Happy New Year!!
1 January 2010 23:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quinaraHmm - my friends were ill, so I spent New Year's Eve at home, but this resulted in me spilling a load of champagne on my laptop. NOT GOOD. Half my keyboard stopped working, basically. But it's all right - I've ordered a new keyboard off eBay, which will hopefully work when I take off the old one and stick that one in instead, and for the moment I've got a crappy USB keyboard out of the cupboard that my brother had when his old laptop first started dying. It's going OK!
2010, though! Hooray! Time for the 2009 rundown of what I wrote. :D [PS. As I write this, you may notice my growing progressively more drunk on Baileys, or not. Sorry.]
Maudlin Drivel Spike Scribbled in A5
So began what will possibly be referred to as the Year of Poetry, where I tentatively began to give away more and more what a fan off the stuff I am (trufax: at uni my 'pleasure reading' shelf is practically 90% verse as opposed to prose). I was quite happy with how this turned out, even if I did end up with about ten more verses than I actually used. And I haven't managed to make a villanelle work since, so that's something. Or other.
The Tale of Isthgraid
At last I finished it! I hate having things hanging around, and this had been annoying me since the summer of 2007, especially since I very much enjoyed writing S4 Spike vs. everyone else banter. Even if the fic itself was a bit cracky. (What do you expect from something based off a conversation between me andbogwitch?)
Mercutio Dreams
The other contender for this year's subtitle would have to be The Year of Other Fandoms, beginning here with some good old Shakey!fic. I <3 Mercutio. Nuff said.
Brand New Day (One Year On)
I do have a proper sequel in the works, I promise. Apparently it involves Wesley. Maybe this isn't surprising... So much fun going back to this world. Whether or not the execution of the original fic was perfect or not (everything can always be improved), it may well be my favourite thing I've written ever.
You've Got the Power to Know
ZOMG it's something NC-17!! Sigh, I think I made far too much of a palaver about that at the time. Never mind. Not much happens, but it amused me at least. I love picking titles for this series. (Illyria's instalment with gratuitous Ethan Rayne is still in the pipeline.)
Glimpses of Ganymede Grey
It's fair to say that Whiskey is my favourite character on Dollhouse (typical that she's not really in S2). I can't believe I did that thing where you give sections of your shortfic subtitles, but it felt like it was needed, and it's a policy of mine to never discount any wanky writing techniques completely. So here we have one in motion. I quite like this fic; I wish I could think of more to do with Ganymede (and indeed Dollhouse generally).
An Exercise in Futility
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
plot_wout_porn will run again, I promise - at some point in August (yes, I'll sort it out/announce it vaguely soon - tell your friends!!). I think the unanimous opinion about this fic was that it was fairly unfinished, which is quite probably true. I have nebulous ideas for where it'll go from here, but I haven't worked out the kinks and it's all fairly tangential to the host of OCs that I'd love to have back because I like them. Still, it was nice to write Wesley, who there's no need to say is a fabulous character.
Microwave Meals (Quick, Easy and Sometimes Satisfying)
It was nice this year to do some (relatively) dashed off 2000-ish word bits like this, where nothing much happens, but you have the chance at least to make some sort of mood. It might be a bit rough around the edges stylistically, but I do like this fic. And the idea of Buffy and Spike showing off their fighting prowess in front of Principal Wood...
Spikeid II & III
And so the Spikeid continues (at a crawlingly slow pace - the reason I imagine why not that many people are reading it). This is still an extremely rewarding challenge, in these books specifically putting something approaching Buffy's voice into iambic pentameter and trying not to descend into utter misery despite the fact the narrator's just lost the second parental figure in the space of four years and everything's generally pretty shit. I'm definitely persevering though, even if I'm a bit worried that I'm getting really into my OCs.
Codifying the Sun
Alan Turing! Whose portrait still graces one of the staircases in college (the IT room is in fact called The Turing Room)! It was something of a weird honour to write a fic about him, though I still think there are bits that could be more elegant/fleshed out in a better way. Cambridge is really very pretty in May. And most of the time, really.
