2010: One big bang to rule them all; or, A Year of Writing in Review
FULL-LENGTHBand of Brothers
I wrote you a song from under the sky / From the field where the snow fell down - Skinny and Bull in Bastogne, early on
A History of Summer - The WBB, story of my heart. AU in which they're all women baseball players.
True Blood
Dorky "They have fangs!" RPF
Godric built him a barrow for when he was dead. - Eric wakes up.
Dearest Forsaken - Woman-centric look at a maenad-triggered apocalypse in Bon Temps; features Kenya, Lettie Mae, Jessica and Maxine Fortenberry.
Original/Other
Delicious - Eddie Izzard stand-up routines, YT2009 reveal
State Lines ( LJ) - A concept for isurrendered
Ghosts editing Wikipedia - This is bookelfe's fault.
Nighthawks - A concept for
isurrendered.
Draft, The Falling Woman
Mystery Yuletide work
DRABBLESBand of Brothers/BoB RPF
The bone in Ron Livingston's throat
Winters and Nixon, post-war, first day at the factory
Lewis and Livingston, filming "Bastogne" while trying to keep cool
Winters and Roe, leadership
Talbert, Guarnere and Toye in Aldbourne, living it up
All the Damian Lewises, in preparation for the eventual All the Ron Livingstons
Robin Laing and Shane Taylor blocking a scene from "Bastogne"
Rick Gomez and Rick Warden have a staring contest and go method -- I don't even know
God Save the King
Rick Warden and bootcamp camera shenanigans
Van Klinken, Hoobler and cats
Frank Perconte's Absolutely Definitive List of Why You're a Sucker for Not Brushing on a Regular Basis
Liebgott, memories, counting backward
Medics and thieves (BoB/X-Men)
Breath for sharp_teeth, Speirs, Dog Co.
Lip and Luz, Easy daemons, coffee
Tab and Shifty, 506 Toccoa Ave., Tab gets to keep Trigger
Easy celebrates St. Patrick's Day
Vampire!Rick Warden
O'Keefe and Perconte, Easy daemons, post-Landsberg
Kitty Grogan, When you get here I'm gonna greet you like the desert greets the rain
A League of Their Own AU
Donna, home cooking
Harriet and Ruth, shoes
Babe, rationing
Kit & Harry: A Love Story (Abridged)
Winters and Sobel, covering
Belle and Elaine, bruises
Elaine and Darlene, monthlies
Donna, Scout and Frankie, batting practice
Babe and Elaine, blisters
Ruth and Nixon, star
SPN
Sam and Dean, Lincoln's ghost, Lincoln's bedroom in a Sorkin White House (SPN/TWW)
Shape, body transformation for sharp_teeth
Michael courts Dean's daughter, who is not impressed
The Opposite of Force, John Winchester and Alastair, for sharp_teeth
Other
True Blood: Jessica and Hoyt, small town
Chuck: Sarah Walker, "Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head"
Studio 60: With daemons, Bring me your weight, your shame, and the devil on your shoulder
The Secret Garden: Trenches, Mary, Martha, the robin, for sharp_teeth
The Pacific: "Daemons. Your doctor daddy ever touch them, in the line of duty?", Sledge, Snafu
Original
Myrna and Greta, "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" (State Lines)
American Soldier Cleaning the Face of a Young French Orphan (State Lines)
August Serna, 1888 (State Lines)
Imber, ambition (The Falling Woman)
August and Ben, record-keeping (State Lines)
Various
Creativity is collage - Fun with an icon meme.
Leitmotif(s) of the year: Homes. Losing them, figuring them out, wishing for them. Being uprooted. This is not a hard one to figure out, autobiographically.
Favorite(s) of the batch: I love all my fic this year, even if there was very little of it quantity-wise. I mean, A History of Summer -- how can you not love a long story with six months of work in it? I'm also very fond of many of the drabbles that happened, particularly Sarah Walker, "Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head," Trenches, Vampire!Rick Warden, Liebgott, memories, counting backward and Winters and Nixon, post-war, first day at the factory.
