2022 Fic Roundup
Jan. 10th, 2023 07:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaydeefalls
It is belatedly time for the end-of-year writing roundup, because what is my own journal for if not intense navel-gazing? I like being able to look back on these, it soothes me.
This year I wrote and posted: 10 fics and 1 vid, mostly The Old Guard but with a few one-off fandoms.
In order of posting:
I'm not ready yet (for the light to dim) (TOG/Firefly fusion, Andy/Quynh)
[vid] Money (Makes the World Go Around) (Muppets Treasure Island, ensemble vid)
go or go ahead (and surprise me) (TOG, Nile/Andy/Quynh, post-canon)
it's the best winter I remember (TOG, Joe/Nicky, modern AU)
When It Alteration Finds (Star Wars, Poe/Finn, canon-based soulmate AU)
catch you when the current lets you go (TOG, Joe/Nicky, pre-canon)
Forward Momentum (TOG, Joe/Nicky, post-canon)
must be an imaginary love (to start with) (TOG, Joe/Nicky, modern AU)
Strange-Eyed Constellations (TOG/Star Trek AOS, ensemble future!fic)
the season of bowing our heads in the wind (TOG, Joe/Nicky, pre-canon)
the tale you tell (Into the Woods, Baker's Wife character study)
Total wordcount: 131,230 words.
Overall Thoughts:
This was a rough year, personally. Writing was really hard. But I still managed to meet my goal of writing 100k words, even given that the Star Wars fic had been a WIP with about 30k already written before 2022. So. I pulled through somehow. I don't think any fics I wrote this year will become personal faves of mine, but that's okay. At least I don't dislike any of them. And while TOG is still my primary fandom for now, it was nice to have a little variation this year.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Well, I met my goal in terms of word count, barely, though I'd hoped to average a fic a month, which did not quite happen. 2021 was a strong writing year for me; by the numbers, 2022 was only a little under that, but nearly every fic felt like pulling teeth this year, and I had to request deadline extensions more than once, which was an unpleasant first for me. Not a good year for my mental health, reflected in fic.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I mean, Yuletide is always a fun surprise. I did mostly offer my personal safety fandoms this year, but matched on Into the Woods, which I love but had never written before. I enjoyed that as a one-off.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
Forward Momentum, oh my god, just pushing through and pushing through and hoping for a gentle landing at the end. Yeah. That was my fastest fic this year - I wrote it all in one sitting - so obviously the theme of it resonated.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
it's the best winter I remember is simple and sweet and fluffy. I badly needed that this year.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I never know how to answer this question. Risks, not really. I did push myself in a few different directions, though. My biggest risk was signing up for a Big Bang with a fic I'd already stalled on writing for a year and a half - Strange-Eyed Constellations - and man, was that risky. I wound up forcing the last 10k words or so out in three back-to-back all-nighters. NOT fun.
My best story of this year:
Genuinely no idea. Nearly everything was hard. Weirdly, I think maybe my Yuletide fic (the tale you tell) might be the best, for all that it's also one of the shortest - it accomplished what I set out to do very neatly and effectively, I think.
My most popular story of this year:
By hits/kudos, When It Alteration Finds, but that's likely because it was a WIP that had two years to accumulate stats. Entirely written and posted this year, must be an imaginary love (to start with) ekes it out, but all my Joe/Nicky fics got roughly the same amount of kudos, there were no standouts.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
What a surprise, femslash loses out every single time. Not even worth kvetching about anymore. I'm sad that Strange-Eyed Constellations got so little response, especially given how much time and stress I put into it, but I'd always known it wouldn't find many readers - being both a crossover and Nile-centric were huge strikes against it, in the TOG fandom.
My least favorite story this year:
Eh, there weren't any stinkers, at least. I'm passingly fond of all of them, in their own ways.
Most fun story to write:
Rough year for this category, but I do think must be an imaginary love (to start with) qualifies. It wasn't as hard to write as the others - just ballooned unexpectedly into a much longer fic than I'd anticipated, and was on a deadline, so that stressed me out more than it should have. But several sections were genuinely fun to write, when you remove the looming-deadline-stress factor.
Story with the sweetest moment:
it's the best winter I remember is pure fluff. Kissing in the snow is so cliched, but hey, it was a first for me to write.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Forward Momentum was my only M-rated fic this year. Not sure if that makes it sexy, but it did contain a sex scene. I think the makeout scene in it's the best winter I remember was more sensual, though.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I continue to be uninterested in crossing those kinds of lines as a writer, so eh, nothing really qualifies here.
