lady_ragnell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lady_ragnell) wrote2024-01-01 10:30 pm
lady_ragnell) wrote2024-01-01 10:30 pm
Entry tags:
2023 Writing Wrap-Up (and crafting, because why not?)
This year, to my very great relief, was much better than last year where writing was concerned! Some very unexpected diversions, and the massive commitment level of my autumn musical theater work, mean that I didn't get some of the original projects I wanted to do started, let alone finished, but I always have big expectations I know I can't live up to, so I'm doing a better job than I sometimes do of being forgiving of myself for all of that.
Crafts
To replace the D&D recaps section, since I'm no longer doing that, a bit of a crafting section! This year had its feasts and famines, crafting-wise, and all of it was sewing and weaving. I made myself three garments, all before summer (a skirt, a flannel bathrobe, a sundress), all pretty good even if they have their flaws. I sewed three baby bibs and a stuffed horse for a friend's baby. I wove three scarves as holiday gifts, and feel like I've finally hit my stride figuring out how to make my edges neat and my scarves long enough to be functional. And that's about that! A lot of my creative energy went to D&D prep this year, but now that I'm a little more confident hopefully I'll be a bit more freed up this year.
Fanfic
I wrote quite a lot of fanfic this year, much to my own surprise! I certainly didn't enter this year expecting to get This Intense about the Tortall fandom, but no, about 100k of the 143k from this year's AO3 total is in the Tortall fandom, across three fics and two ships (though the second ship is a subset of the first one). Now that I've gotten out my feelings about Kel and her immediate circle, I'm hoping future Tortall adventures, should there be any, can explore some other facets of the world. If nothing else, I am loving the minor trend for Alexander of Tirragen/Thom of Trebond and giving some sympathy to some characters who get treated like shit by the narrative. But, Tortall aside, I wrote one Godsfall D&D fic that I am terribly fond of, a round of ficlets that I republished a few of on the AO3, and a fic for the Once Upon a Fic fest. After a lot of debate, I decided there wasn't enough I was excited about in the Yuletide tagset, so I took a year off, and we'll see if I go back next year!
Original Work
Like last year, I only did one original project, but I feel better about that than I did last year. Part of that is because digging deep into Tortall's worldbuilding and politics scratches some of the same itch and I wrote a novel's worth of that. Part of that is because this one didn't feel like pulling teeth! It's the last main book in that sci fi series I've been working on for a few years now, and it wound up about 100k, though it got a little messy in places. It's got kidnapping! It's got wilderness survival and hurt/comfort! It's got figuring out how to be an adult when all your older siblings are very impressive and protective! Anyway, I love this universe deeply and you're going to see mentions of it below.
What's Coming in 2024
For crafting, I have some ideas! I've got fabric piling up, and since I'm a product crafter rather than a process one and the products I enjoy most are clothes, I'll probably do a lot of that. I have some gray voile and some green linen to use, and I just ordered some wildly silly sci fi border fabric that feels like it ought to be a ruffle on something, perhaps. I want to make a dress for one of my sisters who's the same size as me, and I'd love to figure out a modernized take on the chemise a la reine for a project I was inspired on earlier this year. Plus I have a pattern for a coat that I want to hack and give a hood to, since I don't really have an autumn coat right now. AND of course I have a new tiny baby named after me to absolutely spoil with sewing. On the embroidery front, I've been missing it, and I've been thinking about the embroidered Middle-Earth maps I've seen people make, and wondering if I could do a Tortall map in a similar way. Not sure I have the patience, especially since I'd have to combine several maps to get what I want, but it would be fun! I like drawing little fantasy maps, I might like sewing one too.
I have plenty of ideas for writing, too! My primary fandoms for fanfic will probably continue to be D&D fandoms and Tortall, unless something amazing absolutely enthralls me, but I am hoping to balance a bit more original fic in there too. I have a novella to write in my space universe, but then I really desperately want to go back and edit some of the older books, some of which need more heavy lifting than others. I read a post earlier this year about publishing books on itch.io, which seems a lot more my speed than trying to contend with traditional publishing or The Big River, so assuming some competent edits and me figuring out how the hell pen names work legally, maybe that????
And, if either I'm wildly efficient or if I need to do a first draft rather than a second draft, I have two fantasy universes calling my name, and we'll see which one wins!
