I haven't done this since I first started this journal, unfortunately, and I keep wanting to do it but forgetting!! So, here is the end-of-year writing meme for 2021!
Fiction posted this year:Frontier Wolf1.
Scum and Scrapings - Hilarion/Lucius, rated G, written for Chocolate Box Exchange.
2.
The Wolf and the Fox - Alexios/Connla, T, written for Multifandom Drabble Exchange.
Original Work3.
For the love of the sea - ship captain/selkie, G, written for Multifandom Drabble Exchange.
4.
Unmasked - ship captain/first officer who is a woman disguised as a man, G, written for Multifandom Drabble Exchange.
5.
Spirit Journey - original female character/original female character, T, written for Multifandom Drabble Exchange.
6.
Muse - brave but stubborn female knight/famous female bard, T, written for Chocolate Box Exchange.
The Eagle of the Ninth7.
The electric charge; of a change in the weather - Marcus/Esca, G, written for Multifandom Drabble Exchange.
The Old Guard8.
it is destiny - Joe/Nicky, M.
9.
Some Similar Experience - team friendship with minor Joe/Nicky, T, written for a prompt on
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theoldguardkinkmeme .
10. Anonymously posted work - Joe/Nicky, E.
11.
Steal My Breath - Joe/Nicky, E.
12.
Rose Red Pleasure - Joe/Nicky, E, written for Bottom Joe Week.
13.
Hold me closer - Joe/Nicky, T, written for Bottom Joe Week.
14.
Incurably Romantic - Joe/Nicky, G.
15.
Notetaking - Nile & Joe, G.
Turn: Washington's Spies16.
Perseus and Andromeda - Edmund Hewlett/Anna Strong, T.
17.
Escape - Edmund Hewlett/Anna Strong, G.
Crossovers18.
Quaesitum - crossover of EOTN and The Old Guard, Nile-centric with minor Marcus/Esca and Joe/Nicky, G.
19.
The Artist and the Sailor - fusion of The Old Guard and Martin Eden, Joe/Nicky, T.
This year I wrote and posted:19 stories and 27,921 words!!!
Overall thoughts:I feel like I branched out a lot with writing new fandoms, like The Old Guard, original works, and Turn, and I also definitely branched out of my comfort zone by starting to write smut. I've written subtler sex scenes, but not full-on smut, and it was definitely exciting (and nerve wracking lol) to try that out and share it. And it even got a good reception!
Looking back, did you write more or less fic than you thought you would this year?More! I was in a slump at the beginning of the year, but I definitely feel like I got back into my usual enthusiasm for writing <3
What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would've never predicted in January?Probably Turn! I didn't discover the show until late in the year, and I didn't at all expect to love it as much as I did, but the character of Major Hewlett and his and Anna's relationship really spoke to me and made me emotional. I also didn't expect to post so much original fic, but it was really fun to write stories that were totally my own!
I'd also been wanting to write more sexual content at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021, but I didn't really expect that I'd actually do it!
This year's theme and the story that demonstrates this the most:I think the theme is trying new/adventurous things in writing, and the stories that demonstrate that the most are probably
Spirit Journey and
Hold me closer, because they both have darker subject matter than I usually write about, and
Steal My Breath, because I think it was the first smutty/kinky story I posted.
What's your own favorite story of this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?Hmmm, I have a lot of stories that I really loved!! I think
Scum and Scrapings,
For the love of the sea, and
Incurably Romantic are probably my favorites, though. Idk how many other fic writers re-read their own work, but I really like to re-read those stories sometimes!
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?Oh, yes. I took the risk of writing some darker content as well as more sexual content, and I learned that people just really enjoy smutty stories! I mean I already knew that, but I learned that people enjoy when I write smut too, and that it's actually really fun to write.
Best story of this year:I'm going to say,
it is destiny, The Artist and the Sailor,
Scum and Scrapings, and
For the love of the sea are probably the ones I think are the best.
Most popular story of this year:My anonymous TOG story has 155 kudos, definitely the most I've gotten!
Rose Red Pleasure has 131 kudos, the most out of the stories that aren't anonymous.
