This might be a few days late, but in my defense, I had the flu, and then when I got home I had to reinstall GRUB because my desktop wouldn't boot...
Oof. I continued my MMO lifestyle, but the fact I have 50k of WIP on my hard drive is ... noticeable in my output. Also, RL is not being terribly conducive to, well, stuff. I think it will get worse before it gets better. Or that's just the fact I'm still sniffly from the influenza talking.
Most popular story this year
No Death, Only the Force – most hits, kudos, comments, bookmarks, and subscriptions. Even before it was recced by local BNF![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
gffa
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy canon divergence, Mace Windu & Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & Depa Billaba
I understand perfectly why this is at the top: it's funny and short, easy to read and rec.
Longest
Daybreak (10k)
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy canon divergence, Mace Windu & Katooni, T-rated
Fun fact: "Daybreak" was originally supposed to be a placeholder title. I then spent 5min explaining to my rubber goose on Discord why it was the perfect title thematically and that I should change it. Then I came to my senses. *g* (It's a reference to Operation Knightfall, a.k.a. Order 66.)
Author's choice
Undertow
Star Wars PT, post-canon, Mace Windu & Maul, T-rated
I think this is the most unique fic of the year, thematically, and with the above two, it's part of the trifecta of perfect titles.
Everything I made in 2022 (AO3)
Critical praise
In searching throughrelics of the past vidding meta, I came acros the linked journal post by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
heresluck, and felt one of those transformative moments of OMG. So that's why I like some comments more than others! (Praise >>> approval >>> love, in the terms of the linked post.) I know I can do approval, and I reach for that more than straightforward love, but I would like to try including more praise in my comments when possible. Detailed, thoughtful, critical praise. Not on every fic – some don't have enough things for my brain to digest – but where I can. Because I want there to be more of it in the world. Because it might make an author's day, like it would mine – and even if it doesn't, it is still positive attention, so no-one should be upset.
Improvement of the craft
Part of the fun of writing (and vidding) for me is getting better at it. In writing, I have a sense that I've plateaued. I think my longfic skills are worse than my shortfic ones, but improving those obviously takes longer, and I think I have reached either a limit or a region of diminishing returns in my self-improvement skills. OTOH, all the concrit events are (for obvious reasons) geared towards shorter works (![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
concrit_x has a 10k max), which is firmly in my comfort zone, where I know I can choose the method of approach which suits the fic idea best, rather than be confined to my comfort zone. I would look to meta on this ... except it's all 100% geared towards getting your professionally published book written to market standards, which is not what I want at all. Urgh. And the rest seems catered at people whose writing methods are not mine at all. I just fundamentally do not relate to pinch points or Save the Cat structure. Perhaps I should try, artificial as that would feel? Bleh.
The other option for improvement is to basically pour rhetoric down my throat and improve sentence-level craft. I think I'll have to do this at some point, too.
I also think I need some "me time" with fic – a lot of my output the past year(s) has been exchange fic, which is nice as a way of getting me to write something, but inevitably some of it ends up feeling :( to me because I want my recipient to be happy, and sometimes what gives my recipient joy to read is not at all what gives me joy to write.
With vidding I'm still new/bad enough that there's significant improvement year-on-year, and there is a whole lot of vidding meta from the 2000s mirrored to DW. (heresluck and laurashapiro at least, and vidding_livejournal_ark2) I also came up with an idea that requires effects (or, well, 6 tracks of video) for the vid_bingo same song round, so I'll get to flex my technical muscles there. And I discovered I can, actually, play SWTOR with Ultra graphics, so I've remade my Consular and screen recorded my way through Tython with the UI hidden. I think after I'm done with that, I'll remake my vexercises Consular & Syo vid, and expand my first pechakucha to be the song's length. Y'know. 8 minutes. Using only 6s cuts from the source. I never claimed to be sane.
AO3 Stats
| Stat | 2022 | 2021 then | 2021 now | All years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| User Subscriptions: | 203 | 180 | - | - |
| Kudos: | 2826 | 2276 | 6675 | 35646 |
| Comment Threads: | 178 | 228 | 312 | 2661 |
| Bookmarks: | 648 | 470 | 1082 | 7236 |
| Subscriptions: | 77 | 83 | 131 | 977 |
| Word Count: | 68204 | 101347 | 101347 | 832459 |
| Hits: | 22390 | 13784 | 28371 | 383803 |
Oof. I continued my MMO lifestyle, but the fact I have 50k of WIP on my hard drive is ... noticeable in my output. Also, RL is not being terribly conducive to, well, stuff. I think it will get worse before it gets better. Or that's just the fact I'm still sniffly from the influenza talking.
