards and forwards. Roundabout. A paragraph here, a sentence there, a half-scene, a turn of phrase somewhere out of joint. That's how it goes: like a puzzle, one of those with 10,000 pieces, but without much of an idea what the final picture will even look like. You have a few corner pieces, something solid, something to build on, but they may remain unconnected for the longest time. A bit of the picture somewhere in the middle - only it may turn out that it's actually in the upper left corner, once you see how things go together. And yet it does come together; in the end, it all fits, as a puzzle should.

That is the most amazing part: because unlike the puzzle, of course, those random bits of words and themes and structure aren't prefabricated to make sense. And yet they do.

I love writing. :D
Today's writing

Progress across three [community profile] fandomtrees treats! (I think those are the ones I can realistically finish, unless there's another delay. Or at least I hope I can!)

(I'm running late, so no question today.)

Tally

Days 1-10 )

Day 11: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] daegaer, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 12: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 13: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
January 12th, 2026
trobadora: (mightier)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 10:53pm on 12/01/2026
In yesterday's poll, third person limited was the most popular POV for writing by far - 89% of respondents like it, whereas only 32% like to write in first person and/or third person omniscient. For reading, there's much less of a gap - 79% like to read third person limited, 68% third person omniscient, and 53% first person. In both polls, second person is by far the least popular with only 16%.

Interestingly, most people have the same POV preferences for fanfic and original fic when reading (63%) or writing (53%)!

And 89% of respondents would like a story from a tickybox's POV. :D

For me, I'm not fond of second person in reading - I've come across no more than a handful of stories I actually liked, and I can't put my finger on what made those ones work for me when others didn't. So I've never tried to write it myself.

With first person, I like it much more in original fiction than in fanfic - unless it's epistolary fic or something like that, or the canon is already in first person. IMO it's already difficult to write first person well in general, to get a character's voice that consistently right in such a close way that it really feels like the character's voice telling the story. But in fanfic, to me first person makes it much more obvious when the author's view of the character's interiority differs from mine, so it often doesn't work for me for that reason.

I've written a bunch of first person stories, almost all for Sherlock Holmes and adjacent fandoms (out of 10 works, seven are in first person) - though not BBC Sherlock; as a TV canon, that's firmly in third person territory for me. *g* And I've tried omniscient POV once (The Finality Problem, Study in Emerald), which was a lot of fun. But the vast majority of what I read and write is limited third person. I really should experiment with POV more!

Today's writing

Progress on a [community profile] fandomtrees treat!

WED Question of the Day

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 26


Are you a linear writer?

View Answers

yes, I start at the beginning and write until the end of the story
9 (34.6%)

yes, unless the story itself isn't linear
6 (23.1%)

no, I write bits and pieces all over the place and then stitch them together
8 (30.8%)

something else (see comments)
3 (11.5%)

tickyboxes are ...

View Answers

neatly lined up one after the other
7 (31.8%)

out of order
5 (22.7%)

beyond such human concerns
17 (77.3%)



Tally

Days 1-10 )

Day 11: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] daegaer, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 12: [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
January 11th, 2026
trobadora: (terrible)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 10:11pm on 11/01/2026
  • How is tomorrow Monday again already?! Someone stole my weekend!

  • According to yesterday's poll, approximately 75% of respondents think about structure in some fashion while writing. POV sections, parallels and repetitions got the most votes.

    As for me, I used to always pay attention to structure especially in terms of parallels and mirroring sections and such, even for very short pieces, but I lost that a little bit in recent years. I need to focus more on that again - I always felt it made things better! But for longer pieces, structure is still a basic part of how I conceive of a story.

    One of the most obvious structuring elements is with multiple POVs, and I always try to have them alternate in a clear pattern. For example, my Yuletide fic this year has four chapters, structured by location, and the POV pattern was AAB-BBA:

    Chapter 1 - POV A
    Chapter 2 - POV A, POV B
    Chapter 3 - POV B
    Chapter 4 - POV B, POV A

    The story is mostly written in close limited 3rd person, but I also started each chapter with a more distant/mythic omniscient POV and then zoomed in on the character.

