The Year-in-Fic Meme
Dec. 13th, 2008 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eponymous_roseNot the end of the year yet, but others have been posting, and I am getting antsy. So, even if I wind up posting more fic before the New Year (which I will, since I have at least one fic that's just holding out for a beta, hurrah!), have a meme!
Hey, I did it last year, too!
I kept up the fic(let)-a-day thing from January 1st through to April 25th, which was way, way more than I expected!
In 2008
Listen-to-a-song-and-type-while-it's-on meme fic:
Teardrop [House]
Blacklisted [Sapphire and Steel]
Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Commentfic:
Christmas Cheer [Middleman]
Partners in Crime [Doctor Who (Ten's era)/Sarah Jane Adventures]
Carriage Return [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Lost in Time (Part 2) [Middleman/TNG]
Subterfuge [Middleman/TNG]
Drabbles (100 words):
Return to Flight [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
A Case of Identity [Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Une fleur entre deux abîmes [Sherlock Holmes]
Sinking Ships [Doctor Who (One's era)]
New Beginnings [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Chance Encounter [Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Genesis [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
Exile [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Ordinary World [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Decay [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
Mirrors [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Imagined Corners [Doctor Who]
Like Any Other [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Unsaid [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Between the Lines [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
The Flood [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Hearth and Home [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
General Amnesty [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Calm Before [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Light Entertainment [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Lost and Found [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
On the Perils of Travelling Through Time [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
History Repeating [Doctor Who (Five's era)]
Paradigm Shift [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Eastertide [Sapphire and Steel]
Blizzard [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
In Bloom [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Chronology [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Playing Games [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Firelight [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Episteme [Doctor Who]
Maelstrom [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Mirrors [Sapphire and Steel]
Cause and Effect [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
This Life, Vicarious [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Foul is Fair [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Blurred Lines [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Spacetime [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
No Man's Land [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Final Movement [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
By Its Cover [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
A Proportional Response [Doctor Who (Two's era)]
Quiet Holiday [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Fic(let)s:
Such Spirit Through the Year [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons) [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Comes the Rain [Doctor Who (One's era)]
What the Thunder Said [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Five Minutes [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Sometimes Forever [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
To Turn Again [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Lost Art [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Escape Velocity [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Tight Spots [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Beside the Seaside [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Blue Skies [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Nebula [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
Five Lives the Master Saved [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
A Sense of Style [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Around the World in Eighty Seconds [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Such Great Heights [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
A Nameless Garden [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
To Be Running [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Song Without Words [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Opening Night [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Still to Tell [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
The Good, the Bad, and the Hovercrafts [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Lightning Strikes Twice [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Holiday [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Higher Education [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
A Game of Memory [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Ending Start [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Between a Rock [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Bibliophilia [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Bright Star [Sarah Jane Adventures/Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Hallowed Halls [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Ghost Stories [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Spare Change [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
As a Picture [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Lieder Ohne Worte [Sapphire and Steel]
Sightseeing [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Something New [Sapphire and Steel]
Late Fines [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Coming Home [Doctor Who (multi-era)/Sarah Jane Adventures]
Venusian Lullaby [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Search Engine [The West Wing/Man from U.N.C.L.E./Sherlock Holmes/Sapphire and Steel/Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
World Enough, and Time [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
On Holiday [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Jack Frost [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Alien Candy [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Spy Games [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Red Pen [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Centre of Gravity [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Foreign Correspondence [Doctor Who (One's era)]
The Eleventh Hour [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Glass Threads [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
For Tomorrow You Might [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Savile Row (The Glass Menagerie Remix) [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
In Training [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Paperback [Sarah Jane Adventures]
Worlds Between [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Home Away From- [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Into Cool Night (Rescued from Rainy Dawn) [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Cartography [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Crash Landing [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Though This Be Madness [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
The Still Point [Sarah Jane Adventures]
Catch a Falling Star [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Multi-Chaptered WIPs Started or Continued:
The Wanderer Fantasy [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]:
Chapter Four
The Deepsky Atlas [Doctor Who (Four's era)]:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Multi-Chaptered Fics Completed:
Argumentum Ad Metam [Doctor Who (Three's era)]:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Interlude
Chapter Five
Chapter Six/Epilogue
...yeah. Holy crap.
