How do I get mself into these messes?

[krickets]

I am such a one-shot offender. I never write long fics and here I find myself like 60% through this big bang and my brain has turned to mush and I have to wonder if it's even going to be worth it. (Define "worth it?" I don't even know!) I feel like I would get just as much satisfaction from writing a shorter fic, so why bother? I don't know. I will probably feel differently once I've filled in all the holes. And the sad part is that this is not even as long as some fics I've seen. Only 10,000 words!

[Poll #1779134]

Comments

[janie-tangerine.livejournal.com]

Mmh I'd say it is, but my average wordcount for one-shot fics is 7000 words. I'm totally not a short person and I'm incapable of staying short even when I -want- to keep it not that long. But either I realize that somehow I have a plot and if I have a plot I can't shut up, and even if I don't I always end up with long wordcounts. Even if I'm writing a single scene/snapshot I can't keep it under 1000 words - I need to go through every damn thing that happens in that scene if I go for that. I'm not sure if it's a ESL thing (I end up using more words because I need to be sure of what I'm saying) or if it's just that I can't possibly shut up 90% of the time but I find longer fic more rewarding because I just can't tell a story in a drabble or in a ficlet. Then again I'd like to be able to do more shorter pieces and I envy everyone who manages so effortlessly. I think that if you like the story enough you should just finish it without looking at the word count to see if it gets to 10000 words - and if you're more than half done it's worth a shot.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I think we all have our different styles for different reasons. I often do write out all of those details, but trash them later and include the bare minimum. For me it makes everything flow better and I find sometimes that the unsaid is just as good. It's my own personal thing and I think that is probably for a myriad of reasons.

I already have a problem with this fandom because I can't seem to drop exposition and just jump into AU. It's like a handicap with writing the vampire diaries! Haha.