Best of the batch: A History of Summer is one of the best things I've ever written, full stop. I have never written anything so long that relies so heavily on character development and features not one supernatural occurrence. Part 10, in particular, I'm so proud of style- and form-wise. If you ever, ever want to make me happy, read this and let me know what you think. I am always desperate to hear back from people on this one.
Most underappreciated by the universe: Okay. I know you're not supposed to say any of this, and I debated deleting everything that follows, but it's been weighing on me. I am constantly hungry for feedback. The internet and fandom are and have always been one of the very few venues where I can actually get meaningful conversation about writing and about what I write. I try very hard to stay classy and not beg, but as someone else said wisely, we write for ourselves, but we post to hear from others. And I feel bad about this question every year, because the comments I did get for A History of Summer? Were amazing. (The whole experience was amazing. My betas were unbelievable. Skew's art takes my knees from under me every time I go back and look. I adore the fanmixes that got made. Amazing things happened around this story, and I am so grateful for that! If you did comment, I cannot thank you enough.) It's so snotty to be like, "But I wish I'd heard from more people!", especially given what a huge task even just finishing the damn thing is, given everyone's spoons and busy lives, and I feel kind of terrible about it.
But... it's true. I wish I knew how to get more people to read that one and say something to me about it, especially seeing how excited the concept made people, because it seems like absolute proof that you can write the story that so much of fandom gripes about isn't there. Bechdel Test smashed to bits, if you want to look at it like that. Same with Dearest Forsaken, which got three comments. It felt like there was an inverse relationship between how much work I put into a piece and how much feedback it gets, and it's kind of discouraging. I guess what I need to learn to do is let go after I've posted something, even after pouring so much of myself into the work. That, or I need to figure out how to promote things more effectively, without pissing the whole internet off.
Favorite first lines: I like my Yuletide's first line quite a bit. Also, the opening invocation to Dearest Forsaken.
Most fun to write: Creativity is collage was awesome.
Sexiest fic: Godric built him a barrow for when he was dead. Well, for a given value of sexy.
"Holy crap, that's wrong even for you" fic: Trenches, the one where Mary Lennox has a WWI battlefield in her garden. Breath, where Speirs is not alive. Shape, in which Dean is full of blood. God, I love sharp_teeth.
Fic that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Writing men with paratrooper personalities as women with paratrooper personalities was a hell of an eye-opener.
New pairing/genre/fandom you never predicted writing in January: Pretty much everything about A History of Summer. I mean, no gods or mythology, no central mystery, no straight-up bad guys. It was all people, and emotions, and holy shit, that's hard and exhilarating and hard.
Hardest fic to write: This list is repetitive this year. Absolutely A History of Summer, though the Yuletide was like pulling teeth before it actually got going.
Biggest disappointment: That I left so many of the drabble requests unfilled. I have a big file saved with all the specs, and I want to try and do as many as I can before I offer again. /o\ Also, that I wasn't more active/prolific. I am not used to writing this little, in terms of number of fics produced. But this is because I was inspired in pretty narrow directions. Maybe it's all right that I wasn't constantly churning out crap I didn't have my heart in.
Biggest surprise: That Rick Warden makes a truly awesome vampire. That I would write so much fic featuring vampires at all.
Most telling fic: I don't have an answer for this one, really. Maybe it's the sum total of all the elements that I've struggled with, like being dissatisfied with the emotional center of The Falling Woman or worrying how to turn a neat idea (State Lines) into an actual story with an arc.
What's next? I can't really say. There are a few BoB AUs I want to play around with some more. At least two of them involve Joe Toye. I want to focus on developing more original work in the coming year, but I can also see myself getting into Fringe fic. Also, comics. I would love to get to a point where I can draw my own comics. Development-wise, I'd like to experiment more with form and style and structure. I also have a post I plan on writing up about how reading Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente taught me about what kind of writer I am right now and what my preferences are, storytelling- and world-building-wise.
No, what's really next? Lunch. Holy wow, I am hungry now.
This was originally posted on Dreamwidth, where it has
comments. Feel free to drop in using OpenID (how to do that).
