#im also juggling a few rl things | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cap-ironman · 5 years

Text

2019 Cap-IM Reverse Bang: One Month to go till Posting Begins

Hello RBB writers,

We know you’re all working hard on your drafts and we hope it’s going well. Following from our mid-way reminder, we want cheer you towards the finish line!

The Cap-IM Reverse Bang is meant to be a fun collaboration with an artist; it's also an event where in the past, some writers underestimated the final word count of their fic or overestimated the time left to write. It's important to us that the RBB stays enjoyable for everyone, so this post has some advice to manage your deadline without last minute stress. Let’s keep fun the focus here!

Keep in mind that everyone has a unique planning and writing process. Writing speed differs, and so does the way you write—in bursts, in a few long sittings, in between other projects.This means that now, with a month to go until Reverse Bang posting commences, you'll be at different stages of your process to other participants. Try not to worry about that! Instead, focus on enjoying your collaboration with your artist, and try to write a story you have fun with. Everyone brings their own ideas, personal taste, techniques and creativity to the table! Different stories have different needs, and every story will be awesome at it’s own pace and length.

Concentrate on assessing your own progress instead of comparing yourself to other writers and what you hear about their process and drafts. Maybe you got sidetracked with another non-RBB related story, maybe you're juggling multiple event deadlines, maybe you are a bit stuck… Don't panic, just be aware that time is passing and plan your schedule so you can manage your story.

We recommend that if you're worried about finishing on time, you take a look at any previous writing projects of the anticipated length of your fic and break down how long it took to finish, from brainstorming to publication. Then take that amount of time and double it. This gives you a safety net in case of unexpected setbacks such as RL throwing you a curveball or your fic word count increasing substantially. Use this appraisal as a reality check for whether, given the RBB event time-frame (posting starts May 1st), you have long enough to finish your fic.

If you think you might be in trouble because your outline is too long or your fic is currently over the word count (5K) by a significant amount and the plotted story isn't even half done, here are 3 options of what to do:

Condense your current plot outline and use that for your RBB fic. Have a look at your plot and consider whether you really need so many scenes to tell your story. Remember that finishing a 5,000 word story fulfills the RBB requirement.

Find a stopping point in your current outline and use it as the new "end" of your fic, meaning that you can write a substantially shorter story. Can you tell a stand-alone part of the story in about 5,000 words, and break the rest off into a sequel to be written later?

These two options mean you don't have to look for new ideas and do up a new plot from scratch, so you'll have more time to concentrate on writing the fic itself. While your RBB must be a finished, stand-alone work, this doesn't prevent you from writing a prequel or sequel after the event is over! Talk it through with your partner—they might be excited to work with you beyond the RBB.

Put your current RBB story on hold, to be finished after the RBB event is over, and start a different fic that you can finish with fewer words.

By setting the fic aside for after the RBB and doing a new, shorter idea, you give yourself the freedom to write the fic without compromising on any plot points, and without the stress of time restrictions. However, it does mean that you need to figure out a second viable RBB story.

If you're after new ideas, we suggest going back to the drawing-board with your artist and brainstorming with them as your first step. The cap-im Tumblr has got plenty of inspiration posts and resource posts that might help, plus additional resources in our Dreamwidth Creators Workshop. You can also talk things through with an alpha reader or cheer reader from the Stevetony beta list, or in private with a fandom friend or two.

Whatever you choose to do, if you're going to use a beta reader, we suggest you start reaching out to people well in advance so you can find someone who is both compatible and available. Err on the side of caution and give yourself ample time to write and edit your fic.

If you have any more questions or would like to discuss things further with an RBB mod, please email us at [email protected]. We are always happy to help!

#stevetony #stony #superhusbands #capimrbb #capimrbb2019 #capimevents #resource post

11 notes · View notes