annerb: (Stargate)
annerb ([personal profile] annerb) wrote2008-12-30 09:05 am
Entry tags:

The Year in Fic: 2008

The Fic

Sam/Jack: (14)
Let The World Spin- Stranded off-world fic written for dear [livejournal.com profile] katcorvi .
String Theory: An AU Series- Somehow I actually managed to finish this series! Dr. Carter and Jack.
Fourteen Years in Paradise- Cracky sequel to 'Let the World Spin'.
Tiny Little Fractures- ‘Grace’ AU written for The Day of Indulgence in honor of [livejournal.com profile] surreallis .
Gravity Always Wins in the End- SGA/SG-1 Crossover dealing with established S/J h/c.
No Air- Angsty little ‘Descent’ AU. Written for [livejournal.com profile] holdouttrout 's Take Back the Week Ficlet Challenge.
Far From the Cynics in This Town- A sequel to ‘Out of Context’ and, little did I know, only the first of many in what became a series. Part two in the DC Series.
The Still Point- Continuum missing scene. Sam and not!Jack.
Just Another Day at the SGC- Bonus scene for ‘String Theory’.
DC Sleeps Alone Tonight- Part three in the DC Series.
Signal Degradation- Part four in the DC Series.
What Doesn't Kill You…- Bonus scene for ‘Tiny Little Fractures’.
You're My Destination- Part five in the DC Series.
The Lies You Feed Yourself- Angsty missed chances fic written for [livejournal.com profile] sj_everyday ’s secret santa exchange.

Other Het: (2)
All’s Fair in Love and Monopoly- ‘Unending’ post-ep written for the Daniel/Vala ficathon on [livejournal.com profile] daniel_vala .
Hyperion- Colonel Reynolds commands his own ship. Written for [livejournal.com profile] beanpot ’s birthday.

Gen: (4)
The View From Up Here- Sam and Sha’re friendship written for the [livejournal.com profile] sg1friendathon .
Hit The Road- Teal’c and Vala friendship written as part of the 20 Characters Meme.
Closing Ranks- Episode tag to SGA’s ‘Search and Rescue’.  Sam and SG-1.
X is for Xenophilia- Hammond, Bra’tac, Jacob, Selmak. Written for the George Hammond Alphabet Soup Tribute to Don S. Davis.


The Questions

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?
A *lot* more than I expected, especially considering I had a six week hiatus in there somewhere.  Not only did I write a lot more stories than I thought, I also seem to have become completely incapable of writing reasonably lengthed fic.  It’s a disease, this need to hit twenty pages. Lol.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2007?
I never would have thought I would write Reynolds/Novak. Nor that it would be so much damn fun.  Move over, there’s a new Stupid Cute in town. Other than that, I really doubt I could have predicted I would write a Sam and Sha’re friendship fic.  It was so hard to write, but I was so glad I’d given it a try by the time I was done.  I love those stories that struggle so much but end up teaching me a lot, both about the characters and writing itself.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I finally took the leap I have had down on my ‘Yearly Writing Goals’ ever since I started posting them.  I started posting my epic darkfic of doom, ‘Down Here Among the Wreckage’.  I still sort of cringe and brace myself every time I post a new chapter, like I will have finally pushed the boundaries that last unacceptable distance and leave people staring at me like I should be put on lithium or something.  I feel the need to say, “But, honestly, I’m actually quite a cheerful person! Really!”  What I’ve learned though, is that if I just stick to my instincts and don’t take any shortcuts, there are people willing to be dragged along on the ride with me.  And it’s getting a little less scary each time.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?

Many, many, many, but I will come back to that next week with my writing resolutions for 2009.

My Best Story of the Year

While I did finish off ‘String Theory’ this year, which will always be close to my heart, I still think I have to go with ‘Gravity Always Wins in the End’ as my best story of the year.  It just jumped fully formed into my head and turned out to be a love letter to the leader Sam could be, the grown-up, functioning relationship Jack and Sam could have, and also the Atlantis characters in general.  Spiraling Sam’s recovery from horrible circumstances with her still slightly self-conscious command and throwing Jack in as the rogue vector, it all just seemed to coalesce into a portrait of Sam Carter and how much she has grown over the years.

Story Most Under Appreciated by the Universe in My Opinion

Um. Maybe ‘The View From Up Here’, but only because it’s an unorthodox friendship pairing that probably doesn’t have a large audience.  I’m not sure there are a huge amount of people out there looking to read Sha’re fic.  But the people who are were just unfailingly supportive and wonderful, so I have nothing to complain about.

Most Fun Story

Hyperion’. Hands down. Putting steady, reliable Reynolds in charge of an entire ship of scientists and letting them loose on him…just *way* too much fun.  I would love to write more in this universe.  The harmless Reynolds/Novak flirting could just go so many fabulous places.  And the Reynolds and Jack prank war?  Epic.

Most Sexy Story
I actually wrote my first, and so far only, piece of smut this year, though I did hide it inside a much longer fic.  Blink and you miss it!  Strangely enough, I’m not picking that one, but another story with a big ol’ fade-to-black sort of tease in it: ‘You’re My Destination’.  It was just so fun to write a completely oblivious Jack getting seduced by Sam.  Don’t worry, he catches on eventually.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters

All of the gen stories I wrote this year taught me a lot about characters and relationships I maybe never had tried to write before: Hammond, Sha’re, Vala and Teal’c.  But honestly, I think ‘Gravity Always Wins in the End’ revealed a lot about how I thought Jack and Sam might work in an established relationship.  I also really feel like I learned a lot about what kind of a leader Sam could be for Atlantis and how she really might have been utilized on SGA.

