the year in fic
So, uh, before I do anything else, I have AN ENTHUSIASTIC REC. The truly incredible wandrinparakeet did a fanmix for the domesticverse, and, just, YOU GUYS. This fanmix is just like. jdfdskf AMONG OTHER THINGS, ABOUT HALF OF THE SONGS ARE ON MY *PERSONAL* SOUNDTRACK FOR THAT VERSE, and the rest of them are INCREDIBLE, I've listened to nothing but this mix all day. I am just so flattered and so floored, and it really is some fabulous music, and she did gorgeous liner notes to go with and I am just. I AM A BALL OF LOVE. Trust me, GO DOWNLOAD IT.
And now for some information that I found extremely jarring, and some thinky thoughts about it!
The Year in Fic Meme!
Okay, so, I am not listing all of my stories here, because they're all on my master post (OH MY GOD WAIT I'M HALFWAY THROUGH WRITING THIS AND I JUST REALIZED THEY'RE NOT, I DID SOME FEST FICS THAT AREN'T LISTED THERE AND HOLIDAY HEIST AND YULETIDE, OH MY GOD, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. I can't be fucked to go find them and add them in right now, but god, in total they probably up the wordcount *another* 20K, I CANNOT DEAL WITH THAT, I REFUSE TO DEAL WITH THAT). But here is the wordcount breakdown--which, WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE--and the Q&A bit :D
total number of completed stories: 47
total word count: 300,855 (WHAT EVEN)
fandom breakdown: 23,710 words Harry Potter/57,680 words White Collar/65,463 words Sherlock Holmes/154,002 words Inception
Overall Thoughts:
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Um, ahahaha, DEFINITELY MORE, OH MY GOD. I honestly didn't have any plans for this year fic-wise other than finishing an HP fic that, actually, I never finished, BECAUSE IT WAS CRAP. IT WAS COMPLETE CRAP. But I mean--before this year I'd never been in a fandom outside of HP, and I was never very prolific there, this is just. I just. How?
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? UM, ALL OF THEM. Like, honestly--I guess if, in January, you'd asked me if I could see myself writing anything outside of HP I would have said Holmes/Watson, but I never intended to join the fandom--and, actually, I cycled through White Collar completely before getting there. I certainly couldn't have predicted Arthur/Eames, for the...obvious reasons.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? Ah, the domesticverse, I think. I can't pick one story from within because I really view them all as one story--one ridiculous, 75K and counting story--but they just. I don't think they're my best, and they weren't the most fun to write (though they were very fun to write, just not THE MOST FUN), but they just...I just really enjoy them. In part because they hit a number of my personal favorite tropes, and in part because I think I grew a lot as a writer this year, especially in Inception fandom, and they chart that pretty well.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Joined three new fandoms, tried different styles, POVs, tenses, pairings, let myself get over my fear of writing things longer than 10K, made my first kinkmeme post; actually, I took too many risks to go into all of them, and I LEARNED FROM EVERY ONE. Because writing teaches you to write, it's brilliant that way :D
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? Just...focus on one thing and write it. I have so many half-finished fics that I'm flitting around between, because there are so many stories I want to tell all at once. More domesticverse, possibly a coffeeshop sequel, like 15 different A/E fics that I've got skeletons for, etc etc etc.
From my past year of writing, what was...
My best story of this year: Okay, as much as I love Inception, that's gotta be History, Repeating Itself. There are a couple of things I regret about that story (not the least of which being the title, AUGH, I COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT), and at some point I'd like to go back through and clean it up, but it's my best this year. It's maybe my best ever--not necessarily my favorite, but just like...it's essentially a modern-day Sherlock Holmes novella, right, and even though domesticverse is longer, History is linear and chaptered, and I really built those characters from the ground up. I mean, obviously, OBVIOUSLY they are based on Holmes and Watson but like...I don't know. There was plot development and character development that I sustained in a linear timeline, and that's big for me. In terms of overall quality I think it's the best.
