2018 writing round-up
Dec. 25th, 2018 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Total year-long word count: 25668 (90303)
Word count by fandom:
MDZS: 12528, 6 fics + 1 translation
Haikyuu!!: 11293, 10 fics (81998, 36 fics)
Tsurune: 1847, 1 fic
Fics completed:
16/18
Total year-long word count: 25668 (90303)
Word count by fandom:
MDZS: 12528, 6 fics + 1 translation
Haikyuu!!: 11293, 10 fics (81998, 36 fics)
Tsurune: 1847, 1 fic
Fics completed:
16/18
Works-in-progress:
twenty-four hours
记云梦双杰・in memory of Yunmeng
This year I wrote and posted:
This year I wrote and posted:
Sportsfest: 6
caesura
by fire
Total: 16 fics + one update to old fic + one translation fic
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
According to my 2017 writing round-up, my aim for this year was to finish 15 fics. So yes, I wrote what I hoped to achieve :'D honestly, around the middle of the year I thought I wouldn't hit it because I hadn't gotten out of my creative rut after finishing uni, and I wasn't about to force myself back into writing. But MDZS came along, so I'm glad.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
MDZS, of course. I didn't expect to fall so fast and furious into it. Also, Hypmic. I haven't published anything yet but there'sa WIP which may or may not be finished o(-(
In terms of writing, second-person POV. It started out as an experiment for a Sportsfest fill following the collective second-person takeover by my writing TL; by the time I got into Chengxian hell I couldn't think of any other way to write my fics for them besides second person.
being able to finish and publish a Tsurune fic was also not on my agenda, but I really wanted to write it. I struggled a lot with it, and I'm really proud that I managed to complete it.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
墨・ink. I'm not too pleased with the fics I've written this year, but my inktobers were probably the most satisfying to write because they were so low-pressure, and I could... look at prompts and find my own way to interpret them as I wanted.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Hmm I was a moron who didn't learn from 2017 and signed up for a zine thinking I would be done with writer's block... suffice to say I have been scared off signing up for zines until I find my writing groove again.
I also tried writing in second person this year, mainly thanks to Ewa's influence. I'd only written in second person once, which was for a tdbk fic last year, but this year I truly learnt to appreciate it for the voice and insight it gives to the character and thoughts. I learnt that second person is so easy to adapt to that the true difficulty comes from trying to go back to third person.
Your best story of this year:
caesura, hands down. I really enjoyed picking the relationship apart and building the story up, even though I was writing it in the middle of a great slump and right before capstone submission. (priorities, linn. learn.)
Your most popular story of this year:
By 'most popular' I'm assuming most kudos.
莲 ・ lotus, by a long, long shot. It's no surprise, honestly - Chengxian, Jin Ling, a reunion, a post-canon fix-it of sorts, the happy ending everyone hopes they get which canon doesn't give, and minimal novel spoilers. It's a winning formula that everyone lives for.
Surprisingly, 胶・glue got the most bookmarks, and I'm a little baffled as to why.
Story of yours most under-appreciated by the universe, in your opinion:
杰 • hero. Personally, I think it's the best of all my Yunmeng fics. Ironically, it's the one in the series with the least attention (sans ink, which doesn't count since it's an inktober compilation).
Most fun story to write:
NO OFFENCE. I said this last year, and I say it again this year. Anything with Futakuchi is fun.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
caesura... not that there's much choice here since literally everything else I wrote this year was gen or shippy gen at most.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Nothing fits this criteria of "wrong" but for a story that I wouldn't usually write: honour, duty. It features power differential, which is something that squicks me. A lot.
Story that shifted your own perceptions of the characters:
hero. It helped me sort out a lot about Jiang Cheng's perception of Wuxian, especially after the enlightenment I got after rereading the novel for the nth time.
Hardest story to write:
honour, duty. Like I said two answers ago, power differential/role imbalance squicks me a lot, and I struggled a lot with writing a story featuring a lord and his knight where I could ignore their power imbalance as best as I could. It kind of helped that I wrote it after all the Chengxians, honestly.
