Motivational Wednesday: Assistance Swap Meet!

[dawn_felagund]

Believe it or not, this week, we will be one month into the Season of Writing Dangerously. It has been awesome to see everyone talking about their progress on the last two week's motivational posts. It seems like a lot of us are reaching that point where we are wrapping up pieces for our goals ... except, in many cases, for that one thing. Maybe it's a question about canon or uncertainty about whether a piece is polished enough to post. Maybe it's difficulty getting started on a piece that could be helped by brainstorming with someone or even getting occasional encouraging emails from a fellow participant.

This week, we open the post to requests for help with the caveat that, if you ask for help, you also read through other's requests to see if you can help them! (You might not be able to, and that's fine. But please at least look first!)

You can ask for help with anything, from uncertainty about a word in Sindarin to a request for a beta reader.

Remember, too, that these posts are SoWD participants' space to brag or vent about your progress and cheer each other on. So even if you don't need any specific assistance this week, please feel free to use this space to talk about your projects, if you want.

As always, if you have any ideas for how to cheer on and motivate your fellow participants in these posts--whether an inspiring quote or piece of art, or an idea for something that will encourage and hep those working toward their goals, or something totally and wildly original--send me an email or PM.

Good luck, everyone! :)

Comments

[independence1776]

I completed one of my goals! I moved all of my LJ-based stories to SWG.

[dawn_felagund]

Woohoo! I am happy for you and happy about this, too, as the site owner! :D

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Yay, you did it! That's a HUGE thing. So proud and cheering for you joyfully!

Cheers,
Febobe :)

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

I accomplished one of my goals -- updating a WIP that hadn't had a new chapter in almost a year. \o/ A wonderful thing that I'm happy about, along with being embarrassed that it took so long! Next up is posting a chapter to a different WIP that hasn't been updated in more than 2 years! I just looked at my notes for that chapter, and realized I have already written part of it -- and the notes are quite detailed, so I ought to be able to do something with them. I think the problem is I am daunted by the task of writing a battle that involves multiple characters. I'll really look at it carefully from all angles in the next day or two, and if I'm still blocked, I'll ask for help!

[dawn_felagund]

How's it going? Just thinking about writing a battle scene is enough to make me hide under the chair. ;) My husband did his Masters degree in Ancient History with a focus on ancient and medieval warfare, so if you think that might be helpful, just give me a holler! :)

Congrats on updating your WiP! That's awesome! :)

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Wow - great work! I know the feeling of being embarrassed over how long it sometimes takes. Trust me, sometimes it takes me YEARS. I'm proud and inspired by how you're doing, and I just want to cheer you on and wish you luck. :)

Cheers,
Febobe :)

[j-flattermann.livejournal.com]

Is there Anyone in need cheering on? Offer cheer leading!

*\0/* *\0/* *\0/* *\0/*

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! We had official cheerleaders the first time we ran this event but did things differently this time. I hope someone takes up your offer! :)

[febobe.livejournal.com]

I'll take cheerleading from anyone who cares to offer it!

Thanks,
Febobe :)

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

I got started on reviewing more! Granted, it's only been one review so far, but it's a start. (And there were ~3,000 words of SoWD-goals-unrelated writing, though Tolkien-based... not sure if I should count this in since I've technically already passed the 2,000 words of upward space to get me from the estimated wordcount to the 50,000 words that are my goal if everything gets accomplished, and they were impromptu rather than planned as part of this project. Hm.)

In terms of help, if anybody needs a beta (preferably for Silm/Elf fic), or wants to talk through tangles in their writing, feel free to poke me! I have two stories still in my betaing queue, but planning to give them their final look-overs tonight and that'll free me up for more.

[dawn_felagund]

Can I poke you for help with Quenya? 8^)

It's just names, place names, and such. Nothing major. I'm all thumbs with the languages!

And one review is a start in the right direction! And whether the writing counted toward your goal or not (and you can always revise your goal so that it counts ;), that's still awesome. We always need more Elleth!fic in the world. :)

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Yay! Go you! One review is still one review! *cheers you on wildly*

Cheers,
Febobe :)

[ellynn-ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Another cheer-leader available here! :D There are no official cheer-leaders like last year, but if you want unofficial one, I'm here. ;)

[dawn_felagund]

Yay! Thank you, Ellynn. I hope someone takes you up on it. I can vouch that you're one of the most supportive people I know! :)

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Requesting cheering - I've posted a comment here about it - if you please! :)

Thanks,
Febobe :)

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

I need help finding or being able to explain the linguistic shift that lead to Finwë dropping the "Þ" (thorn) and changing it to an "S".

[hhimring]

Has anyone responded to this yet?
Have you checked the entry for "The Shibboleth of Fëanor" on the Tolkien Gateway site yet or were you looking for something more thorough and sophisticated?