My most popular story of this year: Ah, ahahaha, thaaaaaat would be the coffeeshop AU. /o\ I AM STILL AMAZED BY THAT, HONESTLY. I never, ever thought that story would be as popular as it was.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I've been insanely lucky this year in getting a lot of support and love and exposure--THANK YOU GUYS :D So I really don't feel under-appreciated by anyone about anything; if anything I feel over-appreciated, jfddsfj. But I do wish I personally had pushed that Robert Fischer story a little harder, because I really enjoyed putting it together and was really proud of how it turned out. But! It was a) written in second person and b) not...Arthur/Eames... so it naturally didn't have as large of an audience.
Most fun story to write: Toss up between the coffeeshop AU and History, Repeating Itself, I think. I mean, really, honestly, THEY WERE ALL THE MOST FUN TO WRITE, because I love writing and it's all been a blast, but those two...I actually cried when I finished History because I was so sad to be done writing it. WHICH I KNOW IS RIDICULOUS. And the coffeeshop AU just poured out of me, man, it pretty much wrote itself.
Story with the single sexiest moment: Ah, this is an interesting question. I think, for me personally, the scene in pressed against the pending physics of my passed down last name where Eames fucks Arthur up against that window. Even though that is, by and large, a sad story, that scene was the most OHGODMUSTWRITEPORNNOW I've felt all year, and it was...I don't know. I felt like it was a big turning point in that 'verse, that scene and it's aftermath.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: I...didn't really...um. Write all that much dirty porn this year? Like, I did write a lot of kinky White Collar threesome porn last spring, but none of it was like OH GOD THIS IS SO WRONG.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Oh, god, they all did. I kind of think that if you're not altering your perception of the characters, at least a little, every time you write them, you're not doing it right? Because--and obviously YMMV, I'm *certainly* not an authority on writing--but like, for me, I get to know them a little better each time I write them, each way I write them. If I get to the point where I feel like I know all of their ins and outs, they don't hold much interest for me anymore, you know?
Hardest story to write: The sequel to History, Repeating Itself, which remains unfinished and which I feel guilty about every day. What happened with that story...I didn't think watching Sherlock would stall me out on that, but it really did, because once I'd seen those character modernized that way, I couldn't get their voices right anymore. At some point my block on that will clear and I'll finish it, but it just...wasn't happening this year :/
Biggest Disappointment: The Hollywood AU, the Hollywood AU, the Hollywood AU. I was so sick of that story, so ready to be done thinking about it after months and months and fucking months, that I just kind of churned it out and let it go before it was ready. There are huge issues with it--I don't like bits of the plot arc, I left things out I intended to include, the timeline is fucked, the transitions are fucked, the pacing is beyond fucked. But I figure there's always one you're not satisfied with, and there are still parts of that story I'm really proud of, so I'm okay with that.
Biggest Surprise: ALL OF IT, EVERYTHING. But especially, especially you guys. The amount of just like. Love and support and kindness and ALL THE BRILLIANT PEOPLE I'VE MET and I just. I love all of you, okay? And I'm amazed and grateful every day that you guys like my fic at all, let alone take the time to do incredible things like drawing fanart and making fanmixes and leaving these incredibly thoughtful comments and I'm just. Floored. All the time. Constantly. ♥
Most Unintentionally Telling Story: Ahahaha, OH MY GOD THE COFFEESHOP AU, HANDS DOWN, NO CONTEST. I love that story, and I loved writing it, and I'm thrilled and amazed by how much you guys liked it, but it is just. Oh, god, it is SO self indulgent, it is so ridiculously self indulgent I do not EVEN, which I didn't recognize until after it was up. And it also, I think, reveals the degree to which I want to be working on original fiction in addition to fanfic, because that story...I really could have done it as origfic, I think. I just didn't realize that at the time, which is actually kind of a bummer, because it would have been interesting to see how that went. BUT, I mean, that said, I totally stand by it, I'm proud of it, it's one of my favorites this year. It was a blast to work on and the response has been amazing and I love it, I really, honestly do. But telling, for sure.
In conclusion: You know, outside of fandom, 2010 has been...a really shitty year. Like, maybe one of my shittiest years ever, for a number of reasons I have no intention of going into. But when I look at fic I did at the end of 2009 and fic from the end of this year, the difference in quality is staggering. I've long been a proponent of the theory that you grow as a writer by writing, and I wrote a lot this year. And I'm just so hugely grateful for fandom, for you guys, for the chance to do this. Because I think--despite all the shit that's happened in the last twelve months--I think I'm going to look back at 2010 as a year where I really developed as a writer, and that's just invaluable to me.