Biggest disappointment:
恢・毁・灰・悔・回・辉. To be honest, I started the doc and the concept with a very different idea of where it was supposed to go, but by the time I actually got around to writing it I was already halfway through the inktobers and my perception of the characters had changed a lot from when I first started. The story ended up becoming a... snippet collection that came together to be a relationship study in a way, but the end result was really not satisfactory orz
Also... reading back my MDZS fics, I'm not impressed with lotus either. If I could/had the energy to, I'd probably rewrite it entirely. But again, this might be because of how my perception of their relationship has changed since when I wrote lotus and what I think now.
Biggest surprise:
glue took me by surprise because of the speed with which I managed to finish it, considering I hadn't written in almost half a year by the time I was inspired to write it. But the fact that Chengxian fic tag happened - and actually succeeded - is something that I could never have seen coming. I was writing almost one fic a week, which by my standards was absurd, and I have to thank Ewa for fuelling me.
Most unintentionally telling story:
caesura. *pretends to be surprised* I mean, it was very loosely based off of one of my own friendships, and it also carries a lot of my thoughts and emotions as I prepared to graduate from university.
Favorite opening line(s):
The world slows to a stop as Kuroo stares at Yaku, uncomprehending. It suddenly feels like he is carrying a thousand tons in his right hand, and maybe that isn't wrong. He curls his fingers around it, wondering if this is how it feels, to have the weight of someone's heart in the palm of his hand. - caesura
There are some things that never change: the way every gymnasium smells of air salonpas, somehow; the way your muscles tense right before you jump; the sting of the ball against your palm on a good spike; the frustration that churns every time you miss a block; the burn in your chest whenever you leave the court after a game, wanting more. - the view from the summit
Compared to last year, my opening lines have improved a lot! I've been trying to start my scenes in the middle of some action or thought so that the reader is plunged in immediately to the story.
Favorite closing line(s):
But in the midst of it all, you had forgotten: The flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.
But the distance between you seems even more unbreachable now. The single metre between you just minutes ago has already begun stretching into kilometres, a year’s difference yawning into four hours. - in the dust
I... clearly have a thing for writing "But" in my closing lines. Not necessarily a good thing.
Favorite 5 line(s) from anywhere:
His voice is terribly small. It's not a voice he'd ever like to hear from Yaku again. Small doesn't suit Yaku. Yaku is brave and bold and larger than life. He's anything but small. - caesura
Yaku spins around then, fury once again welling up within him as he makes quick strides back to Kuroo’s bed, taking in the sight of the bandages around his chest and arm, the unruly hair, the brightness of his eyes. The eyes he had thought he would never see again, the voice he thought he would never hear again. - honour, duty
While Kaito’s hands, well — Nanao always says Kaito isn’t deft with his fingers. But even if Seiya is a particularly difficult knot to untangle, Kaito knows even the most complicated of knots can be taken apart by clumsy fingers and enough patience. And if Kaito has one thing after all these years of kyuudou, it is patience. - whichever you you are
Ramuda can keep up that saccharine-sweet act with the women of Central and polish the silver knives in his pockets; you are only curious to know his story, not to tear out all his pages and rewrite them for him. - untitled
Top 5 scenes from anywhere you would choose to have illustrated:
Fic-writing goals for next year:
15 fics in total, just like this year. I'm still not entirely back to writing yet, and I've been growing more and more distant from my animanga fandoms this year because of utaite hell. If something hooks me again (cough seiyakaito cough tsurune cough) that gets me as deep as Kuroyaku did, then of course I'll write more. Otherwise, I think 15 is a decent number of fics and one that is manageable for the current me.
