setsuntamew: (Riku → lights to the side)
Killian ([personal profile] setsuntamew) wrote2019-01-13 10:22 pm

Fandom Snowflake Challenge | Day 11

Day 11 | In your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

Full disclosure: I have ADHD that is completely unmedicated, so focus is a huge struggle for me. I've been putting off this entry because I hate talking about my failures, but I guess doing difficult things is part of the "challenge" part of this event :T

I'd rank graphics/icon making as the easiest thing for me: when I'm hit with inspiration for icons, I just open up Photoshop and go. I've been doing it for long enough that I don't really know how to describe my process, since I've got a method that works for me that involves having the locations of all my favorite resources memorized. They're in a ton of folders on an external hard drive, so it probably seems like a hot mess to anyone else. But for me, it works great :D

When it comes to writing, I have no shortage of ideas or inspiration; I can come up with plots and prompts very easily. It's sitting down to actually write them down that causes problems. After a lot of trial and error, I've found that writing on paper is the best method for me, at least for first drafts. There's no internet inside of a hardback notebook, just crisp lined pages and the potential for stories. For longer fics, I do some light outlining, but for short one shots and drabbles, I just wing it and hope for the best!

I tend to drink a lot of coffee, because caffeine is how I self-medicate my attention/focus issues! :D There's nothing like curling up on the couch with a mug of coffee, or tucking myself into a corner of coffee shop with [personal profile] dragonofeternal, and getting some words onto the page. If I'm out in public space, I usually have music blasting through headphones, and I switch up genres pretty regularly to keep the creative juices fresh and flowing.

I also do a lot of writing in the downtime at work. I'm lucky enough to have a job where I can fuck around some when it's slow, so I take advantage of it when I can. If I'm at work, I can sometimes trick my brain into being in productive mode, which helps a lot.

My other trick is to sign up for challenges, wait until the last minute, and write 10k words over the course of 24-48 hours while actively dying. This is not a method I'd suggest, but it's definitely one that I've done more times than I'd like to admit XD NaNoWriMo is like a slowed down, stretched out version of this, so I get a lot of writing done during it.

And then I hibernate for the next six months!

Anyway, those are the Killian-tested methods of creating fanworks!! A lot of it is an uphill battle for me, but I have no plans of giving up!

dragonofeternal: a cartoon crow making a yikes face (crow→ yikes)

[personal profile] dragonofeternal 2019-01-14 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
THE POST NANO HIBERNATION IS SO FUCKING REAL GODDDDDDD tho gywo and snowflake have definitely been helping me kick it in the butt this year lol

No matter your process, I'm always proud of all the awesome hard work you do ;w; Thanks for sharing <3
dragonofeternal: John holding aloft a boombox (homestuck→ John boombox)

[personal profile] dragonofeternal 2019-01-14 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I WILL ALWAYS CHEER YOU ON!!!!! Look, GYWO will happen. You're just charging your creative batteries by consuming media and doing journalling again, rather than dumping all your energy into a single thing. This is the creative process, right here. Living and breathing and typing shit.
oldtoadwoman: Sam Winchester, Supernatural 14x17 (writing 2)

writing

[personal profile] oldtoadwoman 2019-01-16 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
I tried NaNoWriMo for the first time this year and failed utterly. I blame November itself. It's such a difficult month.
oldtoadwoman: Sam Winchester, Supernatural 14x17 (writing 1)

Re: writing

[personal profile] oldtoadwoman 2019-01-16 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm currently focusing on just trying to write every day even if it's only a few paragraphs, just getting in the habit of always opening up the file and working on it. Maybe by next November, I'll have built enough good habits that NaNoWriMo won't be as daunting.
oldtoadwoman: Sam Winchester, Supernatural 14x17 (writing 2)

Re: writing

[personal profile] oldtoadwoman 2019-01-17 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
I've got 3k words so far. (Nothing compared to NaNoWriMo pacing, but it's 3k I wouldn't have if I was waiting to have time to do "serious" writing instead of poking at it a little bit each day.)