Adventures in Writing

Challenge #13

Make a rec list of fanworks!

( Let's rec some fics… all AUs this time! )

Challenge #10

Five Things! The five things are totally up to you.

( Here's my five favorite Sci-Fi TV shows, movies, and books. )

Challenge #8

Talk about a current fannish project (fic, art, vid, crochet, Funko pop village) (that you are creating or enjoying).

( Come on in and see my newest project. )

Challenge #4

IceBreaker Challenge! Tell us about yourself.

( As I'm typing this, they're destroying my kitchen. I needed the distraction, so here it goes. )

It's that time of year once again! Fandom Snowflake will be starting January 1, 2024. I'll be a mod for the first time this year, which I'm looking forward to. If you've never participated before, this is a good year to try it out. If you haven't done it in a while, we welcome you back with open arms. There will be a mix of new-ish prompts as well as some beloved favorites from years past.

I hope to see you there!

Challenge #10

In your own space, rec a fanwork (fic, art, vid, playlist, anything!) you did not create.

( Here, have some recommendations... )

Snowflake Challenge #6

In your own space, Create something.

I watched FBI for the first time since the holiday break last week. I'd missed a few episodes because we watched probably a hundred Hallmark Christmas Movies (TM) since the end of October (I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not), so a lot of the shows I normally watch took a back seat. Therefore, I had no idea what was going on and was shocked to find that a recurring character had been killed off before the holidays.

I don't much care for the Rina Trenholm character, but I was absolutely blown away by Jeremy Sisto's performance as Jubal Valentine in the face of that loss. This story just sort of bloomed in my mind as the closing credits rolled. The end of the episode in particular was a gut punch. I couldn't not respond, and given it's been a long time since I've written a coda to an episode of a TV show, it was startling (but a little relieving, because clearly I haven't lost that skill). This just... seemed like it needed to be written.

The Heartbeat of Grief and Loss

Challenge #5

In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

If there's one fandom that I wish I could write for (nevermind write well for), it would be Harry Potter. I'd love to write a Hermione Granger/Bill Weasley epic, the kind that makes your toes curl and makes you sob into your hot chocolate on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. I also have an idea for a Mary Poppins/Harry Potter fusion that features a Sirius/Mary romance. It was a random thought brought on by the Emily Blunt sequel a few years ago. I still haven't seen the movie, but I really want to write the story.

I don't know if I'll ever actually write either of those stories because, frankly, the HP fandom scares me. I've heard that the HP fandom can be ruthless or entitled. Or both. I have some experience dealing with a crazy fandom. I used to write for Castle, and I remember there being fans that wouldn't accept any other pairing than the main ship. Since I love rare pairs, that put me a little at odds with the fandom. Back then, I just stuck to the main pairing to avoid the crazy.

As I've grown as a writer, I've enjoyed taking on the challenge of rare pairs and just pitching canon out the car window (I have a lead foot, so that sucker's well and truly gone). And since my give-a-damn has been broken for a while, I think I could probably withstand a little disapproval from the crazier corner of fandom.

So, who knows? Maybe I'll write one of these. Or both. Someday.

Challenge #2

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. [Unknown site tag]

As I discussed in my year-end post, I currently have a dubious relationship with goal-setting. It's not that I don't like setting goals, nor am I unaware of how valuable it can be to set goals, both personal and professional. For the first time in years, my company is asking each employee to set what we call OKRs (objectives and key results), which will be used to measure our performance. So, I'm not unfamiliar with the process.

Still, after my total creative meltdown last year, I'm a little leery of setting goals since I don't know whether I'm officially past the issues that caused me to fail to achieve practically all the goals I set last year. But because I understand that sometimes it's helpful to have the structure of goals and milestones to measure your progress through the year, I'm going to set some modest goals and hope for the best.

First, on the challenge front, I plan to continue to participate in Rough Trade. As I've done more and more of the challenges, I've become more comfortable with the format and requirements. I honestly enjoy doing them and look forward to them each year. I have solid ideas for two of the three challenge periods, and I'm actively poking at my idea folder for something I can work on for the third, though I'm not going to beat myself up if I'm not able to do all three.

I'm also going to do art for at least one big bang, though I'm not sure which one yet. I've never done art for a bang before, but over the last few years of doing my own art for RT, I've found I enjoy the process. This way I'll be able to do the bang without the pressures of writing and betas and such.

I'm also going to continue writing shorter works. I managed to write eight last year, so if I can equal that goal, I'd consider that to be a success. A stretch goal for this would be twelve (one per month), but again, I'm not going to beat myself up if I fail to reach that number.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, my goal is to have fun writing this year. I think some of the joy of writing was sucked out last year by all the terrible things going on. Too much stress and too many expectations on myself made for a toxic cocktail that really did me no favors. So, writing for my own enjoyment and love of the craft is top of the list this year.

Hopefully, when we meet again for Snowflake next year, I'll have good things to report on the goals front. Wish me luck!

( More fic recs for your reading pleasure... )