So thanks, guys. For everything you do, for all of your kind words and encouragement, for your fics and art and opinions and voices. Here's to a happy 2011, yeah? ♥
And now for some information that I found extremely jarring, and some thinky thoughts about it!
The Year in Fic Meme!
Okay, so, I am not listing all of my stories here, because they're all on my master post (OH MY GOD WAIT I'M HALFWAY THROUGH WRITING THIS AND I JUST REALIZED THEY'RE NOT, I DID SOME FEST FICS THAT AREN'T LISTED THERE AND HOLIDAY HEIST AND YULETIDE, OH MY GOD, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. I can't be fucked to go find them and add them in right now, but god, in total they probably up the wordcount *another* 20K, I CANNOT DEAL WITH THAT, I REFUSE TO DEAL WITH THAT). But here is the wordcount breakdown--which, WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE--and the Q&A bit :D
total number of completed stories: 47
total word count: 300,855 (WHAT EVEN)
fandom breakdown: 23,710 words Harry Potter/57,680 words White Collar/65,463 words Sherlock Holmes/154,002 words Inception
Overall Thoughts:
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Um, ahahaha, DEFINITELY MORE, OH MY GOD. I honestly didn't have any plans for this year fic-wise other than finishing an HP fic that, actually, I never finished, BECAUSE IT WAS CRAP. IT WAS COMPLETE CRAP. But I mean--before this year I'd never been in a fandom outside of HP, and I was never very prolific there, this is just. I just. How?
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? UM, ALL OF THEM. Like, honestly--I guess if, in January, you'd asked me if I could see myself writing anything outside of HP I would have said Holmes/Watson, but I never intended to join the fandom--and, actually, I cycled through White Collar completely before getting there. I certainly couldn't have predicted Arthur/Eames, for the...obvious reasons.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? Ah, the domesticverse, I think. I can't pick one story from within because I really view them all as one story--one ridiculous, 75K and counting story--but they just. I don't think they're my best, and they weren't the most fun to write (though they were very fun to write, just not THE MOST FUN), but they just...I just really enjoy them. In part because they hit a number of my personal favorite tropes, and in part because I think I grew a lot as a writer this year, especially in Inception fandom, and they chart that pretty well.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Joined three new fandoms, tried different styles, POVs, tenses, pairings, let myself get over my fear of writing things longer than 10K, made my first kinkmeme post; actually, I took too many risks to go into all of them, and I LEARNED FROM EVERY ONE. Because writing teaches you to write, it's brilliant that way :D
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? Just...focus on one thing and write it. I have so many half-finished fics that I'm flitting around between, because there are so many stories I want to tell all at once. More domesticverse, possibly a coffeeshop sequel, like 15 different A/E fics that I've got skeletons for, etc etc etc.
From my past year of writing, what was...
My best story of this year: Okay, as much as I love Inception, that's gotta be History, Repeating Itself. There are a couple of things I regret about that story (not the least of which being the title, AUGH, I COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT), and at some point I'd like to go back through and clean it up, but it's my best this year. It's maybe my best ever--not necessarily my favorite, but just like...it's essentially a modern-day Sherlock Holmes novella, right, and even though domesticverse is longer, History is linear and chaptered, and I really built those characters from the ground up. I mean, obviously, OBVIOUSLY they are based on Holmes and Watson but like...I don't know. There was plot development and character development that I sustained in a linear timeline, and that's big for me. In terms of overall quality I think it's the best.
My most popular story of this year: Ah, ahahaha, thaaaaaat would be the coffeeshop AU. /o\ I AM STILL AMAZED BY THAT, HONESTLY. I never, ever thought that story would be as popular as it was.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: I've been insanely lucky this year in getting a lot of support and love and exposure--THANK YOU GUYS :D So I really don't feel under-appreciated by anyone about anything; if anything I feel over-appreciated, jfddsfj. But I do wish I personally had pushed that Robert Fischer story a little harder, because I really enjoyed putting it together and was really proud of how it turned out. But! It was a) written in second person and b) not...Arthur/Eames... so it naturally didn't have as large of an audience.