The Silence of Wendy
This was one of those weird fics where it sort of hung together, but it wasn't till I came up with the title/summary that I really worked out what I thought the fic was about. (Microwave Meals was a bit like that, as was Gingerbread Men a touch, as we'll get to later.) Because if there's one thing I will never stop banging on about when it comes to Dollhouse, it's Echo's utter self-centredness and her obsession with the idea that what works for her should work for everyone. Of course, this fic comes with a massive CF. GANYMEDE.
Positive Exposure
This fic (or something approaching it anyway) has been dogging me FOREVER. And when I say forever, I mean longer than I've owned my laptop, so since October 2007 at least. I thought it worked out relatively well in the end. Dunno how well the (supposed) actual story of Spike gradually coming to the realisation that White Knights are as useful as shit actually came across, but never mind.
Five Poems Spike Wrote about Buffy (and One that She Wrote about Him)
More poems! That I managed to write in a week (typical that my quickest poetry output ever would actually produce six of them). Buffy's seemed to be most popular, though my favourite was always the second sonnet (I like them all TBH, but My Memories Of You has the most pretentious Shakespeare intertext). Though it was nice to produce some free verse that actually felt like verse (at least to me) - seems the secret is to not actually make it that free, so much as just move between metres and forms on whim.
Devouring Time
I do like Darla, so it's nice to finally have something that features her. Also, more fics where coming up with the concept involves thinking back to the prettiest view I've ever seen would be appreciated.
Of How Good Gingerbread Men Were Sacrificed in the Name of Progress
Possibly the quickest fic I wrote this year, when I managed to strike on a moment when I was PROPERLY in the fic-writing mood/zone. I wanted to write a Christmas fic, but as far as I'm concerned Christmas fics are always one of two things: the slightly bittersweet/totally fluffy Christmas truce/gift-giving fic, or the light-hearted battle/romp fic. And I couldn't decide between them, so I decided to do both. And stick in a few references to the smutty Christmas fics that also make it in. I was rather chuffed by the end that I had (a little unintentionally) structured the whole thing around Christmas Past, Present and Future. Anyway, note to everyone that Boggy gives good prompts. I give crap ones. Soz.
/
And the meme as well!
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Bloody loads more! Usually putting this list together takes about five minutes; this took freaking ages.
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
To be honest, I like Five Poems, because it does make me happiest. There are un-rounded corners in everything else (Positive Exposure comes a close second, but there are still moments in that that feel rushed, despite the ridiculous amount of time I spent editing it). All six of those little things I can read without wanting to reach for the Edit button and they do make me rather happy.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Nothing felt particularly risky, though I suppose I did branch out quite a lot. I'd like to write more poetry. Always.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Get some sequels underway, continue/finish the Spikeid, write the bunny that I was mulling over on the train this morning where Spike loses his soul in a game of cards and the whole thing is about reforming his identity in the pursuit of regaining it (Buffy natch helps - and beats some stuff up, because I haven't let her beat anything up in a while).
From my past year of writing, what was...
My Favorite Story: Five Poems (this question always seems a little superfluous...).
My Best Story: Positive Exposure. Or Buffy's tale in the Spikeid. Dunno.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe: Spikeid. I mean, come on, people, it only wants to beloved read.
Most fun: Gingerbread Men. Because grumpy!Spike meeting Tupperware makes me laugh.
Most disappointing: An Exercise in Futility. I do really like it as is, but I very much understand that another five-ten thousand words would make it sing.
Most sexy: You've Got the Power to Know. Because there's sex in it.
Hardest to Write: To quote last year, "SPIKEID, ZOMG".
