Annual End of the Year Writing Meme 2019

[thisbluespirit]

And, as ever, the writing meme for the year. (Last year's post is here.)

Stats
List of Completed Fic
Fandom Stocking
One Night Stand (S&S, Silver/Everyone (ish)) for kaffy_r
A Cold Day in Autumn (DW, Brig/Liz/Three) for ravenskyewalker
another spark for the fire (The Flash, Barry/Caitlin, AU) for queenmidalah
Confectionary Crimes (AAL!) for liadt

Superhero Sandwich (Supergirl/The Flash, Barry & Kara, cake!fic, 1027 words). Written for the snowflake_challenge
We'll Be Dating to the End of Time (DW, Thirteen/Yaz) for shopfront in Chocolate Box
AU Meme: Servalan (B7, Servalan) for dimity_blue in the AU meme, leftover from 2018
Thrice Cursed (OUaT, Alice Jones) for halfamoon, genprompt_bingo & 100fandoms
Immoral Support (The Hour, Bel/Lix) for shopfront in Chocolate Box
Cameo (S&S, Original elements) for 100fandoms & genprompt_bingo
May Contain Multitudes (DW, Fifth Doctor), for who_contest
Lease for Lives (S&S, Copper & Silver)
the little things (Dracula 1968/DW, Ace, Mina, Dr Seward, Seventh Doctor) for 100fandoms & hc_bingo & who_allsorts
his wonders to perform (Hist RPF, Henry VII), for 100fandoms & genprompt_bingo
Dodging a Bullet (DW, Twelfth Doctor) for ruuger in the Hurt/Comfort Exchange
in the Flesh (DW/Lucifer, Seventh Doctor & Lucifer) for crossoverbingo & 100fandoms
Made for Each Other (AAL! Adam & Georgie) 500 Prompts for jaxomsride2
Eternal Motion (S&S, Copper & Bronze), for historium Bingo
Painted Smiles (B7, Servalan), 500 Prompts for sallymn & for 100fandoms
Ripples (S&S, Silver & Copper)
Sufficiently Advanced Technology (DW/The Librarians, Twelfth Doctor & Jenkins), for genprompt_bingo, crossoverbingo & 100fandoms
I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) (DW, Thirteen/All her past selves) Remix of ruuger's Old New Borrowed Blue for Remix Revival
Unclassifiable Cast-offs (DW, Brig & Liz & Three) 500 Prompts for liadt
God in the Box (The Librarians/DW, Cassandra Cillian & Fifth Doctor), for crossoverbingo, 100 women, & genprompt_bingo
False Alarm (DW/ST: Voyager Eleven & Kathryn Janeway), 500 prompts for dbskyler & 100fandoms
Castles in the Sky (B7, Roj Blake) 500 prompts for aralias
Orphans & Exiles (DW/OUaT, Sixth Doctor & Emma Swan) for crossoverbingo
Tell the Truth (and Shame the Devil) (OUaT/Lucifer, Regina Mills, Snow White, Lucy Mills, Lucifer & Trixie Decker) for crossoverbingo


Total number: 29


Total word count: 50,174 words

I realise this is technically a respectable total, but it's actually almost 2/3s less than last year and less than any other year save when I was at my very worst with my current illness. I have also in the latter part of the year written some things for rainbowfic, at least one of which was 10,000 words or so, so it is a bigger total. But still. I'm really not at all sure what happened, to be honest. This year has been weird.


Ship/character breakdown:

In things that would actually count as romantic shipfic:

Brig/Liz/Three (DW)
Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow (The Flash)
Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan (DW)
Bel Rowley/Liz Storm (The Hour)

All of which were requested by other people in exchanges. As myself, I was even more gen than usual.

Character breakdown is a much longer list, so those who appeared more than once:

Silver (S&S) - 3

Characters I wrote for twice:

the Brigadier
Liz Shaw
Third Doctor
Barry Allen
Adam Adamant
Georgina Jones
Thirteenth Doctor
Yasmin Khan
Servalan
Seventh Doctor
Twelfth Doctor
Lucifer

(And I'd forgotten I'd even written any AAL! at all.)


Specifics:

Best/worst title?

I may as well just put "my Remix fic" as my permanent answer for this question, but, hey, guess what? My Remix Revival fic, I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix).

Other than that I quite like Tell the Truth (and Shame the Devil) (for a Lucifer/OUaT crossover involving a truth spell).


Best /worst summary?

Hmm, nothing outstanding, I feel this time, but I quite like:

There’s an odd little break-to-be that means a yearly appointment to keep. As far as Silver’s concerned, it’s a date. (One Night Stand)

The Doctor tries taking Yaz on some nice, calm, normal dates. It goes about exactly as well as you'd imagine. (We'll Be Dating to the End of Time)

The Doctor's going to be injured at some point in the future. He can tell, because he's feeling the impact right now. Sometimes time travel is like that. (Dodging a Bullet)


Best first line?

