@napagpagurang_p
Thinking back to those writing days of mine when, a long time before the deadline, I'd only get a hundred at least or 400 plus at most in word count when I write.
But when the deadline's already approaching just a few hours away, my productivity and speed magically ramps up, making me garner a thousand or more words in writing within just a few hours, LMAO *insert those skull emojis in here because im dead just from thinking that*
I've only been made aware about the Shortys going live when Wattpad had notified me about a friend posting a new short story in their collection. I read the story, dived in head-first and had an awesome ride throughout, only for me to know that that story was written for the Shortys! And so, I went and read through all the terms that the event will be implementing throughout its run, and so now I'm deciding to give it a try. There are an almost unlimited number of entries one can make in each off the available categories in the contest, and this gave me this kind of a push to go on with pushing my capabilities to the limit and explore new, both known and unknown ideas and see where it goes.
The Shortys encourages creativity throughout the month of September in the form of short stories and poems, which I think is really good for writers as well as for everyone! I'm seeing this myself as a chance to not just explore my own styles and ideas, but also a space where my original story ideas, which were lost in the final products due to time and certain contest constraints, can prosper. When presented with the prompts for each contest, I play with my brain immediately and think about a bunch of story ideas, and from there work out where each story idea will go, the atmosphere it will implement, the themes the genre and concept, etc. What happens most of the time is, I get fascinated with one and then get lost that I eventually start writing another story, branching out towards somewhere else I haven't thought of treading into yet. And so, I think I'll explore those ideas once again this time around, and hopefully create the stories I originally had planned to write with those ideas in mind.
Anyone else encountering the same situation/s when writing? I'd love to know!
@Novaelistah77 Glad to see I'm not alone, lol! And hey thank you so much! Goodluck with your own challenges too! This one's just a small step for me which I hope makes the difference I've been yearning for, but I also want it to be fun and enjoyable despite the pressure. I hope I get to see this step through to the end (if it never ends, that would be more desirable XD)
@napagpagurang_p yes. The thought you got tons of words to write but at the same time you don’t. Or how you get often derailed to the supposed plot of the story you’re writing. Good that you going on a challenge. Goodluck bro. And enjoy.
@Glory_feeling2 Lol me too, but I guess I'll just give it a try, if I get used to balancing that much pressure, then I'll continue doing it but if not, well, I can always back out. ;P Thank you, good luck with yours too, and I hope us Smackdowners get the rest and creative kicks we need!
Writing the Round 1 part 1 story for the smackdown was kind of a new thing for me. I realized a few things, first: rush things the first chance you get to. This applies to me mostly, but for those that need the same advice, that's okay too. This simply means that I should finish the tasks as soon as possible the first chance I get to starting them. With "1,2,5,3", I'm really glad that I decided to change direction against my original plan, but that doesn't change the fac t that I crammed the story a bit, which caused this change. It's a milestone for me when it comes to a change and a new direction when it comes to my writing, but it's still reminiscent of a habit I swore to destroy.
Second: I think I'll be making another story, this time following the original concepts, themes, and genres that I had initially planned for the setting. The vision, when I first started formulating it, was so clear in my head that every time I thought about the concept, the story, the events and how they unfolded, I would see them happen from a film-like standpoint. Maybe this was influenced by my love for films and cinema, but that's the thing; when you write, things tend to change. The original plan doesn't always go followed when you write. Add to that the frustration of not being able to get the right words to describe things in general.
I think I need to practice those. Anyway, thanks for reading (figuratively listening) to these rants of mine that fill up your notifications. If you are annoyed, I'd understand as I'm a bit wordy outside of my writer persona T^T
Got a new story for the smackdown, and for anyone who wants to read it, here's the link! https://www.wattpad.com/1470460404-napagpagurang_p%27s-the-fab-spec-fic-smack-down Also, if that means anything, the anthology book where this story is in just went up to 80th place in the flashfiction tag. Yipee! (I guess)
@napagpagurang_p Hi! Well, I use music in addition to stir up my imagination. I've always been a musical person. Anyway, I'll be reading your story soon, I've collected most of all the others in my library but know their our others. Anyway, good luck with your story, for mine I'm gonna make Pipaluk and Lily relatives. She wanted to be a witch growing up, but things took a turn as she grew up. I think in this challenge, the Smackdown gives us topics to write about and we have the option to write a new story or not.
A bit of a compromise but, I think I'll have to take the time to write my Smackdown story, all the way to the deadline, August 17. I initially set a deadline for myself, which was tomorrow, August 14, but right now there's still a lot of work that I have to do with my story, and by that I mean A LOT. It's a shame, really, but I like to think this is all for the better.
I'm hoping to get on track with writing it as soon as possible. I'll still try to meet tomorrow's deadline, but I'm giving it a leeway until the 17th so that the final product will be as neat as it needs to be.
That's all for tonight. Ciao!
@Glory_feeling2 Hi! Sorry for the late reply. I know! Sometimes we make stories and worlds in them, even characters that we think oh, no no this doesn't need to be just a standalone, this needs to be a whole series of stories! And so the story "would be dying for another narrative", eh? *wink* I hope I'm lucky this time around to squeeze the right words right out this time. My round 1 part 1 story had such a lengthy preparation time that I still ended up cramming the whole narrative - it's actually a miracle for me to have made it still. I did some research for the story, but... that research was but an addition to the image of the setting in my head, the specifics, and what came out on the story was only a fraction of that, the surface level of its actual components and structure. Still glad about the direction I took with that story, though, that last minute made me realize that I can actually make a story that exists in the bounds of somehow surrealist, kinda abstract storytelling. Also, I can definitely relate to that, being dead set on writing the story until it surpasses the given word count, lol! You'd see me saving many versions of the word file from which I originally wrote the first draft of the story, with each version having something taken out, something added to it, and it spans from like 5 to 10 word documents all in all for a single story, just because I'm indecisive like that. XD Killing one's darlings is actually really hard to do sometimes
@napagpagurang_p Hi! That's the spirit! Judt keep on going ... just remember the deadline is on the 17th. My story has been on my mind since I kept that pi cture that the Smackdown gave us. I didn't want to make another storyline as What lies beneath the spheres "is dying to get another narrative" Hah ha! Don't worry about the word 'vomit' as I know what you mean. Those 'words' just come at the last minute for us authors. Some are lucky to get the words right at the minute, but others have to do some research. As for my latest story, I got carried away with it and passed the 1500 max LOL. So I downsized it. Good Luck with yours!