Hardest Story to Write
Both ‘Tiny Little Fractures’ and ‘The Lies You Feed Yourself’ were impossibly hard to write.  And both, if you are one of the very few people out there unfortunate enough to have read a first draft, were barely recognizable by the time I finished revisions.  I keep joking that this is the year I learned how to polish turds.  It really *can* be possible to take a story that just doesn’t work and rewrite and rewrite and delete and futz and pace and curse and bang your head and delete some more until it is something worth actually reading.  Both of these stories also taught me to trust my instincts.  If something is screaming at me that the story just isn’t right, I’ve got to trust it and fix it.  It almost always works out in the end.

I also complained a lot about the Sam and Sha’re fic (hey, complaining is part of my writing process.  Just ask [livejournal.com profile] holdouttrout .  It usually means I am about halfway done and still don’t have a title.), but I think my problems with ‘The View From Up Here’ had more to do with trying to write a friendship that never really existed on the screen.  It was a huge challenge to imagine that into life and I was also very self-conscious of making Sha’re into a caricature, which never helps with the flow of writing.  Sometimes you just have to suck it up and jump on in.

Biggest Disappointment

I am STILL struggling on the fic I’m writing for the Sweet Charity Auction. You know, the one from *2007*.  I am the worst wannabe Charity Whore ever.  Other than that, I guess my Daniel/Vala fic for the [livejournal.com profile] daniel_vala  ficathon was a bit disappointing.  I think I still haven’t done that pairing justice and as much appeal as it holds, it just hasn’t quite captured my imagination.  Maybe 2009 will be the year?

Biggest Surprise

The DC Series.  Where the hell did that come from?  It’s been over two years, after all, since I first posted ‘Out of Context’.  I had zero intention of ever bothering to write a sequel, no matter how much I joked about it with [livejournal.com profile] surreallis .  But then, lo and behold, [livejournal.com profile] katcorvi  makes some random leading comment and I get this vision of Jack and Sam kissing against a taxi and BAM! KABLOOEY! ‘Out of Context’ was reborn as a series that still has no end in sight.  Granted, that scene of Jack and Sam kissing against a taxi never even made it in anywhere, but who am I to argue with the bizarre way my muse works? I wait in terror to see what will blindside me next.

Most Unintentionally Telling Story

Wouldn’t you like to know.


And just because it amuses me, here is one of my answers from last year:
Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year (2008)?
I would like to finish the darkfic I’ve had sitting in my unfinished folder for the last few years. Also, I would like to be brave enough to try my hand at smut. And take the time to revise my NaNo into an actual readable novel with proper research and everything.


Yup, finally started the darkfic.  Yup, actually wrote some smut.  And, uh, I spent at least one afternoon revising my NaNo novel this year.  Does that count?  Yeah, I didn't think so. 

As crappy as 2008 was at some points, at least it was a productive one.  Here's to 2009!  May there be more glee and ever greater compassion in the New Year.  Cheers.

ext_1941: (benevolent dictatrix)

[identity profile] sg-fignewton.livejournal.com 2008-12-30 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I’m not sure there are a huge amount of people out there looking to read Sha’re fic.

You mean I'm not in a category all by myself?! ;) You know how much I loved that fic, anyway.

You wrote four gen fic! Wheeee! You must have forgotten to add "write more gen" in your next year's goals. I'm sure it was just an oversight. ::nods decisively::

[identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com 2008-12-31 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, I'll have you know I wrote *8* gen fics in 2007. I'm actually slipping. :P (But I have two more in my To Do file, so have no fear.)

There are at least two of you freaky Sha're people out there. Unless you just have a battalion of sockpuppets out there I don't know about. ;)
ext_1941: (Sha'uri)

[identity profile] sg-fignewton.livejournal.com 2008-12-31 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Sadly, we are definitely not a prolific lot. I know of four or five others.

More gen, yes. You can dooooo eeeeet...
ext_2131: picture of a fish with lots of green (Default)

[identity profile] holdouttrout.livejournal.com 2008-12-30 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Most Unintentionally Telling Story
Wouldn’t you like to know.


Bwa ha ha! Yes. Yes, we would. *g*

[identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com 2008-12-31 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
I think you will all have more fun just guessing. Snerk. And thanks for not seconding my worst Charity Whore ever status.

[identity profile] annienau08.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm....I think I've read all of these, but maybe I should go through them all again - just to be sure. :)

Also? While I have loved all of your fics, I have to say that I think "Gravity Always Wins in the End" is one of your all-time best. It's just such a beautiful, fully realized look into Sam and Jack post SG-1.

Plus, it had Lorne whump and smut. You can never go wrong with those. :)

[identity profile] annerbhp.livejournal.com 2009-01-01 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Hehe! I am so glad to see everyone posting this fic in review lists because I *know* I missed a bunch this year. It will be so nice to go back and read them all. A nice New Year's gift.

Thank you! Gravity just blindsided me and I was very pleased with how it turned out. I'm glad you enjoyed it too! :)