End of the Year Fic Meme | '11
Stolen from ishie
This year I wrote and posted:
(That depends on what you qualify as a fic versus a ficlet, and I've been awful at collecting them this year. For what I'd call a fic, since this is me doing it:)
22
Overall Thoughts
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
I (much too optimistically) assumed I'd actually finish those HJ/WFR fics this year, so that's like eight stories right there that should've been written. Otherwise, though, I didn't really have any expectations? So that sounds about right.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
While I'm pretty much always open to writing anything I'm familiar with, I suppose the Viggo/Conan wasn't something I'd ever have guessed. Oh, and definitely the LotR/Hart of Dixie fusion, looool
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
My favorite ficlet is the Hawkeye/Margaret in Starfleet one, because I've never managed to write them before, and because of the story I want to write. Actually proper finished fic, though, I'd guess Your Heart is All I Need, which is Alice/Hatter and rings true to me.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I did! I've written crossovers in the past, and the trickiest thing I've always found is finding a realistic in and making the tones match closely enough. And then I decided to write the most ridiculous things I've ever written, This is Where it Gets Complicated, which of course is BBT/Doctor Who/Firefly/(some) Community, & dinosaurs. With time travel. And man, checking that over to make sure the plot itself made sense was head-achey enough without the added worry of making sure the tone and the characterization sounded decent. What I learned is that time travel is hard and dinosaurs are fun and the Kaylee/TARDIS implications are about ten million times better now that we've seen Sexy.
From my past year of writing, what was....
My best story of this year
BOOM. NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED, AMIRITE? I love the history of LotR, and I did a surprising amount of research for such a small thing. And the only thing I had of Marcho and Blanco were their names, so I made them (to me at least) people (or hobbits in this case, lol), and now, as horribly conceited as it is, I want more fic of these two? Especially Blanco? Like, I fell in love with a character that I fleshed out, which has to be one of the most arrogant things I've ever said, but argh I just want to write more about his life or have someone else write more with my characterization! (I'm awful at this okay, leave me alone. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELS ABOUT HIM.)
My most popular story of this year:
I said, while writing it, that i am your lionheart would either be the best BBT fic I've written or the worst BBT fic that's ever been written, and while most of that was panicky-adrenaline and over-caffeination, I do think it's my most popular, certainly of the year.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
I was really really proud of Everything You're Chasing, which is Raj dealing with his sexuality, and then I think 5 people read it? I'm working on a sequel for it, so. Don't even care, man. And the people that read it were super super sweet, so it's all good!
Most fun story to write:
LUNA/VINCENT. I hadn't realized that the two fics & the ficlet were this year, but yep, the first one was in Jan! (It was supposed to be a holiday gift!fic, thus the confusion.) Writing for this pairing pretty much fulfills me, so. Definitely the most fun to write.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
idk if I had any overtly sexy moments in my stories this year? Or I guess I don't know what other people would classify as sexy, because there's a line here and there about Luna's hair tipping back from her neck or Sheldon's hands that I like, but "sexy"? There were a few that were supposed to be sexy in Take Me Out to the Black, but lol idk anymore.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I feel quite strongly that I have to believe in what I'm writing. Sometimes I write fics for ships that I don't ship because I'm figuring out how I'd ship them if I did (lol that sentence), but in the writing of the fic I believe in that relationship. I grappled with Legolas/Aragorn more than I thought I would - I ship pretty much all canon in LotR - but once I found that angle it came easily? I don't really agree (personally) with the premise of the question, I suppose, lol.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
I find writing Fringe fic to be tricky, mostly because I worry that I'll screw up Olivia's voice. Writing This is All That's Left for Us let me write her without tangling with her and Peter's history, and I felt like I understood her better from a writing-in-her-head perspective. I'm not sure if that translated to making it a decent fic, but the first Fringe fic I'd written I'd felt like I was writing from outside her, and that I couldn't find an in to connect with, and therefore I was much happier with this second one.
Hardest story to write:
hahahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh wait. Are you serious? Did you somehow miss my meltdowns re: Take Me Out to the Black, my BBBB this year? When I couldn't find words? When the original story I had was so much bigger and fuller and needed 30k at least to write? Where Leslie and Ben had cameos as government employees on some off-the-beaten-trail planet and ended up helping spark the rebellion? How the Enterprise was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek name-checked? How there were supposed to be actual aliens? How the premise of everyone/everyone was actually supposed to be built realistically and make actual sense? How Howard was supposed to have more than one line and how Missy/Wyatt Jr. was TOTALLY a thing in my head? How it was all supposed to be spun tight and hold? Yeah. yeahhhhh.
Biggest Disappointment:
See last question. Although, tbf, I will say that in the last few weeks I did skim part of the story, and some of it, like the Missy parts, actually work how I wanted them to work. Otherwise, though, that story cuts me deep.
Biggest Surprise:
& I'll Find Strength, definitely. The fic was written because of a (of course) awful discussion about how Jim being gay was making it seem like Sheldon was gay which was of course AWFUL because SHENNY (ugh). So I wrote a fic where both Sheldon and Penny were gay. Because that's what you do in that situation. And then people liked it, which was fun!
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
I tend to invest a bit of myself in everything I write. You can ask me any story, and I can tell you something that comes purely from me rather the source, whether it's an action or a phrase or a feeling. I think it's probably most noticeable to me in i am your lionheart, but I've no idea if that comes across to others.
Fic-writing goals for 2012:
- I'm cross-posting/removing all my fic from ff.net and deleting my account there.
- I'm either deleting, finishing, or declaring permanently on hiatus any and all posted WIPs.
- I'm only posting finished fic (which, tbh, I believe I did this year, as well.)
- I'm cross-posting EVERYTHING to AO3, because argh this is ridiculous. I still have five or so fics on the Sherlock Holmes kinkmeme that I've never cross-posted off of it.
- Finish all those donation!fics so I can hate myself a little less.
ALSO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THESE TWO JURASSIC PARK FICS THAT I GOT FOR YULETIDE: The Butterfly Effect + Problem Solving in Complex Systems GO DO IT RIGHT NOW RIGHTRIGHTRIGHTNOW BECAUSE THEY WILL BLOW YOUR MIND RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER. RIGHT OUT OF IT.
And thank you everyone for bearing with me in 2011.
Here's to a kickass 2012! ♥