@Glory_feeling2 I actually was able to write a lot today! Not that much, but I'm happy to have vomited so much more words than I thought I'd be able to (sorry for the vomit imagery xhisjsjd) This was such feat, but I was reminded then again that it's hard to reorganize one's mind, as I have attempted to do the same now with the document I'm typing in, where I reread and changed and rearranged paragraphs that I had already originally typed. It ate much time, but I'm glad to have made my creative juices flow again hehe. So what I'm saying is editing the first part has also become my main quest for now T^T so I know the feeling. And good luck on yours too! I've decided to make a separate story this time, and I'm curious as to how your overall stories would look when read ordinally as a continuous story!
Was able to get a few words down with a total of maybe 400 today (some of it were from yesterday, and they are all mostly random musings) with a more or less 240-wordcount paragraph being the most probable opening for my Smackdown Round 1 Part 1 story. I'm hoping to be more productive tomorrow, but I've been sleeping really late.
I'm going to break out of my bad habits, I just know it. Here's to a more realized story tomorrow, and the days after that!
@Glory_feeling2 Thank you! It's still a bit of a struggle as most of the time I'm still trying to navigate in the world that I made, if that makes sense. Figuring out the details, how everything happens in the setting and what quirks of it affects the story - it all comes together in the end I know, but it's only the early stages, so everything is bound to be a struggle, at first!
@napagpagurang_p Hello! It's nice to hear that everything is now going well for you. We all live and learn! *smiles* I too had to learn from my mistakes in the past. Good night and take care!
So the prompt for the first part of Smackdown Round 1 has already been posted and, well. I'm shitting my pants (I'm nervous as s holy f)
@napagpagurang_p Hiii! I'm just really nervous and hesitant about things all the time, and I also tend to exaggerate a lot; one of those moments being this post ToT I'm really sorry to have worried you, but I really appreciate the thought! Sometimes some nice writing is brought out of pressure, but I plot out my stories too sometimes, and most times they tend to change as I write. Anyway one of the reasons that I'm scared for my life with the contest is that, you all are great writers. Although excited with writing with you guys, I am also nervous about the work I'll produce and if said works will be enough to keep me in the smackdown for long. I tend to overthink things, have self doubts, but I always end up having fun and satisfaction after all! :D So what I'm saying is, I tend to exaggerate in expressing my feelings, but it passes and it's mostly more of an outlet rather than a cry for help XD. Most times I feel nervous and post something with a shout, like "AAAA", but that doesn't mean I'm panicking, even twitching in real life XD I just really want to share some things in the most exaggerated of ways sometimes, which contradicts my actual composure, which is calm, just a bit stressed sometimes XD Anyway that's a bit of a rambling from me but thank you for the thoughts and advice and goodluck on the smackdown as well! Good luck on your other writing affairs too!
@napagpagurang_p Hi! Don't be, if you are nervous about the way you'll write your story, please calm down. Sometimes I'm like that too ad I don't know how to continue it. So, what I do is plot down my thoughts and try to see if it works. Yes, I'm a plotter, and since I'm a musical person ... I tend to write stories based on the song lyrics or melody. LOL Whatever works for you! Writing shouldn't be hectic unless you procrastinate and only have a week before the deadline, so plan it now! Good Luck!
Lol, no sleep, just writing nonsense until like 4 in the morning, XD
Hi, I just posted my anthology for the Spec Fic Smackdown. You'll see my first story for the contest published in there (I'm nervous asf).
Link to the short story: https://www.wattpad.com/1465244801-napagpagurang_p%27s-the-fab-spec-fic-smack-down
In the same light, future works I'll be doing for the contest will also be viewed there, so add that to your library if you don't want to miss out on that stuff, or if you can miss out, you can just not add it (it hurts to read that oml anyway I'm glad I got back to writing again but I'm afraid this first short story on my comeback might not be my best so aaa idk I should sleep now probably lmao)
Oh, and I just remembered, I've edited my description for the story "Last September". There used to have a note of mine there, saying that the said story was only the short version and that the longer version which I had originally intended to write, if not for the contest's word count limitation was still in the works, implying that I'd be posting that version separately, eventually.
I'm bad at keeping expectations, I've noticed, and especially for this one, I didn't want to put those expectations to waste, if any. So Last September stays in this short, self-contained version as I see the most fitting form for the story for now. If I am to post the longer version any time in the future, it's because I've finally been able to put into paper the improvements in the world and the story that I wanted to instill, right from the beginning of forming the concept. For now, I'll be focusing on the speculative fiction smackdown, and my other works begging to be written and seen by the world.
That's it for now. Ciao!
Currently writing an entry for the smackdwon, but writer's block be going hard tonight. AAAAAAAAAA
@Novaelistah77 I have my doubts, but thank you so much for the trust! I'll try to finish the story or at least the majority of it within the day. Para polishing na lang tomorrow, hopefully.