Out Of Bounds progress report, and skater standings.

[icarus]

I'm not going to finish all of Out Of Bounds today.

Most of it.

But not all of it.

I have roughly six scenes (with ongoing expansions....) left to write. Vacation's over tomorrow, had family stuff last night. Came home exhausted and distracted (that's family for you). Got edits but no core writing done afterward.

Looks like I'll be working on the last of Out Of Bounds through this coming week.

For those who are curious... the names and standings of John's competitors at Nationals, because, yes, I am that anal.

Last year's National Champions (they have a bye through Regionals and Sectionals)

Gold - Kyle Fletcher (reigning champion for a couple years)
Silver - Mike Estey (injured, not having a good season)
Bronze - Jeff Kulka (considered Kyle's most likely competitor this year)
Pewter - William Haas (who retired, and then unretired)

East Coast Sectional (this year)

Gold - David Bellamy (5th at Nats last year)
Silver - Pete Wynne
Bronze - Andrew Reinhardt
Pewter - Raymond Aguilar (14th at Nats last year)

Pacific Sectional

Gold - Christian Yong Suk (7th at Nats last year)
Silver - Francis Caliaro
Bronze - Elijah Wong (just moved up from Juniors)
Pewter - Trey Watkins (10th at Nats last year)

Midwestern Sectional (Mids)

Gold - John Sheppard (9th at Nats last year)
Silver - Nathaniel Peters (just moved up from Juniors)
Bronze - Benjamin Lamato
Pewter - Mark Svick (8th at Nats last year)

Comments

[villainny.livejournal.com]

I've kept reading bits of this, unable to help myself even though I generally avoid WIPs like anything.

I cannot bloody wait for it to be done. Seriously.

*BOUNCES*

You're awesome.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It'ssocloseit'ssoclose, it's so close. The ending's written. The epilogue's written. Most of the in-between scenes are written. All I have to write is the skating.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

OMG, that's so exciting! Eeee! So close!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm almost... scared. So I'm circling in on the last scenes gradually, writing what's ready, avoiding what's too hard still. The skating is the toughest part to write.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

I can imagine how hard the skating is to write - I suck at describing physical stuff like that anyway!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Physical action is tough to write.

Description of music and emotional response to music is tough to write. Dance is hard to write.

Actions where people aren't familiar with the technical terms (like Lutz, axel, as opposed to run, walk) are hard to write.

Writing skating is all of the above. My betas have tremendous patience with me, that's all I can say.

But the hardest scene in the entire story is done, and that was John's creative breakthrough. To have all of the above plus getting across a creative explosion ... well, I think I dented my forehead when I wrote it. I certainly chipped the table.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

You don't like to give yourself an easy time of it, do you? *is amused*

Your poor forehead - but the scene really worked, so to mangle a quote: pain is temporary. A really cool scene that makes readers go 'whee!' and jump up an down in glee is forever.

[helkamaria.livejournal.com]

I've been restraining myself, trying not to reread Out of Bounds before it's finished. I don't know if I can keep a hold on myself any more, now that it's so close to being finished. I ought to be writing an essay, but all I want to do is read John and Rodney skating. Help!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

But don't you want to read it all complete and finished and shiny? You can hang in there just a little bit longer....

[rabidfan.livejournal.com]

I love that OoB is so detailed. I know that makes it doubly hard to write, but it really enhances the readers (mine!) experience. Well done.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

We were coming up with skater names last night at dinner. One of those is a slightly modified version of the niece's boyfriend's name.

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

*pom poms*

it's an amazing achievement already and i am cheering for you.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

*pom poms back*

[mel-spiel.livejournal.com]

I'm watching the Superstars of Dance on NBC (specifically the Austrialian team) and I was reminded of out of bounds wich I had not read for months. So I came over and saw THIS post. Hi *waves* cant wait to read this cool fic in all its glory. Adore the detail and the way it all just falls into place.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You picked the perfect time to check back. Cross your fingers. I'm writing more after class tonight.

*bounces*

[whatifisaidno.livejournal.com]

I'm really interested in your writing process, but can't remember if you've written any posts about it. When you finish Out of Bounds are you going to revise it? It's such a long WIP, how do you write it in sections and still know how it's going to be as a finished piece, or without getting distracted? What was your outlining process?

