Snowflake Challenge: Day 1
Jan. 3rd, 2013 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jadesfireI'm cautiously - so, so cautiously and carefully - trying to tease out the fannish enthusiasm I used to have. There's probably a long meta post in my head somewhere about this, but as I'm currently full of cold, it's going to take me a while to get to that.
But skimming back through old fic, working out what I like, don't like and remembering 'huh, I used to be able to write', I've found that what really gets me motivated is a challenge. The more restrictive the guidelines, the more I enjoyed myself. Boundaries are there to be explored, stretched and poked at, and I've never found them restrictive. I know I want to get back to writing, and I know I want to write Merlin, but that part of my brain is all skittish and nervous, and wants prompts, which I'm too nervous to ask for, because I don't know if I can fill them or not. It's all very annoying, and suggests I need to ease myself back in rather than taking any kind of plunge.
So I'm coming back to my fannish self with a very, very gentle challenge -![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
snowflake_challenge. The idea is that over 15 challenges, you celebrate fandom, and your own place in it. I kind of like that. It's hosted on DW, but OpenID comments are welcome.
Even better, there's no time restriction, so those of us who like to procrastinate can chip in when we're ready. Day 1 was, not surprisingly, supposed to be posted on 1st January, and although I wrote this then, I've only just been able to stop blowing my nose for long enough to get it posted.
Day 1: In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.
Although most of my LJ is now locked down, I've unlocked these stories for folk who prefer to read there, and included DW and AO3 links too. It's felt a bit like sorting through an attic and rediscovering an old life, which may possibly be good for me.
Yours, Mine, His House/Gen/G. Summary: Every story has three sides. Yours, mine and the facts. Foster M. Russell. There's always more than one way of looking at things.
Author's Notes: From my point of view, this was my first 'proper' piece of fanfic. I really worked on it, revising, editing, rewriting and planning, with help from the people I now think of as friends. While I think/hope my writing has improved over the last 6 years, it still reads surprisingly like 'me'. And I like that.
On LJ; On DW; On AO3
A few quiet drinks Torchwood-Discworld-other fandoms fusion/Gen/G
Author's Notes: Yes, okay, okay, I'm cheating, as this is a set of stories rather than a single one. But it's the series that still gets read and commented on and kudosed (shush, it's a word) at AO3, and it's one I'm immensely fond of. From my point of view, it's now a playpit where I can put characters I'm not sure about and see how they tick, before attempting a full fic with them. Useful and instructive :)
Masterlist on LJ; Masterlist on DW; Collection on A03
Bibula Harena SGA/Gen/Teen. Summary: This is all there is, the stick in his hand, the knife in his belt, the crowd roaring around him, and the man he has to kill.
Author's Notes: If I had to nominate an id-fic, this would probably be it. Fight scenes: tick. Friendship: tick. Banter: tick. Visible camera angles: tick. Minimal plotting: tick. Although Difficulties in Mathematics is probably my favourite of my SGA stories, I think this one is probably better-written.
On LJ; On AO3
Five times DEATH took a holiday Discworld.
Author's Notes: It's one thing to love a fandom but quite another to write for it. I don't think I'll ever attempt a straightforward Discworld fic, but I do love to play around the edges. One thing I *do* know I'm good at is mimicry in writing (which is not necessarily a blessing), and Pratchett is so distinctive that I love trying to catch that.
On LJ (scroll down for it); On DW; On AO3
Moonrise Torchwood/Gen/PG.
Author's Notes: I thought long and hard about what Torchwood story to put here. Again, while there are better pieces of Torchwood writing in my archive, I think this is probably the one that I want to point to. The characters are fully formed here, and while there are parts that make me cringe because there's no way I'd run the plot this way again, overall, I'm pleased with the mood I caught and the relationships in this story. As with most things, my best writing seems to happen when I think I'm writing something else. This was not the story I set out to write - it certainly came out considerably more traumatic that I intended! - but my subconscious has always been better at plotting than I am, so sometimes it's best to just get out of the way and let it do its thing.