I'm honestly a little bummed about how bad of a drought this is, but I have to admit being invested in a real people fandom also makes it tougher to get inspiration for fic writing. These things take time anyway, and god knows I've needed this break. It's okay if I take a little longer to recover.
warmth
Chengxian Fic Tag: 4NO OFFENCE
the view from the summit
like steps of passing ghosts
with
in the dust
胶・glue
莲・lotus
杰・hero
墨・ink
writing with snowdrops & others: 7
twenty-four hours (chapter 4)caesura
by fire
虚・void
恢・毁・灰・悔・回・辉
记云梦双杰・in memory of Yunmeng
honour, duty
whichever you you are (i'll be by your side)
whichever you you are (i'll be by your side)
Total: 16 fics + one update to old fic + one translation fic
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
According to my 2017 writing round-up, my aim for this year was to finish 15 fics. So yes, I wrote what I hoped to achieve :'D honestly, around the middle of the year I thought I wouldn't hit it because I hadn't gotten out of my creative rut after finishing uni, and I wasn't about to force myself back into writing. But MDZS came along, so I'm glad.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
MDZS, of course. I didn't expect to fall so fast and furious into it. Also, Hypmic. I haven't published anything yet but there'sa WIP which may or may not be finished o(-(
In terms of writing, second-person POV. It started out as an experiment for a Sportsfest fill following the collective second-person takeover by my writing TL; by the time I got into Chengxian hell I couldn't think of any other way to write my fics for them besides second person.
being able to finish and publish a Tsurune fic was also not on my agenda, but I really wanted to write it. I struggled a lot with it, and I'm really proud that I managed to complete it.
What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
墨・ink. I'm not too pleased with the fics I've written this year, but my inktobers were probably the most satisfying to write because they were so low-pressure, and I could... look at prompts and find my own way to interpret them as I wanted.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
Hmm I was a moron who didn't learn from 2017 and signed up for a zine thinking I would be done with writer's block... suffice to say I have been scared off signing up for zines until I find my writing groove again.
I also tried writing in second person this year, mainly thanks to Ewa's influence. I'd only written in second person once, which was for a tdbk fic last year, but this year I truly learnt to appreciate it for the voice and insight it gives to the character and thoughts. I learnt that second person is so easy to adapt to that the true difficulty comes from trying to go back to third person.
Your best story of this year:
caesura, hands down. I really enjoyed picking the relationship apart and building the story up, even though I was writing it in the middle of a great slump and right before capstone submission. (priorities, linn. learn.)
Your most popular story of this year:
By 'most popular' I'm assuming most kudos.
莲 ・ lotus, by a long, long shot. It's no surprise, honestly - Chengxian, Jin Ling, a reunion, a post-canon fix-it of sorts, the happy ending everyone hopes they get which canon doesn't give, and minimal novel spoilers. It's a winning formula that everyone lives for.
Surprisingly, 胶・glue got the most bookmarks, and I'm a little baffled as to why.
Story of yours most under-appreciated by the universe, in your opinion:
杰 • hero. Personally, I think it's the best of all my Yunmeng fics. Ironically, it's the one in the series with the least attention (sans ink, which doesn't count since it's an inktober compilation).
Most fun story to write:
NO OFFENCE. I said this last year, and I say it again this year. Anything with Futakuchi is fun.
Story with the single sexiest moment:
caesura... not that there's much choice here since literally everything else I wrote this year was gen or shippy gen at most.
Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Nothing fits this criteria of "wrong" but for a story that I wouldn't usually write: honour, duty. It features power differential, which is something that squicks me. A lot.
Story that shifted your own perceptions of the characters:
hero. It helped me sort out a lot about Jiang Cheng's perception of Wuxian, especially after the enlightenment I got after rereading the novel for the nth time.
Hardest story to write:
honour, duty. Like I said two answers ago, power differential/role imbalance squicks me a lot, and I struggled a lot with writing a story featuring a lord and his knight where I could ignore their power imbalance as best as I could. It kind of helped that I wrote it after all the Chengxians, honestly.
Biggest disappointment:
恢・毁・灰・悔・回・辉. To be honest, I started the doc and the concept with a very different idea of where it was supposed to go, but by the time I actually got around to writing it I was already halfway through the inktobers and my perception of the characters had changed a lot from when I first started. The story ended up becoming a... snippet collection that came together to be a relationship study in a way, but the end result was really not satisfactory orz
Also... reading back my MDZS fics, I'm not impressed with lotus either. If I could/had the energy to, I'd probably rewrite it entirely. But again, this might be because of how my perception of their relationship has changed since when I wrote lotus and what I think now.
