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latespring) wrote2022-01-07 11:58 am
latespring) wrote2022-01-07 11:58 am
Entry tags:
belated 2021 fic reflections
What hasn't been delayed this year? Happy 2022, here's my thoughts on last year's fic.
In the style of BYOK I've chosen to ask myself questions and answer then as well!
What was 2021 like for you? In writing? Everywhere else?
2021 was rough for writing and good for a lot of other places! Disregarding the panini for a second, I started two new jobs, and I read my work for+introduced a poet I really admired, so that was really cool. I was so stressed at school!
I burned out really badly in early 2021 trying to write a remix for Dia, something that's still on my to do list. I thought I could write them something about haikyuu and the process was like running head first into a wall again and again. It's not the remix's fault, I was already burning out on writing, something that wasn't helped by the academic stress I was under. Late 2020 was rough for writing! I want to return to that space sometime and write Dia the remix they really deserve.
In retrospect, I can see I was kind of moving away from Seventeen and looking for other things to write about, but I didn't see that when I was in it. It would take until May of 2021 to when I wrote hey, baby! that I remembered how to have fun in a google doc again. Then in June I wrote Joshua Hong and the One Body Murder which was another instance of just having fun in a doc. I wrote it in two or so days, and I'm still pleased with how it turned out.
Meanwhile, during that time, I was also getting into tbz! I wrote ficmix at the same time as I was dabbling in tbzo3, and having a blast. I'd forgotten what learning a new group is like!!
Nearer orbit was almost like a bridge, a warmup before I wrote kiss kiss which is me just having fun. I also wrote hurricane season the first explicit thing I've written in ages.
I've written something close to 30k of other unpublished stuff for tbz in the meanwhile—before and after kiss kiss—and it's just been really relaxing. I think I ended the year in a much better position than I started regarding my thoughts on writing.
What are your goals for 2022?
I've said it before, but I want to write a longfic! I don't know if what I'm working on right now is going to be a longfic, but it certainly has the potential. I have a space au that I'm holding close to my chest too.
One of the things that holds me back writing longfic is often getting too up in my head while writing. Much of my wips get done because I hyperfocus on them and write them to the exclusion of everything else. It's how I've gotten most everything, even my 20k fics written. Not all in one day, but each of them was a star I ran after, and didn't stop running until the end.
I think longfic, real longfic, will take something more sustained than that. A marathon rather than a sprint. I don't mind the editing process at all. It's getting a first draft that's always been the hard part.
Related to that, something that I'm working towards is editing less as I draft. Self editing is fine, but by the time I finish drafting, I'm also usually done with major edits, which is less than ideal. I want to separate the two processes.
Write first! Then edit! I think it'll go quicker, and I'll get smoother plotlines out of it. So that's what I'm trying to do for what I'm writing now.
Style is always something I'm thinking about. I like my style right now! I like the way the sentences lay, but I also think it could be more impactful. Part of this comes back to edits—sentence level things I need to fix AFTER I finish writing. Part of it is exposure—I need to read more broadly. And part of it is simplicity—sometimes the most impactful way to say something isn't to use a metaphor. It's to say it straight out.
I'm working on it.
What do you admire about other people's writing?
What I admire most right now is the way other people write tough relationships! Not necessarily angst. I'm talking about arguments, people making mistakes, people being flawed and human. I've noticed a trend in my own writing to shy away from things that make me sad. It's not a bad instinct, but I want to be able to choose how much conflict is in my writing, not always write easy things because that's what I find comfortable.
There's so many other things I admire too, I'm pretty sure the list could go on and on. A particularly lovely style, a conceit that ties a story together perfectly, a characterization that's spot on. I'm so so thrilled and glad to be able to read things that take my breath away. Books and essays and fic and poetry. I admire every writer I read.
Was there anything you particularly liked about your writing in 2021?
I'm proud I continued trying. I'm proud I remembered why I like writing.
There are some sentences in particular that I love (take: One of Sangyeon's hands finds his shoulder, thumb brushing over the place where his shirt meets skin, and he breathes sunlight instead of air.). There are some motifs and executions I love. I really like the sci-fi journalism concept. But it's all wrapped around that first sentiment.
I'm glad I continued writing. I'm so glad I kept writing. I hope I always remember why.
In the style of BYOK I've chosen to ask myself questions and answer then as well!
What was 2021 like for you? In writing? Everywhere else?
2021 was rough for writing and good for a lot of other places! Disregarding the panini for a second, I started two new jobs, and I read my work for+introduced a poet I really admired, so that was really cool. I was so stressed at school!
