Round 98, Hour 21

[xandromedovna]

Y'all are writing so many words! What's your favourite word that you've written this hour?

Comments

[badly_knitted]

Has to be 'gotten'. Being British I love getting to use that in American fandoms.

Finished my fic and posted it, now I just need an idea for the other challenge prompt I have to write this weekend.

[thewiggins]

Huh, I had no idea that 'gotten' wasn't used in British English? So would you say "I had *got*" then? Interesting. I tend to notice the words and spellings that British English uses that we don't, but it's harder to notice the words that we do use that you don't, if that makes sense!

Anyway, congrats on finishing your fic!

[badly_knitted]

Makes perfect sense to me!

And yes, I'd got, he or she had got, they'd got... Kinda boring isn't it? I got told off once when replying to a comment because I mentioned that although I'm British I sometimes say 'gotten' instead of 'got'. Apparently that makes me a terrible person. But that's how language evolves, by people picking up words and incorporating them into their own speech.

Also, thanks, I was glad to cross one off the never-ending list, but then I had to add another when I posted the new challenge at my drabble community... At least I have a week before that one's due.

[thewiggins]

I hear ya with the never ending list thing! I will always have more things that I want to write than actual time or ability to write. C'est la vie. But cool that you've got another week to finish your next one!

And I think it's always kinda funny when people get super up in arms about usage, as if it weren't a constantly shifting thing! Plus apparently "gotten" is actually an old usage that just fell out of fashion in the 18th century in the UK but not the Americas? (Yeah, I looked it up, I'm that kind of nerd.)

[xandromedovna]

If you want a cursed participle, in the part of Pennsylvania where I'm from, we say "I buy," "I bought," "I'd boughten"

[thewiggins]

Ooh, "boughten." That is an interesting one!

[thenewbuzwuzz]

That is AMAZING :D

[badly_knitted]

Only trouble is there'll be new prompts on Monday, and Thursday next week as well for other communities I belong to, so I'm never done. I keep trying to tell myself it's okay to skip a prompt here and there, but I feel so guilty when I do. Plus I signed up to write two spook_me fics, I've only done one so far, and it still needs editing and splitting into chapters because it's over 11k. So much for cutting back on writing this year...

Oh, that's cool! I wish it hadn't fallen out of favour here, it just sounds so much better. If language didn't evolve we'd still be saying 'wilt' and 'henceforth' ;)

[thewiggins]

And "thee" and "thou"!

But yeah, you probably should give yourself permission to skip some prompts! Personally (and being a massive perfectionist doesn't help this) I tend to get a bit too bogged down if I try to constantly keep up with a bunch of community prompts and such. Then again, they are very motivating! But you certainly shouldn't feel guilty about wanting to drop one here or there.

[badly_knitted]

Yep!

Having OCD doesn't help. I can tell myself it's okay to skip a prompt but then I wind up having panic attacks... There are a few communities I only do an occasional one, but I have 9 I do regularly, some weekly and some monthly, and half the time when I say I'm not going to do this one this time, I'll suddenly get an idea for it, because my brain is weird. >.<

For the drabbles I just post to my journal and link to the community, but for longer fics, I post to the community and then edit and expand stories at my leisure before posting to my journal. That way I'm happier with the finished result.

At least writing for all these prompt challenges means I can achieve my pledged word count for the year.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

I, too, think it's okay to skip some prompts - in case that helps

[badly_knitted]

It would if I could only make my OCD believe it instead of making me panic if I try to skip one...

I hate my brain sometimes. =(

[thenewbuzwuzz]

=(

[thewiggins]

"Sigil." It's a funny word and I wasn't at all sure how to spell it (I was half-convinced that there was a "y" in there somewhere: sigyl? sygil?) Plus here's the definition: "a sign, word, or device held to have occult power in astrology or magic." That's both so vague and so specific at the same time. I love it.

[xandromedovna]

petition to put a y in sigil

[thewiggins]

Seconded!