Total:
43 drabbles, 54 longer fic(let)s, 17 chapters of various and sundry fics. Works out to about 119,440 words, yo. CRAZINESS.
Fics in progress, unposted:
(I'm adding these on because last year I wound up finishing just about every fic I listed. Optimism!)
Multichaptered:
- The Empty Planet [Doctor Who (multi-era)/Sherlock Holmes] (the prologue was e-mailed out a billion years ago, and the fic itself is nearing completion)
- To Know the Storm [Doctor Who (Six's era)] (chapter one posted here on the beta filter - comment to be added)
- Untitled crossover fic [Doctor Who (Ten's era)/The Prisoner]
- The Sinister Storytime Stratagem [Middleman] (I need to stop getting distracted by shiny objects!)
- Under the Knife [Sapphire and Steel]
- Sekrit project I do not want to jinx
Singlechaptered:
- Flashpoint [Doctor Who (multi-era)] (just waiting for beta on this one!)
- Untitled Liz/Barbara fic [Doctor Who (multi-era)] (has been sitting, mostly finished, on my hard drive for months)
- Yuletide Fic
- How Does it Feel [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
- The Postman Always Rings Twice [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
- Untitled hiatus-era fic [Sherlock Holmes]
And some![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandom_stocking fic, of course!
------
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Ahaha! Haha. Ha. Yeah, just a teensy tiny bit more. I didn't expect the fic-a-day thing to go on for so long, especially since all the writing was going on while I was in the middle of an extremely difficult term at university, and I was simultaneously job- and apartment-hunting.
More surprising, though, is how much I wound up writing after I quit the fic-a-day thing, because I really was worried I'd never be able to churn anything out ever again without the pressure. I think the quality post-fic-a-day is much higher on average, too.
Where did you publish/archive your stories?
I archived a few on the 'spoon!
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2008?
This was my first full year in Who fandom, and I... had no idea how much fun I'd have just wandering around the Doctor Who universe. Sure, I wrote some of the more conventional characters, but I also had fics about Borusa, David Campbell, Cliff Jones, Mike Yates, etc. etc. etc. I think Doctor Who is possibly the perfect fandom in which to attempt a fic-a-day thing, because you can go anywhere and anytime and bring in any of a billion minor characters to flesh out.
Actually, before January 2008, I'd only written one Classic Who fic (Five Places the Doctor Never Took Liz Shaw). I don't think I had any idea what I was getting into.
Also, before January 2008, I'd never so much as heard of Sapphire and Steel, the Middleman didn't exist in televised form, Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a vague Illya-shaped memory from my childhood, The Prisoner was a vague Rover-shaped nightmare from my childhood, TNG was a vague action-figure-shaped awesomeness from my childhood, etc. etc. etc. So pretty much every fandom was unexpected, there.
Pairings - well, you know me. Genficcer, and happy that way.
Genre - here's where I'm a bit disappointed, because I really don't think I got too far outside my comfort zone (that's changing with the Yuletide fic, though). I tended to write either action/adventure with vague undertones of horror, action/adventure with vague undertones of humour, or action/adventure with vague undertones of romance.
What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Bright Star was possibly my favourite, and I do stand by that, because I really like the way it's turned out. In other fandoms, Lieder Ohne Worte is my favourite Sapphire and Steel fic, Glass Threads is possibly my favourite Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic, Search Engine is my favourite crossover, and Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead and that Ida/Q commentfic are my favourite bits of crack.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Decay, about Nine and depressing stuff, was the most popular drabble, and Into Cool Night (Rescued from Rainy Dawn), my JE Donna+Eight fixit fic, was the most popular overall. I was totally blown away by the reception for all of these fics, though.
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Er. The fact that all but... two? Three? of the above fics got reviews is just mind-blowing, guys. I don't think I've felt underappreciated once this year.
Story that could have been better?
