Creator's Workshop (June)

[cap_ironman_daily]

Need help with creating the atmosphere for that sleazy bar Tony likes to hang out in? What would a college student in the 1980s spend his money on? Looking for someone to help beta read your fic or just cheer you on? How do people draw hands, damnit? How do you make your neighbour's dog stop make an appearance on your podfic? Ask a weird question that now taints your search history but still have not found the answer to? Would you like to share a great resource that you found recently?

Here's the place to direct all your questions (no judgement, no shame!), offer help, share some advice, cheer people on, or just chat about your current projects. Let everyone know what you're working on, and if your fellow fans and creators can be of any assistance!

Now that Big Bang 2018 has started, we'd like to promote themed discussions each month during the creation period. This month's question is:

How do you get started on a big project?

Share your advice, suggestions, personal anecdotes — whatever crosses your mind!

Cap-IronMan Events this Month:

• Tiny Reverse Bang 2018
• Big Bang 2018
• Bingo 2018 Round 1

Additional Resources:

• Resources List
• List of Active Beta Readers

If you know of any other resources, let us know!

This post will be running all month, so be sure to drop by if you have any questions or advice to pass along! To keep track of all new comments in this post, click the bell at the top of this post.

Comments

[laireshi]

So an important step for me is to find an Evil Friend who will brainstorm with me to make the angst as painful as possible and also encourage me to actually write. I'm a short stories writer normally, so BB is always a bit of a challenge. I usually just start writing and when I get to the middle, sometimes I very vaguely plan out the rest (I love Scrivener the most for it), but I'm reallyyyy not a planner, I tend to go where the story wants to go. I do usually start with a scene idea that I build around that's usually in the second half though.

Or sometimes I see a preview for the next comic issue and I write BB in four days before the deadline. That happened too.

[faite]

The 'big' projects I do tend to be comics and I like to plan things out. A lot. I guess it's a form of procrastination from starting on the actual drawing/writing part, haha. But outlining/planning also acts as a sort of checklist, which provides more tangible evidence of accomplishment or progress. (I supposed that's easier to see when drawing comics because there are so many steps to the process: outline, scripting, thumbnailing, layouts, penciling, etc., for each page.)

While ideas are easy to come by, I usually ask myself before I get started: "Is there a story here? Is it worth telling? Would it be interesting?" to help narrow down what I want to focus and spend time on. Sometimes the medium you're working in isn't the most effective way to tell the story, and it's totally okay to let go of an idea and move onto another one!

Also: sometimes you just have to write, and remember you don't have to commit to everything you put down on the page.

[capneverever]

I'm at complete loss about what to write for BB this year. The past few years I've usually gone in with a general idea and I've gotten better at structuring a 25k+ word fic.

But overall, my BB fics tend to be my less popular fics and I'd like to do something a little bit splashier this year, if that makes any sense. But then again, I'm not really sure I could write a 25k+ story about fairy Steve/Tony ....

What's driving me is wanting to participate and honestly, I'm a better writer for it. So IDK.

[faite]

FOMO's a real motivator, haha, but I hope to see you in this year's BB ♥ I'm excited to see what you come up with, no matter what idea you go with!

Have kidneys, will unwisely follow you into a hotel room

[spikethemuffin]

I could be a resource.

Deadlines short my brain out, so I'm not doing BB, but if if anyone is reading this needs an above-mentioned Evil Friend with whom to brainstorm or to be a sounding board, shrugs, I'm here and True Neutral and willing to bring balance to the--- wait, sorry, wrong fandom. Don't usually do events, because deadlines short my brain out, but I'm told I'm a great muse and can write you handily out of corners. Antrodemus on AO3, if you want to see my solo dribs and drabs.

(Yes, I'm on the "beta readers available page," already.)

Ugh, speaking of deadlines, I gotta go stare at the blinking cursor and yell at myself for that collab I'm stuck on. Sorry, Ailuropoda, babe...

[selinamoonfire]

I've been tinkering with the idea of writing a big bang this year, but I'm not sure how it'll work out since it's been years since I sat down and seriously wrote something. I have two ideas that I'm thinking about. One I've been poking at for years and never got traction on.

I've been thinking of rewriting the MCU universe with Steve being younger and meeting Tony while he's still at MIT. I have a sequel planned (which I've thought about more than the first story) of the two of them dealing with the events in Iron Man.

The second idea (or is it the third?) is from an old BB prompt that was on the comm years ago. Doing a version of the TV show Eureka with the Avengers universe.

[fluffypanda]

For me, getting started on a big project usually involves brainstorming plot/theme ideas, I throw ideas at the page, connecting them in different ways, until a story I like starts taking shape. This is mainly the stuff that happens in the actual story, but also backstory and worldbuilding details that I want to either weave in, or use to inform the characters actions.

Sometimes I find it helps to start writing scenes that I can picture and then connect them to the larger story later on. These usually turn out to be key, high tension scenes that are turning points in the story. I know writing out of order doesn't work for everyone, but it frees me up a bit to be able to get those ideas out while they are fresh, even if they end up needing revisions later.

I also like writing notes about how characters/relationships should be built up over all, what little ideas I should work in, or just thoughts about what facets of the characters I think would be good to show at some point in the story.

I started on my fic for the BB, but I'm having trouble getting the right feel for certain key scenes, so I haven't made a ton of progress. I guess that's where my method fails me. I hope I can make a breakthrough with enough time to actually turn in a draft.