Most Unintentionally Telling:n Positive Exposure, at least from where I'm sitting, proves how bloody hard (/boring - I'm quite lazy) I find it filling in the bits between the scenes I think are the most important in order to make the fic sit right. It's my biggest problem as a writer, I think, and ironically the thing I'm most complaining about in Dollhouse at the moment. Sigh.
I want to do more end-of-year things, so expect postage!
2010, though! Hooray! Time for the 2009 rundown of what I wrote. :D [PS. As I write this, you may notice my growing progressively more drunk on Baileys, or not. Sorry.]
Maudlin Drivel Spike Scribbled in A5
So began what will possibly be referred to as the Year of Poetry, where I tentatively began to give away more and more what a fan off the stuff I am (trufax: at uni my 'pleasure reading' shelf is practically 90% verse as opposed to prose). I was quite happy with how this turned out, even if I did end up with about ten more verses than I actually used. And I haven't managed to make a villanelle work since, so that's something. Or other.
The Tale of Isthgraid
At last I finished it! I hate having things hanging around, and this had been annoying me since the summer of 2007, especially since I very much enjoyed writing S4 Spike vs. everyone else banter. Even if the fic itself was a bit cracky. (What do you expect from something based off a conversation between me and
bogwitch?)Mercutio Dreams
The other contender for this year's subtitle would have to be The Year of Other Fandoms, beginning here with some good old Shakey!fic. I <3 Mercutio. Nuff said.
Brand New Day (One Year On)
I do have a proper sequel in the works, I promise. Apparently it involves Wesley. Maybe this isn't surprising... So much fun going back to this world. Whether or not the execution of the original fic was perfect or not (everything can always be improved), it may well be my favourite thing I've written ever.
You've Got the Power to Know
ZOMG it's something NC-17!! Sigh, I think I made far too much of a palaver about that at the time. Never mind. Not much happens, but it amused me at least. I love picking titles for this series. (Illyria's instalment with gratuitous Ethan Rayne is still in the pipeline.)
Glimpses of Ganymede Grey
It's fair to say that Whiskey is my favourite character on Dollhouse (typical that she's not really in S2). I can't believe I did that thing where you give sections of your shortfic subtitles, but it felt like it was needed, and it's a policy of mine to never discount any wanky writing techniques completely. So here we have one in motion. I quite like this fic; I wish I could think of more to do with Ganymede (and indeed Dollhouse generally).
An Exercise in Futility
plot_wout_porn will run again, I promise - at some point in August (yes, I'll sort it out/announce it vaguely soon - tell your friends!!). I think the unanimous opinion about this fic was that it was fairly unfinished, which is quite probably true. I have nebulous ideas for where it'll go from here, but I haven't worked out the kinks and it's all fairly tangential to the host of OCs that I'd love to have back because I like them. Still, it was nice to write Wesley, who there's no need to say is a fabulous character.Microwave Meals (Quick, Easy and Sometimes Satisfying)
It was nice this year to do some (relatively) dashed off 2000-ish word bits like this, where nothing much happens, but you have the chance at least to make some sort of mood. It might be a bit rough around the edges stylistically, but I do like this fic. And the idea of Buffy and Spike showing off their fighting prowess in front of Principal Wood...
Spikeid II & III
And so the Spikeid continues (at a crawlingly slow pace - the reason I imagine why not that many people are reading it). This is still an extremely rewarding challenge, in these books specifically putting something approaching Buffy's voice into iambic pentameter and trying not to descend into utter misery despite the fact the narrator's just lost the second parental figure in the space of four years and everything's generally pretty shit. I'm definitely persevering though, even if I'm a bit worried that I'm getting really into my OCs.
Codifying the Sun
Alan Turing! Whose portrait still graces one of the staircases in college (the IT room is in fact called The Turing Room)! It was something of a weird honour to write a fic about him, though I still think there are bits that could be more elegant/fleshed out in a better way. Cambridge is really very pretty in May. And most of the time, really.