Ooh, you don't ask me that question after the fic-a-day thing, because I was so focused on deadline that I was pulling up half-finished fics, tacking on a final sentence and marking them 'done'. (You may think I'm joking.) What the Thunder Said is the one I'm always agonizing over, even now, because I think the strongest part of it is Liz's section, which is kind of stuffed in a corner, there. Benton's is too wordy and flowery. Etc. etc. etc. Higher Education would've been great if I'd put a bit more thought into it, possibly likewise with Savile Row: The Glass Menagerie Remix, and Foreign Correspondence should've been a longer (possibly multi-chaptered) fic.
...I'm not half as self-critical as I sound, guys. My ego as at least the size of something very big, but my potential ego is even bigger. Or something.
Sexiest story?
Bright Star has talk of... elbows. Ooh, yes. (Kink-meme, watch out!)
Most fun story?
Any of the Four-and-Romana-banter-whilst-in-mortal-peril ones (The Good, the Bad, and the Hovercrafts or Crash Landing). Search Engine for the self-indulgent crack.
Story with single sweetest moment?
The ending of Comes the Rain? Possibly the kiss in The Still Point. I dunno.
The story that made you cry?
Don't think any of them did, as it's a bit tricky to type with tears in your eyes. I got a bit choked up over For Tomorrow You Might, because I get scmoopy over Nine.
Hardest story to write?
"Flashpoint" (not up yet) drove me completely and totally up the wall. And What the Thunder Said, of course.
Easiest story to write?
There were a few fics that just come out fully-formed and were written in a matter of minutes - Into Cool Night (Rescued from Rainy Dawn) is a prime example; I was so wound up after scribbling it out that I didn't have a clue whether I'd even used complete sentences, much less managed coherence. Either of the aforementioned Four-and-Romana-banter ones. Le quattro staggioni, too!
Most overdue story?
*hangs head* I'm terrible with this. I'm behind on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
livii and elyssadc's livelongnmarry fics (they will be awesome when completed, though!). Deepsky's still coming, and, believe it or not, I haven't abandoned Wanderer Fantasy.
"The Empty Planet" takes the cake, though - it was for last year'stardis_bigbang and is still unfinished. Oh, dear.
Most unintentionally telling story
What the Thunder Said:
“I think, Doctor,” the Brigadier says softly, “that it must make you terribly lonely, this habit you have of underestimating everyone you meet.”
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
1. The fic-a-day thing. I learned that random objects lying around make good prompts.
2. Writing in fandoms where I hadn't seen all of canon. I learned that it is easy enough to fake it, and if you make continuity errors, most people think they're intentional. *shifty eyes*
3. Writing in parts of fandom that were strange and frightening. I learned that they're not so much.
Actually, every fic had some element of risk to it - a new interpretation of a character, adopting some old interpretation of the character that not everybody agreed on, writing about places I'd never been, things I'd never done, things I'd done before but in a different way. That's half the fun!
Do you have any fanfic goals for the New Year?
1. Well, not strictly related to fanfic, but I am going to reply to every comment/review I get on a story. I got really, really bad with that.
2. I'm going to write in at least three new fandoms, dudes. And my self-indulgent little ego-stroking goal is to get recced oncrack_van for a third fandom.
3. Finish the WIPs, posted and not posted.
4. Make new friends through the stories I've written (it sure happened this year!).
5. Review more of other people's fic.
6. Write new genres; indulge in some totally off-the-wall stuff.
7. Stop worrying about fandom and write something controversial if it'll make a good story.
8. Write that zany, giant, multifandom crackfic of doom.
And how about you guys? Which fics worked for you? Which didn't? What would you like to see more of in the new year?
Hey, I did it last year, too!
I kept up the fic(let)-a-day thing from January 1st through to April 25th, which was way, way more than I expected!
