2007 in review
Jan. 4th, 2008 03:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
springgreenOne Bird to Sing (the Origami Remix) - Saiyuki, 4/13, 2690 words
Adolescence Revisited - Honey and Clover, 6/9, 1790 words
Seventy Percent - Avatar, 11/13, 170 words
Salvation - Gundam Wing, 12/24, 1630
Warming Up - Princess Tutu, 12/24, 430 words
Metamorphosis - xxxHolic, 12/24, 1170 words
After - Project Blue Rose, 12/24, 990 words
Skin Shallow, Bone Deep - Mars, 12/25, 3770 words
Tink - Pushing Daisies, 12/25, 430 words
The Journey West - American Gods, 12/25, 430 words
Total stories: 10
Total fandoms: 10
Total word count: 13,800
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Both more and less? I felt for most of the year like last year was a completely fluke, as I wrote a grand total of three stories from Jan. through Nov.
And then I wrote seven stories in December because I am insane. Next time, please whomp me on the head if I ever try doing mass gift fics ever again!
Still, it was nice to know that I could do it.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Probably Mars, just because I never thought about it. And also Avatar, just because I was so uninterested in it last year.
No, wait. The one I never would have predicted was my Gundam Wing story, having dropped out of that fandom over 6 years ago!
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I think "The Journey West." And some of that was because of how popular it was -- that was the story I wrote this year that felt the most personal and the most important to me, and it was good to see that it affected other people as well.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I decided to write winter holiday gift fic for four people while I did Yuletide at the same time. I learned that I am insane! But also that I can get stuff out there if I need to.
I also played around more with voice: two first-person POV stories ("After" and "Salvation"), one OC ("Salvation"), one second-person POV ("The Journey West"), and three stories that didn't feel like my usual type of story ("The Journey West," "Tink," and "Metamorphosis"). I also tried plot with "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep," though that didn't happen so much. I am not quite sure what I learned -- I think I am at a point where I am still playing around and figuring what I can do.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
I amazingly have an original story in mind, inspired by a Yuletide prompt, so I want to try to get research done for it. Other than that, Yuletide and Remix next year, and then just see what strikes my fancy.
From my past year of writing, what was...
My best story: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" and "Warming Up." With all the others, I felt like I never quite got everything right, and "The Journey West" would be up here except I can spot embarrassing grammar mistakes and the moment my sister yelled that the latkes were burning. Ah, the problems with writing Yuletide Treats...
Story most underappreciated by the universe: Probably "Tink." It's funny; it actually got more comments that I usually get, but it was one of the dozen knitting stories for Pushing Daisies this year. Honestly, though, Yuletide was so generous comment-wise that I don't feel bad. Most of my other non-Yuletide ones didn't get that many comments, but I sort of expect that, as I like pretty obscure fandoms. Plus, the people I wrote them for liked them, and that makes me happy.
Most fun story: Urgh. I feel like this year, nothing was fun to write. It was all so hard! This is because I have finally admitted maybe I am a writer to myself, which means I feel like I should work and improve and things like that.
Sexiest story: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" is the only one with actual sex in it.
Story with single sexiest moment: The body calligraphy scene in "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep."
Story with single sweetest moment: Rei telling Kira he was willing to wait in "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep."
Most unintentionally *telling* story: I totally thought everyone and their mother would know I wrote "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" and "The Journey West," as the first has all the elements of my usual "nothing happens, everyone eats" stories and the second... well, it's about Monkey! And Chinese immigration!
Holy crap, that's wrong: "Seventy Percent," though not really in the way most people would think.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" made me re-examine both Kira and Rei, and it made me project what they might be like twelve years down the line, which was very difficult to do realistically. It also had me re-examine their entire relationship and the power dynamics involved.
Hardest story to write: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep." It was so hard! I had to make it about every day life and keep it from being totally boring. And then I had to go write a sex scene. And then I had to scrap and completely rewrite about 50% of it because it was boring.
Easiest story to write: "The Journey West," largely because I didn't have time to be neurotic. That, and I had been tossing the idea around in my head for a year.
"Warming Up" and "Seventy Percent," because I knew what I wanted, I knew how to get there, and there wasn't the horrible "argh the entire structure SUCKS" feeling I got from nearly everything else.
Biggest disappointment: I don't know. I think "The Journey West," "Metamorphosis," "One Bird to Sing," and "Salvation" never quite ended up being what I had pictured in my head, but I got them most of the way there.
Biggest surprise: "The Journey West"
Good lord. I think I have used up all my Yuletide comment karma for the next five years! I fell out of my chair when recs for it started appearing on my flist, which was pure awesome.
Overall: Maybe next year I will actually write before Yuletide deadlines come up!
I wrote het for the first time (er, at least that I will tell you about), and I wrote het sex for the first time. I played around with prose styles and tried to actually work on my prose. I am tempted to do a Muscular Prose Experiment a la Yoon this year, and I would like to write something with an actual plot some day. I have also stopped pretending I don't write, which means I feel obligated to work on things and improve and make resolutions and take pills and the like. I suspect the main reason why I wrote less this year than I did last year was precisely because of that; I didn't feel like I could just jot down random stuff anymore.