Biggest surprise:
glue took me by surprise because of the speed with which I managed to finish it, considering I hadn't written in almost half a year by the time I was inspired to write it. But the fact that Chengxian fic tag happened - and actually succeeded - is something that I could never have seen coming. I was writing almost one fic a week, which by my standards was absurd, and I have to thank Ewa for fuelling me.
Most unintentionally telling story:
caesura. *pretends to be surprised* I mean, it was very loosely based off of one of my own friendships, and it also carries a lot of my thoughts and emotions as I prepared to graduate from university.
Favorite opening line(s):
The world slows to a stop as Kuroo stares at Yaku, uncomprehending. It suddenly feels like he is carrying a thousand tons in his right hand, and maybe that isn't wrong. He curls his fingers around it, wondering if this is how it feels, to have the weight of someone's heart in the palm of his hand. - caesura
There are some things that never change: the way every gymnasium smells of air salonpas, somehow; the way your muscles tense right before you jump; the sting of the ball against your palm on a good spike; the frustration that churns every time you miss a block; the burn in your chest whenever you leave the court after a game, wanting more. - the view from the summit
Compared to last year, my opening lines have improved a lot! I've been trying to start my scenes in the middle of some action or thought so that the reader is plunged in immediately to the story.
Favorite closing line(s):
But in the midst of it all, you had forgotten: The flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.
And some flames, once extinguished, can never be relit.
This, you learn only as you turn away from him outside the Guanyin Temple. - 恢・毁・灰・悔・回・辉
If Seiya is watching Minato’s back, then someone must watch his, and Kaito will take it upon himself to be his guard. - whichever you you are (i'll be by your side)
But the distance between you seems even more unbreachable now. The single metre between you just minutes ago has already begun stretching into kilometres, a year’s difference yawning into four hours. - in the dust
I... clearly have a thing for writing "But" in my closing lines. Not necessarily a good thing.
Favorite 5 line(s) from anywhere:
In the end, neither of you had managed to protect any of the things you wanted to. Looking back now, you know those things were never that different. - hero
His voice is terribly small. It's not a voice he'd ever like to hear from Yaku again. Small doesn't suit Yaku. Yaku is brave and bold and larger than life. He's anything but small. - caesura
Yaku spins around then, fury once again welling up within him as he makes quick strides back to Kuroo’s bed, taking in the sight of the bandages around his chest and arm, the unruly hair, the brightness of his eyes. The eyes he had thought he would never see again, the voice he thought he would never hear again. - honour, duty
While Kaito’s hands, well — Nanao always says Kaito isn’t deft with his fingers. But even if Seiya is a particularly difficult knot to untangle, Kaito knows even the most complicated of knots can be taken apart by clumsy fingers and enough patience. And if Kaito has one thing after all these years of kyuudou, it is patience. - whichever you you are
Ramuda can keep up that saccharine-sweet act with the women of Central and polish the silver knives in his pockets; you are only curious to know his story, not to tear out all his pages and rewrite them for him. - untitled
- Kuroo catching Yaku's eye at the team party, and breaking out into a smile at the sight. (caesura)
- Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian watching the sunrise over Lianhuawu on New Year's morning. (ink)
- Kaito with his hands on Seiya's forehead. (whichever you you are)
- Akaashi watching the train fade into the distance. (in the dust)
- Wei Wuxian kneeling before Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan's altars; Jin Ling sitting on the other side of the door, waiting for him to come back. (虚・void)
Fic-writing goals for next year:
15 fics in total, just like this year. I'm still not entirely back to writing yet, and I've been growing more and more distant from my animanga fandoms this year because of utaite hell. If something hooks me again (cough seiyakaito cough tsurune cough) that gets me as deep as Kuroyaku did, then of course I'll write more. Otherwise, I think 15 is a decent number of fics and one that is manageable for the current me.
I'm honestly a little bummed about how bad of a drought this is, but I have to admit being invested in a real people fandom also makes it tougher to get inspiration for fic writing. These things take time anyway, and god knows I've needed this break. It's okay if I take a little longer to recover.