In 2008
Listen-to-a-song-and-type-while-it's-on meme fic:
Teardrop [House]
Blacklisted [Sapphire and Steel]
Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Commentfic:
Christmas Cheer [Middleman]
Partners in Crime [Doctor Who (Ten's era)/Sarah Jane Adventures]
Carriage Return [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Lost in Time (Part 2) [Middleman/TNG]
Subterfuge [Middleman/TNG]
Drabbles (100 words):
Return to Flight [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
A Case of Identity [Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Une fleur entre deux abîmes [Sherlock Holmes]
Sinking Ships [Doctor Who (One's era)]
New Beginnings [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Chance Encounter [Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Genesis [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
Exile [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Ordinary World [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Decay [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
Mirrors [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Imagined Corners [Doctor Who]
Like Any Other [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Unsaid [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Between the Lines [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
The Flood [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Hearth and Home [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
General Amnesty [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Calm Before [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Light Entertainment [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Lost and Found [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
On the Perils of Travelling Through Time [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
History Repeating [Doctor Who (Five's era)]
Paradigm Shift [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Eastertide [Sapphire and Steel]
Blizzard [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
In Bloom [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Chronology [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Playing Games [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Firelight [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Episteme [Doctor Who]
Maelstrom [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Mirrors [Sapphire and Steel]
Cause and Effect [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
This Life, Vicarious [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Foul is Fair [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Blurred Lines [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Spacetime [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
No Man's Land [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Final Movement [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
By Its Cover [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
A Proportional Response [Doctor Who (Two's era)]
Quiet Holiday [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Fic(let)s:
Such Spirit Through the Year [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons) [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Comes the Rain [Doctor Who (One's era)]
What the Thunder Said [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Five Minutes [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Sometimes Forever [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
To Turn Again [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Lost Art [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Escape Velocity [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Tight Spots [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Beside the Seaside [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Blue Skies [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Nebula [Doctor Who (Nine's era)]
Five Lives the Master Saved [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
A Sense of Style [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Around the World in Eighty Seconds [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Such Great Heights [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
A Nameless Garden [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
To Be Running [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Song Without Words [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Opening Night [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Still to Tell [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
The Good, the Bad, and the Hovercrafts [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Lightning Strikes Twice [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Holiday [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Higher Education [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
A Game of Memory [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Ending Start [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Between a Rock [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
Bibliophilia [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Bright Star [Sarah Jane Adventures/Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Hallowed Halls [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Ghost Stories [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Spare Change [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
As a Picture [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Lieder Ohne Worte [Sapphire and Steel]
Sightseeing [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Something New [Sapphire and Steel]
Late Fines [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Coming Home [Doctor Who (multi-era)/Sarah Jane Adventures]
Venusian Lullaby [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Search Engine [The West Wing/Man from U.N.C.L.E./Sherlock Holmes/Sapphire and Steel/Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
World Enough, and Time [Doctor Who (Eight's era)]
On Holiday [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Jack Frost [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Alien Candy [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Spy Games [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Red Pen [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Centre of Gravity [Doctor Who (One's era)]
Foreign Correspondence [Doctor Who (One's era)]
The Eleventh Hour [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
Glass Threads [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
For Tomorrow You Might [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Savile Row (The Glass Menagerie Remix) [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
In Training [Doctor Who (Six's era)]
Paperback [Sarah Jane Adventures]
Worlds Between [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Home Away From- [Doctor Who (Three's era)]
Into Cool Night (Rescued from Rainy Dawn) [Doctor Who (multi-era)]
Cartography [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
Crash Landing [Doctor Who (Four's era)]
Though This Be Madness [Doctor Who (Seven's era)]
The Still Point [Sarah Jane Adventures]
Catch a Falling Star [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]
Multi-Chaptered WIPs Started or Continued:
The Wanderer Fantasy [Doctor Who (Ten's era)]:
Chapter Four
The Deepsky Atlas [Doctor Who (Four's era)]:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Multi-Chaptered Fics Completed:
Argumentum Ad Metam [Doctor Who (Three's era)]:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Interlude
Chapter Five
Chapter Six/Epilogue
...yeah. Holy crap.
Total:
43 drabbles, 54 longer fic(let)s, 17 chapters of various and sundry fics. Works out to about 119,440 words, yo. CRAZINESS.
Fics in progress, unposted:
(I'm adding these on because last year I wound up finishing just about every fic I listed. Optimism!)
Multichaptered:
- The Empty Planet [Doctor Who (multi-era)/Sherlock Holmes] (the prologue was e-mailed out a billion years ago, and the fic itself is nearing completion)
- To Know the Storm [Doctor Who (Six's era)] (chapter one posted here on the beta filter - comment to be added)
- Untitled crossover fic [Doctor Who (Ten's era)/The Prisoner]
- The Sinister Storytime Stratagem [Middleman] (I need to stop getting distracted by shiny objects!)
