Year's end meme: writing
Dec. 16th, 2010 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaThis is one of my favorite memes! I know it's only halfway through December, but I wanted to get this done before the holiday rush. And I love reading other people's year's end memes, so please post yours, too. A podfic edition of this meme will follow.
Fraser/Kowalski stories:
Accidental Bonding: Superpower AU, where Ray and Fraser work at the department of magical crimes. Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ds_flashfiction's compass points challenge. 5300 words, R
The Advantages of a Roof Over One's Head: Sleepy morning sex. 1000 words, NC-17
The Work of Coming Home: Ray and Fraser get married and move to Inuvik together, but happily ever after isn't as easy as that. Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ds_c6d_bigbang. 20,500 words, NC-17
Stories about the Fraser family and Fraser's early years:
Communication: Dief wasn't quite like other wolves. Fraser and Dief gen. Written fords_flashfiction's Silence challenge. 1100 words, G.
Open the World: In 1921, Martha ran away from home to study at a teacher's college. Martha Fraser gen, with Martha/George and female friendship. 10,500 words, PG-13
Packmates: A casefic set in the 1950's, before Benton was born. Set in the Shifter AU, sequel to Running. Bob/Caroline, Bob and Buck partnership, lots of OC relatives of Caroline. 10,000 words, PG-13
Tangential: Why was Mark avoiding him? Written formeresy's porn tag. Benton/Mark (possibly underage), 1300 words, R
Fraser/Victoria stories:
A Train In the Night: Victoria on a train. Written forstop_drop_porn. 1000 words, NC-17
Telling Stories: She lived in her mind, telling herself stories. Written fornos in the due South Seekrit Santa exchange 2009. 1600 words, PG-13
Other due South stories:
Heads Up: Denny can't let go of the fact that he got the better of her. Fraser/Denny Scarpa, 3200 words, NC-17
Live A Little, Die A Little: In a bar in the backwoods of Canada... Written forduesouth_kink. Maggie/Victoria, 1500 words, NC-17
Not That Kind Of Out: Elaine and Frannie, flirting in a bar. Written fords_flashfiction's chase challenge. Frannie/Elaine, with background F/K/V. 1400 words, PG
due South snippets:
Barrier: The disadvantages of rank. Fraser/Thatcher (can also be read as gen), PG
Bedsharing: Scene from a partnership and a marriage. Bob, Buck, Caroline. G
Close: Sleeping-bag sex (the femslash version). Maggie/Frannie, R
Dress: "What do you think? Could I pass as a woman?" Fraser and Caroline gen, G
Justice: An AU of "Victoria's Secret". Fraser gen, PG
Postcard: My dearest Caroline, I'll be a week or so late. Written for the C6D Valentine's Day card exchange. Bob/Caroline, G
Touch: "Lie down on the floor, Ray. And take your shirt off." F/K, PG-13
Trial Run: Frannie let it happen in her mind. Frannie/OFC, R
Wrestling: Ray is frustrated, and tries to find an outlet. F/K, PG-13
Filk songs:
The Mountie and the Skogsrå: A Fraser/Victoria ballad, based on a traditional Swedish medieval ballad. Written fords_flashfiction's genre challenge. PG-13
Cold Snowy North: Fraser's journey from north to south and then back again. Written fords_flashfiction's genre challenge. Traditional melody. Gen, PG
Stories in other fandoms:
Home: Duck returning to Wilby. Wilby Wonderful gen, 300 words, PG
spiritus: The ghost in the machine. Tag wrangler RPF, gen, 600 words, G
The Two Sisters: There lived a farmer in the north country, and he had two daughters. Written for Measured Words, in the New Year's Resolution 2010 Challenge. A femslash version of the Child ballad The Twa Sisters, 1300 words, R (for character death). There is also a Swedish version of this story: De två systrarna.
The Seed of a Forest: I would never forgive the humans for what they had done. A retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" from the evil fairy's POV. Traditional fairy tales, 1900 words, PG-13. Also available in Swedish as Skogens hjärta.
First off, some statistics:
The comparison between this year and last year is a bit misleading--I wrote maybe half of my Big Bang story last year, and the Martha story is an old WIP, so I'd say I probably wrote as much last year as I did this year.
I've been branching out a bit this year and writing stories in fandoms that aren't due South. I am quite happy with this! All of those stories are in small fandoms, though (like, Yuletide-small), and I am not leaving due South any time soon. Still, it's interesting to stretch myself, and I haven't done it just to see if I could--the stories I've written were ones that felt like they really wanted to be written. I also translated two stories to Swedish (which is, after all, my native language), and that was quite interesting.
