A year in reflection: in which the author self indulgently talks about herself, and maybe some fic
The year is almost up (or depending on your time zone, is up) so I thought I'd do a two part reflection, one on my own work, and another on other peoples work. So sappy gushy-ness under the cut.
The upside to having lived a mediocre cat lady like year in 2009 RL means I had hella time time to write. And wow. Around this time last year, I was just starting to get into a writing swing, with Sugar Never Tasted So Good, and the first part of a Measure of Peace. Both smaller fandoms, and in the case of Dark Angel, something I’d been reading fic in on and off for years.
I’ve been reading fanfic since 1998, starting with one of the biggest fandom of them all: The X Files. And like so many teenagers, I tried to write it. *shudders* So, I read, I squeed, I joined mailing lists, I had a crummy geocities archive.
Then, in January of this year, I watched a few episodes of Buffy. And it was all over. Literally. Like so many fandoms, I got sucked in. I woke up two hours early before work to watch two episodes before work. I stayed up until three am watching disk after disk. I finished the entire series in two months.
I fell in love with Spike. With Giles. With Drusilla. With Faith. With Xander.
I started reading. I found Giles/Xander, Faith/Buffy, Spike/damn near everyone.
I found Spike/Buffy. So. much. Spuffy. Everywhere. I loved it. Still do.
I got…well I wouldn’t say bored, but a lot of ideas started to repeat. Fandom cliche running rampant. Not that it matters. I have more bulletproof kinks then a swat team.
I saw a nitch not being filled, I saw hackle-raising character bashing. I saw potential what if’s no one else saw. I followed the idiom “ read what you want to read”
I wrote lethal because I thought Joyce would be a badass vamp. I slaved over moths and rainwater when I wanted Drusilla to remember Giles. I wrote Charms and Tidings because I shamelessly love the fandom potential of season 4.
I joined whedonland , I made online friends. I desired to write more Dollhouse fic. I watched Epitaph One on dvd and cried.
I fell in love with Claire. With Adelle. With Boyd. With Topher.
I wrote shorts. I wrote gifts. I wrote In The Bookstore, probably the most popular and well crafted thing I’ve written all year. I’ve been recc’ed. I’ve been nominated.
People have left me feedback.
I have improved my punctuation (if not necessary my spelling).
I wrote three works in progress for every completed fic. I let story ideas lead me by the hand and kiss me in the dark.
I crossed over. I remixed and was remixed in return.
I had an affair with Veronica Mars.
I pushed myself, because for years I spent reading fanfic, and telling myself, “Man, maybe one day I’ll be as good as (enter talented fanfic writer here).”
I still feel that way. I checked out stacks of books about writing. I read, I payed attention to what I loved. The speech. The sentence structure. The punctuation.
I learned the correct way to use a semi colon. I admired the dramatic absence of commas.
The time between thinking and writing lessened. I wrestled with writers block. I even won sometimes.
I've written 54 works in five fandoms!
I owe so much thanks to:
amory_vain , captain_tibbs , tweedisgood , denelian ( probably most of all, for reading through the insanity that tries to be a novelette). For reading through my fic, and painstaking correcting the grammar and spelling.
snowpuppies , petzipellepingo and moscow_watcher , for reccing my fic. which is like, feedback times 1000.
To whomever nominated me for sog_awards ,rwsawards ,wicked_awards and unlocked_awards , which is like feedback times a million.
To every single person who left feedback on a story of mine. Little concentrated bits of happiness, is what feedback is. I would still be posting without you guys, but damn if it isn't nice to know someone, out there, felt enough to take time and leave a response.
And yes, thank you, lurkers, hanging on all silent like. I know your out there, because i am out there too more often then not.
In a nutshell, I love you guys, and I hope for write even more next year!
The year in reflection Q and A is now open. And yes, promised gift fics are on their way.
The upside to having lived a mediocre cat lady like year in 2009 RL means I had hella time time to write. And wow. Around this time last year, I was just starting to get into a writing swing, with Sugar Never Tasted So Good, and the first part of a Measure of Peace. Both smaller fandoms, and in the case of Dark Angel, something I’d been reading fic in on and off for years.
I’ve been reading fanfic since 1998, starting with one of the biggest fandom of them all: The X Files. And like so many teenagers, I tried to write it. *shudders* So, I read, I squeed, I joined mailing lists, I had a crummy geocities archive.
Then, in January of this year, I watched a few episodes of Buffy. And it was all over. Literally. Like so many fandoms, I got sucked in. I woke up two hours early before work to watch two episodes before work. I stayed up until three am watching disk after disk. I finished the entire series in two months.
I fell in love with Spike. With Giles. With Drusilla. With Faith. With Xander.
I started reading. I found Giles/Xander, Faith/Buffy, Spike/damn near everyone.
I found Spike/Buffy. So. much. Spuffy. Everywhere. I loved it. Still do.
I got…well I wouldn’t say bored, but a lot of ideas started to repeat. Fandom cliche running rampant. Not that it matters. I have more bulletproof kinks then a swat team.
I saw a nitch not being filled, I saw hackle-raising character bashing. I saw potential what if’s no one else saw. I followed the idiom “ read what you want to read”
I wrote lethal because I thought Joyce would be a badass vamp. I slaved over moths and rainwater when I wanted Drusilla to remember Giles. I wrote Charms and Tidings because I shamelessly love the fandom potential of season 4.
I joined whedonland , I made online friends. I desired to write more Dollhouse fic. I watched Epitaph One on dvd and cried.
I fell in love with Claire. With Adelle. With Boyd. With Topher.
I wrote shorts. I wrote gifts. I wrote In The Bookstore, probably the most popular and well crafted thing I’ve written all year. I’ve been recc’ed. I’ve been nominated.
People have left me feedback.
I have improved my punctuation (if not necessary my spelling).
I wrote three works in progress for every completed fic. I let story ideas lead me by the hand and kiss me in the dark.
I crossed over. I remixed and was remixed in return.
I had an affair with Veronica Mars.
I pushed myself, because for years I spent reading fanfic, and telling myself, “Man, maybe one day I’ll be as good as (enter talented fanfic writer here).”
I still feel that way. I checked out stacks of books about writing. I read, I payed attention to what I loved. The speech. The sentence structure. The punctuation.
I learned the correct way to use a semi colon. I admired the dramatic absence of commas.
The time between thinking and writing lessened. I wrestled with writers block. I even won sometimes.
I've written 54 works in five fandoms!
I owe so much thanks to:
amory_vain , captain_tibbs , tweedisgood , denelian ( probably most of all, for reading through the insanity that tries to be a novelette). For reading through my fic, and painstaking correcting the grammar and spelling.
snowpuppies , petzipellepingo and moscow_watcher , for reccing my fic. which is like, feedback times 1000.
To whomever nominated me for sog_awards ,rwsawards ,wicked_awards and unlocked_awards , which is like feedback times a million.
To every single person who left feedback on a story of mine. Little concentrated bits of happiness, is what feedback is. I would still be posting without you guys, but damn if it isn't nice to know someone, out there, felt enough to take time and leave a response.
And yes, thank you, lurkers, hanging on all silent like. I know your out there, because i am out there too more often then not.
In a nutshell, I love you guys, and I hope for write even more next year!
The year in reflection Q and A is now open. And yes, promised gift fics are on their way.