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sophiainspace · 5 years

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Fic Writer’s Year In Review

Tumblr crapped up with this post, so I apologise if it lost any of my ‘other great writers’ recs below...

I have shamelessly stolen this idea from @pinkletterday.

(I think a lot of us think we talk too much about our writing. But fuck that. Less putting our writing down and more shouting about it in 2019!)

General fic stats for 2018

Word count on AO3: 142,520. (So much more than my thesis...)

Number of fics on AO3: 35. (33 Arrowverse, one Buffyverse, one Good Place.)

Most popular fic (by kudos):

Unspeakable, a disability-focused Mick Rory 5+1 (coldwave, but just barely). Summary: 5 times people insulted Mick Rory when Snart was there, and 2 when he wasn’t. Or: the one where Mick Rory deals with ableism, mostly because of his speech. I’m so glad one of my neurodivergent/disability fics is my top for my kudos this year. I never get that many hits/kudos, but this story getting just a little bit more is really affirming. I love developing neurodivergent/disability headcanons for Arrowverse characters.

My favourite fic to write:

I loved writing my little Zari/Amaya multi-chapter A Thousand Ways (To Go Home Again), although it took me a while to work out what it should be. Summary: For want of anything better to say, she grumbles, “I hope yours are less vivid than mine. There’s only so many times I can dream of a police state before I just have to stop sleeping out of sheer boredom.” Amaya gives her a strange look. (Linked snapshots of Zari's life as she settles in on the Waverider, and in the process, falls for Amaya.) I tried to do a couple of things, including emphasising Zari’s Muslim faith (I got some help with this from the awesome @zariadriannatomaz), and showing her bonding with all the Legends crew while also developing a closer relationship with Amaya. So this ended up part gen Legends & Zari, part zamaya.

Funniest fic:

I don’t do funny a lot, but my Legends short fics collection Waverider Wanderings has a few that get close. There’s one with Zari, Ray and Amaya pranking Mick, and a silly fake marriage pre-zamaya one.

Fluffiest fic:

Probably the fluffiest Arrowverse thing I wrote this year was Cold Nights, Hot Chocolate and Vengeful Gods (gen-ish), in which the (s3) Waverider crew share stories on a cold night. (That’s it, that’s the fic.) Honourable mention goes to The Blanket, a fluffy coldwave drabble-y thing featuring a weighted blanket, that led @hiverforesteevee to coin the term ‘weighted blanket fic’.

Saddest fic:

River (coldwave). Summary: Len was only zero tolerance on a few things. A shorter fic, reflecting on how sometimes people in relationships are so different that they can’t ever reach an understanding on what the other needs. Our broken pieces can’t always fit together with other people’s, no matter how much we might want them to. This has the least happy ending of all my fics, although it’s not totally hopeless. (Content warning: alcoholism.)

Most challenging fic to write:

The Way Out, another Mick Rory neurodivergence fic, this time about self harm. And community and support. And how sometimes we can’t tie the story up in a neat bow in which everyone can accept help and get better. Basically, I got irritated with the show’s ‘quick cure’ thing, and a few echoes of this in fic, and decided to write my own interpretation. But I very nearly didn’t post this - it felt like putting a piece of myself out there for potential personal criticism, from several perspectives, and that was scary. It took pre-reading and encouragement from about four people before I could put it up. It’s had a really wonderful reaction, which I’ve just been floored by. Thanks, guys. <3 Summary: 5 times Mick Rory couldn't accept help, and once when someone else accepted his. (Read the tag warnings before you start this one.)

Fic I’m proudest of writing:

Other than The Way Out (above)... Probably Rebuild. It’s about not being able to go back to the person you were, after losing someone, and having to build something new. (Mick Rory & Team Legends, past coldwave.) Summary: Mick ruminates on the similarities between a barn roof and a time ship. A warehouse and a farmhouse. Old friends and new ones.

(Yes, I’ve written a lot of Mick. I feel oddly defensive about this... but also, my Mick stories are some of my best and most challenging writing. So, not planning on stopping.)

Least popular fic:

Across all three fandoms, it’s my ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ short fics collection, It Looks Quiet Down There (It’s Not). Probably because there’s only two ficlets in it, a Faith one and a Fred one. But also, I’m just not sure I write the Buffy characters well. Still, I should attempt to write some more for it.

Honourable mentions:

All my DCTV neurodivergent fics are in one series, helpfully called ‘Neurodivergent DCTV’. I’m proud of these.

My often silly, mostly canon-compliant Legends fics (intended to be a lot like the show, but hopefully going a bit deeper sometimes) are all linked in the series ‘At Home with the Legends’. Lots of gen, some zamaya, and other good things.

General writing reflections:

I’ve recently realised that a lot of the general wisdom shared for writers just... doesn’t apply to me. (Thanks, ADHD/autism!) I’m a non-linear thinker, so planning a story out doesn’t always work for me. Most importantly, I’m never going to be a fast writer. We do writing sprints in the Shipyard Discord, and it’s great fun, but I can’t often write at speed. I need to sit with words, just like I did when I wrote more poetry. If I write slowly, I slowly figure out what I’m going for in the story, in terms of tone, style, character, emotional trajectory, even plot. Editing as I go is not a sin, despite received wisdom on writing advice websites. And I’ve also found that sometimes it’s best to start by writing the key scene in the middle, and go back to opening and closing scenes when I can ‘feel’ what’s going on a bit better. I’ll be doing more slow and non-linear writing in 2019. #NeurodivergentPride

THANK YOU to anyone who’s read my writing this past year!

Writers You Should Read

Some of last year was really horrendous, especially physical and mental health-wise, and you wonderful writers were always there sharing beautiful things that helped. Special mentions to some of the writers whose work helped me get through 2018:

@bold-sartorial-statement @zariadriannatomaz @stillthewordgirl @pinkletterday @wonderingtheblue @tobyaudax @unwittingcatalyst @agnesclementineblog @lacommunarde @jessicamiriamdrew @jewishgarygreen @greensphynx @peppersandcats @kleptoandpyro @yesokayiknow @hiverforesteevee @stillnotginger10 @wyvernsongs @terrayoung @sugar-haus @sugary-bowl @robininthelabyrinth @areyouscarletcold @coldflasher @nixie-deangel @coldtomyflash @pheuthe @lordheron @thatwritxrgirl @avasharpe @dragonydreams @siricerasi @tigstripe @theutterlyclumsyninja @arodrwho @agentmarymargaretskitz @blueelvewithwings @sproutwings @wintertruffles @thatnerdygirl @plinys

and many others. Go to all these fantastic writers’ blogs and read their fics.

Extra special mentions to everyone in @minaswritingsquad - check out all their wonderful writers, who’ve been so supportive to me.

And not forgetting everyone in the Shipyard Discord server, which is full of incredible (and very encouraging) writers. What a writing community. <3

Have a happy new year and a great 2019!

#fic meme #the flash fanfic #legends of tomorrow fanfic #dccoldwave #zamaya #gen #bunch of other characters and ships #dctv #can I queue some stuff now

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