I burned out really badly in early 2021 trying to write a remix for Dia, something that's still on my to do list. I thought I could write them something about haikyuu and the process was like running head first into a wall again and again. It's not the remix's fault, I was already burning out on writing, something that wasn't helped by the academic stress I was under. Late 2020 was rough for writing! I want to return to that space sometime and write Dia the remix they really deserve.
In retrospect, I can see I was kind of moving away from Seventeen and looking for other things to write about, but I didn't see that when I was in it. It would take until May of 2021 to when I wrote hey, baby! that I remembered how to have fun in a google doc again. Then in June I wrote Joshua Hong and the One Body Murder which was another instance of just having fun in a doc. I wrote it in two or so days, and I'm still pleased with how it turned out.
Meanwhile, during that time, I was also getting into tbz! I wrote ficmix at the same time as I was dabbling in tbzo3, and having a blast. I'd forgotten what learning a new group is like!!
Nearer orbit was almost like a bridge, a warmup before I wrote kiss kiss which is me just having fun. I also wrote hurricane season the first explicit thing I've written in ages.
I've written something close to 30k of other unpublished stuff for tbz in the meanwhile—before and after kiss kiss—and it's just been really relaxing. I think I ended the year in a much better position than I started regarding my thoughts on writing.
What are your goals for 2022?
I've said it before, but I want to write a longfic! I don't know if what I'm working on right now is going to be a longfic, but it certainly has the potential. I have a space au that I'm holding close to my chest too.
One of the things that holds me back writing longfic is often getting too up in my head while writing. Much of my wips get done because I hyperfocus on them and write them to the exclusion of everything else. It's how I've gotten most everything, even my 20k fics written. Not all in one day, but each of them was a star I ran after, and didn't stop running until the end.
I think longfic, real longfic, will take something more sustained than that. A marathon rather than a sprint. I don't mind the editing process at all. It's getting a first draft that's always been the hard part.
Related to that, something that I'm working towards is editing less as I draft. Self editing is fine, but by the time I finish drafting, I'm also usually done with major edits, which is less than ideal. I want to separate the two processes.
Write first! Then edit! I think it'll go quicker, and I'll get smoother plotlines out of it. So that's what I'm trying to do for what I'm writing now.
Style is always something I'm thinking about. I like my style right now! I like the way the sentences lay, but I also think it could be more impactful. Part of this comes back to edits—sentence level things I need to fix AFTER I finish writing. Part of it is exposure—I need to read more broadly. And part of it is simplicity—sometimes the most impactful way to say something isn't to use a metaphor. It's to say it straight out.
I'm working on it.
What do you admire about other people's writing?
What I admire most right now is the way other people write tough relationships! Not necessarily angst. I'm talking about arguments, people making mistakes, people being flawed and human. I've noticed a trend in my own writing to shy away from things that make me sad. It's not a bad instinct, but I want to be able to choose how much conflict is in my writing, not always write easy things because that's what I find comfortable.
There's so many other things I admire too, I'm pretty sure the list could go on and on. A particularly lovely style, a conceit that ties a story together perfectly, a characterization that's spot on. I'm so so thrilled and glad to be able to read things that take my breath away. Books and essays and fic and poetry. I admire every writer I read.
Was there anything you particularly liked about your writing in 2021?
I'm proud I continued trying. I'm proud I remembered why I like writing.
There are some sentences in particular that I love (take: One of Sangyeon's hands finds his shoulder, thumb brushing over the place where his shirt meets skin, and he breathes sunlight instead of air.). There are some motifs and executions I love. I really like the sci-fi journalism concept. But it's all wrapped around that first sentiment.
I'm glad I continued writing. I'm so glad I kept writing. I hope I always remember why.
no subject
i’m happy that you found the spark again later this year with writing — i have a bunch of ur stuff open and will work on getting to them i promise!!! the joshua hong and the one body problem WAS SO COOL. i have the tbz primer open too since i rly love them, just haven’t had the headspace to devote to dynamics like i do w svt (its the hyperfixation for me)
for now, thank u for telling ur stories <3 can’t wait to see what this year brings for u, i’ll be here every step of the way cheering u on!!!
no subject
haha no rush!! I'm so happy you liked the one body problem, I really loved writing it. and I'm SO thrilled to hear people are using my primer, if you ever want more specific boyz content lmk I will happily discuss!
I'm cheering you on this year too!! it's been so fun to see you posting for 17hols, I'm excited to read some of them later~