Alice is cursed three times. (Thrice Cursed)

It was not the gateau that was ticking, which meant that the bomb must be concealed in one of the many other items in the cake shop. (Confectionary Crimes)


Best last line?

He smiles and says, “How about we start with a robbery?” (another spark for the fire)


And as the world rights itself around her, she leans her head on Robin’s shoulder and smiles, free. (Thrice Cursed)


She’d enjoy her victory if it killed her. And maybe, she thought, with another faraway look in her eyes, somewhere behind that smile, maybe it would. (Painted Smiles)


“Oh,” said Silver, his expression shifting. He glanced away, as they reached the end of the stone-walled corridor. “Yes. Well, how was I to know that I wasn’t supposed to float?” (Ripples)


General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Well, there was significantly less wordage, but not that many less individual stories and since one of my aims for this year was to be shorter, I suppose I succeeded. Naturally, I feel bad about it, of course, but if it I look at it like that, it is a little better.


What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I got into Lucifer and, as I said, in the questions meme, I had made a whole recs list to avoid the genderswap square on my genprompt_bingo card and yet his wonders to perform an Hist RPF genderswapped Henry VII fic still happened.


What's your favourite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

Probably Sufficiently Advanced Technology, because I wanted to write Jenkins and the Doctor. I'm still feeling the itch to write a multiple Doctors + Jenkins one, but I suppose that'll have to wait until family members give me my Librarians DVDs back again!

I am also very fond of One Night Stand as well.


Okay, NOW your most popular story.

That's something of a tie this year - by kudos, it's Dodging a Bullet, and by comments it's We'll Be Dating to the End of Time & I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) is lurking close behind them (and beats them both on bookmarks). But whatever way you look at it, it's Doctor Who that's winning this year.

Although only because I didn't write any Miss Marple. ;-p

(Also no Yuletide fic to skew things! I mean, it might not have done anyway, but it could have. Alas! We shall NEVER KNOW.)


Story most underappreciated by the universe?

Made for Each Other, but Adam Adamant Lives! is a tiny, generally dead fandom and its current levels of kudos etc. are not bad, that considered. And in the category of AAL! fic I wrote this year, Confectionary Crimes was probably better! (I mean, it had cake, so...)

Mind you, I do feel that both Orphans & Exiles and Tell the Truth (and Shame the Devil) deserved more love, but, crossovers, what can you do. (Sulk, like a mature adult, that's all.)


Story that could have been better?

Meme, you ask me this every year, and every year, I tell you the same truth: ALL OF THEM.

But his wonders to perform definitely needed another go-over before posting, and I think also God in the Box. Both of them still have too many of my trademark tortured sentences that I'd like to think I'm going to go back and fix but never will. (Although I don't think his wonders is as bad as I thought it was when I did the first lines meme halfway through the year, so I may not qualify as a judge of anything.)

But at least I didn't accidentally mess up any tenses this year. That I'm aware of. Or at least that haven't already been corrected by kind and observant readers.


Sexiest story?

Immoral Support, definitely! It's only tiny and there's no detail, but pr0n is implied. You know, quite strongly and everything. \o/

There is also implied sex-for-science in A Cold Day in Autumn but I do not think it is really actually sexy rather than just amusing.


Saddest story?

Cameo, probably. Sometimes you just have to invent a POV human OC to kill in S&S fic. (Don't look at me, I didn't murder her...)


Most fun?

Oh, I Do, I Do, I Do (The Month of Sundays Remix) but I think it's fair to say that We'll Be Dating to the End of Time is a close second.


Story with single sweetest moment?

Superhero Sandwich has plenty of cake, as does Confectionary Crimes

In the non-sugary sense, um, maybe Sufficiently Advanced Technology, which does have a cute baby winged horse, Jenkins and Twelve.


Hardest story to write?

Hmm, most that were hard were only because of my being more ill at that time (as ever), rather than the fic being difficult, so possibly Orphans & Exiles because it took more trouble than I anticipated trying to work out details of Emma's background in it and how to make the fic work around the prompt.


Easiest/most fun story to write?

Probably We'll Be Dating to the End of Time. It would be I Do, I Do, I Do, but circumstances made that one an effort to get typed up (see above), while at the beginning of the year I had a run of easily writing things I was pleased with that then deserted me within a month or so, but it was nice while it lasted.

Or perhaps One Night Stand, because I loved doing that one & the whole thing came into my head really easily. (It was in that month, yes.)


