20 minutes with Angelus, and musings on the whole 20 mins challenges
current mood: mischievous
current song: Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
Just managed to squeeze out this To Boldly Go ficlet before work today. This time it's Angelus and Star Trek : The Next Generation.
The twenty minute time limit on all these fics can be murder on you - I so wanted to fit in a scene with sunlight reflecting off Picard's head at Angelus, but just couldn't fit it in with the time limit. Working to a tight, tight deadline exercises a completely different set of fic muscles than the drabble ones. Both make you jump in, hit your mark and get out, but drabbles can be so much easier in a way.
The one hundred word limit for drabbles force you to carefully consider each phrase and choice of word carefully, but you have the time available to do so. I had to switch the Faith/Cheers drabble recently to solely dialogue just to fit it under the word limit, and still hit the gags. In some ways that worked better - leaving just what the photo looked like to the imagination always works better, but I'd have loved to fit in the image of Faith scrambling through the crowd at the end.
Now, the twenty minute limit is tougher. I do my basic thinking and plotting outside the limit, but the clock starts as soon as I start typing. On these, I've learned to hit the conclusion near the start, and maybe some of the dialogue beats on the way down to the end. Then I go back and fill in or flesh out some of the bones along the way. Then when the time's up, it's fix the spelling and minor mistakes and worker on the header and title. Sometimes the title will have come to me during the plotting (like Twenty) or I have to sweat bullets to think of one that fits (To Boldly Go).
Still, all told it's a fascinating exercise to think up. Really stretches yourself in ways you never expected. And as an extra challenge to myself, I intend to do a fic for each challenge, but without any doubling up of crossover. I do reserve the right to use other characters from the same universe, but when they're used, they're out. For example, I used General Hammond for Conversations, so I can't use him, but can use Jack or Daniel or Sam, etc.
Yeah, yeah... I'm nuts.
Edited to add the memes :
Is there any remaining doubt that
empressvesica and I share the same brain cell?Oh yes, and this one :
!!!!XANDER!!!
You're a BUFFY/XANDER shipper:
this love is easy and this is what Buffy deserves.
No pain, no tragedies, nothing
bittersweet...just two young lovers.
Who'd make Buffy happy?
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I agree totally Booster. Thats why I love these challenges. I work the same way, really, planning out a plot in my head, working it around until it can be contained in 20 minutes of writing, then getting to it, aiming for 15 minutes for 5 minutes of cleaning it up and fleshing it out.
Drabbles are similar, like you said, but instead of working with words, you work with time. It's tougher one way, easier another. I enjoy doing both of them, actually.
I'm trying to do what you are, answer each challenge but not repeating major characters. I've done two for Tir Alainn, but not used the same characters. So for me the offlimits for any future fics are Morag and Diana for Tir Alainn, and Snape for HP. Should be fun trying out new settings and hopefully new genres. What fun!
Btw, loved To Boldy Go. Reviewed it at TtH.