casual 2024 writing retrospective
Jan. 1st, 2025 06:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meikureeend-of-year writing meme, adapted and cribbed from vendettadays:
I wrote much less in 2024, which I expected and am fine with -- it was a busy year and fandom wasn't my focus (as much). my writing endeavours this year span -- behold! -- one fic for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bethefirst and one zine piece. but reflecting on just those two would get boring fast, so I'll lump my 2023 fic in too.
trends: I once again have trouble keeping personal vows of fic celibacy, because after noting that I was happy and done and dusted with where I was in terms of fandom peaking I wrote fic for Exordia. oops... oops? in my defense that book gripped me for 1.5 days straight. blame Seth Dickinson. (context, I once remarked that if I ever got > 200 or > 250 kudos on a fic I would finally feel like I could retire from the rueful, ignominious endeavour that is fic writing. guess what happened.)
idle observations:
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
M/M fic (in 2023), first of many firsts. also Black Water Sister fic, because I don't read as much fantasy as I would like to.
Your favorite character to write this year?
it's a fight between Zenin Mai and Arîn Tawakuli from Exordia. actually, scratch that, Zenin Mai is my favourite but is not easy by any means to write (writing her feels like pulling out teeth) because of how much canon territory I have to roll back, and so not my fave to write per se.
The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?
all the characters in my M/M fic, probably, but Gojo Satoru most of all. I don't often gravitate to highly privileged men in fiction who are at the apex of their societies, and I had to get past my initial resistance to appreciate his shoes and worldview.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
my Arîn biopic -- it helped me not only get a handle on Arîn's likely background but also get an appreciation for seth's worldbuilding and their blend of interdisciplinary exposition, dark conversational humour, and cultural references, which all (hopefully) boded well for other featuring characters.
What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
the vanguards of the dispossessed, my genfic for Exordia and aforementioned Arîn biopic. there are many reasons why, some superficial and some hopefully more substantial, but one is that I got to deploy my amateur nerd interests in geopolitics, ecology, and political theory in service of fic for once.
Saddest story?
hm... I've been told that all my stories, even seemingly happy ones, have melancholic and tragic undertones, but it's a toss-up between a map of the broken world (Shauna/Callie, Yellowjackets) and no contortion without intention (Shoko/Nobara, JJK). they both have at best ambiguously sinister endings. otherwise, a catastrophe that has already happened, which is an unpublished JJK fic about grief.
Hardest story to write?
the Zenin twins AU fic where they go on the run from their clan.
Easiest story to write?
the lightness of a foreign sky, my Black Water Sister fic. uh, I have some familiarity with Singapore and Malaysia because of friends, so a lot of the details came easily to me.
actually, I should qualify this... writing a coming out plot (this was in the canon) was extremely out of my comfort zone and felt like pulling teeth, but the surrounding firmament of exposition went smoothly once I got past that.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
above all, standing by my own style and trying not to contort it for kudosbaiting or to appeal to more popular sensibilities. this quote from Anne Enright comes to mind:
I also went on epigraph overload. I think 4 - 5 of my fic involved epigraphs or quasi-epigraphs? I learned that I have an epigraph addiction that might be a crutch. then again, it's part of my process: I often feel a lot more like I can bang something out once I've got a clear idea of the title, a playlist, and a fitting epigraph.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
not strictly a theme, but I dwelled a lot on unconventional and nuanced dynamics which exceed the boxes of relationship grooves and labels received from society, like a (reluctant) not-really-surrogate mother and her nosy not-really-surrogate daughter. also sexy, sexy snake aliens and sexy codependency.
I'll just leave this exordia playlist I compiled, because I listened to it on repeat while writing many stories:
What are your fic writing goals for next year?
finish more WIPs, write fic about the sexy snake aliens in Exordia, give more of my appreciation to canons which provide pleasing sandboxes for bonkers worldbuilding and upsetting yet engrossing interpersonal dynamics.
vendettadays: I wrote much less in 2024, which I expected and am fine with -- it was a busy year and fandom wasn't my focus (as much). my writing endeavours this year span -- behold! -- one fic for
bethefirst and one zine piece. but reflecting on just those two would get boring fast, so I'll lump my 2023 fic in too. trends: I once again have trouble keeping personal vows of fic celibacy, because after noting that I was happy and done and dusted with where I was in terms of fandom peaking I wrote fic for Exordia. oops... oops? in my defense that book gripped me for 1.5 days straight. blame Seth Dickinson. (context, I once remarked that if I ever got > 200 or > 250 kudos on a fic I would finally feel like I could retire from the rueful, ignominious endeavour that is fic writing. guess what happened.)
idle observations:
- I think back sometimes to a fandom friend who was shocked that I had never written any original fiction or short stories. it feels significant for understand how my writing brain ticks, somehow: I've never made the jump to writing origfic, not because of the difference in skills needed but because I have (borrowing from firstroad) an inner scarcity of imagination. this head is empty, no thoughts. I'm parasitic on other creations to generate fiction. in a way all fiction is but mine doesn't stand on its own legs (yet).
- I've done everything from writing fic to kudosbait and writing fic in house styles to appeal to broader tastes and also writing fic that doesn't give a what's-it, and I'm happy with doing my thing now.
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?
M/M fic (in 2023), first of many firsts. also Black Water Sister fic, because I don't read as much fantasy as I would like to.
Your favorite character to write this year?
it's a fight between Zenin Mai and Arîn Tawakuli from Exordia. actually, scratch that, Zenin Mai is my favourite but is not easy by any means to write (writing her feels like pulling out teeth) because of how much canon territory I have to roll back, and so not my fave to write per se.
The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?
all the characters in my M/M fic, probably, but Gojo Satoru most of all. I don't often gravitate to highly privileged men in fiction who are at the apex of their societies, and I had to get past my initial resistance to appreciate his shoes and worldview.
Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?
my Arîn biopic -- it helped me not only get a handle on Arîn's likely background but also get an appreciation for seth's worldbuilding and their blend of interdisciplinary exposition, dark conversational humour, and cultural references, which all (hopefully) boded well for other featuring characters.
What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.
the vanguards of the dispossessed, my genfic for Exordia and aforementioned Arîn biopic. there are many reasons why, some superficial and some hopefully more substantial, but one is that I got to deploy my amateur nerd interests in geopolitics, ecology, and political theory in service of fic for once.
Saddest story?
hm... I've been told that all my stories, even seemingly happy ones, have melancholic and tragic undertones, but it's a toss-up between a map of the broken world (Shauna/Callie, Yellowjackets) and no contortion without intention (Shoko/Nobara, JJK). they both have at best ambiguously sinister endings. otherwise, a catastrophe that has already happened, which is an unpublished JJK fic about grief.
Hardest story to write?
the Zenin twins AU fic where they go on the run from their clan.
Easiest story to write?
the lightness of a foreign sky, my Black Water Sister fic. uh, I have some familiarity with Singapore and Malaysia because of friends, so a lot of the details came easily to me.
actually, I should qualify this... writing a coming out plot (this was in the canon) was extremely out of my comfort zone and felt like pulling teeth, but the surrounding firmament of exposition went smoothly once I got past that.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
above all, standing by my own style and trying not to contort it for kudosbaiting or to appeal to more popular sensibilities. this quote from Anne Enright comes to mind:
If you keep going and stay on the right side of all this, you can be offered honours and awards, you can be recognised in the street, you can be recognised in the streets of several countries, some of which do not have English as a native language. You can get some grumpy fucker to say that your work is not just successful but important, or several grumpy fuckers, and they can say this before you are quite dead. And all this can happen, by the way, whether or not your work is actually good, or still good. Success may be material but is also an emotion – one that is felt, not by you, but by the crowd. This is why we yearn for it, and can not have it, quite. It is not ours to hold. [...]others: I tried writing for a contemporary canon, I wrote from a teenage 17yo's pov, I tried to marry my inventory of references and metaphors like repetition compulsion with canons which don't necessarily lend themselves to that kind of faux-pretentiousness.
[And yet] A book is not written for the crowd, but for one reader at a time. A novel is written (rather pathetically) not to be judged, but experienced. You want to meet people in their own heads – at least I do. I still have this big, stupid idea that if you are good enough and lucky enough you can make an object that insists on its own subjective truth, a personal thing, a book that shifts between its covers and will not stay easy on the page, a real novel, one that lives, talks, breathes, refuses to die. And in this, I am doomed to fail.
I also went on epigraph overload. I think 4 - 5 of my fic involved epigraphs or quasi-epigraphs? I learned that I have an epigraph addiction that might be a crutch. then again, it's part of my process: I often feel a lot more like I can bang something out once I've got a clear idea of the title, a playlist, and a fitting epigraph.
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:
not strictly a theme, but I dwelled a lot on unconventional and nuanced dynamics which exceed the boxes of relationship grooves and labels received from society, like a (reluctant) not-really-surrogate mother and her nosy not-really-surrogate daughter. also sexy, sexy snake aliens and sexy codependency.
I'll just leave this exordia playlist I compiled, because I listened to it on repeat while writing many stories:
What are your fic writing goals for next year?
finish more WIPs, write fic about the sexy snake aliens in Exordia, give more of my appreciation to canons which provide pleasing sandboxes for bonkers worldbuilding and upsetting yet engrossing interpersonal dynamics.
no subject
Date: 2025-01-01 09:46 am (UTC)I haven't felt satisfied by writing this year so I did some mild kudosbaiting on anon, writing-wise if not fully theme-wise, because I was like, well if I'm going to not enjoy anything I make at least let me get some praise for it -- AND LOLLLL IT WORKED. Trying to say here that the general fic tastes are for the most part predictable with highly specific expectations and there is no use is chasing that general appeal when that kind of style is not fulfilling for you... And when, in my humblest of opinions, anything you make is already 1000x better.
I need to take the L and accept I'm never getting through Exordia the book and just read your fic as it is because 👀!!! !!! !!!!!!!!
Also, epigraphs rule. I can't wait to see what you come up with in 2025 \o/ (That Zenin twins AU!!!!) (And I support sexy snake aliens on principle, even though I will probably not understand anything 👍)
no subject
Date: 2025-01-01 04:31 pm (UTC)I'm happy with doing my thing now. - That's such a truth to live by; and I particularly like the quote you've shared by Anne Enright.
Black Water Sister has been on my TBR for years…
I'm intrigued by these "sexy, sexy snake aliens" — I may just have to try my hand at reading Exordia to see what they're about :D Also, love the playlist - superb songs to write to.
no subject
Date: 2025-03-17 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 11:05 pm (UTC)the way you talk about exordia AND black water sister got me to add them to my ereader sales tracker...
it's part of my process: I often feel a lot more like I can bang something out once I've got a clear idea of the title, a playlist, and a fitting epigraph.
very relatable. i need some tethers in other people's art to get my bearings!
no subject
Date: 2025-01-15 10:10 am (UTC)* it's one of those books that are like... damn, this book is good if you put aside the long irrelevant ramblings about planes in this section and ignore the annoying USAmerican war crime bros (who are part of the book's commentary on US imperialism, but still done imperfectly) in the middle plot, blah blah, but for some people it's a slog for just a few chapters of the sexy snake aliens. I simply skipped those bits to get to my feast because I'm yuri-pilled, but YMMV. tldr: this book is an impressive maximalist feat, you'll either love or hate it, and somehow I like it enough to write fic for it.
right?