Most overdue:
FINALLY FINISHED THE GODDAMN FINN/POE FIC, FUCK YEAH. When It Alteration Finds took more than two years to write. Worth it? Who the hell knows. It's DONE.
Favorite title:
I guess must be an imaginary love (to start with) - yeah, yet another pretentious song lyric title. But that Rufus Wainwright song was very much running through my head throughout the writing process it just FIT.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
I put a lot of thought into Nile and Quynh in particular in go or go ahead (and surprise me), and I really like where they landed in my head.
Hardest story to write:
HA. ALL OF THEM. I suppose it's a tie between When It Alteration Finds (Finn/Poe WIP of doom) and Strange-Eyed Constellations (Big Bang of doom), both of which had been untouched works in progress for well over a year before I forced myself to finish them.
Biggest Disappointment:
Strange-Eyed Constellations, for reasons already mentioned. I'm really proud of a few elements of that one, and no one cared. Ah, well.
Biggest Surprise:
I guess
the season of bowing our heads in the wind came about unexpectedly - it came out of a coffeeshop AU prompt, but getting the idea to subvert the trope by making it canon-based historical coffeehouse fic instead was a surprise to me.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Forward Momentum, definitely. Oof.
Favorite opening line:
It's the first proper night out to herself Nile has had in months, so of course that's when she gets herself abducted. (go or go ahead (and surprise me) - just because it's a fun way to set the scene)
Favorite closing line:
T'Pring takes a step forward, peering out contemplatively into the black. Starlight glitters in her dark eyes. When she looks back at Nile, she smiles. (Strange-Eyed Constellations - look, this is me getting super nerdy, but it was really important to me. As a Vulcan, T'Pring actually allowing herself to smile was a huge character beat for her, and it pleases me.)
In conclusion:
Rough year. Decent fic in the end, though. I'm glad I didn't let myself retreat from fandom entirely, like I have in years past.
Fic-writing goals for 2023:
Like the past few years, setting that 100k words goal. I hope I enjoy myself more this year, though. Looking forward to the TOG sequel coming out, as well as the unexpected second series of Good Omens, which might also inspire some tangential fannishness for me. We'll see.
This year I wrote and posted: 10 fics and 1 vid, mostly The Old Guard but with a few one-off fandoms.
In order of posting:
I'm not ready yet (for the light to dim) (TOG/Firefly fusion, Andy/Quynh)
[vid] Money (Makes the World Go Around) (Muppets Treasure Island, ensemble vid)
go or go ahead (and surprise me) (TOG, Nile/Andy/Quynh, post-canon)
it's the best winter I remember (TOG, Joe/Nicky, modern AU)
When It Alteration Finds (Star Wars, Poe/Finn, canon-based soulmate AU)
catch you when the current lets you go (TOG, Joe/Nicky, pre-canon)
Forward Momentum (TOG, Joe/Nicky, post-canon)
must be an imaginary love (to start with) (TOG, Joe/Nicky, modern AU)
Strange-Eyed Constellations (TOG/Star Trek AOS, ensemble future!fic)
the season of bowing our heads in the wind (TOG, Joe/Nicky, pre-canon)
the tale you tell (Into the Woods, Baker's Wife character study)
Total wordcount: 131,230 words.
Overall Thoughts:
This was a rough year, personally. Writing was really hard. But I still managed to meet my goal of writing 100k words, even given that the Star Wars fic had been a WIP with about 30k already written before 2022. So. I pulled through somehow. I don't think any fics I wrote this year will become personal faves of mine, but that's okay. At least I don't dislike any of them. And while TOG is still my primary fandom for now, it was nice to have a little variation this year.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Well, I met my goal in terms of word count, barely, though I'd hoped to average a fic a month, which did not quite happen. 2021 was a strong writing year for me; by the numbers, 2022 was only a little under that, but nearly every fic felt like pulling teeth this year, and I had to request deadline extensions more than once, which was an unpleasant first for me. Not a good year for my mental health, reflected in fic.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I mean, Yuletide is always a fun surprise. I did mostly offer my personal safety fandoms this year, but matched on Into the Woods, which I love but had never written before. I enjoyed that as a one-off.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
Forward Momentum, oh my god, just pushing through and pushing through and hoping for a gentle landing at the end. Yeah. That was my fastest fic this year - I wrote it all in one sitting - so obviously the theme of it resonated.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
it's the best winter I remember is simple and sweet and fluffy. I badly needed that this year.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I never know how to answer this question. Risks, not really. I did push myself in a few different directions, though. My biggest risk was signing up for a Big Bang with a fic I'd already stalled on writing for a year and a half - Strange-Eyed Constellations - and man, was that risky. I wound up forcing the last 10k words or so out in three back-to-back all-nighters. NOT fun.
