End-of-year writing meme, 2019 edition
Jan. 1st, 2020 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
allekhaWell, my sore throat has turned into a run-of-the mill cold, which is annoying but at least I can swallow without pain. It's mild, too, so I'm just washing my hands a lot and drinking tea as fast as I can make it.
This year's fic stats:
Total number: 19 new fics + 1 art + 1 continued WIP + snippets that I haven't posted to AO3 yetbecause I feel too guilty about not updating my WIP in a long time
Total word count: On my main, it's a little hard to tell because of the way that AO3 shifts WIPs across years, but about 145k. Down a bit from last year, though again there's unposted bits and I nearly finished this next chapter that hasn't been edited yet.
Ship/character breakdown: Category breakdown first:
10 gen
7 M/M
3 F/M
1 Other
1 F/F
I see the 'mostly gen' trend continues from last year.
Four were Victuuri. Three were tagged with Lilia & Victor. Everything else came up once or twice. 15 of them were for Yuri on Ice, and so were most of the unposted bits. Still not done with this fandom!
Also, I gained 16 new subscribers despite posting my usual eclectic mix of things. Thanks for reading, guys.
Specifics:
Best/worst title?
I think I'm getting better at figuring out titles, because I like almost all of them this year! I especially like 'For My Heart it Lies Under Your Feet' and 'Firefly Without a Light'. The most boring one is 'Light and Life', but eh, it was for a ficlet.
Best/worst summary?
Summaries, on the other hand, are still a work-in-progress. Sometimes they come easily but I find them more workable than good; sometimes I still struggle to write them. Should really sit down and take a look at some fic summaries and novel blurbs sometime to see what I think works and see if I can make myself less unhappy with mine. I see I have three in a row that are 'Sentence explaining why X and Y are in the same fic. List of three or four things they did together during the fic' lol. If I had to pick a best, I'd go with "Shaun visits his mother before the war to try to connect with her better after it."
Worst are the five things ficlets summaries, but at least they're what you see on the tin.
Best/worst first line?
Favorite: "Victor asked her, once, as a wide-eyed adolescent, how she met Yakov, no doubt expecting some romantic story."
Worst: I don't think any of them are that objectionable this year. I guess this one: "Growing up with the mercenaries had, it turned out, left Byleth wanting in some areas of knowledge, but there was one thing she had learned extremely well from her years with them: strategy." It could be chopped down and smoothed out.
Best/worst last line?
Best: (from the same fic as the favorite above) "His mouth tasted sweet, like the apples, and they let the tea grow cold."
Another: "It filled him now, watching Yuuri work on his jumps, listening to Yakov yelling at Mila, watching Lilia tug Yuri's arms into place, and it lit something in him just as much as the sunlight from the windows lit their beautiful rink."
Worst: Again, nothing too objectionable, but there's this one that's a bit dull and doesn't flow well: "By the time they declared the redecorating finished for the moment, all the pictures from his life and Yuuri's life, and their new lives together, made the room feel cozy and homelike."
General questions:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Less, but then, one of them was 65k, so. And there's more stuff left out than usual this year and the thesis is a thing. But still less.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I did an art \o/ Which confirmed my previous experience that posting art to Trick or Treat will result in a very high comments-to-hits ratio. Even though I am not good at art. It was fun to make, though!
I wrote a crackfic for the badfic flash exchange, which isn't something I do very often. Otherwise, there wasn't much unexpected. A couple of new fandoms, but nothing rare or out of my usual wheelhouse I don't think.
Did finally participate in a Big Bang that didn't fall apart this year. While I enjoyed receiving art for the story, I wasn't that happy with how the event was organized and I don't think I'd want to do one again.
What's your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
I still love 'Each Merrily Goes', a Yakov/Lilia fic that I really enjoyed writing. I like the prose style that it came out in, too. 'On Their Sound' was interesting to write from the perspective of a character who grew up without any access to language but is starting to learn it. 'Tea and Togetherness' is just cozy.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
'On Their Sound', a Dororo ficlet posted while the show was still airing, followed by 'For My Heart it Lies Under Your Feet', a FE Three Houses fic featuring the most popular ship, followed by 'Melancholy Madness' etc etc which is the WIP started last year, and 'Come Close and Hold On Tight', the rarepair bang fic featuring 65k of Chris/Yuuri.
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
'Sport and Sunshine', maybe, although I did get some nice comments on it! It's what I get for writing Chris/Victor fic lol.
Story that could have been better?
'Come Close and Hold On Tight' probably could have benefited from having more time to simmer after being fininished. I do remember thinking it must be awful when I wrote the last scene, then re-read it to edit and discovered that it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. (Actually, I re-read some of it today and it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.)
Sexiest story?
Huh, none of my smut made it to my main account this year :o Maybe 'Come Close and Hold On Tight', then? Wait, 'Stars and Ghosts' was the one that had hair braiding....
