My 2010 in Fic Round-up & a Fic Meme
2010 Fiction Round-up
Smallville
Clark/Lois
Er... like a date?
So... how about that sneak preview?
Glimpse
Once dead, now living & Lone Ranger
Setting Sun
Morning Date
Need to Know
The Simple Things
Finding Perfect
Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Lois Lane's Feminine Charm
Keeping the Evidence
Take my Hand
The Space in Between
Playing Dirty
Carry my Heart (V-day fic) Set post Savior and through mostly AU season 9
Manic Mondays
You Had me at Hello
So Ya Say You Got Superpowers
100 Degrees Farenheit
Lazy Sundays
Honey, I'm Home! (future fic)
Stormy Weather (future fic)
How to Save a Life (Part one, part two linked there)
Bleacher Dreams (future fic)
A Persistent Illusion (Harvest fic)
12 Themes Drabbles
The devil makes us sin (Luthor fic)
sunrise beat (flash fiction, Icarus)
Chloe/Oliver
Ivory Tower (post Warrior)
Crossing the Lines (1/2)
Crossing the Lines (2/2)
Dark Matter (AU Season 10)
Plaid Robes, Whipped Cream and Coyotes
The End of Dreams (Pandora fic)
Serial fics (hiatus)
Holding Out for a Hero
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
For the Man Who Has Everything
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Mighty Fallen
Mighty Fallen Prologues
Mighty Fallen One
Drabble/Smut/Kink Challenges
Just Getting Started
Office Space
How to Wake a Sleeping Tiger
Untitled 1 & 2
The Vampire Diaries
Careful Where You Stand (Kat/Mason)
The Natural Order of Things (Bonnie/Damon)
Into the Woods (Bonnie/Tyler)
The Vow (Katherine-centric)
Putting Back the Pieces of Us (Damon/Bonnie)
Misfits (Alisha/Simon)
An Affinity for Touch (vols. 1 and II)
Three Drabbles "you fall in love with me..."
Lips Like Sugar
The Killing Moon
Fanfiction Writing 2010 Meme entirely nabbed from goldy_dollar :
01. Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?:
I definitely wrote a lot more than I expected looking back but at the time it didn't feel that way. I'm also happy about moving from serial fiction to single shots and short fiction almost exclusively, mainly because I have the attention span of a small flea when it comes to serial fics and I also have very little free time to give the kind of dedication I feel long stories need unless I finish them completely before I start posting. That was not the case, I always felt the pressure to write and produce quickly and the product (in my opinion) was painfully mediocre as a result. The kind of writing I don't like, that puts plot ahead of character depth and scene-building, immersion in the moment. I'm getting over that by not posting any of my WIPs until they're absolutely done (maybe never, lol).
Also, some folks liked my Chloe/Oliver stories so much they offered to translate them into Portuguese. So that was kind of awesome that someone thought so well of some of my stories.
02. What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?:
Up until this year, I'd not written for any fandom but Smallville, and within that fandom I'd not written anything but Clois - and mainly Clois smut. A big womp-womp for me sometimes because I felt like that was ALL I could write fannishly and that was the only thing people wanted to read from me. So this year, I made a conscious commitment to write non-smut stories, stories not solely focused on Clark and Lois, and it was the best decision ever! I learned to write smut that wasn't just smut for smut's sake (although, there is always room in my heart for PWP) and after a great discussion on smut, how and how not to write it, I think I got WAY better at it this year.
And I found new fandoms, started watching other shows regularly. I could never have predicted Misfits or TVD but I'm excited to be writing something other than SV now. Hoping I'll get to some Being Human and a couple of other shows soon.
03. What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?:
Eep, this is hard. I'd say it has to be a tie between: A Persistent Illusion, Honey, I'm Home, 12 Themes (SV, Clark/Lois); End of Dreams (SV, Chloe/Oliver); The Killing Moon (Misfits, Alisha/Simon).
04. Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?:
Writing risks would have to be four things:
- Writing short-short fiction, playing around with length and not feeling constrained by how long a story is or equating word count with quality.
- Writing non-smut. Just enjoying little moments or character details instead of just writing sex - it was liberating. I think people had a sort of expectation with me or I put it on myself (more likely) and part of the reason I moved more to LJ more was so I didn't feel the pressure to produce a hot sex scene in every story. Even if only one person read my stuff, some really bad ones btw, it was just nice to write about characters and explore them w/o sexy times all the time. And like I said before, I think my actual smut-writing got better for it and I could use it more... strategically (wrong word but can't think.
