Fic writing year in review: 2014 edition
Ganked from 
sineala because I haven't done one of these in years, mostly because it's been a long time since I wrote more than one or two things in a year.
This year I wrote and posted:
303,756 words in 29 fics for several fandoms, all falling under the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Marvel 616 (or a blending of the two). Which stuns me when I count it up because that kind of wordage seems incredible.
Overall Thoughts:
I thought 2012 was an amazing writing year (around 150k published). But this year I wrote double the amount (which seems fair - I didn't start writing until June last year) and I'm actually really pleased with it all, so I'm counting 2013 as my best writing year ever. This year also didn't end with me feeling burned out and overloaded, unlike last year. I managed my workload a lot better than I did last year, particularly in December, which made a big difference to how I felt about my writing.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Definitely more. I wasn't expecting to keep up the pace that I had the previous year and it looks like I did.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I had no idea that I'd write a Kate/America fic for Young Avengers. Writing anything for the Marvel 616 continuity seemed intimidating at the beginning of the year. I also didn't expect to write Maria/Sif for femslashex. My M/M pairing stayed consistent but I developed a whole bunch of F/F pairing loves.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I'm very torn because I've genuinely liked everything I wrote this year. So it's evenly divided between Dreams and Circus Crowds and The Clockwork Murders. I love them for different reasons, but they're definitely the two that stand out.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I took a couple of very big writing risks this year. I wrote PWP (One Look at You), which is something I've never set out to write before because I don't think of myself as being good at writing sex. I learned that if I approach it the right way - describing feelings and reactions instead of lovingly lurid cock descriptions - I can actually write without needing to fade to black at crucial moments if the story needs it. I also experimented with writing angstier fics, particularly Safe House Love, and learned that I can actually do that and affect my readers through it. I also wrote Runaways, which touches on domestic violence issues (and features kids!). I was very nervous about that one due to the content but I haven't received any hate mail so it feels like that one worked out.
From my past year of writing, what was....
My best story of this year:
I genuinely can't pick one because I'm pleased with how pretty much all of them turned out. The two that I feel most proud of, that did everything I really wanted them to, were the aforementioned Dreams and Circus Crowds and The Clockwork Murders. They're completely different but it felt like I got closer than I'd ever done before to getting what was in my head down on the paper.
My most popular story of this year:
Dreams and Circus Crowds. It was written near the start of the year, which helps for the hit count, and features a lot of Clint in glitter, which probably also helped it's popularity :-) The Clockwork Murders has a similar number of comments and from watching the stats creep up, I suspect that if they'd been published around the same time then I'd be declaring that one the victor by a small margin.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Ugh, this is a hard one. Even the ones with a low hit count feel like they got the appreciation they deserved because they were such complete niche fics that I wasn't expecting to get more than one or two kudos and a few hits. Instead, they've all been received far better than I expected. Even my femslashy all female Avengers fic.
Most fun story to write:
Dreams and Circus Crowds. It was just pure fun to write from start to finish. I enjoyed writing most of my fics, but that was the one where I was just loving every minute of the process.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Hard to pick one here. There's my PWP, One Look at You, which definitely qualifies. But there's a scene in my angel AU, Match Made in Heaven where I finished writing and then had a little panic moment because it was way pornier than I'd ever thought I could write.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I wrote an entire fic about bake sales. Even for my food porn issues, that was probably excessive :-D
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Several of them did. Dreams and Circus Crowds, because it only took a couple of small canon divergences to create a new life for a lot of the characters. The Clockwork Murders, because I had to really think about the characters in order to slot them into the Edwardian steampunk AU world I'd created. Someone to Watch Over, because I had to think so much about injury and recovery and how Clint and Phil would each deal with that.
Hardest story to write:
Someone to Watch Over. It was my nemesis fic of the year, requiring some fairly massive rewrites after the first beta feedback. What I ended up with was a fic that I'm very proud of and the comments were amazing. But writing it felt like pulling teeth the whole way through.
Biggest Disappointment:
I can honestly say, again, there wasn't one.
Biggest Surprise:
The whole year. The amount I wrote and the feedback I got has been incredible.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Dreams and Circus Crowds and Someone to Watch Over both deal with injury and recovery. The circus AU dealt with long-term injuries that never completely heal. I pulled on my own experiences a lot for both of those fics, plus the experiences of watching family members with long-term (or permanent) injury and illness. It's hard to write about subjects so close to what you've gone through without putting in some of your own thoughts and feelings.
Fic-writing goals for 2014:
1. Agents of SHIELD Big Bang
2. Marvel Big Bang
3. Write an original story/novel (or at least, try to)
4. Write at least a couple of the things that I've had on my plot bunny list (the C/C actor AU is one of those bunnies that's nibbling hard)
5. Make a bingo in
trope_bingo
6. Have fun with everything I write
This entry was originally posted at http://selenay.dreamwidth.org/504081.html. There are currently
babbles on the entry on Dreamwidth
sineala because I haven't done one of these in years, mostly because it's been a long time since I wrote more than one or two things in a year.
