Lex Rayne

and during my research, I found an in-progress series of video essays relevant to the subject. So, here's a hint about what I'm working on.

I'm gonna keep posting updates about how I'm doing with this thing. Feel free to mute the "adulthood slithers unwritten" tag if you're not interested, that's why I added the tag in the first place!

Anyway, now that my work week is finished, here's where I'm at:

First of all, this week was a little bit bad! I've got multiple stressful situations I'm trying to juggle. Fortunately, all my balls are in the air right now (ha ha ha balls), and I've got the weekend ahead of me to work on my...various creative projects. Too various @_@. Untreated ADHD is so much fun, folks.

So! I'm happy to report that I spent much of my week at work thinking of scenes for the fic and making notes on my phone. I've got a bunch of ideas to work with and a skeleton for the story that I'm happy with. I know how I want the fic to start and what events I want to build to. I know what the climax is going to be and how to get to it. I even have ideas in mind for an epilogue!

Lately, I've found that this sort of creative process works well for me. I am not a pantser--that is, I can't write well by the seat of my pants. I need a game plan. For me, there's actually no better place to start than the ending. I actually had a completely different starting point for this fic when I started working on it, but once I figured out the ending, I realized the point I had in mind would make a much better middle.

I think working with fanfic is actually a great way to learn how to do this stuff. I've been writing as a hobby for about 15 years, struggling at it through depression and a deep lack of confidence. My recent progress at therapy has actually improved my writing a great deal, not just the quality of it but also the speed at which I'm producing it. Makes sense that being able to think clearly helps me plan, and enjoying what I'm doing motivates me to keep doing it. And, of course, writing in an established setting with established characters helps me to understand why the subject of the fic appeals to me so much, and understanding my own creative values helps me in my original works. I would also like to give a very special shoutout to my good friend Legal Recreational Drugs for helping my mood.

Also ICYMI, I wrote some adapted lyrics for wi(l)d-screen baroque, which I posted on cohost here and on Ao3 here. This is also technically fic progress because...well, you'll see! But it's also something I've wanted to do for a while now and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Writing lyrics and poetry are skills I want to develop, and tbh I just wanted to be able to sing along to this song without having to memorize lines in a language I don't know.

Anyway, things are going well for me for the first time in a while, and as long as I can get through a little uncertainty that's coming up, then I'm looking forward to things continuing to go well? Maybe? Please?

See y'all next time.