A writing carrot. What could possibly go wrong?

[breathedout]

Well due, probably, to some combination of (a) sheer, life-and-house-related exhaustion, (b) being 80% done with it (always a tough place to be in a long-ish project), and (c) the story in question being a madcap comedy, which is a genre that often gets less enchanting as it nears resolution, I have kind of ground to a motivational halt on my MHHE fic. I only have two and a half scenes left to write of what for the first 20,000 words was easily the fastest/easiest story I've ever put out. Yet somehow, now, whenever I try to bend my brain to the task of composition, it comes up instead with a plethora of writing-related distractions that it would be DELIGHTED to be working on instead. So... my thought was, that since I have a fair amount of time before a complete draft is due to my artist, I could bribe myself: one quick, instant-gratification one-shot for every newly-completed MHHE scene.

(Yes, I also see many possible downsides of this plan, starting with that thing that tends to happen when I try to write "quick, instant-gratification one-shots." Idk what to tell you, man. Desperate, exhausted times.)

Anyway, as a place to corral the current, proliferating list of potential "treat" stories, and a motivation for myself tomorrow morning, here's the current list of smallish projects clamoring for attention:

• Black Widow/616: Natasha/Yelena truth serum train sex story
• MCU: Tony/Pepper ~missionary position~ story (with about a 5% possibility this would be Zoe/John from Person of Interest instead—thanks to everyone for your A+++ suggestions on this one)
• Leverage: Tara/Sophie/Parker threesome con story, recently and delightfully seeded in my brain by starshipfox
• The Magicians: Opening scene of Margo/Fen anticolonialism language death story (this story as a whole is too substantial to be a quick palate-cleanser, but the opening scene would be fun to write on its own)
• Killing Eve: Villanelle/various 5+1
• Black Sails: Max & Jack metamours story 

Let's see... what happens... *JAZZ HANDS*

Comments

[ruinsplume]

Ah, Brain.

I know EXACTLY what you mean about grinding to a halt when you're nearly at the end. I'm doing a similar thing of trying to bribe myself to keep going. In any case, it sounds like you will be doing All The Writing, and regardless of which projects are getting your attention, the writing itself is a Very Good Thing to be doing.

Also, I'm here for the Max & Jack metamours fic!

[breathedout]

Thank you for the solidarity & empathy! BRAINS, man. Why are they like this?? So unhelpful.

The Max & Jack metamours fic is the least clearly-formed in my mind, but ever since that conversation about metamours a while back I've wanted to write something about them. I feel like the problem with ficcing Black Sails is that so many of the relationships are sketched at a perfect level of development already, and I have nothing to add. Early on that's true of Max & Jack's relationship too... but I feel like as time goes on, once they get past their initial distrustful pissing-matches, there's more of an opening for exploring how they relate to one another. What is the space they settle into, or navigate more deeply into? Are there ways in which they relate to one another that they can't relate to Anne, or traits the two of them share that she doesn't? I think there are some deeps there into which one could dive.

[starshipfox]

I am very excited about ALL OF THESE, but like. Going so hard for Leverage, omg. <3

But like the only thing here I'm not excited about is Black Sails and that's only because I haven't watched it. I'm ALL OVER the idea of a Tony/Pepper story with dom!Pepper. Fuck yes.

[breathedout]

Hahaha YAYYY, I'm glad you're excited about many of these!

I think the Leverage one or the Black Widow one will be first, depending on when I manage to finish a draft of my antepenultimate MHHE scene. (I think I need to re-watch a few Leverage eps in order to write that one, just to refresh my memory about the Tara/Sophie & Tara/Parker dynamics. Though our back & forth has helped to cement a specific Parker voice in my mind, and I want to try to strike while it's still clear.)

[cuddyclothes]

I know exactly what you mean!! I've got way too many fics in my mind. None have deadlines but one is something I can't seem to finish.

Are we the same person? I also wrote a madcap comedy that went just dandy until the last two chapters and then...ACK. I finished it by reminding myself over and over how much I hate unfinished WIPs.

Also, I highly recommend writing one-shots. All of my Literary Society pieces are written during long fic down-times, as are some of my other little fics. And add me to those looking forward to the MCU fic!

[breathedout]

Ha, thanks for the solidarity, even if it sucks that you too relate to this experience! I feel like it's almost built into the madcap comedy genre that the last 15-20% will be less enchanting than the first 80-85%, whether you're the creator or the consumer. Resolution is just less funny; it structurally sort of HAS to interrupt the momentum of madcap-ness. Which makes me feel somewhat better, like—if this was an issue for both Shakespeare and John Cleese, I'm not going to beat myself up that it's also an issue for me. At the same time, I would like to be done with this story, pls and thank.

Anyway, thanks for your enthusiasm about the MCU one-shot! I too am looking forward to it. :-D

[anarfea]

I'm so excited for both the Killing Eve and the Black sails stories.

[breathedout]

Yay, thank you! One of them is motivated by admiration and the other one is motivated by spite; I guess we'll find out which gets written first, LOL.