- Under the Knife [Sapphire and Steel]
- Sekrit project I do not want to jinx
Singlechaptered:
- Flashpoint [Doctor Who (multi-era)] (just waiting for beta on this one!)
- Untitled Liz/Barbara fic [Doctor Who (multi-era)] (has been sitting, mostly finished, on my hard drive for months)
- Yuletide Fic
- How Does it Feel [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
- The Postman Always Rings Twice [Man from U.N.C.L.E.]
- Untitled hiatus-era fic [Sherlock Holmes]
And some
fandom_stocking fic, of course!------
Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?
Ahaha! Haha. Ha. Yeah, just a teensy tiny bit more. I didn't expect the fic-a-day thing to go on for so long, especially since all the writing was going on while I was in the middle of an extremely difficult term at university, and I was simultaneously job- and apartment-hunting.
More surprising, though, is how much I wound up writing after I quit the fic-a-day thing, because I really was worried I'd never be able to churn anything out ever again without the pressure. I think the quality post-fic-a-day is much higher on average, too.
Where did you publish/archive your stories?
I archived a few on the 'spoon!
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2008?
This was my first full year in Who fandom, and I... had no idea how much fun I'd have just wandering around the Doctor Who universe. Sure, I wrote some of the more conventional characters, but I also had fics about Borusa, David Campbell, Cliff Jones, Mike Yates, etc. etc. etc. I think Doctor Who is possibly the perfect fandom in which to attempt a fic-a-day thing, because you can go anywhere and anytime and bring in any of a billion minor characters to flesh out.
Actually, before January 2008, I'd only written one Classic Who fic (Five Places the Doctor Never Took Liz Shaw). I don't think I had any idea what I was getting into.
Also, before January 2008, I'd never so much as heard of Sapphire and Steel, the Middleman didn't exist in televised form, Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a vague Illya-shaped memory from my childhood, The Prisoner was a vague Rover-shaped nightmare from my childhood, TNG was a vague action-figure-shaped awesomeness from my childhood, etc. etc. etc. So pretty much every fandom was unexpected, there.
Pairings - well, you know me. Genficcer, and happy that way.
Genre - here's where I'm a bit disappointed, because I really don't think I got too far outside my comfort zone (that's changing with the Yuletide fic, though). I tended to write either action/adventure with vague undertones of horror, action/adventure with vague undertones of humour, or action/adventure with vague undertones of romance.
What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Bright Star was possibly my favourite, and I do stand by that, because I really like the way it's turned out. In other fandoms, Lieder Ohne Worte is my favourite Sapphire and Steel fic, Glass Threads is possibly my favourite Man from U.N.C.L.E. fic, Search Engine is my favourite crossover, and Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead and that Ida/Q commentfic are my favourite bits of crack.
Okay, NOW your most popular story.
Decay, about Nine and depressing stuff, was the most popular drabble, and Into Cool Night (Rescued from Rainy Dawn), my JE Donna+Eight fixit fic, was the most popular overall. I was totally blown away by the reception for all of these fics, though.
Story most underappreciated by the universe?
Er. The fact that all but... two? Three? of the above fics got reviews is just mind-blowing, guys. I don't think I've felt underappreciated once this year.
Story that could have been better?
Ooh, you don't ask me that question after the fic-a-day thing, because I was so focused on deadline that I was pulling up half-finished fics, tacking on a final sentence and marking them 'done'. (You may think I'm joking.) What the Thunder Said is the one I'm always agonizing over, even now, because I think the strongest part of it is Liz's section, which is kind of stuffed in a corner, there. Benton's is too wordy and flowery. Etc. etc. etc. Higher Education would've been great if I'd put a bit more thought into it, possibly likewise with Savile Row: The Glass Menagerie Remix, and Foreign Correspondence should've been a longer (possibly multi-chaptered) fic.
...I'm not half as self-critical as I sound, guys. My ego as at least the size of something very big, but my potential ego is even bigger. Or something.
Sexiest story?
Bright Star has talk of... elbows. Ooh, yes. (Kink-meme, watch out!)
