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2010 fic meme
I actually wrote enough stories this year that I can do one of these, which is awesome, because I love this meme!
Total Number of Completed Stories: 6
Total Word Count: 9,142
Fandoms represented: 4 [SPN, Alice (2009), Life, The Losers (2010)]
January:
Vote Early, Vote Often
The Winchesters perform their civic duty. Sort of.
SPN, 1113 words, written as a belated birthday present for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elucreh but not finished until January because I am the slowest writer ever.
March:
Pass The Hat
"You pay taxes with invisible money? Not even paper – invisible money?"
Alice (2009), Alice/Hatter, drabble, written for Celli's annual taxfic challenge
June:
Here
Dani lay in the quiet of Crews' guestroom and tried not to feel exposed.
Life, 813 words, post-finale fic written after re-marathoning the series withgingerwall
July:
Cut Me To The Quick
Castiel returned to life in the restroom of a small gas station near Ypsilanti, Michigan.
SPN, 866 words, written because that whole carving-sigils-into-living-bone thing was tragically under-explored
October:
Occam's Razor
The new tech takes three days to figure out Cougar is a woman.
The Losers (2010), 656 words, Cougar genderswap because no one else was going to write it
December:
Crumbs in the Butter
Alice and Hatter attend Jack and Duchess's wedding, and run into a few...small problems.
Alice (2009), Alice/Hatter, 5591 words, written forconnikins for Yuletide
Favorite story this year:
Here, which accomplished exactly what I wanted and closed out something for me with the show. I was really pleased with the imagery and the voices, and the peaceful, tentative mood of it.
Most popular story this year:
Crumbs in the Butter. Yuletide brings all the fangirls to the yard!
Most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Vote Early, Vote Often. Not surprising, since it was an election fic posted in January and the opening is really quite awkward on re-reading, but I'm stupidly fond of the concept, poor sleep-deprived Sam, and the whole last scene. Even though SNAFU is technically the first fic I ever posted, this one *feels* like my first - more complete, more satisfying. SNAFU was more of a punchline than a story, overindulging my weakness for puns.
Most fun story:
Pass The Hat. Alice/Hatter are just so happy and darling to write, and taxes really are that weird if you think about them. Crumbs in the Butter is a close runner-up, but as my most recent story I'm just overwhelmed with the urge to edit it more.
Sexiest story:
Ahahahahaha. Ha. Yeah. I'm such a gen writer. I suppose Crumbs in the Butter, because of all the cleavage.
“Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you” story:
Occam's Razor is about as close as I got to that. But I was forced into it! The world *needed* Cougar genderswap, okay?
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Crumbs in the Butter. Not significantly, but part of writing a longer story is that you discover a lot of character notes while writing the in-between bits. Like Alice's reasoning for going to the wedding, or Duchess's reaction to those motherfucking rebels interrupting her motherfucking wedding. *g*
Hardest story to write:
Cut Me To The Quick, hands down. For such a tiny story, it took me nine months to write. I started it right after The End aired, as I was idly wondering if the natural regrowth of bone would destroy Dean and Sam's rib sigils, and went, "If they don't heal, why doesn't Cas have one? And why couldn't he do some other cool stuff with Enochian sigils? Maybe that's why he's so much better at fighting this season." Loved the concept, but it languished while S5 struggled through its mid-season. When Cas carved that sigil into his own chest in Point of No Return, I *had* to finish it. But then Lindsey ripped it to shreds in the first beta (quite rightly!), and I struggled with shifting the whole thing to past tense and nearly doubled its length with more physical descriptions. The paragraph about carving the bones is the only part mostly intact from the first draft, and I replaced almost all the verbs in that. (Incidentally, it is my favorite part *g*)
Biggest disappointment:
Cut Me To The Quick. Don't think I mastered Castiel's voice or did justice to the concept.
Biggest surprise:
Occam's Razor! Finishing as many stories as I did, and writing Alice fic in general.
Most telling story:
None of them? Hmmm. I feel like Lindsey would answer this one better than I could. Cut Me To The Quick owes a lot to my interest in anatomy? I have a weakness for banter and cozy endings? *shrugs*
Story that could have been better?
Crumbs in the Butter. Due to work, school, and illness, I had very little time to edit it and still feel like I skimped on the climax.
Favorite opening line:
Occam's Razor: The new tech takes three days to figure out Cougar is a woman, and only then because he asks to borrow her razor.
Favorite closing line:
Huh, interesting. I ended over half of them with either a wouldn't-be-anywhere-else sentiment and/or a variation on the word 'warm'. I probably like the closing paragraph of Here best, but I think Pass The Hat has the best-written final line.