Most overdue story?

My Yuletide fic which is still unfinished?


Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Well, I wrote genderswapped Henry VII Historical RPF, but I don't think I learned anything except wait and edit more, a lesson I relearn and then resolutely ignore every year because sometimes you've just got to post, right?


This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most:

Um, yeah. One year I might have a theme. 2019 was not that year. I wrote more crossovers due to 100fandoms and crossoverbingo, and I enjoyed that, even if it often means people comment even less because the odds of knowing both fandoms are smaller. There were quite a lot of x times pieces, but I do love that format. Also I managed to write actually sort of popular DW fic, which happens more rarely than you would expect.

So if I had written a Five Times the Doctor Did A Crossover Fic that would sum up the year just fine. But I didn't. Sorry.


What are your fic writing goals for next year?

I would like to sign up for a couple more exchanges but also not have to default, and have more easy-fic-writing periods, but in general, as last year - just to remember to enjoy writing and fandom and try and value what I can still do instead of despising it and me/worrying everyone else is despising it and me. I wasn't always very good at that in 2019 despite last year's resolution, but it's a WIP & hopefully I'll be better at it in 2020. I'm pretty sure it is the way to go, anyway.

Comments

[theseatheseatheopensea]

I loved reading this! I really enjoy your stories, so it's really interesting to get a glimpse of your writing journey/process! And what you wrote about remembering to enjoy writing and fandom is such a great reminder! Like you said, it's a WIP, but definitely the way to go <3 I hope both things bring you a lot of joy this year!

Edit: And yes. This past year has definitely been weird.

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! ♥ And, yes, I am trying to think about things in a better way, because I know that, really, whatever I think it's just about me being frustrated about being ill and not actually my fic when I'm being negative. (I mean, not that I don't sometimes write things that don't work, but mostly I'm okay!)

Oh, and thank you again for my Yule-treat! I guessed it was your style, but I hadn't known that you knew Department S as well! And, ha, those two teams and their obvious similarities that had NEVER occurred to me till reading that. ♥

The year has totally been weird, though.

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Yes! The whole writing process can be so frustrating sometimes, and it's supposed to be fun, right? So we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves! Must. Remember. This.

And you're welcome for the YT story! :D I'm so happy to know you liked it! It was such fun to write! Now that I think of it, I discovered both S&S and DS at around the same time, 20-ish years ago? It was fun to think about the similarities in both teams. Imagine what Silver would do with Jason King's wardrobe! ;)

Here's to 2020 being less weird. Or perhaps, weird in a good way? Either one would work for me!

[thisbluespirit]

I suspect Jason's wardrobe would make up a terrifying assignment all its own!! :-D

And I did enjoy it; it was a delightful thing. <£

[theseatheseatheopensea]

haha, now I want to read all about the strange case of Jason King's wardrobe!

And ohhh, I know I keep saying this about all your icons, but this one is so pretty!! Annabelle! <3

[thisbluespirit]

haha, now I want to read all about the strange case of Jason King's wardrobe!

And whatever it is, Annabelle and Stewart think he's making it up.

Aw, thanks! ♥ (Pretty much all my icons are snaggable, you know, if you ever want to use any of them.)

[theseatheseatheopensea]

And whatever it is, Annabelle and Stewart think he's making it up.

Of course! And it would inevitably end up in one of his novels? I wonder how he'd write Silver? Hehe! Oh, the possibilities!

Aw, thanks! I just might take you up on it! All my icons are up for snagging too. They aren't as pretty, of course, but I like the idea of freely shared icons, haha! Most of the ones I have are from my LJ days, around 20 years ago, can you believe it? ;)

[thisbluespirit]

Of course! And it would inevitably end up in one of his novels? I wonder how he'd write Silver? Hehe! Oh, the possibilities!

It would be fun!!

And thank you back. I've been making icons for comms and things, and batches for sharing for a while now, and it's good fun and nicely de-stressing - most of the time! But that way I've learned a lot from much more talented people. :-D

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Look! I have an Annabelle! :) Thank you! <3

[thisbluespirit]

Awww!

*plays icon snap*

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Multiple Annabelles! How delightful! <3

[sovay]

I'm really not at all sure what happened, to be honest. This year has been weird.

I liked all the things I read that you wrote in it, though.

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! ♥

I think, overall, I liked most of it, too. It's been a better year in some ways and yet I've written less than any other year than 2011 & 2012 when I was so very ill and that does feel odd. I think maybe because I haven't been consumed by anything fannish or original in the same way as some other years and other people have gone or moved fandoms, leaving even less incentive to write? So, fine, but definitely weird!