Another trend is that I'm getting better at writing casefic. It used to feel like pulling teeth, but I've written several casefics this year that felt almost effortless. Yet another trend: I am writing more fic that focuses on female characters, both gen and het and femslash (15 of my stories are in female POV, and most of those pass the Bechdel test). This pleases me!
My best story(ies) of this year: This is always a tricky question, because I feel like I don't have an objective enough view of my own work (feel free to tell me which you think is the best!). But I think it's Packmates--I like the way that the different threads of the story came together--there's casefic, family dynamics and romance. And the werewolf stuff, of course. : )
My favourite story of this year: I'll have to go with Packmates again. That whole 'verse is very close to my heart, and I loved getting to write such a long Caroline story.
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Aaand Packmates, again--I didn't get much feedback for it in terms of number of comments. OTOH, the feedback I did get made me very happy, so it's not like I'm complaining.
Most fun story to write: The superpower F/K AU Accidental Bonding was a delight to write. It's my most popular story this year, too--it got a lot of comments, and it also has the most hits at AO3 of all my works. Part of that is probably that it's a popular trope, but I do think that energy and sense of fun carried over into the story and the worldbuilding.
Sexiest story: Probably Heads Up (the Fraser/Denny Scarpa fic). Let's just say that it turned me on while I was writing it. *ahem* Apparently I was craving some Fraser het. Second place: the Maggie/Victoria fic Live A Little, Die A Little, which I also found really hot.
Story with the single sexiest moment: Hmm. I'm quite fond of the moment in The Advantages of a Roof Over One's Head where Fraser holds back from coming.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: Huh, can't think of anything here.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: The Seed of a Forest really shifted my view of the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Among the due South stories, after writing Packmates (and the other stories in that verse), Caroline as a shape-shifter is almost canon in my head.
Hardest story to write: The Big Bang story The Work of Coming Home, definitely. Partly just because it was so much longer than anything else I've written, so that it was hard to hold it all in my mind, and also because it was hard to sustain the narrative tension throughout the story. Another story that was hard to write was Open the World, because of all the historical and cultural details.
Biggest Disappointment: Again, the Big Bang story. I don't feel that it sucked, and I'll probably enjoy re-reading it after a while, but it could probably have been a better story. Also, Open the World, which feels like it's only an approximation of the story I wanted to write. Ah, well. I don't regret writing either of these stories, though.
It seems here like there's a correlation between "hard to write" and "a disappointment", but there's one fic where that isn't so: the Fraser/Victoria folk ballad was hard to write, but I'm quite happy with it. It was a different kind of hard, though, which had more to do with finding rhymes and getting the meter to work out.
Biggest Surprise: The stories in other fandoms, I think. I set out deliberately to write The Two Sisters as a New Year's Resolution story, but The Seed of a Forest and Home came spontaneously.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story: The Seed of a Forest, definitely. It's probably obvious that I have a background in environmental forest activism.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? About what I'd hoped (but I wouldn't have dared to predict it).
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2009? Maggie/Victoria and Fraser/Denny Scarpa. Both of these sort of came out of nowhere, and they were a lot of fun to write. Also see the question about the biggest surprises.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Writing the Big Bang fic was a risk, I suppose, since it was longer than anything else I've written. I hope that I've learned something from it, and that next time I write something that length, it will be easier to work with the structure.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? I have lots of WIP:s and story ideas that I hope to write! Mostly in due South, but also some in rare fandoms (Sleeping Beauty in space!).