Saddest story?
I don't think I wrote anything terribly heart-wrenching this year, but 'Write Me a Few Lines' takes place during Yuuri's pre-canonish depression.
Most fun?
Chris/ice rink!
Story with single sweetest moment?
'Step-by-Step' has twenty-ish-year-old Byleth finally hug her dad for the first time and learning how to smile :`)
Hardest story to write?
There have been a couple of scenes I've struggled with in my WIP, which held up the whole thing. Thanks to getting stuck on an Amtrak, I think I've figured it out, just need to finish editing the chapter. I struggled with parts of 'Come Close and Hold Me Tight' and the direction I wanted to take 'For My Heart it Lies Under Your Feet', as well. That and figuring out how to write Byleth with the right balance of expressive/emotionless for that place in the timeline.
Easiest/most fun story to write?
The Chris/ice rink fic! I think I took it too seriously for a badfic exchange, but I couldn't help myself. And the themed ficlet gatherings, like 'Tea and Togetherness' and 'A Sequin at a Time' and 'Locks to Part'.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
Looking over them, I can't think of any at the moment. But I did enjoy bringing out a new potential background for Victor in 'Brisk Notes in Cadence Beating', trying a new perspective on Chris in 'Come Close and Hold on Tight', and exploring how to write Byleth still figuring out how emotions work in the two Fire Emblem fics.
Most overdue story?
'Stars and Ghosts Between the Lines' was first released in a charity zine last year. I'd been wanting to write something like 'Come Close and Hold on Tight' for over a year, and now there's the 65k version the story deserved.
Did you take any writing risks this year?
Well, I wrote Chris/an actual ice rink xD But other than the usual smattering of rare ships, no. I might've stretched myself slightly with a couple of things on my sock, but this was not really a risk-taking year.
What are your fic writing goals for next year? First, what were they last year? I should check these things during the middle of the year, because I never remember them!
・Post my not-Victuuri bang fic: Done!
・Maybe write a sequel to that one fic: not yet
・Finish my WIP: :(
・Edit/write more origfic, maybe put something up on Amazon: I did work on origfic a little this year, but honestly most of that kind of energy went toward my thesis instead
・IF would be fun to write: didn't happen, but I didn't expect it to
For next year:
・THESIS :| Okay, it's not fic, but I do need to get it done!
・Finish the WIP for real this time. I only have to edit one chapter and then write one more....
・Wrap up some more things that have been languishing in my folders. Let's say five of them.
・I really do want to work more on my origfic. I'll try to make some space around THESIS for it.
This year's fic stats:
Total number: 19 new fics + 1 art + 1 continued WIP + snippets that I haven't posted to AO3 yet
Total word count: On my main, it's a little hard to tell because of the way that AO3 shifts WIPs across years, but about 145k. Down a bit from last year, though again there's unposted bits and I nearly finished this next chapter that hasn't been edited yet.
Ship/character breakdown: Category breakdown first:
10 gen
7 M/M
3 F/M
1 Other
1 F/F
I see the 'mostly gen' trend continues from last year.
Four were Victuuri. Three were tagged with Lilia & Victor. Everything else came up once or twice. 15 of them were for Yuri on Ice, and so were most of the unposted bits. Still not done with this fandom!
Also, I gained 16 new subscribers despite posting my usual eclectic mix of things. Thanks for reading, guys.
Specifics:
Best/worst title?
I think I'm getting better at figuring out titles, because I like almost all of them this year! I especially like 'For My Heart it Lies Under Your Feet' and 'Firefly Without a Light'. The most boring one is 'Light and Life', but eh, it was for a ficlet.
Best/worst summary?
Summaries, on the other hand, are still a work-in-progress. Sometimes they come easily but I find them more workable than good; sometimes I still struggle to write them. Should really sit down and take a look at some fic summaries and novel blurbs sometime to see what I think works and see if I can make myself less unhappy with mine. I see I have three in a row that are 'Sentence explaining why X and Y are in the same fic. List of three or four things they did together during the fic' lol. If I had to pick a best, I'd go with "Shaun visits his mother before the war to try to connect with her better after it."
Worst are the five things ficlets summaries, but at least they're what you see on the tin.
Best/worst first line?
Favorite: "Victor asked her, once, as a wide-eyed adolescent, how she met Yakov, no doubt expecting some romantic story."
Worst: I don't think any of them are that objectionable this year. I guess this one: "Growing up with the mercenaries had, it turned out, left Byleth wanting in some areas of knowledge, but there was one thing she had learned extremely well from her years with them: strategy." It could be chopped down and smoothed out.
Best/worst last line?
Best: (from the same fic as the favorite above) "His mouth tasted sweet, like the apples, and they let the tea grow cold."