The Silence of Wendy
This was one of those weird fics where it sort of hung together, but it wasn't till I came up with the title/summary that I really worked out what I thought the fic was about. (Microwave Meals was a bit like that, as was Gingerbread Men a touch, as we'll get to later.) Because if there's one thing I will never stop banging on about when it comes to Dollhouse, it's Echo's utter self-centredness and her obsession with the idea that what works for her should work for everyone. Of course, this fic comes with a massive CF. GANYMEDE.
Positive Exposure
This fic (or something approaching it anyway) has been dogging me FOREVER. And when I say forever, I mean longer than I've owned my laptop, so since October 2007 at least. I thought it worked out relatively well in the end. Dunno how well the (supposed) actual story of Spike gradually coming to the realisation that White Knights are as useful as shit actually came across, but never mind.
Five Poems Spike Wrote about Buffy (and One that She Wrote about Him)
More poems! That I managed to write in a week (typical that my quickest poetry output ever would actually produce six of them). Buffy's seemed to be most popular, though my favourite was always the second sonnet (I like them all TBH, but My Memories Of You has the most pretentious Shakespeare intertext). Though it was nice to produce some free verse that actually felt like verse (at least to me) - seems the secret is to not actually make it that free, so much as just move between metres and forms on whim.
Devouring Time
I do like Darla, so it's nice to finally have something that features her. Also, more fics where coming up with the concept involves thinking back to the prettiest view I've ever seen would be appreciated.
Of How Good Gingerbread Men Were Sacrificed in the Name of Progress
Possibly the quickest fic I wrote this year, when I managed to strike on a moment when I was PROPERLY in the fic-writing mood/zone. I wanted to write a Christmas fic, but as far as I'm concerned Christmas fics are always one of two things: the slightly bittersweet/totally fluffy Christmas truce/gift-giving fic, or the light-hearted battle/romp fic. And I couldn't decide between them, so I decided to do both. And stick in a few references to the smutty Christmas fics that also make it in. I was rather chuffed by the end that I had (a little unintentionally) structured the whole thing around Christmas Past, Present and Future. Anyway, note to everyone that Boggy gives good prompts. I give crap ones. Soz.
/
And the meme as well!
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Bloody loads more! Usually putting this list together takes about five minutes; this took freaking ages.
What's your favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
To be honest, I like Five Poems, because it does make me happiest. There are un-rounded corners in everything else (Positive Exposure comes a close second, but there are still moments in that that feel rushed, despite the ridiculous amount of time I spent editing it). All six of those little things I can read without wanting to reach for the Edit button and they do make me rather happy.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Nothing felt particularly risky, though I suppose I did branch out quite a lot. I'd like to write more poetry. Always.
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?
Get some sequels underway, continue/finish the Spikeid, write the bunny that I was mulling over on the train this morning where Spike loses his soul in a game of cards and the whole thing is about reforming his identity in the pursuit of regaining it (Buffy natch helps - and beats some stuff up, because I haven't let her beat anything up in a while).
From my past year of writing, what was...
My Favorite Story: Five Poems (this question always seems a little superfluous...).
My Best Story: Positive Exposure. Or Buffy's tale in the Spikeid. Dunno.
Story Most Underappreciated by the Universe: Spikeid. I mean, come on, people, it only wants to be
Most fun: Gingerbread Men. Because grumpy!Spike meeting Tupperware makes me laugh.
Most disappointing: An Exercise in Futility. I do really like it as is, but I very much understand that another five-ten thousand words would make it sing.
Most sexy: You've Got the Power to Know. Because there's sex in it.
Hardest to Write: To quote last year, "SPIKEID, ZOMG".
Most Unintentionally Telling:n Positive Exposure, at least from where I'm sitting, proves how bloody hard (/boring - I'm quite lazy) I find it filling in the bits between the scenes I think are the most important in order to make the fic sit right. It's my biggest problem as a writer, I think, and ironically the thing I'm most complaining about in Dollhouse at the moment. Sigh.
I want to do more end-of-year things, so expect postage!