Most fun story?
Any of the Four-and-Romana-banter-whilst-in-mortal-peril ones (The Good, the Bad, and the Hovercrafts or Crash Landing). Search Engine for the self-indulgent crack.
Story with single sweetest moment?
The ending of Comes the Rain? Possibly the kiss in The Still Point. I dunno.
The story that made you cry?
Don't think any of them did, as it's a bit tricky to type with tears in your eyes. I got a bit choked up over For Tomorrow You Might, because I get scmoopy over Nine.
Hardest story to write?
"Flashpoint" (not up yet) drove me completely and totally up the wall. And What the Thunder Said, of course.
Easiest story to write?
There were a few fics that just come out fully-formed and were written in a matter of minutes - Into Cool Night (Rescued from Rainy Dawn) is a prime example; I was so wound up after scribbling it out that I didn't have a clue whether I'd even used complete sentences, much less managed coherence. Either of the aforementioned Four-and-Romana-banter ones. Le quattro staggioni, too!
Most overdue story?
*hangs head* I'm terrible with this. I'm behind on
livii and elyssadc's livelongnmarry fics (they will be awesome when completed, though!). Deepsky's still coming, and, believe it or not, I haven't abandoned Wanderer Fantasy."The Empty Planet" takes the cake, though - it was for last year's
tardis_bigbang and is still unfinished. Oh, dear.Most unintentionally telling story
What the Thunder Said:
“I think, Doctor,” the Brigadier says softly, “that it must make you terribly lonely, this habit you have of underestimating everyone you meet.”
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
1. The fic-a-day thing. I learned that random objects lying around make good prompts.
2. Writing in fandoms where I hadn't seen all of canon. I learned that it is easy enough to fake it, and if you make continuity errors, most people think they're intentional. *shifty eyes*
3. Writing in parts of fandom that were strange and frightening. I learned that they're not so much.
Actually, every fic had some element of risk to it - a new interpretation of a character, adopting some old interpretation of the character that not everybody agreed on, writing about places I'd never been, things I'd never done, things I'd done before but in a different way. That's half the fun!
Do you have any fanfic goals for the New Year?
1. Well, not strictly related to fanfic, but I am going to reply to every comment/review I get on a story. I got really, really bad with that.
2. I'm going to write in at least three new fandoms, dudes. And my self-indulgent little ego-stroking goal is to get recced on
crack_van for a third fandom.3. Finish the WIPs, posted and not posted.
4. Make new friends through the stories I've written (it sure happened this year!).
5. Review more of other people's fic.
6. Write new genres; indulge in some totally off-the-wall stuff.
7. Stop worrying about fandom and write something controversial if it'll make a good story.
8. Write that zany, giant, multifandom crackfic of doom.
And how about you guys? Which fics worked for you? Which didn't? What would you like to see more of in the new year?
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-13 07:55 pm (UTC)Also your Liz fics - I need to catch up on since I have so much Liz love right now, it's madness (admittedly I also have Three and Brig love too, although I've always had Brig love!)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-13 08:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-15 05:10 am (UTC)You know, I am really, really glad about that. Thanks! :D I started writing the fic before I was aware of pretty much anything in fandom, and it became a bit more difficult to write as I went on, for the obvious reasons, but I do want to continue it in much the same tone, because Rose = awesome.
And I am SO looking forward to Empty Planet, because Eight-era Who and Sherlock Holmes, Y HALO THERE EVERYTHING I LIKE.
Glee! That's pretty much the entire reason for the fic in the first place, anyway. ;)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-13 11:35 pm (UTC)Also realized that there is a whole bunch of stuff you've written that I've never read. I should possibly fix that.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-15 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-15 05:13 am (UTC)(I do like little vignettes and short stories, too, but meatier, plot-driven or plot-centric fic is harder to find. Drabbles very rarely do anything for me.)
Yes! I'm exactly the same way - in fact, the first thing I'll do after finishing a TV series is run online to find any fanfics long and in-character enough to be construed as "missing episodes". They're my favourite thing to write, too, but I also find them incredibly difficult, because plotting is not really my strong point. I do hope to work on that a lot in the coming year, though!