My best story of this year:
Genuinely no idea. Nearly everything was hard. Weirdly, I think maybe my Yuletide fic (the tale you tell) might be the best, for all that it's also one of the shortest - it accomplished what I set out to do very neatly and effectively, I think.
My most popular story of this year:
By hits/kudos, When It Alteration Finds, but that's likely because it was a WIP that had two years to accumulate stats. Entirely written and posted this year, must be an imaginary love (to start with) ekes it out, but all my Joe/Nicky fics got roughly the same amount of kudos, there were no standouts.
Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
What a surprise, femslash loses out every single time. Not even worth kvetching about anymore. I'm sad that Strange-Eyed Constellations got so little response, especially given how much time and stress I put into it, but I'd always known it wouldn't find many readers - being both a crossover and Nile-centric were huge strikes against it, in the TOG fandom.
My least favorite story this year:
Eh, there weren't any stinkers, at least. I'm passingly fond of all of them, in their own ways.
Most fun story to write:
Rough year for this category, but I do think must be an imaginary love (to start with) qualifies. It wasn't as hard to write as the others - just ballooned unexpectedly into a much longer fic than I'd anticipated, and was on a deadline, so that stressed me out more than it should have. But several sections were genuinely fun to write, when you remove the looming-deadline-stress factor.
Story with the sweetest moment:
it's the best winter I remember is pure fluff. Kissing in the snow is so cliched, but hey, it was a first for me to write.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
Forward Momentum was my only M-rated fic this year. Not sure if that makes it sexy, but it did contain a sex scene. I think the makeout scene in it's the best winter I remember was more sensual, though.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
I continue to be uninterested in crossing those kinds of lines as a writer, so eh, nothing really qualifies here.
Most overdue:
FINALLY FINISHED THE GODDAMN FINN/POE FIC, FUCK YEAH. When It Alteration Finds took more than two years to write. Worth it? Who the hell knows. It's DONE.
Favorite title:
I guess must be an imaginary love (to start with) - yeah, yet another pretentious song lyric title. But that Rufus Wainwright song was very much running through my head throughout the writing process it just FIT.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
I put a lot of thought into Nile and Quynh in particular in go or go ahead (and surprise me), and I really like where they landed in my head.
Hardest story to write:
HA. ALL OF THEM. I suppose it's a tie between When It Alteration Finds (Finn/Poe WIP of doom) and Strange-Eyed Constellations (Big Bang of doom), both of which had been untouched works in progress for well over a year before I forced myself to finish them.
Biggest Disappointment:
Strange-Eyed Constellations, for reasons already mentioned. I'm really proud of a few elements of that one, and no one cared. Ah, well.
Biggest Surprise:
I guess
the season of bowing our heads in the wind came about unexpectedly - it came out of a coffeeshop AU prompt, but getting the idea to subvert the trope by making it canon-based historical coffeehouse fic instead was a surprise to me.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
Forward Momentum, definitely. Oof.
Favorite opening line:
It's the first proper night out to herself Nile has had in months, so of course that's when she gets herself abducted. (go or go ahead (and surprise me) - just because it's a fun way to set the scene)
Favorite closing line:
T'Pring takes a step forward, peering out contemplatively into the black. Starlight glitters in her dark eyes. When she looks back at Nile, she smiles. (Strange-Eyed Constellations - look, this is me getting super nerdy, but it was really important to me. As a Vulcan, T'Pring actually allowing herself to smile was a huge character beat for her, and it pleases me.)
In conclusion:
Rough year. Decent fic in the end, though. I'm glad I didn't let myself retreat from fandom entirely, like I have in years past.
Fic-writing goals for 2023:
Like the past few years, setting that 100k words goal. I hope I enjoy myself more this year, though. Looking forward to the TOG sequel coming out, as well as the unexpected second series of Good Omens, which might also inspire some tangential fannishness for me. We'll see.
