Year-End Fic Meme
Dec. 31st, 2009 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maychorianI wrote a lot of fanfic this year. It kept me sane in a lot of ways. Sixty-one posts marked fanfic on this journal, and I have at least a couple of commentfics that I never reposted here, plus some collaborations from the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
spnwriterlounge Writer Olympics thing that I'm not sure how to quantify. I'm also not counting the bits of fic in my google documents that I wrote but never posted--have at least three partially finished stories in there.
Nearly Complete List:
Bending Near the Earth
Stone and Blood
Younger Son
Figuring Out Christmas
Standard Conversations
The Mountains in Reply
Just the Beast Under Your Bed
Jedi and Rogues
Clad Only in a Sock
That Day Castiel Got Turned into a Robin
The Mouths of Children
Heavier When Dead
Know You Someday
Iron and Pizza
Dad's Shadow & Matriculation
Ficlets! Round-up Repost (Five in this one)
Scraped Knees and Bandaids
The Lights of Home
Castiel Requires Quarters
Rain Falling Down Around My Ears
A Cleansing for My Humanity
While Children Softly Fold Away Their Years
And Make Their Quiet Pleas for Sanity
Drabbles (13)
Here, Have Some Castiel Ficlets (3)
Wayfaring Strangers
Whisper Down a String
And It Blew Those Four Walls Down
Rain Falling Down Short #1
Butterfly Against a Hurricane
Rain Falling Down Short #2
A Singularly Unpleasant Experience
the subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone
Blink and You'll Miss It
Fire on the Mountain (Run, Boys, Run)
Stupid People
I Feel the Failure of Protection in My Bones
Good Times
Held Together with His Hands
And Singing Through the Seasons Young and Old
Total Word Count (More or Less): 132,875
Not bad, not bad. I had hoped to get a quarter of a million this year, but hey. I'm not complaining.
Fandoms:
Stargate Atlantis: 1 crossover with SPN, about 5000 words
Star Wars: 1 crossover story, one crossover commentfic, about 2500 words
Supernatural: 1 multi-part WIP, 1 multi-part 'verse, 3 one-shot sequels, 2 collaborations, like a million commentfics and drabbles and one-shots not assigned to a 'verse. Okay, okay, 42. All of those words were for SPN in one way or another.
And now the fic meme, amalgamated from several sources because I'm self-indulgent like that.
My favorite story this year (of my own):
Ah, this is always hard, because my latest story is always my favorite, while it's my latest, because it's on my mind so much. But I'm gonna go with Held Together with His Hands, even so. That story has a sense of immediacy and vividness to it that isn't always easy to capture, and it became surprisingly substantial over the course of writing it. Though it was meant to be just self-indulgent h/c, and it is, there's some depth to it, too. And I just love the content, of course. I want it to be Kripked so bad.
My best story this year:
The Lights of Home is the best story I've ever written, period, in any fandom, including original writing.
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Meh, I have been blessed with a great deal of appreciation, especially considering that I write gen exclusively (and a lot of weechesters in a pretty saturated "market," so to speak), and can be somewhat predictable. But I thought Whisper Down a String might have had better legs than it did. And I was surprised And It Blew Those Four Walls Down didn't get a little more attention. Still, I really can't complain. You guys love me, and it shows. ♥
Most fun story:
The Mouths of Children would have won this prize, before it took a turn for the dramatic and my muse shrank away from it. So self-indulgent. Now it's Stupid People.
Most angsty story:
The Lights of Home. Gah, Dean, I'm so sorry I did that to you.
Story with single angstiest moment:
Heavier When Dead, with Dean feeling like he's still dead and all. ::wince::
Story with single sweetest moment:
Either I Feel the Failure of Protection in My Bones or And Singing Through the Seasons Young and Old. I mean, Dean running out of his kindergarten class to hit a bully with a hockey stick. And then holding Jimmy's hand. And also forcing him to make snow angels. I don't...I don't know. Five-year-old Dean is the sweetest thing I've ever written. I'm kind of scared it might be OOC, but I do love him so.