Story of mine that is most underappreciated by the universe:Probably
Perseus and Andromeda! Though that was written for a mostly-dead fandom, so I guess that's to be expected lol. Also
Quaesitum, though that is also kind of an obscure crossover though, so that's pretty expected too.
My least favorite story of this year:I think
Hold Me Closer. I just feel like I didn't write it as well as I could have tbh.
Most fun story to write:Hmmm, probably
Incurably Romantic,
For the love of the sea, and
Escape.
Story with the sweetest moment:I'm gonna say,
It is destiny and
Escape! They both have lots of hurt/comfort and are about the respective pairings coming together and comforting each other and being really soft.
Story with the sexiest moment:I've written a few sexy stories this year, but the
sexiest one was the Old Guard one I posted anonymously because I was very shy about it. I'm still very shy about it because it is... the kinkiest thing I've ever written. If you want the link though, I can try to give it to you privately!
Most "holy crap that's wrong, even for you" story:Probably
Hold me closer... that one was pretty intense lol!!
Most overdue story:Some Similar Experience, definitely! It's taken me far too long to post, and it isn't even finished yet! It was from
theoldguardkinkmeme , and I feel kinda bad for the person who prompted it for having to wait so long for the finished story :(
Most eye-roll worthy title:Probably
Spirit Journey haha, I couldn't think of a good title so I just titled it after the main event of the story!
Story that shifted my own perspective of the characters:Scum and Scrapings was the first time I've written Lucius's POV, and that really helped give me more perspective and knowledge of him. And it made me love him even more than I already did!
In my original stories, especially
Muse and
For the love of the sea, I also got very attached to my OC's, and I kinda want to write more stories about them someday.
Hardest story to write:Either
Notetaking, because it ended up taking me a while to finish, or any of my smutty stories, because I overthought the way I was doing the sex scenes and getting nervous hahah.
Biggest disappointment:Probably that I didn't finish
Some Similar Experience before the end of the year! And also, I got a negative comment on another of my Old Guard fics,
The Artist and the Sailor, because of discourse in the fandom that I wasn't involved in. :( I didn't take it too seriously, but it was just irritating that the commenter assumed I was so into The Discourse Du Jour. Honestly, as much as I love TOG and writing/reading fic for it, I really don't like a lot of the fandom that much...
Biggest surprise:It was surprising how popular some of my stories for smaller fandoms got!
Most unintentionally, personally telling story:I think
Muse and
For the love of the sea were very telling because the protagonists felt very personal and close to me. I'm sure I would fall in love with a lady knight or a selkie too!!
Favorite opening line (or paragraph lol):
Nicolò’s true smiles, so rare and only given to Yusuf, were like the delicate pink flowers they would sometimes see by the side of the road. Perfect, plush, peculiar but not unheard of. The pink was almost the same color as his lips. Yusuf told Nicolò these things one afternoon, after picking a bunch of them and giving them to him as a gift.
From Incurably Romantic! I really liked how poetic it was, which really fit with the theme of the story.
Favorite closing line (or paragraph, again):
“Oh, Edmund,” she murmured, and put her hand on his chest, right in the center where it ached with emotion. "I looked at the moon every night and hoped you could see it, too. It helped me feel like you were safe in some way if I could see the same moon you did.” The words pulled at something deep inside him, and he squeezed her hand tightly. She smiled at him. “I would love to watch the stars with you again soon, so you can explain them properly now that you’re home.”
Edmund smiled too. He finally felt safe, warm, and at home again because of Anna Strong, because of his dear Andromeda.
From
Perseus and Andromeda! I usually have a lot of trouble with endings, but I liked how this turned out so sweet! And I just really liked this story in general.
In conclusion:This was a very good year in the writing department! I'm enjoying feeling so creative lately. Hopefully that will carry into 2022, and it will be a better year all around!
Fic writing goals for the coming year:As usual, I had a bunch of story ideas that I never got around to writing/finishing, so my goal is to finish those! I also have some more ideas for original stories, like the Laudatio Turiae story I've posted about, so I really really want to finish at least one draft of the LT story.
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inkingitout writing challenge last year and I forgot to sign up again for this year, but I still wanted to keep track of my writing for the year! I didn't end up getting very close to my wordcount goal for inkingitout, sadly, but it was still a fun challenge and I ended up writing more than I had in a while!