I can't wait to read the entire thing. I loved it, but have a hard time reading WIPs and decided to wait until it was all in one place to start again.

Process? Part 1.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Writing process?

mad_maudlin asked me about this.

1 - Get the ball rolling.

I get a chunk of the story going. This has happened with all of my longer fics. Usually, I think a longer fic is a short story or drabble series, so it takes me a while to realize I might have something bigger.

I use a "write it while it's hot" process. If a scene far down the line pops up and wants to be written -- hey, who am I to argue? I'll write it, or at least write it in bullet points in my notebook, and slot it in later.

2 - Make a mess.

In Out Of Bounds I wrote most of it "by the seat of my pants." I was deliberately breaking with a process to get me out of any comfort zones, writing in an uncontrolled way with no goal in mind. So I'd write a scene, then go, "Hmm. What do I feel like writing next?" and let the mood take me strange places. At one point the story leaped back in time to a disco in Germany. At another point Zelenka turned up when I didn't plan to have him there at all. At another point I got into stuff about Rodney's feelings about very young skaters.

It made quite a mess. I'm all for making a mess of your story. I had a lot to resolve at that point -- and a ton of research to do.

3 - Research

This is a whole topic in itself, but I've never skated on a rink before. Obviously I had a lot to learn. At one point I had to delve into the figure skating world. I went to skating events. I went to skeevy rinks. I watched skating videos on YouTube. I went to competitions. I read books by skaters. I started talking to skaters online.

4 - Find the meaning.

About a third of the way in, I could no longer re-read the entire story to get myself back into it. I couldn't keep the whole story in mind. I told perfica that I felt like I was trying to balance marbles on a tray... yiiiii.

That's when I got anal.

I went back and looked at my story, talked it over with perfica and figured out what it was all about. I had started out with a general "let's write a cliche sports victory story." But it wasn't that anymore. I don't think it ever was, because we had Rodney's defeat in the very first drabble. I started it with skier Bode Miller in mind. It was never just victory. It was recovery from defeat and the fame that goes with both victory and defeat.

5 - Outline, outline, outline.

Once I knew what story I was telling, I broke it down into two variations on the theme: one in Rodney's past, one in John's present, and the central theme of John and Rodney's relationship which wove through John's training sessions.

I created a spreadsheet with three columns:

John's present | John and Rodney | Rodney's past

I typed a brief description of each scene I'd written so far, with the POV character (to make sure I balanced POVs), and sorted each scene into the appropriate column. That revealed some imbalances in the story and some holes (Zelenka was not integrated into the story originally), so I wrote the additional scenes I needed.

Then I went through and put the skating scenes in bold, scenes in blue, and scenes in red. This was to keep me from getting distracted from writing the core point of the story: the skating.

Then I slotted in all the scenes that were in my notebook for the future.

Process? Part 2.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

6 - Freaking out (this apparently is essential) and writing the end.

Seeing how far I had to go, I declared, "Aaaaaaaaaugh!" Because at that point I only had two-thirds of the story.

I panicked and talked to everyone I could get my hands on, betas, my boyfriend, my dad.

My dad advised me to write the end, "Then you know you'll finish." So I did. That took a lot of pressure off.

perfica and ursule got me through my neurosis. I treated it like three stories, because I had three climaxes: one at John's America Cup, one during the summer training, and the very end.

I just outlined and wrote the individual scenes in the section I was working on, and didn't worry about those big blank spaces.

7 - Random experiences and symbols.

I continued to write scenes far in the future and toss them into random slots in my outline, even if I didn't know how they'd work.

At one point I was completely stuck. I had tons of time to write, but I didn't know what to do after my first climactic scene.

So I just... walked.

I walked past a pond, and the sounds of children laughing worked their way into a scene. I threw tennis balls into the pond, and their landing in a row of three meant something to me.

I went downtown, bought a ticket on a ferry and just... went anywhere... to see what it would tell me. I accidentally bought ice cream in a flavor I didn't usually like, but I was halfway through the ice cream bar before I noticed.

That was my answer. I wrote a series of scenes on a topic I usually didn't like, and that was my transition into the summer training.