Most unintentionally *telling* story:
Most of my stories are telling in one way or another, but it's usually on purpose. But A Cleansing for My Humanity was written in, like, five days, even though I had to write on notebook paper and type it up later. So very much the kind of stuff I just loooove to write, and that's pretty telling, I think.
"Holy crap, that's *wrong*, even for you" story:
Standard Conversations might be the blackest thing I've ever written. And also the funniest.
Most disappointing story:
The Mouths of Children was supposed to be something fun and light to distract me while I worked on my angsty, angsty Big Bang. I thought I would wrap it up five or six parts, easy-peasy. But nooo, it went all DRAMATIC on me. I have part of the next chapter written and I think I know how it will end, but I can barely re-read the beginning parts now because it changed so much and so strangely. It's kind of a mutant and I'm really weirded out by it, in all honesty.
Hardest story to write:
In some ways, writing The Lights of Home was very, very hard, especially once I got past all the emotional stuff and still had PLOT to take care of. ::bitchface:: In other ways, though, it was incredibly easy, because I drew so much from my own childhood experience and beloved hometown. I didn't have to use my imagination much because it was all right there in my memory, or around me when I stepped outside.
Easiest story to write:
Scraped Knees and Bandaids. I was in SUCH a good mood, you guys.
Story that shifted your perception of the characters:
I had never written Bobby so in-depth before Rain Falling Down Around My Ears. When I first started thinking about that AU, I had planned for Jimmy/Castiel to join the Winchesters on their cross-country quest, a big brother to Dean and Sammy and sort of reluctant son to John. But once Bobby was there, he had different ideas. Seriously. He kind of glommed on to the poor kid and glared at me and wouldn't let him go. So I had to change my whole concept of the story and the characters. And OMG, you guys, I love Bobby so much for doing that. He's so amazing. ♥
Favorite opening line:
"Dean, I require quarters."
Favorite closing line:
And they sat in the dark, looking on nothing. Any monster that came tonight would have to go through them.
Favorite line from anywhere:
“I’m an Air Force major. A pilot. A leader of a crack commando team. An American. A football fan. Some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love.”
or
"Dude," he hissed, getting up in the angel's space with one of his most potent bitchfaces, the one Dean privately called The Bathroom Is Out of Soap, Oh My God.
or
He was a man, dammit, he'd been to college and had a serious girlfriend, he knew how to use more guns and knives than the average Navy SEAL, he could speak three languages and read several more, he could find his way out of a trackless wilderness with nothing but a pocket knife and a piece of string (though a gum wrapper or two did help, Sam wasn't going to lie), and he didn't need his big brother to give him piggyback rides or feed him ice cream or, really, take care of him at all.
This year's themes and the stories that demonstrate them most:
Child abuse. D: This is no surprise, really. Most of the serious stories I've ever written, ever, deal with child abuse in some way. Because part of me will never really be over what happened to me when I was a kid; part of me will always be trying to figure it out through the medium of fictional characters and the written word. It's been this way for a long time and I don't expect it will change anytime soon, so yeah, you guys will just have to get used to it.
Gah, I couldn't pick between The Lights of Home and Rain Falling Down as an exemplary story. They're both very, very heavy with it, though it's different types of abuse with different kinds of effects and the stories are pretty damn different, actually.
In related news, I wrote lots and lots and lots and lots of hurt/comfort this year.
Of course, there's also a strong theme of family throughout, both the kind you have and the kind you find. I don't expect this will ever change much, either. The same two stories count for that one.
And, surprisingly, quite a few of my stories this year have an element of religion in them, too, though none of them could really be considered "Christian" as my family or church would understand it. Maybe that's another reason I love Castiel so much--he lets me explore my own issues with faith and religion and theology while I'm exploring his. ::hugs the conflicted angel:: Bending Near the Earth exemplifies this one, I think.