Favorite line from anywhere:
from Occam's Razor again:
He looks confused. "Do you...have some sort of mutant anti-hair-growing ability?"
"Only if you count being a woman," Cougar drawls.
Favorite title:
Occam's Razor, with Vote Early, Vote Often coming a close second.
Looking back, did you write more stories than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?
More! Definitely more.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Signing up for Yuletide! I've never written fic to a deadline or for a challenge, but I'm pleased with how Crumbs in the Butter turned out - there's plot! And action! And it's longer than the rest of the stories I wrote this year put together! I've also never written a story so fast in my life -- partly out of deadline necessity, partly because it sprang fully-formed into my brain, mock turtleneck jokes and all, and partly out of sheer delight. I should look into doing more challenges this year: I love writing things as gifts, and I know from school writing courses that limitations just make me more creative.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2010?
Alice completely blindsided me as a fandom - the world, the characters, the story, Alice/Hatter as a pairing. And I never would have predicted the genderswap! I love the trope when it's well-written, but never thought I'd write it.
What's next for 2011:
Currently, I have a Hawaii 5-0 canon-based AU eating my brain -- I keep looking around in shock that no one has written the idea yet, so we'll see if I can finish it before fannish hive mind takes over. A couple more Alice fics in the pipeline - Hatter backstory that integrates Wonderland history from Burton's movie, some Jack/Duchess. District B13, especially the almost-finished one where Damien and Leito play phone tag in between the movies. Five badasses Steve has worked with before coming back to Hawaii (crossovers!). That Star Trek movie AU that has been collecting dust for a year and a half which is 70% done, but 110% OTT h/c. The Ozma fic I've been trying to write for Lindsey for years. The NCIS/Fringe preseries crossover where Tony tries to flirt with Olivia. Five times Steve Rogers went dancing. About 14 others, plus a few that are doomed for WIP amnesty.
And then there's the long ones: the plotty Brick/Veronica Mars post-canon fic that Lindsey and I started, which I like to call "PI vs PI" (pronounce it as 'pie' and try not to laugh. At me.) A Old West Magnificent 7/Leverage crossover, which will inevitably be titled The Tascosa Job. A Star Trek movie fic with Janice Rand and intra-Star Fleet intrigue.
(My brain is really crowded right now, okay?)
Top goals are trying to write at least one of the long plotty stories, and clearing out the backlog of half-finished WIPs. And learning how to vid.
Total Number of Completed Stories: 6
Total Word Count: 9,142
Fandoms represented: 4 [SPN, Alice (2009), Life, The Losers (2010)]
January:
Vote Early, Vote Often
The Winchesters perform their civic duty. Sort of.
SPN, 1113 words, written as a belated birthday present for
elucreh but not finished until January because I am the slowest writer ever.March:
Pass The Hat
"You pay taxes with invisible money? Not even paper – invisible money?"
Alice (2009), Alice/Hatter, drabble, written for Celli's annual taxfic challenge
June:
Here
Dani lay in the quiet of Crews' guestroom and tried not to feel exposed.
Life, 813 words, post-finale fic written after re-marathoning the series with
gingerwallJuly:
Cut Me To The Quick
Castiel returned to life in the restroom of a small gas station near Ypsilanti, Michigan.
SPN, 866 words, written because that whole carving-sigils-into-living-bone thing was tragically under-explored
October:
Occam's Razor
The new tech takes three days to figure out Cougar is a woman.
The Losers (2010), 656 words, Cougar genderswap because no one else was going to write it
December:
Crumbs in the Butter
Alice and Hatter attend Jack and Duchess's wedding, and run into a few...small problems.
Alice (2009), Alice/Hatter, 5591 words, written for
connikins for Yuletide Favorite story this year:
Here, which accomplished exactly what I wanted and closed out something for me with the show. I was really pleased with the imagery and the voices, and the peaceful, tentative mood of it.
Most popular story this year:
Crumbs in the Butter. Yuletide brings all the fangirls to the yard!
Most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Vote Early, Vote Often. Not surprising, since it was an election fic posted in January and the opening is really quite awkward on re-reading, but I'm stupidly fond of the concept, poor sleep-deprived Sam, and the whole last scene. Even though SNAFU is technically the first fic I ever posted, this one *feels* like my first - more complete, more satisfying. SNAFU was more of a punchline than a story, overindulging my weakness for puns.
Most fun story:
Pass The Hat. Alice/Hatter are just so happy and darling to write, and taxes really are that weird if you think about them. Crumbs in the Butter is a close runner-up, but as my most recent story I'm just overwhelmed with the urge to edit it more.