I'd like to thank the academy... I'm very grateful to all the smart and generous people who did beta-reading or first-reading on the stories I finished this year (in no particular order, and I hope I'm not forgetting anyone):isis, helens78, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
primroseburrows, aria, miss_zedem, mizface, andeincascade, innocentsmith, keerawa, waltzforanight, medrin, podfic_lover, fredericks, suzumenoko (and her anonymous colleague), spuffyduds, sage, akamine_chan, and my sister. Also, a huge thanks to everyone who has given me comments and feedback and encouragement. &hearts
Fraser/Kowalski stories:
Accidental Bonding: Superpower AU, where Ray and Fraser work at the department of magical crimes. Written for
ds_flashfiction's compass points challenge. 5300 words, RThe Advantages of a Roof Over One's Head: Sleepy morning sex. 1000 words, NC-17
The Work of Coming Home: Ray and Fraser get married and move to Inuvik together, but happily ever after isn't as easy as that. Written for the
ds_c6d_bigbang. 20,500 words, NC-17Stories about the Fraser family and Fraser's early years:
Communication: Dief wasn't quite like other wolves. Fraser and Dief gen. Written for
ds_flashfiction's Silence challenge. 1100 words, G. Open the World: In 1921, Martha ran away from home to study at a teacher's college. Martha Fraser gen, with Martha/George and female friendship. 10,500 words, PG-13
Packmates: A casefic set in the 1950's, before Benton was born. Set in the Shifter AU, sequel to Running. Bob/Caroline, Bob and Buck partnership, lots of OC relatives of Caroline. 10,000 words, PG-13
Tangential: Why was Mark avoiding him? Written for
meresy's porn tag. Benton/Mark (possibly underage), 1300 words, R Fraser/Victoria stories:
A Train In the Night: Victoria on a train. Written for
stop_drop_porn. 1000 words, NC-17Telling Stories: She lived in her mind, telling herself stories. Written for
nos in the due South Seekrit Santa exchange 2009. 1600 words, PG-13Other due South stories:
Heads Up: Denny can't let go of the fact that he got the better of her. Fraser/Denny Scarpa, 3200 words, NC-17
Live A Little, Die A Little: In a bar in the backwoods of Canada... Written for
duesouth_kink. Maggie/Victoria, 1500 words, NC-17Not That Kind Of Out: Elaine and Frannie, flirting in a bar. Written for
ds_flashfiction's chase challenge. Frannie/Elaine, with background F/K/V. 1400 words, PGdue South snippets:
Barrier: The disadvantages of rank. Fraser/Thatcher (can also be read as gen), PG
Bedsharing: Scene from a partnership and a marriage. Bob, Buck, Caroline. G
Close: Sleeping-bag sex (the femslash version). Maggie/Frannie, R
Dress: "What do you think? Could I pass as a woman?" Fraser and Caroline gen, G
Justice: An AU of "Victoria's Secret". Fraser gen, PG
Postcard: My dearest Caroline, I'll be a week or so late. Written for the C6D Valentine's Day card exchange. Bob/Caroline, G
Touch: "Lie down on the floor, Ray. And take your shirt off." F/K, PG-13
Trial Run: Frannie let it happen in her mind. Frannie/OFC, R
Wrestling: Ray is frustrated, and tries to find an outlet. F/K, PG-13
Filk songs:
The Mountie and the Skogsrå: A Fraser/Victoria ballad, based on a traditional Swedish medieval ballad. Written for
ds_flashfiction's genre challenge. PG-13Cold Snowy North: Fraser's journey from north to south and then back again. Written for
ds_flashfiction's genre challenge. Traditional melody. Gen, PG Stories in other fandoms:
Home: Duck returning to Wilby. Wilby Wonderful gen, 300 words, PG
spiritus: The ghost in the machine. Tag wrangler RPF, gen, 600 words, G
The Two Sisters: There lived a farmer in the north country, and he had two daughters. Written for Measured Words, in the New Year's Resolution 2010 Challenge. A femslash version of the Child ballad The Twa Sisters, 1300 words, R (for character death). There is also a Swedish version of this story: De två systrarna.
The Seed of a Forest: I would never forgive the humans for what they had done. A retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" from the evil fairy's POV. Traditional fairy tales, 1900 words, PG-13. Also available in Swedish as Skogens hjärta.
First off, some statistics:
- Total writing output: 68,300 words (29 stories). This is rather more than last year's of around 40,000 words.
- Of the words, 42% is slash, 27% is gen, 23% is het, 9% is femslash (but if you look at the stories, 10.5 are gen, 6.5 are het, 6 are slash, and 6 are femslash). Twelve different pairings are represented.
- 44% of the words are written in Fraser POV. A further 31% are written in the POV of someone else in the Fraser family.
- 10% of the words (6 of the stories) are in fandoms that are not due South (four different ones, in fact). Note that I'm counting the Swedish translations as separate works.
- Five of the stories are long-term WIP:s that I worked on systematically to finish, the rest were written fairly quickly and spontaneously.
The comparison between this year and last year is a bit misleading--I wrote maybe half of my Big Bang story last year, and the Martha story is an old WIP, so I'd say I probably wrote as much last year as I did this year.
I've been branching out a bit this year and writing stories in fandoms that aren't due South. I am quite happy with this! All of those stories are in small fandoms, though (like, Yuletide-small), and I am not leaving due South any time soon. Still, it's interesting to stretch myself, and I haven't done it just to see if I could--the stories I've written were ones that felt like they really wanted to be written. I also translated two stories to Swedish (which is, after all, my native language), and that was quite interesting.
Another trend is that I'm getting better at writing casefic. It used to feel like pulling teeth, but I've written several casefics this year that felt almost effortless. Yet another trend: I am writing more fic that focuses on female characters, both gen and het and femslash (15 of my stories are in female POV, and most of those pass the Bechdel test). This pleases me!
