Climb to the Shrine, Right What Is Wrong

I think I figured out the characterizations for my Camp NaNo protagonists. ...Admittedly it embarrassed me to realize that I've done this "trio" before (in fanfic form - I took certain canon characters and interpreted them in a direction to my choosing), but at least I know I can get passionate about this bunch. I crashed on the earlier fic because events occurred that basically destroyed all my self-confidence, and the plot outline for this trio is embarrassingly gung-ho, but this is a more cynical take on the whole matter anyway. If I can maintain a certain level of competency in interpersonal relations, I SHOULD be able to get these three going.

Now I have to figure out the plot. :\ It's a fix-fic trio, so I have to put them in a setting where things are indescribably screwed-up. Old setting(s) used Harry Potter. I also... considered something in Fire Emblem (Elibe), but it basically sandwiched all three characters into one and had the other two as paler versions of their respective archetypes. I could have written THAT one, but I unfortunately got too eaten alive by real life to continue that.

Ugh. Now I have to work out the division of powers. The bright side is that the archetype used for the main character doesn't really need that many powers, since it's a personality thing. Unfortunately the other two do need their respective abilities (and one REALLY needs powers), so... bleh. I need world-building. I really am not big on the world-building-from-scratch thing because the sheer number of factors overwhelms me. *groans* And I always get caught up with 'How does this work?', which sabotages me when I'm trying to design the damn thing, so... bleeeeeeh. I suppose I could always solicit input from some people I know, but... meh. My brain gets eaten by Fridge Logic, forgive me.

Anyway, at least I'm now solid on the archetypes. The downside is that I always crash during the planning stages for this group, so... I'm going to force myself to undergo the hard work of figuring out the plot. D| Ah fuck, I fuckin' hate this part...

Here.

In the comments, either on DW or LJ, state your writing goals for next week. You decide how ambitious you want to be; just getting started on a fic, for instance, is a perfectly valid goal.

Just posting this in case anyone else wants to do this. It's a great idea, so I wanted to share it around. :D

Disclaimer: No, you are not a bad person if you've ever written this. You are not a bad person if you are still writing this. You are not a bad person if you are completely unrepentant. You are not a bad person if you start using this as a serious guide to producing such fics bi-weekly. (In the last case, I can only be in awe of your work ethic.) The snark is not about bashing you or your writing, it's about mocking the formula. And to spare everyone paragraphs of redundant disclaimer, I'll just emphasize that Your Manacles May Vex, Your Manuals May Vaporize, and Your Mambas May Vituperate. All right?

We now commence the description...


( [...] This looks really bizarre when characters veer between weeping soulfully over their tragic backstories and manically laughing while reducing their enemies to bloody heaps of organ-donor material [...] )

I put "first chapter" in quotation marks because there ended up being a natural chapter-break at the 9,128-word mark. (It would have cut from a character violently vomiting to a bland domestic scene, and from there to the prior character recapping the next few days. ...Sometimes the fic just taps you on the shoulder and says "I'm ready to end the chapter now".)

The PLANNED first-chapter equivalent, however, is going to cover a chunk of backstory necessary to set up the general fic, so I'm guessing 25,000 words for that. In the meantime, I think I'm going to be labeling the next few chapters "Child Without A Name, Part [X]".

Of course, it has to actually get up to two finished chapters before I can really start making any silly noises about what I'll name the next few chapters...

It's right here.

And yes, I know you're supposed to sign up for a bingo card and all that, but heaven help me, I swear I cannot do assigned tasks for the life of me. I'm strongly tempted to 'assign' myself continuation of some rather awful recaps and various on-hiatus writing projects so that I'll frantically procrastinate by exercising, studying, and generally expanding my horizons as a human being. (Sadly, with my personality, that might work.)

I've done two shorts for the first two prompts, so I'd say it is inspirational... Heck. There are 550 prompts. You WILL find something that interests you.

(cottoncandy_bingo is a fluff comm, but it does have some angst prompts for the purpose of hurt/comfort, if you're into that. You could also get, ehem, creative with perfectly innocuous prompts, if you're also into that... if y'know what I mean.)