Another theme is the use of music in my stories, both lyric snippets and using them for titles, and even making soundtracks and fanmixes. Never before has music been so fully intertwined with my stories. I think I like it. Butterfly Against a Hurricane is the biggest one for this.
There has also been a continuing theme of fantastic artists giving me AMAZING art to illustrate my stories. Lordy, so many of you. ♥ Rain Falling Down wins the prize so far, with FOUR different awesome people giving me art. I don't even, you guys. I have no idea why this keeps happening, but I hope it doesn't stop.
Plans for next year:
More Rain, including the snapshots table. I don't know if I'll ever really FINISH this 'verse though. I mean, it's huge. I know kinda of where I want to go someday, but I'm having so much fun right now writing them as wee babies that I don't want them to grow up. Ever. But that's where all the interesting stuff will happen. Soooo. I don't know. Keep your eyes open.
Finish The Mouths of Children. Write Sweet Charity fic. (I finally have a handle on the plot, I think.) Prompt fic forhoodie_time. Take prompts from my flist again. Do more commentfic memes, because those are SO MUCH fun. A sequel for Stupid People. More Entertaining Angels AU. More JacknDean.
I'd also like to branch out into some more fandoms, I think. I was pretty monogamous with Supernatural this year, and while focus is good, it can also be kind of exhausting. I've had fleeting glimmers of ideas for stories for other fandoms but never pursued them, so maybe I will do that. Maybe even go back to some of my abandoned Star Wars fics. O.O
And it would be a good idea to try to write more original stuff, too. I didn't do any this year. At all. That's kind of scary.
I'm in a very introspective and thinky mood right now, so I'll open this up for questions. If you've ever wondered something about my writing process, ask away. Or if you have questions about specific fics and 'verses, where they came from, where I think they're going, what changed along the way... Anything like that. Be prepared for a lot of vague mumbling and meandering explanations, though. I love writing and I can go on for a really, really long time if you get me started.
Like I said. Self-indulgent.
spnwriterlounge Writer Olympics thing that I'm not sure how to quantify. I'm also not counting the bits of fic in my google documents that I wrote but never posted--have at least three partially finished stories in there.Nearly Complete List:Bending Near the Earth
Stone and Blood
Younger Son
Figuring Out Christmas
Standard Conversations
The Mountains in Reply
Just the Beast Under Your Bed
Jedi and Rogues
Clad Only in a Sock
That Day Castiel Got Turned into a Robin
The Mouths of Children
Heavier When Dead
Know You Someday
Iron and Pizza
Dad's Shadow & Matriculation
Ficlets! Round-up Repost (Five in this one)
Scraped Knees and Bandaids
The Lights of Home
Castiel Requires Quarters
Rain Falling Down Around My Ears
A Cleansing for My Humanity
While Children Softly Fold Away Their Years
And Make Their Quiet Pleas for Sanity
Drabbles (13)
Here, Have Some Castiel Ficlets (3)
Wayfaring Strangers
Whisper Down a String
And It Blew Those Four Walls Down
Rain Falling Down Short #1
Butterfly Against a Hurricane
Rain Falling Down Short #2
A Singularly Unpleasant Experience
the subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone
Blink and You'll Miss It
Fire on the Mountain (Run, Boys, Run)
Stupid People
I Feel the Failure of Protection in My Bones
Good Times
Held Together with His Hands
And Singing Through the Seasons Young and Old
Total Word Count (More or Less): 132,875
Not bad, not bad. I had hoped to get a quarter of a million this year, but hey. I'm not complaining.
Fandoms:
Stargate Atlantis: 1 crossover with SPN, about 5000 words
Star Wars: 1 crossover story, one crossover commentfic, about 2500 words
Supernatural: 1 multi-part WIP, 1 multi-part 'verse, 3 one-shot sequels, 2 collaborations, like a million commentfics and drabbles and one-shots not assigned to a 'verse. Okay, okay, 42. All of those words were for SPN in one way or another.