  • 60% of respondents agree that no poll is complete without tickyboxes. My people! *g*

  • I haven't been keeping up with Star Trek for ages, but I was curious about the upcoming Starfleet Academy show and looked into things a little. And video reviews aren't usually my thing, but I just watched most of this video, and it makes it sound very promising! Here's hoping.

Today's writing

Instead of working to finish anything, I've started something new. Why, brain, why?

WED Question of the Day

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22


What POV do you like to write in?

View Answers

first person
6 (27.3%)

second person
3 (13.6%)

third person omniscient
7 (31.8%)

third person limited
20 (90.9%)

other (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

What POV do you like to read in?

View Answers

first person
11 (50.0%)

second person
3 (13.6%)

third person omniscient
15 (68.2%)

third person limited
18 (81.8%)

other (see comments)
3 (13.6%)

My writing preferences for fanfic and original fic are ...

View Answers

the same
12 (54.5%)

different (see comments)
6 (27.3%)

I only write one of these
4 (18.2%)

My reading preferences for fanfic and original fic are ...

View Answers

the same
14 (63.6%)

different (see comments)
8 (36.4%)

I only read one of these
0 (0.0%)

I want a story from the POV of a tickybox

View Answers

yes! ticky that box!
18 (85.7%)

????
5 (23.8%)

NO
2 (9.5%)



Tally

Days 1-5 )

Day 6: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] ofmonstrouswords, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 7: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] ofmonstrouswords, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 8: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] ofmonstrouswords, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 9: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 10: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 11: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)
January 10th, 2026
trobadora: (mightier)
posted by [personal profile] trobadora at 10:13pm on 10/01/2026
In yesterday's poll, old WIPs from 2010-14 are the most common, with 2020-2023 next and 2015-2019 right behind! Mine fall into the 2010-14 era too - the oldest ones I still have a reasonable hope of finishing are from 2011. (Which is not to say I don't have older ones - many of them - but they're much less likely to happen unless I hit another intense fannish phase for those fandoms and it coincides with a good writing period ...)

On the other hand, most people worked on their WIPs very recently - 2024-25 got the most votes by far, with 2020-2023 right behind it. Whereas I haven't touched any of those 2011 WIPs since 2017 or so ... *g*

Today's writing

So far I've only written a few sentences - I'm only now sitting down to write, but I wanted to get this post up in a reasonably timely fashion.

(I've been rewatching the first half of Guardian eopisode 9 for our slo-mo rewatch, and taking lots of notes. Still writing up my comments for that post, too - so much fun! :D)

WED Question of the Day

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21


Do you think about structure when you write?

View Answers

yes, in terms of POV sections
10 (47.6%)

yes, in terms of rising/falling action
6 (28.6%)

yes, in terms of parallels and repetition
9 (42.9%)

yes, in other terms I'll explain in comments
4 (19.0%)

no, not at all
5 (23.8%)

it's complicated; I'll explain in comments
1 (4.8%)

Do you notice structure when reading?

View Answers

always
4 (19.0%)

sometimes
15 (71.4%)

rarely
2 (9.5%)

never
0 (0.0%)

Must this poll must have a tickybox question?

View Answers

yes, because structurally, all the polls did
9 (45.0%)

yes, because no poll is complete without tickyboxes
16 (80.0%)

no, because there's already a question with checkboxes above
1 (5.0%)

other - I'll explain in comments
1 (5.0%)



Tally

Days 1-5 )

Day 6: [personal profile] alightbuthappypen, [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] luzula, [personal profile] ofmonstrouswords, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] the_siobhan, [personal profile] trobadora, [personal profile] ysilme

Day 7: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] ofmonstrouswords, [personal profile] shadaras, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 8: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] ofmonstrouswords, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora

Day 9: [personal profile] badly_knitted, [personal profile] brithistorian, [personal profile] carenejeans, [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] cornerofmadness, [personal profile] goddess47, [personal profile] sanguinity, [personal profile] sylvanwitch, [personal profile] trobadora,

Day 10: [personal profile] china_shop, [personal profile] trobadora

Let me know if I missed anyone! And remember you can drop in or out at any time. :)

January

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
 
9
 
10
 
11
 
12
 
13
 
14
 
15
 
16
 
17
 
18
 
19
 
20
 
21
 
22
 
23
 
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
 
28
 
29 30
 
31