Fanfiction: A Year In Review

[amathela]

Today marks exactly one year since I wrote my first piece of fanfiction. So, since I'm feeling particularly nostalgic/self-involved, here's my year in review.

In twelve months, I've written 77 pieces of fanfic in seven fandoms.

The very first fandom in which I ever wrote fanfic was Firefly. To date, that fic is still the only one I've written in the Firefly verse.

I followed that with a couple of smutty Harry Potter fics, then the first of five linked Buffy vignettes (which I've still yet to finish). More HP fics followed, most written for hogwarts_elite - during my first Hogsmeade weekend, I managed to double the amount of fanfic I'd previously written.

I wrote my first Veronica Mars fic three and a half months ago, which marked the turning point for me in terms of fic-writing volume. I started my first WIP less than a month later, and from the 19th of April to the 19th of May, I wrote 36 fics (including all 18 parts of that series).

The longest stand-alone fic I've written (excluding my femgenficathon story, which is finished but not yet posted) is Rooftop Confessions, at 3607 words; my series, What Goes Down, clocks in at just over 35,000 words. The shortest fics I've written are 100-word drabbles.

I've written 15 drabbles, 18 mini-ficlets (under 500 words), 5 ficlets (500-1000 words), 21 stand-alones and sequels (over 1000 words), and one 18-part series. I have dozens of planned fics in various stages of progress, from near-completion to vague plot bunnies.

I've completed one fic exchange (springtime_gen), and am currently participating in two major ficathons (femgenficathon and heroes_bigboom).

Dialogue used to be a major weakness for me, until I wrote Spark. Written in 15 minutes, it's the fic that broke my dialogue barrier; I now like to think of dialogue as something I do well.

My biggest weakness is definitely sex scenes; I have to consciously monitor their length, as I'm definitely guilty of rushing them. I don't write much smut, but I think I'd probably write more if I were better at it.

I think my biggest strength is short fics; a lot of the time, they seem more like poetry than prose, and I think they most accurately represent what I think of as "my" writing voice.

My favourite thing to be praised on is characterisation; when somebody tells me I've perfectly captured a character, it makes me squee like nothing else can.

I most enjoy writing long, plotty (but not heavy) fics featuring an ensemble, even where the fic is focused on one particular pairing. What Goes Down was amazing to write, as was my femgenficathon story, and I'm currently working on a multi-part Gilmore Girls fic that's incredibly fun.

My favourite fic, by far, is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I also think is the best thing I've written.

My active fandoms (in which I'm currently writing) are Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, and Arrested Development. My standby fandoms (in which I've written previously, and will do so again) are Buffy, Firefly, and Harry Potter. My in-progress fandoms (in which I'm currently working on a fic, but haven't yet published anything) are Roswell and The O.C. My "future" fandoms (in which I've yet to write anything, but anticipate doing so) are Doctor Who, Smallville, Dead Like Me, and Angel.

My favourite fandom, and the fandom in which I've written the most, is Veronica Mars. My current fandom obsession is Gilmore Girls.

I'm currently in the process up uploading all my fic to an archive website I've created. It's taking a long time.