Some Things I’d Like to Do

[lavanya_six]

Stolen from John Scalzi's blog:

"The end of the year is not a bad time to think about some of the things one would like to try one’s hand at moving forward. And to that end, here are some things I’ve been thinking about doing at some point in the future. Note that this is not a list of things I am making a resolution to do, or things I necessarily have planned to do in the next year (and yes, I have things planned for the next year). It’s just a list of stuff that I’d like to get around to before I, you know, am hit by a bus and/or get bored with creating stuff and just pack it all in to do nothing but watch movies on Netflix for the rest of my life."



Here's my own list:

1. Write a full-on romantic shipping-centric fic. I've hemmed and hawed in this field of fanfic, racing up to the line but not crossing it when expected to. I always feel very awkward writing romance-centric fanfics because I'm not particularly romantic myself, so I instinctively keep pulling back in my stories. I only vaguely had Mai and Zuko get together in 'His and Her Circumstances' because of this issue. I was much more interested in the story's worldbuilding and individual character arcs than the Mai/Zuko arc and it shows.

In 2011, I really want to do a fic that has a strong romantic/shipping element as its spine. I've been kicking around a few ideas in particular -- Loopy suggested a Sokkla fic I'm prepping as one possibility for this year's Big Bang, I've got a Maiko Big Bang to write for, and I'm currently chipping away at a TyZula fic -- so there's something to look forward to. 

2. Get back to writing Evangelion fic. I wrote very, very little fanfic for this fandom in 2010. I still need to finish Taking Sights, and my Nobody Dies genderswap, and I have a new Evangelion long-form fanfic that I'm excited to start called "Her Smoke Rises Up Forever". I really enjoy the Evangelion fandom. It was the first one I really got into hardcore, and fanfic-wise it offers opportunities that AtLA doesn't with its setting.

3. Finish All My Existing Projects. I'd like to be able to close the door on all the unfinished crap I have posted on FF.net. I don't want to become one of those authors. 

4. Write More Reviews. I'm a bad reader. I don't nearly review fics often enough. I need to work on that, providing fics I like or find interesting with decent analysis.

5. Write More Regularly. I've gotten really bad at this ever since I went on my hiatus with Facing Fearful Odds. I used to regularly crank out a thousand words a day on FFO. Now it's an exceptional day if I can hammer out five hundred words. I only write a lot in occasional splurges, not with any regularity. That's bad. 

Comments

[clockwerkchaos.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, let's see. Ineed to do a a lot of these myself.


1. I think this actually qualifies as the only on I'm not interested in. I'm not a romantic, don't tend to enjoy reading them, and tend to write the sort of things that I'd like to read.

2. If by 'get back' you mean 'write my first one'. I totally am behind this as well.

3. Must, finish, Last Firebender.

4. I am so bad with this as well. My biggest problem is that I want to write something worthwhile, but then I can't think of anything, and I delay it and.... yeah.

5. This, so this. I used to be able to crank out chapter of Last Firebender and now.... yeah.

[loopy777.livejournal.com]

I fully support the continuation of Last Firebender. Not that I'm putting pressure on you, but I was browsing the Fanfic Rec list on TVTropes, and saw it listed again, and reflected on how much I enjoyed it thus far.

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

>4. I am so bad with this as well. My biggest problem is that I want to write something worthwhile, but then I can't think of anything, and I delay it and.... yeah.

I know. I'll go months without reviewing for more than a line or two a story, but then I'll happen across a random Twilight or HP fic and -BAM!- I crank out a huge six or seven paragraph review.

[loopy777.livejournal.com]

Your first point interests me, and not just because it mentions me. I don't consider myself a Romance Writer, and don't consider any of my works to be pure Romance. (Opinions differ on this.) I don't consider myself much of a Romance Reader, either; I do read it, if just because otherwise I wouldn't be able to read any ATLA fanfic, but my enjoyment is usually directly proportional to the amount of romance actually in the story.

Of course, my intention is not to simply talk about myself, so here's where we relate this back to you. I'm morbidly curious about reading a full-on Romance from you, because I like pretty much everything you write (on one level or another), and I'm curious whether a sufficiently talented writer could actually get me to like an offering from the genre. I liked "His and Her Circumstances," but justify it by pointing to both the worldbuilding and the character development. Would I like a full-on Romance from you? Would I be able to admit that I like the Romance, and not point to sideshow elements? It's an interesting opportunity.

Menamebephil is another author who I thought might offer the same opportunity with his Maikka stuff, but I've so far been enjoying his characterization and humorous narration, with the romance rather incidental, so the questions remain unanswered.

And I don't know/care about Evangelion, so don't try offering any romance stuff you did for that fandom. ;)

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

I like the challenge of romance because it focuses primarily on characterization and dialogue, which I tend to gloss over in my fics in favor of worldbuilding or plot elements. I think I could stand to improve there, especially when I look at authors who can write dialogue that sings -- like with you, or (in the Persona fandom) fasterassembly.

Romance-ish Fics I'm writing
* The Sokkla fic I'm doing will have lots of worldbuilding to it, as it's set in occupied Ba Sing Se twenty years after the final victory of the Fire/Water Alliance and I need to establish the setting before I hit the disaster survival portion of the fic.

* The Maiko Big Bang has turned out to be more a Mai-centric character fic than anything, so less romance than anticipated.

* The TyZula fic I'm doing has some AU worldbuilding to it, but it's very minor. The basic premise is that Ty Lee is a sickly child, never attends school, and only meets Azula when she's incognito at the party in "The Beach". It's the one I'm having the hardest time writing. I'm still trying to develop their respective voices.

[loopy777.livejournal.com]

The first two very much interest me, as might be expected, casting doubt on their status as Romance. I guess we'll have to see how the TyZula fic turns out. ;)

It's weird to see you say that my dialogue sings. I have a hard time writing it, always, and I frequently look back after a while and think I could have done better.