- Playing around and adding more of my instinctive writing style into my fanfic stories. I tend to love very detailed, descriptive, stimulating language; I like to play with sharp, stark images and sensations. It's not for everyone and I know I go overboard for some but it's cool to be able to do what I want and make mistakes, all in good fun.
- Using the present tense more frequently. I used to hate fanfic in the present tense, I often felt it read as pretentious but when it's done well, it can be amazing. So I took this year to experiment with it and I'm a lot more comfortable with it now, and I hope I don't sound pretentious or childishly clumsy when I use it.
05. Do you have any fanfic goals for the New Year?:
Write more non-het relationship-focused fic. I want to write about women, that's what I do in real life and it's what has always drawn me into narratives and inspired me to write, so I want to do that more in my fanfic - whether it is focus on women characters, their perspectives; women's friendships; women's relationships but that's where I want to go next year. Also write gen-fic.
Write for different fandoms. SV will always be my first fannish love but I don't know that I'll write as much for it anymore simply because there are so many other characters that pull at me that I want to try out. I don't know that I'll be writing much fanfiction at all next year come to think on it, since RL will be insane and I'm working on my own writing. So who knows.
06. From my past year of writing, what was...
Best
Hm, maybe the ones I actually re-read and enjoy each time is The Devil Makes us Sin (SV, Clark/Lois) followed very closely by The End of Dreams (SV, Chloe/Oliver) and The Killing Moon, Affinity for Touch vol. I (Misfits, Alisha/Simon)
Most popular
Hm, my Chloe/Oliver stories got a lot of kind feedback here or on the LJ community, and the Misfits Alisha/Simon fandom is very, very generous with feedback so I'd say one of those. In sheer nos. of comments, I guess Affinity for Touch (Misfits, Alisha/Simon).
Most underappreciated by the universe
In general my TVD but I love the feedback I've gotten for them and I know I've got a ways to go with the characters. I don't really care about getting many comments as much as I used to. It used to drive me into a pit of sadness and tears, metaphorical slitting of wrists and all that but it is what it is and I'll take what I can get. In the end, I'm just enjoying the writing and learning, it's wonderful if people can give feedback/encouragement but not the reason I do it.
Most fun
Honey, I'm Home, I think, and Keeping the Evidence because both stories spawned ridiculous conversation threads that included musing on Clark 'Super-stalker' Kent and the trials of truly heinous smut.
Most disappointing
All my aborted serial fics and some of those drabbles up there where I'd telegraph things really badly or just be trite and cliche, blech. I can be florid, it's my downfall, I'm learning to accept it and use it as a strength, guess we'll see.
Most sexy
Affinity for Touch because it's my take on breath-play and I thought it was hot. Stormy Weather, I like water-clogged clothes. The Natural Order of Things because it's so damn fucked up. This year, I came into myself with the love of angst, darkness,fragile light or hope in darkness, dystopian everything, broken, unglamorous, damaged and very human characters etc. etc. - it's one of my favorite things in life and in my writing, and always feels very real to me. Erm, because it is, I guess. And there's always room for joy, too, it's fun and complicated, good times!
Story with the single sweetest moment
Oh, this is hard. I love Lips Like Sugar, the awkwardness and tenderness of Simon and Alisha, the garlic dough balls, Simon being OCD with napkins, Alisha stalking libraries. Putting Back the Pieces of Us, I love the bit when Bonnie just starts laughing in the middle of a sexual encounter and Damon doesn't know what to do.
Biggest surprise
In a story? I don't know that I do surprises very well but I guess How to Save a Life when the reader finds out that Clark couldn't save anyone, it was so much fun to write, so cruel.
Hardest to write
Definitely the Luthor AU and How to Save a Life, Carry my Heart, just for how frigging LONG it took to kick my ass muse into gear because of this rocky relationship I have with SV. The two fics featuring Katherine because she's so hard to write, not sure I've gotten her yet but it's fun to learn!
Favorite angst
Gah, so hard, do I have to choose? I've written so much angst this year or at least quite a few 'darker' stories. Definitely top favorites: The End of Dreams (Chloe/Ollie), The Devil Makes Us Sin (AU Clark/Lois), Putting Back the Pieces of Us (Damon/Bonnie), The Killing Time/Affinity for Touch 1 (Simon/Alisha).
Definitely more memes to come, and maybe I'll get my butt into gear to do a wee picspam of all my shows this year - but no bets. Nostalgia etc. is fun!
Also, NO PRESSURE OR NECESSITY, but if you feel the need to share any stories you enjoyed from me this year, or some that you frankly did NOT, or just ramble about your OWN fanfic experience this year, what you've learned, what you've liked, LIFE in general - the space is open!
Hope you're all having a fabulous festive season!!!