antennapedia

Much encouragement, a double shot of espresso and a fleecy blanket!

Am under the fleecy blanket right now, on the Armchair of Much Writing. My regular drink these days is an Aeropress double. (Aeropress is definitely a regular part of our lives.)

Noooo! Not *that* far! Sure, there are huge missing chunks and long swaths of text that need re-writing and serious inconsistencies and important developments have fallen behind the couch, but that doesn't mean it isn't near completion!

I consider a story 'practically there' once all the bones are in place, and I can count the missing scenes. Otherwise I consider the three years I've been working on it and start believing I won't finish it all up in my May writing window, and then I curl in a ball and cry.

But yes, I'm a big fan of the beta read coming before the story's done. There have been plenty of times that I was desperately trying to shove more of something in, and gloriana's told me there was already enough of that, and instead I need more of something else. Having someone else shift your focus like that, or having to actually explain problems to someone else, are both great ways to get past writing snags.

And it feels way better to get advice when there's still room to move things about, rather than when the paint's drying.

S.

Oh, and also, btw, no pressure on the more e-mail. While I have that inner child that I'm sure you're familiar with, right now I'm getting my slashmini done, and somehow after that I have signed up for spring_with_xander due two weeks later, nevermind the looming summer_of_giles... And it may be better for me not to have your thoughts bringing me back to the lost Giles story when I need to do the other stuff. I won't be working on it until I get on the plane.

So generally, it would be awesome to get your comments sometime in this month, but it isn't at all urgent.

S.