This year I wrote and posted:
303,756 words in 29 fics for several fandoms, all falling under the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Marvel 616 (or a blending of the two). Which stuns me when I count it up because that kind of wordage seems incredible.
Overall Thoughts:
I thought 2012 was an amazing writing year (around 150k published). But this year I wrote double the amount (which seems fair - I didn't start writing until June last year) and I'm actually really pleased with it all, so I'm counting 2013 as my best writing year ever. This year also didn't end with me feeling burned out and overloaded, unlike last year. I managed my workload a lot better than I did last year, particularly in December, which made a big difference to how I felt about my writing.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Definitely more. I wasn't expecting to keep up the pace that I had the previous year and it looks like I did.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I had no idea that I'd write a Kate/America fic for Young Avengers. Writing anything for the Marvel 616 continuity seemed intimidating at the beginning of the year. I also didn't expect to write Maria/Sif for femslashex. My M/M pairing stayed consistent but I developed a whole bunch of F/F pairing loves.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I'm very torn because I've genuinely liked everything I wrote this year. So it's evenly divided between Dreams and Circus Crowds and The Clockwork Murders. I love them for different reasons, but they're definitely the two that stand out.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I took a couple of very big writing risks this year. I wrote PWP (One Look at You), which is something I've never set out to write before because I don't think of myself as being good at writing sex. I learned that if I approach it the right way - describing feelings and reactions instead of lovingly lurid cock descriptions - I can actually write without needing to fade to black at crucial moments if the story needs it. I also experimented with writing angstier fics, particularly Safe House Love, and learned that I can actually do that and affect my readers through it. I also wrote Runaways, which touches on domestic violence issues (and features kids!). I was very nervous about that one due to the content but I haven't received any hate mail so it feels like that one worked out.
From my past year of writing, what was....
My best story of this year:
I genuinely can't pick one because I'm pleased with how pretty much all of them turned out. The two that I feel most proud of, that did everything I really wanted them to, were the aforementioned Dreams and Circus Crowds and The Clockwork Murders. They're completely different but it felt like I got closer than I'd ever done before to getting what was in my head down on the paper.
My most popular story of this year:
Dreams and Circus Crowds. It was written near the start of the year, which helps for the hit count, and features a lot of Clint in glitter, which probably also helped it's popularity :-) The Clockwork Murders has a similar number of comments and from watching the stats creep up, I suspect that if they'd been published around the same time then I'd be declaring that one the victor by a small margin.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Ugh, this is a hard one. Even the ones with a low hit count feel like they got the appreciation they deserved because they were such complete niche fics that I wasn't expecting to get more than one or two kudos and a few hits. Instead, they've all been received far better than I expected. Even my femslashy all female Avengers fic.
Most fun story to write:
Dreams and Circus Crowds. It was just pure fun to write from start to finish. I enjoyed writing most of my fics, but that was the one where I was just loving every minute of the process.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Hard to pick one here. There's my PWP, One Look at You, which definitely qualifies. But there's a scene in my angel AU, Match Made in Heaven where I finished writing and then had a little panic moment because it was way pornier than I'd ever thought I could write.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I wrote an entire fic about bake sales. Even for my food porn issues, that was probably excessive :-D
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Several of them did. Dreams and Circus Crowds, because it only took a couple of small canon divergences to create a new life for a lot of the characters. The Clockwork Murders, because I had to really think about the characters in order to slot them into the Edwardian steampunk AU world I'd created. Someone to Watch Over, because I had to think so much about injury and recovery and how Clint and Phil would each deal with that.
Hardest story to write:
Someone to Watch Over. It was my nemesis fic of the year, requiring some fairly massive rewrites after the first beta feedback. What I ended up with was a fic that I'm very proud of and the comments were amazing. But writing it felt like pulling teeth the whole way through.
Biggest Disappointment:
I can honestly say, again, there wasn't one.
Biggest Surprise:
The whole year. The amount I wrote and the feedback I got has been incredible.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Dreams and Circus Crowds and Someone to Watch Over both deal with injury and recovery. The circus AU dealt with long-term injuries that never completely heal. I pulled on my own experiences a lot for both of those fics, plus the experiences of watching family members with long-term (or permanent) injury and illness. It's hard to write about subjects so close to what you've gone through without putting in some of your own thoughts and feelings.
Fic-writing goals for 2014:
1. Agents of SHIELD Big Bang
2. Marvel Big Bang
3. Write an original story/novel (or at least, try to)
4. Write at least a couple of the things that I've had on my plot bunny list (the C/C actor AU is one of those bunnies that's nibbling hard)
5. Make a bingo in
trope_bingo
6. Have fun with everything I write
This entry was originally posted at http://selenay.dreamwidth.org/504081.html. There are currently
babbles on the entry on Dreamwidth