[astrogirl]

So, my total fic count on what may be one of my most productive years ever is still less than you in a bad year. :)

Also, I think those are some damn good summaries.

just to remember to enjoy writing and fandom and try and value what I can still do instead of despising it and me/worrying everyone else is despising it and me.

Aww, yeah, you should do that.

[thisbluespirit]

Not if you don't count rainbowfic and it probably shouldn't count for this year, in which case you beat me. The thing that weirds me out is not the comparatively low word count but that I know that in many ways I was feeling better, I was just not writing. But life, being not fandoms with people so much, and family history are probably to blame! And I did make a new year's resolution to be shorter, so I suppose I shouldn't complain if I actually did it. :-D

You didn't know me when I was functional! I had to work, so that slowed me down (work, so inconvenient from a fic angle) but I used to just casually write 30,000 word missing DW adventures. The curse of fic just growing is one I am familiar with; we envy concise people who don't sit down to write 500 words and suddenly find 15k later that you're still several k off the end, and they envy us. That's writing for you. Only now I am a person who's brain still goes long and plotty at the first opportunity but who has no strength to cope with it and has to beat everything back into being short or pay the price.

Which, putting it like that, it's no wonder I have a tendency to end up frustrated with everything I write if I don't watch myself!

Anyway, thanks! ♥ Here's to 2020 in fic and more words and unexpected pairings and fandoms for both of us!

[astrogirl]

but that I know that in many ways I was feeling better, I was just not writing

Well, there is more to life than writing, anyway!

The curse of fic just growing is one I am familiar with; we envy concise people who don't sit down to write 500 words and suddenly find 15k later that you're still several k off the end, and they envy us.

Mine sometimes does just grow, it's just usually in my case I was expecting it to be a couple thousand words and it ended up as a massive 6k or something. Which is probably slightly less annoying. :)

Only now I am a person who's brain still goes long and plotty at the first opportunity but who has no strength to cope with it and has to beat everything back into being short or pay the price.

Aww, when you put it like that, it really does sound incredibly frustrating. :(

Here's to 2020 in fic and more words and unexpected pairings and fandoms for both of us!

I'm not entirely sure if I need more of those in my brain! But here's to good fannish and ficcish things in the New Year, for sure!

[thisbluespirit]

Well, there is more to life than writing, anyway!

But I wasn't doing any of that, either, so I insist on my right to complain. A lot. ;-p

Aww, when you put it like that, it really does sound incredibly frustrating.

I must remember that description because it does make sense. And then I can maybe be frustrated less.

I'm not entirely sure if I need more of those in my brain! But here's to good fannish and ficcish things in the New Year, for sure!

Hear hear!

[astrogirl]

Yes, I definitely think you get to complain! It is not a fair thing at all. Although I'm glad if thinking of it that way helps the frustration at all, anyway.

[moetushie]

I don't think I learned anything except wait and edit more, a lesson I relearn and then resolutely ignore every year because sometimes you've just got to post, right?


Wow, you and me both! I'm always looking for that sweet, sweet validation, probably at the cost of improving my writing.

[thisbluespirit]

Validation is so important! So is showing off the shiny thing what you made NOW!

I mean, it also leads to regret and, in my case certainly, complete lack of validation anyway, but will that stop us? No, no it will not.

(Happy new year! ♥)

[liadt]

Alas poor AAL! Still I'm keeping my icon even though I have few icon spot these days.

Aw, I hope you enjoy writing this year. I find your writing the opposite of despisable.

Coo, implied p0rn: I'll have to stand back from the heat of your sauciness:D And eat all the cake.

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, AAL! is still adorable and sunshiny, no matter how b&w and occasionally dodgy, but fandoms have to rest before being picked up again for a while.

And thank you!

I'll have to stand back from the heat of your sauciness:D And eat all the cake.

lol!

[liadt]

'Tis true some fandoms go away for a rest and come back again for fannish activity:)

[aralias]

wait and edit more, a lesson I relearn and then resolutely ignore every year because sometimes you've just got to post, right?

could not agree more.

[thisbluespirit]

Post in haste, repent (and edit) at leisure!


(ETA: That sentence had a typo in it. /o\)

[elen_nare]

I always enjoy reading these memes from you (and then stealing them, of course :P).

So if I had written a Five Times the Doctor Did A Crossover Fic that would sum up the year just fine. But I didn't. Sorry. Is this five different crossovers in one fic, or the Doctor him/herself writing five crossover fics? Or something else entirely?

That is a very good point about the importance of enjoying writing and fandom rather than worrying over it!

[thisbluespirit]

What would life be without stealing memes? :-D

Is this five different crossovers in one fic, or the Doctor him/herself writing five crossover fics? Or something else entirely?

Five crossovers in one fic, probably. Although the other would also be amusing!