I have other, less active versions I do of randomizing. Sometimes I pick up a book and open it to a random page, to see if that jars anything loose. Or I'll pick "random" on Google. Or I'll often pull out the Tibetan Mo divination and ask about two different options in a story.

My f-list also acts as a randomizing force. When I post a scene, often someone will comment on something that will make me see it in a whole new light, or share something that works its way into the story later. mattthebruinsfan and roaringmice both influenced major parts of the story.

8 - Plugging away, scene by scene.

Sometimes I just wrote the scenes in my outline and crossed them off my list. Sometimes I'd skip it, and it wouldn't end up in the story. Sometimes it would turn out completely differently. If the scene went in a different direction from my plan, I ran with it. Okay, okay, I complained and then ran with it.

When I got tired, I let myself leap ahead to something further along that seemed fresh. Or I would fall back on notes and write that scene that I scratched out almost word-for-word in my notes when I was hot on the scent.

Other times, I relied on my f-list to give me a boost of energy. I'd post a scene, rake in the reviews, roll in them a bit, and then feel energized to write more. I'm quite serious. It works.

9 - Finishing.

I can't tell you my process for finishing yet, because I have six scenes (or so) to go.

I'll let you know. :D

Re: Process? Part 2.

[elizabeth-rice.livejournal.com]

I was reading your process and had a few questions. I know you wrote this a month ago, but I was hesitating because I was (still am) worried that these may be silly questions. I hope I'm not a bother.

1. OOB is the first time you've attempted a complete AU: from Science Fiction to Sports. How did you decide what to keep from the core canon characterisations and backstories?

2. This is unrelated to OOB, but I've always wanted to know. You wrote Tanlines in comments on LJ, correct? I've noticed quite a few writers have done this exercise in comments or in chat. What are the benefits, disadvantages of writing this way? Any tips I should know if I attempt it?

Re: Process? Part 2.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I would love to, but at the moment I'm in midterms and have a Sanskrit and History midterm on the same day.

Re: Process? Part 2.

[elizabeth-rice.livejournal.com]

Ah, I just saw your entry on my flist. It's okay, I understand.

I'll take the opportunity to wish you all the best here. Good luck!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

When you finish Out of Bounds are you going to revise it?

I forgot to answer this question: Yes.

I'm going to hand the whole thing over to my toughest, most ruthless, demanding betas -- the ones I couldn't work with during the first draft process because, okay, I have a fragile ego (alas, it's true). I wilt and go creatively dead under too much criticism, so during the first draft I need pom-poms and rose petals! It's embarrassing and sort of hilarious. That's why WiPs work for me.

Once the first draft is done, I'm going to hand it over to my tough betas -- and then duck and cover.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm re-reading this, and there's so much I haven't mentioned. The research and how that sparked scenes. The music and how important that was. Once the story got huge, because there was music for almost every scene (skating and music go hand in hand), I was able to listen to the soundtrack to bring the whole story to mind. Things like that.

Does that help at all?

[whatifisaidno.livejournal.com]

Yes! That helps a lot. It's really interesting to see it while it's still being written and I'm a little in awe of how you do it. It's turned out fantastic.

Sorry I got so behind on comments and never replied-- until now.

[alfrenne.livejournal.com]

*is in awe*

is all. except, your music taste is eclectic. it always makes me smile :) Good luck with the home stretch. I hate gooeyness (oh God, I can't spell today) unless it comes at the end of an angst fic, but have you considered how many bleak januaries (sp of month in plural? argh. my spelling, it offends)OOB will brighten up.I'm not even being sarcastic. Go you, seriously. OOB is my happy place on dark days (although the scene where John starts throwing the cans freaks me out to this day. And for some reason those darker moments are what make it work for me, because they feel real. Not that anyone ever threw soup at me, just...never mind.) What I meant to say was: THANK YOU AND KEEP GOING. We're sending the good vibes. Hope being back at school's going okay.

btw, sorry re crap grammar and punctuation. after years agonising over the perfect feedback, I have decided that with my no time, anything is better to acknowledge an enjoyed read than nothing. But sorry; someday I will have time to edit. Not today, and not in the near future, because OOB must be reread (joy!). But someday. Erm, hopefully.

[pkoceres.livejournal.com]

*happydance of anticipatory glee*

[jez-two.livejournal.com]

Oh. Wow. I can't wait to see it finished!!