The sad thing is, I am not sure if that actually made my stories any better. I think it will take much longer than a year to know, really.
Adolescence Revisited - Honey and Clover, 6/9, 1790 words
Seventy Percent - Avatar, 11/13, 170 words
Salvation - Gundam Wing, 12/24, 1630
Warming Up - Princess Tutu, 12/24, 430 words
Metamorphosis - xxxHolic, 12/24, 1170 words
After - Project Blue Rose, 12/24, 990 words
Skin Shallow, Bone Deep - Mars, 12/25, 3770 words
Tink - Pushing Daisies, 12/25, 430 words
The Journey West - American Gods, 12/25, 430 words
Total stories: 10
Total fandoms: 10
Total word count: 13,800
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Both more and less? I felt for most of the year like last year was a completely fluke, as I wrote a grand total of three stories from Jan. through Nov.
And then I wrote seven stories in December because I am insane. Next time, please whomp me on the head if I ever try doing mass gift fics ever again!
Still, it was nice to know that I could do it.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
Probably Mars, just because I never thought about it. And also Avatar, just because I was so uninterested in it last year.
No, wait. The one I never would have predicted was my Gundam Wing story, having dropped out of that fandom over 6 years ago!
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I think "The Journey West." And some of that was because of how popular it was -- that was the story I wrote this year that felt the most personal and the most important to me, and it was good to see that it affected other people as well.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I decided to write winter holiday gift fic for four people while I did Yuletide at the same time. I learned that I am insane! But also that I can get stuff out there if I need to.
I also played around more with voice: two first-person POV stories ("After" and "Salvation"), one OC ("Salvation"), one second-person POV ("The Journey West"), and three stories that didn't feel like my usual type of story ("The Journey West," "Tink," and "Metamorphosis"). I also tried plot with "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep," though that didn't happen so much. I am not quite sure what I learned -- I think I am at a point where I am still playing around and figuring what I can do.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
I amazingly have an original story in mind, inspired by a Yuletide prompt, so I want to try to get research done for it. Other than that, Yuletide and Remix next year, and then just see what strikes my fancy.
From my past year of writing, what was...
My best story: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" and "Warming Up." With all the others, I felt like I never quite got everything right, and "The Journey West" would be up here except I can spot embarrassing grammar mistakes and the moment my sister yelled that the latkes were burning. Ah, the problems with writing Yuletide Treats...
Story most underappreciated by the universe: Probably "Tink." It's funny; it actually got more comments that I usually get, but it was one of the dozen knitting stories for Pushing Daisies this year. Honestly, though, Yuletide was so generous comment-wise that I don't feel bad. Most of my other non-Yuletide ones didn't get that many comments, but I sort of expect that, as I like pretty obscure fandoms. Plus, the people I wrote them for liked them, and that makes me happy.
Most fun story: Urgh. I feel like this year, nothing was fun to write. It was all so hard! This is because I have finally admitted maybe I am a writer to myself, which means I feel like I should work and improve and things like that.
Sexiest story: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" is the only one with actual sex in it.
Story with single sexiest moment: The body calligraphy scene in "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep."
Story with single sweetest moment: Rei telling Kira he was willing to wait in "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep."
Most unintentionally *telling* story: I totally thought everyone and their mother would know I wrote "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" and "The Journey West," as the first has all the elements of my usual "nothing happens, everyone eats" stories and the second... well, it's about Monkey! And Chinese immigration!
Holy crap, that's wrong: "Seventy Percent," though not really in the way most people would think.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep" made me re-examine both Kira and Rei, and it made me project what they might be like twelve years down the line, which was very difficult to do realistically. It also had me re-examine their entire relationship and the power dynamics involved.
Hardest story to write: "Skin Shallow, Bone Deep." It was so hard! I had to make it about every day life and keep it from being totally boring. And then I had to go write a sex scene. And then I had to scrap and completely rewrite about 50% of it because it was boring.
Easiest story to write: "The Journey West," largely because I didn't have time to be neurotic. That, and I had been tossing the idea around in my head for a year.
"Warming Up" and "Seventy Percent," because I knew what I wanted, I knew how to get there, and there wasn't the horrible "argh the entire structure SUCKS" feeling I got from nearly everything else.
Biggest disappointment: I don't know. I think "The Journey West," "Metamorphosis," "One Bird to Sing," and "Salvation" never quite ended up being what I had pictured in my head, but I got them most of the way there.
Biggest surprise: "The Journey West"
Good lord. I think I have used up all my Yuletide comment karma for the next five years! I fell out of my chair when recs for it started appearing on my flist, which was pure awesome.
Overall: Maybe next year I will actually write before Yuletide deadlines come up!
I wrote het for the first time (er, at least that I will tell you about), and I wrote het sex for the first time. I played around with prose styles and tried to actually work on my prose. I am tempted to do a Muscular Prose Experiment a la Yoon this year, and I would like to write something with an actual plot some day. I have also stopped pretending I don't write, which means I feel obligated to work on things and improve and make resolutions and take pills and the like. I suspect the main reason why I wrote less this year than I did last year was precisely because of that; I didn't feel like I could just jot down random stuff anymore.
The sad thing is, I am not sure if that actually made my stories any better. I think it will take much longer than a year to know, really.