mijan | Happy New Year's! And look! It's a meme!

Okay, so I drank more than I should have last night. We went to an insanely wild party. Was lots of fun, but a bit overwhelming. I was happily sipping my own flask of bourbon most of the night, but when we popped the bubbly for midnight... it was a big bottle, and the good stuff, too. My wife didn't want to waste... and I'm far more sensitive to that shit than I thought I was. I'd *headdesk* right now, but my head hurts. I've had two large glasses of vitamin-C drink, and I'm working my way through a mug of Earl Grey. I might take another nap.

Later, I've got to do some insane cleaning and rearranging for the Star Trek party tomorrow. I'm expecting at least 15 people, maybe more, and I'm making a huge pot of chili. (I make GOOOOOD chili.) I've rearranged the dining room to make more social space, and I'm going to take apart my futon in the den and reassemble it in the living room for more seating. Then I need to scrub the floors, clean the kitchen, do some cooking prep work, and hang out with Paul to watch some Star Trek episodes. A good way to work off the hangover.

I also need to go... shopping. *gah* Yeah, not pleased with that, but I can handle it.

So... a meme! A fanfic meme! Gacked from

classics_geek .

This year I wrote and posted 9 completed fics (total word count: 156,400):

Fandom: Star Trek

And All the King's Men
Convergence
Hi Jim, I'm in Iowa
If You're Going to San Francisco
In Perfect Trust
Perspectives
(Anon fic on a holiday exchange.)
Redshirt
Unstoppable Force

I've also got about a half-dozen fics in queue that I'm working on. A prequel AND a sequel to AAtKM, building that Academy-era story arc. A "continuing missions" story which will hopefully read like a TOS-style episode, kind alike Perspectives. And some other bits and pieces. :D

Overall Thoughts:
I'm really happy with the way my fic writing is going. I'm becoming sharper as a writer, exploring new territory, and finding that I prefer writing sci-fi to fantasy. However, I've learned that I still really enjoy getting into my characters' heads, and that's kinda at the core of what I do with my writing. I think my quality of writing has improved, I'm taking on bigger stories, I'm pushing boundaries that I wasn't sure I'd be able to push. Overall, I'm really happy. And to be honest, at the beginning of the year, I had no real drive to write ANY fanfic. I'd lost all interest. I know, it's horrible. I feel like a bad person for having abandoned Harry Potter fanfic, but... it's not doing anything for me. This, on the other hand, is really inspiring me, and I'm not gonna quit now.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
Oh gods, seeing as how at the start of the year, I had no drive to write any fanfic, this is amazing.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?
I didn't expect to have my love of Star Trek rebooted along with the franchise. Star Trek has been a part of my life since I was a kid, but... wow. This is awesome. And... Kirk/McCoy. Damn. I liked Kirk/Spock, Spock/McCoy, and Kirk/Spock/McCoy in TOS. Never really thought about Kirk/McCoy, and... here it is.

What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?
I've never felt as singularly proud of a fic as I was of "And All the King's Men." The way it came together, the way it felt... I felt like I'd finally written an entire novel/novella-length story that was publishable-quality. (Yes, I was proud of "Eclipse," but it didn't come together as tightly as this.) I actually sat down and read it recently, as a reader, and realized how much I love it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?
I wrote a story in the first-person, which I hadn't done since a very small piece in the HP fandom YEARS ago, and learned that it didn't bother me to get into the character's head from the inside, as opposed to looking over his shoulder like I do in a 3rd-person limited style which I usually use.

Oh yeah, and I also wrote some hardcore (and very personal) kinks into that recent BDSM fic, "In Perfect Trust." I decided not to sugar-coat it, or make it fantasty-like kink where everything goes well. I decided to make it realistic, uncertain, and raw... and to go straight for the kinks I wanted to write for these characters, even though i knew they might squick some readers. And I learned that when you follow your own vision, the results are best that way.

From my past year of writing, what was . . .

My best story of this year:
Actually, as a singular piece of writing... it's a toss-up between "And All the King's Men" and "Redshirt."

My most popular story of this year:
Without any question, "And All the King's Men."

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
I had hoped that "Convergence" would get a little bit more attention, especially because it ties in with "And All the King's Men" so directly, and weaves that story directly back into the movie. But really, how can I complain about anything like that? I'm thrilled beyond thrilled at the amount of attention some of my stories have gotten, and I'm quite satisfied. :)

Most fun story to write:
Actually, I had a lot of fun writing that story for the anonymous exchange thing because it was so simple and light-hearted. I felt fully engaged writing AAtKM, but by the time it was ready to post, I felt like I'd been flattened by a steam roller. It was a satisfying feeling to finish, but it was exhausting because of the deadline.

Story with the single sexiest moment:
Hahaha... would that be one of the only two NC-17 stories I've written? I'm gonna go with "In Perfect Trust" here.

Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:
Well, maybe some people would say that "In Perfect Trust" was just plain wrong, but even people who found the warnings potentially unnerving or squicky (sounding, needleplay) seemed to like it, so I must have done it well.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:
"Redshirt." Without question.

Hardest story to write:
"In Perfect Trust."

Biggest Disappointment:
I didn't really have any disappointments. I don't post stories that I'm not satisfied with, and I don't really even start writing them unless I've got a good idea of how they'll develop and gel. So... no, not disappointed at all.

Biggest Surprise:
"Redshirt." I came up with the idea for that one one afternoon, after reading a very callous use of the term "redshirt" in a story... and as an ex-Army officer, I couldn't stomach the idea of a "dispensable" person. I wrote it in that one afternoon, just 4,000 words... and the impact of that story was astonishing.
(Although I think a lot of people who were getting very comfortable with the idea of me as someone who writes PG-13 gen fic and action/adventure were duly shocked by "In Perfect Trust.")

Most Unintentionally Telling Story:
I think "In Perfect Trust" outed me for the fact that I have real-life BDSM experience, but hey... I wasn't exactly hiding. I just don't advertise it every day.

So there ya go! :D

Happy New Year's, kids! Now I'm gonna go get some more coffee to try to stave off the effects of this hangover...