On the TARDIS BigBang website
But skimming back through old fic, working out what I like, don't like and remembering 'huh, I used to be able to write', I've found that what really gets me motivated is a challenge. The more restrictive the guidelines, the more I enjoyed myself. Boundaries are there to be explored, stretched and poked at, and I've never found them restrictive. I know I want to get back to writing, and I know I want to write Merlin, but that part of my brain is all skittish and nervous, and wants prompts, which I'm too nervous to ask for, because I don't know if I can fill them or not. It's all very annoying, and suggests I need to ease myself back in rather than taking any kind of plunge.
So I'm coming back to my fannish self with a very, very gentle challenge -
snowflake_challenge. The idea is that over 15 challenges, you celebrate fandom, and your own place in it. I kind of like that. It's hosted on DW, but OpenID comments are welcome.Even better, there's no time restriction, so those of us who like to procrastinate can chip in when we're ready. Day 1 was, not surprisingly, supposed to be posted on 1st January, and although I wrote this then, I've only just been able to stop blowing my nose for long enough to get it posted.
Day 1: In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.
Although most of my LJ is now locked down, I've unlocked these stories for folk who prefer to read there, and included DW and AO3 links too. It's felt a bit like sorting through an attic and rediscovering an old life, which may possibly be good for me.
Yours, Mine, His House/Gen/G. Summary: Every story has three sides. Yours, mine and the facts. Foster M. Russell. There's always more than one way of looking at things.
Author's Notes: From my point of view, this was my first 'proper' piece of fanfic. I really worked on it, revising, editing, rewriting and planning, with help from the people I now think of as friends. While I think/hope my writing has improved over the last 6 years, it still reads surprisingly like 'me'. And I like that.
On LJ; On DW; On AO3
A few quiet drinks Torchwood-Discworld-other fandoms fusion/Gen/G
Author's Notes: Yes, okay, okay, I'm cheating, as this is a set of stories rather than a single one. But it's the series that still gets read and commented on and kudosed (shush, it's a word) at AO3, and it's one I'm immensely fond of. From my point of view, it's now a playpit where I can put characters I'm not sure about and see how they tick, before attempting a full fic with them. Useful and instructive :)
Masterlist on LJ; Masterlist on DW; Collection on A03
Bibula Harena SGA/Gen/Teen. Summary: This is all there is, the stick in his hand, the knife in his belt, the crowd roaring around him, and the man he has to kill.
Author's Notes: If I had to nominate an id-fic, this would probably be it. Fight scenes: tick. Friendship: tick. Banter: tick. Visible camera angles: tick. Minimal plotting: tick. Although Difficulties in Mathematics is probably my favourite of my SGA stories, I think this one is probably better-written.
On LJ; On AO3
Five times DEATH took a holiday Discworld.
Author's Notes: It's one thing to love a fandom but quite another to write for it. I don't think I'll ever attempt a straightforward Discworld fic, but I do love to play around the edges. One thing I *do* know I'm good at is mimicry in writing (which is not necessarily a blessing), and Pratchett is so distinctive that I love trying to catch that.
On LJ (scroll down for it); On DW; On AO3
Moonrise Torchwood/Gen/PG.
Author's Notes: I thought long and hard about what Torchwood story to put here. Again, while there are better pieces of Torchwood writing in my archive, I think this is probably the one that I want to point to. The characters are fully formed here, and while there are parts that make me cringe because there's no way I'd run the plot this way again, overall, I'm pleased with the mood I caught and the relationships in this story. As with most things, my best writing seems to happen when I think I'm writing something else. This was not the story I set out to write - it certainly came out considerably more traumatic that I intended! - but my subconscious has always been better at plotting than I am, so sometimes it's best to just get out of the way and let it do its thing.
On the TARDIS BigBang website