But these are all very lofty goals, so I suppose I'll see you all in 2025 to tell you how I did, and I'll try to be kind to myself if I don't make too much headway into that dizzying list.
Crafts
To replace the D&D recaps section, since I'm no longer doing that, a bit of a crafting section! This year had its feasts and famines, crafting-wise, and all of it was sewing and weaving. I made myself three garments, all before summer (a skirt, a flannel bathrobe, a sundress), all pretty good even if they have their flaws. I sewed three baby bibs and a stuffed horse for a friend's baby. I wove three scarves as holiday gifts, and feel like I've finally hit my stride figuring out how to make my edges neat and my scarves long enough to be functional. And that's about that! A lot of my creative energy went to D&D prep this year, but now that I'm a little more confident hopefully I'll be a bit more freed up this year.
Fanfic
I wrote quite a lot of fanfic this year, much to my own surprise! I certainly didn't enter this year expecting to get This Intense about the Tortall fandom, but no, about 100k of the 143k from this year's AO3 total is in the Tortall fandom, across three fics and two ships (though the second ship is a subset of the first one). Now that I've gotten out my feelings about Kel and her immediate circle, I'm hoping future Tortall adventures, should there be any, can explore some other facets of the world. If nothing else, I am loving the minor trend for Alexander of Tirragen/Thom of Trebond and giving some sympathy to some characters who get treated like shit by the narrative. But, Tortall aside, I wrote one Godsfall D&D fic that I am terribly fond of, a round of ficlets that I republished a few of on the AO3, and a fic for the Once Upon a Fic fest. After a lot of debate, I decided there wasn't enough I was excited about in the Yuletide tagset, so I took a year off, and we'll see if I go back next year!
Original Work
Like last year, I only did one original project, but I feel better about that than I did last year. Part of that is because digging deep into Tortall's worldbuilding and politics scratches some of the same itch and I wrote a novel's worth of that. Part of that is because this one didn't feel like pulling teeth! It's the last main book in that sci fi series I've been working on for a few years now, and it wound up about 100k, though it got a little messy in places. It's got kidnapping! It's got wilderness survival and hurt/comfort! It's got figuring out how to be an adult when all your older siblings are very impressive and protective! Anyway, I love this universe deeply and you're going to see mentions of it below.
What's Coming in 2024
For crafting, I have some ideas! I've got fabric piling up, and since I'm a product crafter rather than a process one and the products I enjoy most are clothes, I'll probably do a lot of that. I have some gray voile and some green linen to use, and I just ordered some wildly silly sci fi border fabric that feels like it ought to be a ruffle on something, perhaps. I want to make a dress for one of my sisters who's the same size as me, and I'd love to figure out a modernized take on the chemise a la reine for a project I was inspired on earlier this year. Plus I have a pattern for a coat that I want to hack and give a hood to, since I don't really have an autumn coat right now. AND of course I have a new tiny baby named after me to absolutely spoil with sewing. On the embroidery front, I've been missing it, and I've been thinking about the embroidered Middle-Earth maps I've seen people make, and wondering if I could do a Tortall map in a similar way. Not sure I have the patience, especially since I'd have to combine several maps to get what I want, but it would be fun! I like drawing little fantasy maps, I might like sewing one too.
I have plenty of ideas for writing, too! My primary fandoms for fanfic will probably continue to be D&D fandoms and Tortall, unless something amazing absolutely enthralls me, but I am hoping to balance a bit more original fic in there too. I have a novella to write in my space universe, but then I really desperately want to go back and edit some of the older books, some of which need more heavy lifting than others. I read a post earlier this year about publishing books on itch.io, which seems a lot more my speed than trying to contend with traditional publishing or The Big River, so assuming some competent edits and me figuring out how the hell pen names work legally, maybe that????
And, if either I'm wildly efficient or if I need to do a first draft rather than a second draft, I have two fantasy universes calling my name, and we'll see which one wins!
But these are all very lofty goals, so I suppose I'll see you all in 2025 to tell you how I did, and I'll try to be kind to myself if I don't make too much headway into that dizzying list.
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I will be there cheering if you do decide to publish the space universe in some way, I've long wished to pelt them at my bookclub! :D
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And I appreciate you cheering on the House of Karn very much! I really want to get these out there for the wider world, but definitely want them to be their best selves when I do that. The eternal cycle!
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no subject