Another: "It filled him now, watching Yuuri work on his jumps, listening to Yakov yelling at Mila, watching Lilia tug Yuri's arms into place, and it lit something in him just as much as the sunlight from the windows lit their beautiful rink."
Worst: Again, nothing too objectionable, but there's this one that's a bit dull and doesn't flow well: "By the time they declared the redecorating finished for the moment, all the pictures from his life and Yuuri's life, and their new lives together, made the room feel cozy and homelike."
General questions:
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Less, but then, one of them was 65k, so. And there's more stuff left out than usual this year and the thesis is a thing. But still less.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
I did an art \o/ Which confirmed my previous experience that posting art to Trick or Treat will result in a very high comments-to-hits ratio. Even though I am not good at art. It was fun to make, though!
I wrote a crackfic for the badfic flash exchange, which isn't something I do very often. Otherwise, there wasn't much unexpected. A couple of new fandoms, but nothing rare or out of my usual wheelhouse I don't think.
Did finally participate in a Big Bang that didn't fall apart this year. While I enjoyed receiving art for the story, I wasn't that happy with how the event was organized and I don't think I'd want to do one again.
What's your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
I still love 'Each Merrily Goes', a Yakov/Lilia fic that I really enjoyed writing. I like the prose style that it came out in, too. 'On Their Sound' was interesting to write from the perspective of a character who grew up without any access to language but is starting to learn it. 'Tea and Togetherness' is just cozy.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
'On Their Sound', a Dororo ficlet posted while the show was still airing, followed by 'For My Heart it Lies Under Your Feet', a FE Three Houses fic featuring the most popular ship, followed by 'Melancholy Madness' etc etc which is the WIP started last year, and 'Come Close and Hold On Tight', the rarepair bang fic featuring 65k of Chris/Yuuri.
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
'Sport and Sunshine', maybe, although I did get some nice comments on it! It's what I get for writing Chris/Victor fic lol.
Story that could have been better?
'Come Close and Hold On Tight' probably could have benefited from having more time to simmer after being fininished. I do remember thinking it must be awful when I wrote the last scene, then re-read it to edit and discovered that it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. (Actually, I re-read some of it today and it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.)
Sexiest story?
Huh, none of my smut made it to my main account this year :o Maybe 'Come Close and Hold On Tight', then? Wait, 'Stars and Ghosts' was the one that had hair braiding....
Saddest story?
I don't think I wrote anything terribly heart-wrenching this year, but 'Write Me a Few Lines' takes place during Yuuri's pre-canonish depression.
Most fun?
Chris/ice rink!
Story with single sweetest moment?
'Step-by-Step' has twenty-ish-year-old Byleth finally hug her dad for the first time and learning how to smile :`)
Hardest story to write?
There have been a couple of scenes I've struggled with in my WIP, which held up the whole thing. Thanks to getting stuck on an Amtrak, I think I've figured it out, just need to finish editing the chapter. I struggled with parts of 'Come Close and Hold Me Tight' and the direction I wanted to take 'For My Heart it Lies Under Your Feet', as well. That and figuring out how to write Byleth with the right balance of expressive/emotionless for that place in the timeline.
Easiest/most fun story to write?
The Chris/ice rink fic! I think I took it too seriously for a badfic exchange, but I couldn't help myself. And the themed ficlet gatherings, like 'Tea and Togetherness' and 'A Sequin at a Time' and 'Locks to Part'.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
Looking over them, I can't think of any at the moment. But I did enjoy bringing out a new potential background for Victor in 'Brisk Notes in Cadence Beating', trying a new perspective on Chris in 'Come Close and Hold on Tight', and exploring how to write Byleth still figuring out how emotions work in the two Fire Emblem fics.
Most overdue story?
'Stars and Ghosts Between the Lines' was first released in a charity zine last year. I'd been wanting to write something like 'Come Close and Hold on Tight' for over a year, and now there's the 65k version the story deserved.
Did you take any writing risks this year?
Well, I wrote Chris/an actual ice rink xD But other than the usual smattering of rare ships, no. I might've stretched myself slightly with a couple of things on my sock, but this was not really a risk-taking year.
What are your fic writing goals for next year? First, what were they last year? I should check these things during the middle of the year, because I never remember them!
・Post my not-Victuuri bang fic: Done!
・Maybe write a sequel to that one fic: not yet
・Finish my WIP: :(
・Edit/write more origfic, maybe put something up on Amazon: I did work on origfic a little this year, but honestly most of that kind of energy went toward my thesis instead
・IF would be fun to write: didn't happen, but I didn't expect it to
For next year:
・THESIS :| Okay, it's not fic, but I do need to get it done!
・Finish the WIP for real this time. I only have to edit one chapter and then write one more....
・Wrap up some more things that have been languishing in my folders. Let's say five of them.
・I really do want to work more on my origfic. I'll try to make some space around THESIS for it.