And now the fic meme, amalgamated from several sources because I'm self-indulgent like that.
My favorite story this year (of my own):
Ah, this is always hard, because my latest story is always my favorite, while it's my latest, because it's on my mind so much. But I'm gonna go with Held Together with His Hands, even so. That story has a sense of immediacy and vividness to it that isn't always easy to capture, and it became surprisingly substantial over the course of writing it. Though it was meant to be just self-indulgent h/c, and it is, there's some depth to it, too. And I just love the content, of course. I want it to be Kripked so bad.
My best story this year:
The Lights of Home is the best story I've ever written, period, in any fandom, including original writing.
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Meh, I have been blessed with a great deal of appreciation, especially considering that I write gen exclusively (and a lot of weechesters in a pretty saturated "market," so to speak), and can be somewhat predictable. But I thought Whisper Down a String might have had better legs than it did. And I was surprised And It Blew Those Four Walls Down didn't get a little more attention. Still, I really can't complain. You guys love me, and it shows. ♥
Most fun story:
The Mouths of Children would have won this prize, before it took a turn for the dramatic and my muse shrank away from it. So self-indulgent. Now it's Stupid People.
Most angsty story:
The Lights of Home. Gah, Dean, I'm so sorry I did that to you.
Story with single angstiest moment:
Heavier When Dead, with Dean feeling like he's still dead and all. ::wince::
Story with single sweetest moment:
Either I Feel the Failure of Protection in My Bones or And Singing Through the Seasons Young and Old. I mean, Dean running out of his kindergarten class to hit a bully with a hockey stick. And then holding Jimmy's hand. And also forcing him to make snow angels. I don't...I don't know. Five-year-old Dean is the sweetest thing I've ever written. I'm kind of scared it might be OOC, but I do love him so.
Most unintentionally *telling* story:
Most of my stories are telling in one way or another, but it's usually on purpose. But A Cleansing for My Humanity was written in, like, five days, even though I had to write on notebook paper and type it up later. So very much the kind of stuff I just loooove to write, and that's pretty telling, I think.
"Holy crap, that's *wrong*, even for you" story:
Standard Conversations might be the blackest thing I've ever written. And also the funniest.
Most disappointing story:
The Mouths of Children was supposed to be something fun and light to distract me while I worked on my angsty, angsty Big Bang. I thought I would wrap it up five or six parts, easy-peasy. But nooo, it went all DRAMATIC on me. I have part of the next chapter written and I think I know how it will end, but I can barely re-read the beginning parts now because it changed so much and so strangely. It's kind of a mutant and I'm really weirded out by it, in all honesty.
Hardest story to write:
In some ways, writing The Lights of Home was very, very hard, especially once I got past all the emotional stuff and still had PLOT to take care of. ::bitchface:: In other ways, though, it was incredibly easy, because I drew so much from my own childhood experience and beloved hometown. I didn't have to use my imagination much because it was all right there in my memory, or around me when I stepped outside.
Easiest story to write:
Scraped Knees and Bandaids. I was in SUCH a good mood, you guys.
Story that shifted your perception of the characters:
I had never written Bobby so in-depth before Rain Falling Down Around My Ears. When I first started thinking about that AU, I had planned for Jimmy/Castiel to join the Winchesters on their cross-country quest, a big brother to Dean and Sammy and sort of reluctant son to John. But once Bobby was there, he had different ideas. Seriously. He kind of glommed on to the poor kid and glared at me and wouldn't let him go. So I had to change my whole concept of the story and the characters. And OMG, you guys, I love Bobby so much for doing that. He's so amazing. ♥
Favorite opening line:
"Dean, I require quarters."
Favorite closing line:
And they sat in the dark, looking on nothing. Any monster that came tonight would have to go through them.