My best story(ies) of this year: This is always a tricky question, because I feel like I don't have an objective enough view of my own work (feel free to tell me which you think is the best!). But I think it's Packmates--I like the way that the different threads of the story came together--there's casefic, family dynamics and romance. And the werewolf stuff, of course. : )
My favourite story of this year: I'll have to go with Packmates again. That whole 'verse is very close to my heart, and I loved getting to write such a long Caroline story.
Story most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Aaand Packmates, again--I didn't get much feedback for it in terms of number of comments. OTOH, the feedback I did get made me very happy, so it's not like I'm complaining.
Most fun story to write: The superpower F/K AU Accidental Bonding was a delight to write. It's my most popular story this year, too--it got a lot of comments, and it also has the most hits at AO3 of all my works. Part of that is probably that it's a popular trope, but I do think that energy and sense of fun carried over into the story and the worldbuilding.
Sexiest story: Probably Heads Up (the Fraser/Denny Scarpa fic). Let's just say that it turned me on while I was writing it. *ahem* Apparently I was craving some Fraser het. Second place: the Maggie/Victoria fic Live A Little, Die A Little, which I also found really hot.
Story with the single sexiest moment: Hmm. I'm quite fond of the moment in The Advantages of a Roof Over One's Head where Fraser holds back from coming.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: Huh, can't think of anything here.
Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: The Seed of a Forest really shifted my view of the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Among the due South stories, after writing Packmates (and the other stories in that verse), Caroline as a shape-shifter is almost canon in my head.
Hardest story to write: The Big Bang story The Work of Coming Home, definitely. Partly just because it was so much longer than anything else I've written, so that it was hard to hold it all in my mind, and also because it was hard to sustain the narrative tension throughout the story. Another story that was hard to write was Open the World, because of all the historical and cultural details.
Biggest Disappointment: Again, the Big Bang story. I don't feel that it sucked, and I'll probably enjoy re-reading it after a while, but it could probably have been a better story. Also, Open the World, which feels like it's only an approximation of the story I wanted to write. Ah, well. I don't regret writing either of these stories, though.
It seems here like there's a correlation between "hard to write" and "a disappointment", but there's one fic where that isn't so: the Fraser/Victoria folk ballad was hard to write, but I'm quite happy with it. It was a different kind of hard, though, which had more to do with finding rhymes and getting the meter to work out.
Biggest Surprise: The stories in other fandoms, I think. I set out deliberately to write The Two Sisters as a New Year's Resolution story, but The Seed of a Forest and Home came spontaneously.
Most Unintentionally Telling Story: The Seed of a Forest, definitely. It's probably obvious that I have a background in environmental forest activism.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? About what I'd hoped (but I wouldn't have dared to predict it).
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2009? Maggie/Victoria and Fraser/Denny Scarpa. Both of these sort of came out of nowhere, and they were a lot of fun to write. Also see the question about the biggest surprises.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Writing the Big Bang fic was a risk, I suppose, since it was longer than anything else I've written. I hope that I've learned something from it, and that next time I write something that length, it will be easier to work with the structure.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? I have lots of WIP:s and story ideas that I hope to write! Mostly in due South, but also some in rare fandoms (Sleeping Beauty in space!).
I'd like to thank the academy... I'm very grateful to all the smart and generous people who did beta-reading or first-reading on the stories I finished this year (in no particular order, and I hope I'm not forgetting anyone):
isis, helens78, primroseburrows, aria, miss_zedem, mizface, andeincascade, innocentsmith, keerawa, waltzforanight, medrin, podfic_lover, fredericks, suzumenoko (and her anonymous colleague), spuffyduds, sage, akamine_chan, and my sister. Also, a huge thanks to everyone who has given me comments and feedback and encouragement. &hearts 
(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-18 01:22 pm (UTC)Also, as much as I loved your F/K fics (and how do I *love* them!), reading your genfics became a thing to do when I wanted to "treat" myself to some good stories
This makes me so happy! I love writing gen stories, and I am so glad that they are appreciated. &heart
P.S.: That Sleeping Beauty in Space idea sounds very, verrrrry cool.
Seriously, that story has evolved until it's sort of gone beyond the bounds of the fairy tale. It started out as the idea that the hundred years' sleep could be hibernation on a spaceship, but then it just grew. The evil fairy is now a French-Algerian scientist with a very distinct personality (don't ask me why that nationality exactly, it just happened--I think I based her on a mathematician in my field who I've met at conferences). And so on. Hopefully I'll finish it some time.