I wrote you a song from under the sky / From the field where the snow fell down - Skinny and Bull in Bastogne, early on
A History of Summer - The WBB, story of my heart. AU in which they're all women baseball players.
True Blood
Dorky "They have fangs!" RPF
Godric built him a barrow for when he was dead. - Eric wakes up.
Dearest Forsaken - Woman-centric look at a maenad-triggered apocalypse in Bon Temps; features Kenya, Lettie Mae, Jessica and Maxine Fortenberry.
Original/Other
Delicious - Eddie Izzard stand-up routines, YT2009 reveal
State Lines ( LJ) - A concept for isurrendered
Ghosts editing Wikipedia - This is bookelfe's fault.
Nighthawks - A concept for
isurrendered.
Draft, The Falling Woman
Mystery Yuletide work
DRABBLESBand of Brothers/BoB RPF
The bone in Ron Livingston's throat
Winters and Nixon, post-war, first day at the factory
Lewis and Livingston, filming "Bastogne" while trying to keep cool
Winters and Roe, leadership
Talbert, Guarnere and Toye in Aldbourne, living it up
All the Damian Lewises, in preparation for the eventual All the Ron Livingstons
Robin Laing and Shane Taylor blocking a scene from "Bastogne"
Rick Gomez and Rick Warden have a staring contest and go method -- I don't even know
God Save the King
Rick Warden and bootcamp camera shenanigans
Van Klinken, Hoobler and cats
Frank Perconte's Absolutely Definitive List of Why You're a Sucker for Not Brushing on a Regular Basis
Liebgott, memories, counting backward
Medics and thieves (BoB/X-Men)
Breath for sharp_teeth, Speirs, Dog Co.
Lip and Luz, Easy daemons, coffee
Tab and Shifty, 506 Toccoa Ave., Tab gets to keep Trigger
Easy celebrates St. Patrick's Day
Vampire!Rick Warden
O'Keefe and Perconte, Easy daemons, post-Landsberg
Kitty Grogan, When you get here I'm gonna greet you like the desert greets the rain
A League of Their Own AU
Donna, home cooking
Harriet and Ruth, shoes
Babe, rationing
Kit & Harry: A Love Story (Abridged)
Winters and Sobel, covering
Belle and Elaine, bruises
Elaine and Darlene, monthlies
Donna, Scout and Frankie, batting practice
Babe and Elaine, blisters
Ruth and Nixon, star
SPN
Sam and Dean, Lincoln's ghost, Lincoln's bedroom in a Sorkin White House (SPN/TWW)
Shape, body transformation for sharp_teeth
Michael courts Dean's daughter, who is not impressed
The Opposite of Force, John Winchester and Alastair, for sharp_teeth
Other
True Blood: Jessica and Hoyt, small town
Chuck: Sarah Walker, "Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head"
Studio 60: With daemons, Bring me your weight, your shame, and the devil on your shoulder
The Secret Garden: Trenches, Mary, Martha, the robin, for sharp_teeth
The Pacific: "Daemons. Your doctor daddy ever touch them, in the line of duty?", Sledge, Snafu
Original
Myrna and Greta, "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" (State Lines)
American Soldier Cleaning the Face of a Young French Orphan (State Lines)
August Serna, 1888 (State Lines)
Imber, ambition (The Falling Woman)
August and Ben, record-keeping (State Lines)
Various
Creativity is collage - Fun with an icon meme.
Leitmotif(s) of the year: Homes. Losing them, figuring them out, wishing for them. Being uprooted. This is not a hard one to figure out, autobiographically.
Favorite(s) of the batch: I love all my fic this year, even if there was very little of it quantity-wise. I mean, A History of Summer -- how can you not love a long story with six months of work in it? I'm also very fond of many of the drabbles that happened, particularly Sarah Walker, "Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head," Trenches, Vampire!Rick Warden, Liebgott, memories, counting backward and Winters and Nixon, post-war, first day at the factory.
