That makes perfect sense! I've found that writing down the ideas and then letting them marinate works best. The idea that won't leave you alone is the one that you'll have the most success with. And sometimes that's all they're meant to be, ideas that don't go anywhere. Not everything needs to be written in a sense. With my Small Fandom Bang. The original story was a gymnastics AU. I have two pages of notes but in the end, I wasn't feeling it but I was glad to get the ideas down and out of my head.

It depends on what your goals and expectations are. Maybe shifting them is better. So, instead of looking at it as failure/success, you focus more on the effort. So, it's not that you failed at the Big Bang for example, you just wrote what you could and that's okay.

Yeah, I guess having more time or not wanting to focus on the pandemic all the time makes writing a fun prospect again! I think getting into Smallville was a big part of it too. Before that I only wrote HTF fics and didn't read anything, but actually reading stuff inspired me to write more.

I think the main issue I have with achieving longer fics is the time it takes. Writing is one thing, but the editing process is the real struggle. A lot of times I just get to a point where I wrap the story up earlier for the sake of my sanity, lol.