Most fun story to write: Toss up between the coffeeshop AU and History, Repeating Itself, I think. I mean, really, honestly, THEY WERE ALL THE MOST FUN TO WRITE, because I love writing and it's all been a blast, but those two...I actually cried when I finished History because I was so sad to be done writing it. WHICH I KNOW IS RIDICULOUS. And the coffeeshop AU just poured out of me, man, it pretty much wrote itself.
Story with the single sexiest moment: Ah, this is an interesting question. I think, for me personally, the scene in pressed against the pending physics of my passed down last name where Eames fucks Arthur up against that window. Even though that is, by and large, a sad story, that scene was the most OHGODMUSTWRITEPORNNOW I've felt all year, and it was...I don't know. I felt like it was a big turning point in that 'verse, that scene and it's aftermath.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: I...didn't really...um. Write all that much dirty porn this year? Like, I did write a lot of kinky White Collar threesome porn last spring, but none of it was like OH GOD THIS IS SO WRONG.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Oh, god, they all did. I kind of think that if you're not altering your perception of the characters, at least a little, every time you write them, you're not doing it right? Because--and obviously YMMV, I'm *certainly* not an authority on writing--but like, for me, I get to know them a little better each time I write them, each way I write them. If I get to the point where I feel like I know all of their ins and outs, they don't hold much interest for me anymore, you know?
Hardest story to write: The sequel to History, Repeating Itself, which remains unfinished and which I feel guilty about every day. What happened with that story...I didn't think watching Sherlock would stall me out on that, but it really did, because once I'd seen those character modernized that way, I couldn't get their voices right anymore. At some point my block on that will clear and I'll finish it, but it just...wasn't happening this year :/
Biggest Disappointment: The Hollywood AU, the Hollywood AU, the Hollywood AU. I was so sick of that story, so ready to be done thinking about it after months and months and fucking months, that I just kind of churned it out and let it go before it was ready. There are huge issues with it--I don't like bits of the plot arc, I left things out I intended to include, the timeline is fucked, the transitions are fucked, the pacing is beyond fucked. But I figure there's always one you're not satisfied with, and there are still parts of that story I'm really proud of, so I'm okay with that.
Biggest Surprise: ALL OF IT, EVERYTHING. But especially, especially you guys. The amount of just like. Love and support and kindness and ALL THE BRILLIANT PEOPLE I'VE MET and I just. I love all of you, okay? And I'm amazed and grateful every day that you guys like my fic at all, let alone take the time to do incredible things like drawing fanart and making fanmixes and leaving these incredibly thoughtful comments and I'm just. Floored. All the time. Constantly. ♥
Most Unintentionally Telling Story: Ahahaha, OH MY GOD THE COFFEESHOP AU, HANDS DOWN, NO CONTEST. I love that story, and I loved writing it, and I'm thrilled and amazed by how much you guys liked it, but it is just. Oh, god, it is SO self indulgent, it is so ridiculously self indulgent I do not EVEN, which I didn't recognize until after it was up. And it also, I think, reveals the degree to which I want to be working on original fiction in addition to fanfic, because that story...I really could have done it as origfic, I think. I just didn't realize that at the time, which is actually kind of a bummer, because it would have been interesting to see how that went. BUT, I mean, that said, I totally stand by it, I'm proud of it, it's one of my favorites this year. It was a blast to work on and the response has been amazing and I love it, I really, honestly do. But telling, for sure.
In conclusion: You know, outside of fandom, 2010 has been...a really shitty year. Like, maybe one of my shittiest years ever, for a number of reasons I have no intention of going into. But when I look at fic I did at the end of 2009 and fic from the end of this year, the difference in quality is staggering. I've long been a proponent of the theory that you grow as a writer by writing, and I wrote a lot this year. And I'm just so hugely grateful for fandom, for you guys, for the chance to do this. Because I think--despite all the shit that's happened in the last twelve months--I think I'm going to look back at 2010 as a year where I really developed as a writer, and that's just invaluable to me.
So thanks, guys. For everything you do, for all of your kind words and encouragement, for your fics and art and opinions and voices. Here's to a happy 2011, yeah? ♥