Best of the batch: A History of Summer is one of the best things I've ever written, full stop. I have never written anything so long that relies so heavily on character development and features not one supernatural occurrence. Part 10, in particular, I'm so proud of style- and form-wise. If you ever, ever want to make me happy, read this and let me know what you think. I am always desperate to hear back from people on this one.
Most underappreciated by the universe: Okay. I know you're not supposed to say any of this, and I debated deleting everything that follows, but it's been weighing on me. I am constantly hungry for feedback. The internet and fandom are and have always been one of the very few venues where I can actually get meaningful conversation about writing and about what I write. I try very hard to stay classy and not beg, but as someone else said wisely, we write for ourselves, but we post to hear from others. And I feel bad about this question every year, because the comments I did get for A History of Summer? Were amazing. (The whole experience was amazing. My betas were unbelievable. Skew's art takes my knees from under me every time I go back and look. I adore the fanmixes that got made. Amazing things happened around this story, and I am so grateful for that! If you did comment, I cannot thank you enough.) It's so snotty to be like, "But I wish I'd heard from more people!", especially given what a huge task even just finishing the damn thing is, given everyone's spoons and busy lives, and I feel kind of terrible about it.
But... it's true. I wish I knew how to get more people to read that one and say something to me about it, especially seeing how excited the concept made people, because it seems like absolute proof that you can write the story that so much of fandom gripes about isn't there. Bechdel Test smashed to bits, if you want to look at it like that. Same with Dearest Forsaken, which got three comments. It felt like there was an inverse relationship between how much work I put into a piece and how much feedback it gets, and it's kind of discouraging. I guess what I need to learn to do is let go after I've posted something, even after pouring so much of myself into the work. That, or I need to figure out how to promote things more effectively, without pissing the whole internet off.
Favorite first lines: I like my Yuletide's first line quite a bit. Also, the opening invocation to Dearest Forsaken.
Most fun to write: Creativity is collage was awesome.
Sexiest fic: Godric built him a barrow for when he was dead. Well, for a given value of sexy.
"Holy crap, that's wrong even for you" fic: Trenches, the one where Mary Lennox has a WWI battlefield in her garden. Breath, where Speirs is not alive. Shape, in which Dean is full of blood. God, I love sharp_teeth.
Fic that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Writing men with paratrooper personalities as women with paratrooper personalities was a hell of an eye-opener.
New pairing/genre/fandom you never predicted writing in January: Pretty much everything about A History of Summer. I mean, no gods or mythology, no central mystery, no straight-up bad guys. It was all people, and emotions, and holy shit, that's hard and exhilarating and hard.
Hardest fic to write: This list is repetitive this year. Absolutely A History of Summer, though the Yuletide was like pulling teeth before it actually got going.
Biggest disappointment: That I left so many of the drabble requests unfilled. I have a big file saved with all the specs, and I want to try and do as many as I can before I offer again. /o\ Also, that I wasn't more active/prolific. I am not used to writing this little, in terms of number of fics produced. But this is because I was inspired in pretty narrow directions. Maybe it's all right that I wasn't constantly churning out crap I didn't have my heart in.
Biggest surprise: That Rick Warden makes a truly awesome vampire. That I would write so much fic featuring vampires at all.
Most telling fic: I don't have an answer for this one, really. Maybe it's the sum total of all the elements that I've struggled with, like being dissatisfied with the emotional center of The Falling Woman or worrying how to turn a neat idea (State Lines) into an actual story with an arc.
What's next? I can't really say. There are a few BoB AUs I want to play around with some more. At least two of them involve Joe Toye. I want to focus on developing more original work in the coming year, but I can also see myself getting into Fringe fic. Also, comics. I would love to get to a point where I can draw my own comics. Development-wise, I'd like to experiment more with form and style and structure. I also have a post I plan on writing up about how reading Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M. Valente taught me about what kind of writer I am right now and what my preferences are, storytelling- and world-building-wise.
No, what's really next? Lunch. Holy wow, I am hungry now.
This was originally posted on Dreamwidth, where it has
comments. Feel free to drop in using OpenID (how to do that).