Favorite line from anywhere:
“I’m an Air Force major. A pilot. A leader of a crack commando team. An American. A football fan. Some people call me the space cowboy, some call me the gangster of love.”
or
"Dude," he hissed, getting up in the angel's space with one of his most potent bitchfaces, the one Dean privately called The Bathroom Is Out of Soap, Oh My God.
or
He was a man, dammit, he'd been to college and had a serious girlfriend, he knew how to use more guns and knives than the average Navy SEAL, he could speak three languages and read several more, he could find his way out of a trackless wilderness with nothing but a pocket knife and a piece of string (though a gum wrapper or two did help, Sam wasn't going to lie), and he didn't need his big brother to give him piggyback rides or feed him ice cream or, really, take care of him at all.
This year's themes and the stories that demonstrate them most:
Child abuse. D: This is no surprise, really. Most of the serious stories I've ever written, ever, deal with child abuse in some way. Because part of me will never really be over what happened to me when I was a kid; part of me will always be trying to figure it out through the medium of fictional characters and the written word. It's been this way for a long time and I don't expect it will change anytime soon, so yeah, you guys will just have to get used to it.
Gah, I couldn't pick between The Lights of Home and Rain Falling Down as an exemplary story. They're both very, very heavy with it, though it's different types of abuse with different kinds of effects and the stories are pretty damn different, actually.
In related news, I wrote lots and lots and lots and lots of hurt/comfort this year.
Of course, there's also a strong theme of family throughout, both the kind you have and the kind you find. I don't expect this will ever change much, either. The same two stories count for that one.
And, surprisingly, quite a few of my stories this year have an element of religion in them, too, though none of them could really be considered "Christian" as my family or church would understand it. Maybe that's another reason I love Castiel so much--he lets me explore my own issues with faith and religion and theology while I'm exploring his. ::hugs the conflicted angel:: Bending Near the Earth exemplifies this one, I think.
Another theme is the use of music in my stories, both lyric snippets and using them for titles, and even making soundtracks and fanmixes. Never before has music been so fully intertwined with my stories. I think I like it. Butterfly Against a Hurricane is the biggest one for this.
There has also been a continuing theme of fantastic artists giving me AMAZING art to illustrate my stories. Lordy, so many of you. ♥ Rain Falling Down wins the prize so far, with FOUR different awesome people giving me art. I don't even, you guys. I have no idea why this keeps happening, but I hope it doesn't stop.
Plans for next year:
More Rain, including the snapshots table. I don't know if I'll ever really FINISH this 'verse though. I mean, it's huge. I know kinda of where I want to go someday, but I'm having so much fun right now writing them as wee babies that I don't want them to grow up. Ever. But that's where all the interesting stuff will happen. Soooo. I don't know. Keep your eyes open.
Finish The Mouths of Children. Write Sweet Charity fic. (I finally have a handle on the plot, I think.) Prompt fic for
hoodie_time. Take prompts from my flist again. Do more commentfic memes, because those are SO MUCH fun. A sequel for Stupid People. More Entertaining Angels AU. More JacknDean.I'd also like to branch out into some more fandoms, I think. I was pretty monogamous with Supernatural this year, and while focus is good, it can also be kind of exhausting. I've had fleeting glimmers of ideas for stories for other fandoms but never pursued them, so maybe I will do that. Maybe even go back to some of my abandoned Star Wars fics. O.O
And it would be a good idea to try to write more original stuff, too. I didn't do any this year. At all. That's kind of scary.
I'm in a very introspective and thinky mood right now, so I'll open this up for questions. If you've ever wondered something about my writing process, ask away. Or if you have questions about specific fics and 'verses, where they came from, where I think they're going, what changed along the way... Anything like that. Be prepared for a lot of vague mumbling and meandering explanations, though. I love writing and I can go on for a really, really long time if you get me started.
Like I said. Self-indulgent.