Most popular story this year
No Death, Only the Force – most hits, kudos, comments, bookmarks, and subscriptions. Even before it was recced by local BNF
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy canon divergence, Mace Windu & Shmi Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & Depa Billaba
Anakin Skywalker is just about to to free his mother from the Tuskens when the Force rudely yanks him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant – and into Mace Windu's body. Mace, on the other hand, gets tossed into Anakin's body on Tatooine.
I understand perfectly why this is at the top: it's funny and short, easy to read and rec.
Longest
Daybreak (10k)
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy canon divergence, Mace Windu & Katooni, T-rated
Palpatine is dead, but then the Coruscant Guard turns up in his office and starts shooting. Mace discovers that Sidious has left a final trap for the Jedi, and now it's a race against time to dismantle it and free the clone troopers before they break through the Temple doors.
Fun fact: "Daybreak" was originally supposed to be a placeholder title. I then spent 5min explaining to my rubber goose on Discord why it was the perfect title thematically and that I should change it. Then I came to my senses. *g* (It's a reference to Operation Knightfall, a.k.a. Order 66.)
Author's choice
Undertow
Star Wars PT, post-canon, Mace Windu & Maul, T-rated
An unwitting Imperial has in her hands an Orb of Scrying, a Dark Side artefact that allows one to find any given person with pinpoint accuracy. As the nascent Rebellion doesn't appreciate the danger this could pose, Mace Windu has to seek help from someone he never would have imagined teaming up with.
I think this is the most unique fic of the year, thematically, and with the above two, it's part of the trifecta of perfect titles.
Everything I made in 2022 (AO3)
Visions for 2023
Critical praise
In searching through
heresluck, and felt one of those transformative moments of OMG. So that's why I like some comments more than others! (Praise >>> approval >>> love, in the terms of the linked post.) I know I can do approval, and I reach for that more than straightforward love, but I would like to try including more praise in my comments when possible. Detailed, thoughtful, critical praise. Not on every fic – some don't have enough things for my brain to digest – but where I can. Because I want there to be more of it in the world. Because it might make an author's day, like it would mine – and even if it doesn't, it is still positive attention, so no-one should be upset.Improvement of the craft
Part of the fun of writing (and vidding) for me is getting better at it. In writing, I have a sense that I've plateaued. I think my longfic skills are worse than my shortfic ones, but improving those obviously takes longer, and I think I have reached either a limit or a region of diminishing returns in my self-improvement skills. OTOH, all the concrit events are (for obvious reasons) geared towards shorter works (
concrit_x has a 10k max), which is firmly in my comfort zone, where I know I can choose the method of approach which suits the fic idea best, rather than be confined to my comfort zone. I would look to meta on this ... except it's all 100% geared towards getting your professionally published book written to market standards, which is not what I want at all. Urgh. And the rest seems catered at people whose writing methods are not mine at all. I just fundamentally do not relate to pinch points or Save the Cat structure. Perhaps I should try, artificial as that would feel? Bleh.The other option for improvement is to basically pour rhetoric down my throat and improve sentence-level craft. I think I'll have to do this at some point, too.
I also think I need some "me time" with fic – a lot of my output the past year(s) has been exchange fic, which is nice as a way of getting me to write something, but inevitably some of it ends up feeling :( to me because I want my recipient to be happy, and sometimes what gives my recipient joy to read is not at all what gives me joy to write.
With vidding I'm still new/bad enough that there's significant improvement year-on-year, and there is a whole lot of vidding meta from the 2000s mirrored to DW. (
heresluck and laurashapiro at least, and vidding_livejournal_ark2) I also came up with an idea that requires effects (or, well, 6 tracks of video) for the vid_bingo same song round, so I'll get to flex my technical muscles there. And I discovered I can, actually, play SWTOR with Ultra graphics, so I've remade my Consular and screen recorded my way through Tython with the UI hidden. I think after I'm done with that, I'll remake my vexercises Consular & Syo vid, and expand my first pechakucha to be the song's length. Y'know. 8 minutes. Using only 6s cuts from the source. I never claimed to be sane.Resolutions
- Leave comments with critical praise whenever possible
- Finish All that is Solid Melts into Air (hopefully less than 30k left?)
- Find some workable longform writing meta (links welcome)
- Write some fic just for me
- Improve my vidding skillz