it's the end of the year as I know it

[electricalgwen]

Yes, yes, I know everyone else did the end-of-the-year what-I-wrote meme at the (wait for it) end of the year. Me, it's always on the Feast of the Magi, because it's my LJ-anniversary. Four years today! :)

In 2009, I finally got sucked into Supernatural (why I didn't listen to apreludetoanend sooner, I do not know; it's not like I haven't been aware of her brilliance for years) and went through a few shifts in perspective. I first discovered fandom through BtVS, which had already been a closed canon (comics aside) for a few years at that point; it's a very different experience to be in an active, "real-time", unfolding fandom. I find it unsettling at times, but mostly exhilarating. Supernatural is also a large fandom (at least compared to BtVS/AtS, Dollhouse, or Riverside!) and I can't keep up - my "To Read" list is continually expanding, and that's despite being pretty restrained in what I even consider opening in tabs and/or trying to read. Plus, y'all know I'm a m/m slash fan, which means my choices are basically a) brotherly incest, b) RPF, c) Dean/Castiel which just does not work for me most of the time. (In my limited experience, I find the people who can write Castiel well are few and far between, and are mostly not writing him with Dean, though I freely admit I haven't looked all that hard.) So, uh, I discovered that I don't in fact mind reading/writing either (a) or (b) - but that discovery was in turn a bit disconcerting, for various reasons I won't blither on about here. This led to a significant and mildly schizoid writing crisis, and hiding my head in the sand, until the spn_j2_xmas deadline forced me to sort it out.

I still have stories in progress in the Buffyverse, a couple of them quite large, which I do want to finish. There's a certain overlay of guilt there, though, which tends to inhibit writing. I hope that one of these days I'll just get excited about one of them again and write because I need to write it, not because I feel I should.

So! What I wrote!

Supernatural

Insurmountable Odds - Jared/Jensen, R, 6621

yours - Sam/Jess, PG-13, 743

Awkward - Dean, Sam/OMC, NC-17, 675

in their element - Sam/Dean, PG-13, 2400+
This is not a WIP, but there are plans for a series here. Maybe.

Lux Infernam - gen, coda to 4.22, 800+

untitled J2AU, chapter 1 - Jared/Jensen, PG-13, WIP
There will definitely be more of this. Hopefully fairly soon.


BtVS

Untitled sex pollen fic - Spike/Xander, R, 1890

Language of Love - Spike/Xander, PG-13, 1370


Drabbles

there is no up - Firefly gen, River, G

there is still no up - Firefly gen, River, G

livewire - Gwen/Gunn, PG-13


I also wrote about 8000 words of Dollhouse meta. I felt driven to write it, I was extremely excited about it, and I think it was probably my best work this year. Either almost nobody read it, or almost nobody had anything to say about it. I've taken most of it offline at the moment, though, because I'm reworking chunks of it for submission elsewhere.


Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
It turned out I wrote more than I thought I did, less than I would have liked, and probably about what anyone else (i.e., anyone not burdened with my crazy optimism and lack of perspective) would have predicted.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
Supernatural - and its RPF/incest/DELICIOUS CRACK.

What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
Hmmm. Right now I'm feeling pretty good about Insurmountable Odds but that's probably because it's the most recent, felt like the biggest accomplishment, and has garnered more than six comments. I actually really like the idea in Lux Infernam and would have loved to develop it more.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I signed up for spn_j2_xmas. I had been avoiding deadlines since the beginning of the year when I screwed up on one and felt like I'd pretty much terminally wrecked my little place in fandom as a result. However, I've always written to deadlines, and there's no question I would not have produced the story I did without one. I enjoy writing for specific people/prompts, as gifts or challenges or the like. I'm not sure what the take-home message here is, but I think I'll return (cautiously) to taking on deadlines.
Writing and cross-posting in their element felt scary, but I wouldn't say it was a risk. Come to think of it, I'm not actually sure what I consider a "writing risk." Perhaps I need to be prodded out of my safe/boring zone. Any suggestions?

/navel-gazing

Comments

[apreludetoanend.livejournal.com]

You know, sometimes, I think every single word is a risk.

You had a good year! And I like having you back. <333

[electricalgwen.livejournal.com]

I think every single word is a risk.

Well. I think that makes me feel - braver than I actually am? *g*

Thanks. I still fall short in a lot of ways from what I'd like, but one goes on trying...