Sexiest story:
Ahahahahaha. Ha. Yeah. I'm such a gen writer. I suppose Crumbs in the Butter, because of all the cleavage.
“Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you” story:
Occam's Razor is about as close as I got to that. But I was forced into it! The world *needed* Cougar genderswap, okay?
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
Crumbs in the Butter. Not significantly, but part of writing a longer story is that you discover a lot of character notes while writing the in-between bits. Like Alice's reasoning for going to the wedding, or Duchess's reaction to those motherfucking rebels interrupting her motherfucking wedding. *g*
Hardest story to write:
Cut Me To The Quick, hands down. For such a tiny story, it took me nine months to write. I started it right after The End aired, as I was idly wondering if the natural regrowth of bone would destroy Dean and Sam's rib sigils, and went, "If they don't heal, why doesn't Cas have one? And why couldn't he do some other cool stuff with Enochian sigils? Maybe that's why he's so much better at fighting this season." Loved the concept, but it languished while S5 struggled through its mid-season. When Cas carved that sigil into his own chest in Point of No Return, I *had* to finish it. But then Lindsey ripped it to shreds in the first beta (quite rightly!), and I struggled with shifting the whole thing to past tense and nearly doubled its length with more physical descriptions. The paragraph about carving the bones is the only part mostly intact from the first draft, and I replaced almost all the verbs in that. (Incidentally, it is my favorite part *g*)
Biggest disappointment:
Cut Me To The Quick. Don't think I mastered Castiel's voice or did justice to the concept.
Biggest surprise:
Occam's Razor! Finishing as many stories as I did, and writing Alice fic in general.
Most telling story:
None of them? Hmmm. I feel like Lindsey would answer this one better than I could. Cut Me To The Quick owes a lot to my interest in anatomy? I have a weakness for banter and cozy endings? *shrugs*
Story that could have been better?
Crumbs in the Butter. Due to work, school, and illness, I had very little time to edit it and still feel like I skimped on the climax.
Favorite opening line:
Occam's Razor: The new tech takes three days to figure out Cougar is a woman, and only then because he asks to borrow her razor.
Favorite closing line:
Huh, interesting. I ended over half of them with either a wouldn't-be-anywhere-else sentiment and/or a variation on the word 'warm'. I probably like the closing paragraph of Here best, but I think Pass The Hat has the best-written final line.
Favorite line from anywhere:
from Occam's Razor again:
He looks confused. "Do you...have some sort of mutant anti-hair-growing ability?"
"Only if you count being a woman," Cougar drawls.
Favorite title:
Occam's Razor, with Vote Early, Vote Often coming a close second.
Looking back, did you write more stories than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?
More! Definitely more.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Signing up for Yuletide! I've never written fic to a deadline or for a challenge, but I'm pleased with how Crumbs in the Butter turned out - there's plot! And action! And it's longer than the rest of the stories I wrote this year put together! I've also never written a story so fast in my life -- partly out of deadline necessity, partly because it sprang fully-formed into my brain, mock turtleneck jokes and all, and partly out of sheer delight. I should look into doing more challenges this year: I love writing things as gifts, and I know from school writing courses that limitations just make me more creative.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2010?
Alice completely blindsided me as a fandom - the world, the characters, the story, Alice/Hatter as a pairing. And I never would have predicted the genderswap! I love the trope when it's well-written, but never thought I'd write it.
What's next for 2011:
Currently, I have a Hawaii 5-0 canon-based AU eating my brain -- I keep looking around in shock that no one has written the idea yet, so we'll see if I can finish it before fannish hive mind takes over. A couple more Alice fics in the pipeline - Hatter backstory that integrates Wonderland history from Burton's movie, some Jack/Duchess. District B13, especially the almost-finished one where Damien and Leito play phone tag in between the movies. Five badasses Steve has worked with before coming back to Hawaii (crossovers!). That Star Trek movie AU that has been collecting dust for a year and a half which is 70% done, but 110% OTT h/c. The Ozma fic I've been trying to write for Lindsey for years. The NCIS/Fringe preseries crossover where Tony tries to flirt with Olivia. Five times Steve Rogers went dancing. About 14 others, plus a few that are doomed for WIP amnesty.
And then there's the long ones: the plotty Brick/Veronica Mars post-canon fic that Lindsey and I started, which I like to call "PI vs PI" (pronounce it as 'pie' and try not to laugh. At me.) A Old West Magnificent 7/Leverage crossover, which will inevitably be titled The Tascosa Job. A Star Trek movie fic with Janice Rand and intra-Star Fleet intrigue.
(My brain is really crowded right now, okay?)
Top goals are trying to write at least one of the long plotty stories, and clearing out the backlog of half-finished WIPs. And learning how to vid.