[myaru.livejournal.com]

I've made hardly any progress - and I was doing so well before. :/ Problem is, with both the Elrond and the Finrod fics I'm working on, I feel like what I have isn't a story, but fragments and scenes instead. Part of that is probably just me. I feel like I don't know how to write a story anymore. (As in, how do you string scenes together into a bigger piece again? I used to know, and now I'm not so sure. o_O) But with the Finrod fic, I wonder if I shouldn't just embrace the fragmentary nature of it and write an "anthology" of related scenes instead.

I never really intended to write Finrod, so I'm a little bit stuck. On him, on Amarie, and the rest of his family.

[hhimring]

Nothing wrong with an anthology of scenes if that is how it comes out!
But maybe if you start writing them out you'll have connecting pieces grow up in between? That has happened to me, sometimes, at any rate.

Volume 107/Issue 9

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User caras_galadhon referenced to your post from Volume 107/Issue 9 (http://middleearthnews.livejournal.com/396326.html) saying: [...] es! • From : ~Season of Writing Dangerously: Motivational Wednesday: Assistance Swap Meet! [...]

[zdenka]

If I finish some older B2Mem stuff, which is one of my goals, should I still post it to that comm? Or would that be silly now that it's July?

[dawn_felagund]

You can certainly post it to the comm if you want! :) Followers there might be happy/relieved to have something to read that's not posted in the mad dash that is March. But the comm is available for B2MeM pieces no matter when they're finished.

[dawn_felagund]

I am always (always) available as a beta, to bounce ideas about stories, to meet on chat to talk about stories, whatever you need. Seriously, even in the throes of my last semester, when I hadn't a moment to even read a book that wasn't assigned, I was accepting every beta request to come into my inbox. I am unable to say no to beta requests. And I actually have free time this summer, so if you need it, you should totally take advantage of my Felagundish nature on this and ask. ;)

[febobe.livejournal.com]

I could use some encouragement from anyone willing to give it...was trucking along nicely, but I'm split between a few fics, having a hard time committing to just ONE, though I'm making considerable progress nonetheless. And I've got some RL medical stuff going on, which sometimes tears me off in a different direction as I try to cope. If someone could just say a few words to help inspire hope in my heart that this is worth doing and I can do it...I know it is, truly, but sometimes I just need to hear it, please? :}

Thanks so much! Off to see whether I can help someone else while I'm here. <3

Grateful snugs,
Febobe :)

[independence1776]

Progress is progress! I personally can't write more than one story at a time, so I'm always in awe (and somewhat flabbergasted amazement) at those who can.

It is definitely worth doing. More stories in the world is always a good thing. *hugs*

[ladybrooke]

So...I feel like a whiny little brat, but here goes.

This week has been hard. Instead of being upbeat and confident, I've managed to make people angry (*whoops* But I still hold that blaming *insert any word here* for bad writing or a lack of knowledge is simply a way of saying that 'oh, I'm a better writer/more knowledgeable and there's no reason that people aren't except they're lazy and don't bother to put the time in to learn'), feel hesitant to offer advice or comments on anything (I might have deleted/not sent a few responses, out of fear that I came off as a total know it all brat), and have had numerous moments on panic/dismay about my HP/Silm crossover being cliche and me being a hack.

And I have this essay I wrote for school last year, dealing with Fëanor and Job, that I keep wanting to post somewhere but then convince myself that nobody cares what I say and that it's probably too close to blaming the Valar for anyone to like. Which also means that I've managed to talk myself out of writing any of the other essays and fanfics I wanted to do, too.

I'm not even sure what my point was.

[independence1776]

What you have to say is worth saying. What you have to write is worth writing.

For the HP/Silm crossover-- are you around the 25-30k mark? That's usually when I hate my Nano novels, and the feeling tends to go away once I pass 35k or so.

As for the Fëanor-Job essay… well, there are a few of us who look less than kindly on the Valar, so I bet you have a wider audience than you suspect.

[zdenka]

Hey, does anyone want to help me name an Elf? Male, follower of the sons of Fëanor. He doesn't have a very large role, but I've had him show up a couple times now so I should probably call him something . . .

[independence1776]

Try this generator. It was created by Darth Fingon, he of the "Linguistic Foolery" articles in SWG's newsletter, so it's accurate as far as I know. It's one a lot of people-- including myself-- use.

[febobe.livejournal.com]

*squeals*

I've written more than 10K - actually, more than 13K - it's just I still haven't finished anything! It's from several different pieces. Gonna try and focus on finishing one of the shorter ones, but I just had to crow a little. :)

Hurrah for the SoWD and the SWG!!! :D

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaaaand...having to rework more stuff in my fic. I swear, am I EVER going to get all the info I need to do this right, or am I just gonna keep screwing things up? Oyyyyy.....

[ladybrooke]

I think we all have to rework stuff in our fics at times. Tolkien fandom is tricky like that. *grumble*

Congrats on all the progress you've, though!