Fandom Snowflake - Days 11, 12 and 13

[narya_flame]

Another three-in-one post.

This is actually a set of fandom goals for Day 13, but they cover challenges and writing process, so I'm going to count them for Days 11 and 12 as well.

Cut for length.

 

I'm not setting any targets based on word count, published or otherwise; for me, the “sit and marinade”, “dive down research rabbit holes” and “mess about writing reams of backstory that will never make it into the fic” stages are just as important as hitting the “publish” button on an archive. Sometimes that means I go quiet for a while. Also, real life gets in the way from time to time, but I think that's true for everyone!

 

Anyway, this list is basically just Things I Want To Do, because I know I will enjoy them. It's not supposed to be a roadmap of my year (even though I went with a nice, round 12 goals), or a stick to beat myself with – if anything, it's something for me to look back at if I've got myself into a rut, to remind me what I was feeling enthusiastic about at the start of the year, and to give me an idea of where I could go next. (I'm sure other projects will sneak their way in as the year progresses...)

 

1. Finish The Ways of Paradox

 

AKA the modern day Maglor fic that has taken over the majority of my 2018.

This should be achievable; I'm more than halfway through, and a lot of the scenes were written in my notebooks before I started posting – although characters inevitably change and develop and behave in ways you don't expect (looking at you, Harrison).

I've loved working on this. I've wanted to write it for years and never found the time, but I don't think the waiting has done it any harm.

 

2. Continue writing the Summerland sequel

 

Last summer, Spiced Wine wrote me a gorgeous crossover between her 'verse and 'Paradox', and has kindly given me permission to explore events beyond the end of that fic.

I've written a fair bit by hand and would love to be in a position to publish some of it soon, but even though I adore working on it, this is one of the most challenging pieces I've ever written. Generally I'm a very character-driven writer; I work with small-ish casts in fairly contained locations, and I let my protagonists lead the way through to the end. The Plot (TM) usually sits somewhere on a scale of vague to non-existent.

This fic, though, has loads of moving parts. Geographically it's wide-ranging; there are currently three separate plot threads which all affect each other, albeit from a distance; external events have to line up in certain ways at certain times without feeling like I'm just yanking on narrative strings for convenience – and in Spiced's OC Vanimórë I am dealing with a very literal (and pushy!) deus-ex-machina. It's a challenge. It's a challenge I'm absolutely loving, but it's taking me a long way out of my comfort zone.

At the moment I have no idea where or how it ends; I need to write more to find that out. That's why the goal is “continue” rather than “finish” ;) but I'm learning, and enjoying every minute.  Oh, and I'm getting to write some of my favourite characters in the most gorgeous locations (Claire and Maglor in Venice *sigh* )

 

3. Revisit Three and do some editing

 

This is my long-running outsider POV WIP set in Rohan. I actually started it over ten years ago (!) but it's gone through several iterations and re-writes since then – probably inevitable, with the length of time it's been on the go.

It started life as a set of responses to the '100 Themes' challenge at lotrfanfiction.com. After a few chapters, though, I realised that this was one coherent story, not a group of one-shots. It's been paused several times when real life has interfered with writing – or when other writing has interfered with it – and each time I come back to it with slightly different ideas about where I want it to go, which usually means doing some retcon edits.

Three fell victim to my long, long hiatus from fandom. For various reasons, I barely wrote anything from 2012 - 2017. My most recent attempt to get it going again resulted in two unplanned characters appearing on the page; I love them both, but their presence is going to change the planned story yet again. Also, my worldbuilding skills have improved significantly since I started writing it, there are certain themes that with the benefit of more life experience I wish I'd approached in a different way, and I no longer have such a cavalier attitude to mixing movieverse with bookverse (I'm not saying I never do it, but if I do, it's a deliberate choice made for a specific reason, rather than 'just because'). I still love the characters and I want to give them the closure they deserve, but the existing material needs some tweaking before I can start moving forwards again.

I may not write anything new for it in 2019, but I'd like to get to a point where working on it feels like an option again.

 

4. Decide which of my planned longer pieces I'm going to work on after Paradox, and start researching/worldbuilding/outlining

 

(Not that my characters ever stick to my outlines.)

At the moment I have two long fics in the 'actively writing' stage – Paradox, and the untitled Summerland sequel – which is about as much as I can handle. With any luck, though, Paradox will be done fairly soon, and I don't want to be left in a black hole of “eek, what do I write now?”

I've got a few ideas, some of which I've done a fair bit of thinking and research for anyway:

 

• The earliest Elves at Cuiviénen – maybe from the POV of my Awakened OC, Laiquë (although I suppose they would be Laikwê, at that point in the timeline). The development of Elvish civilisation; relations between the various tribes; some scary grimdark horror stuff.

• Ingwion and Finarfin in post-Darkening Valinor, after Finarfin turns back from the Flight. Friendship; political and familial tension; relationships with the Ainur; working together to rebuild their peoples' lives.

• Elemmakil/Voronwë. I told the start of their story in Comfort and Joy, and would love to explore how their relationship plays out from there. Bittersweet romance; action-adventure; probable smut.

• Post-betrayal Nargothrond, focussing on Orodreth, Finduilas and Celebrimbor. Political machinations; complicated emotions; friendship; darkness; tragedy; hope rising from the ashes.

• Maglor in medieval England, inadvertently creating the myth of Robin Hood.  Action-adventure; swashbuckling; a little melancholy; most likely romance (though not for Maglor).

• Maglor's interactions with Tolkien.  Linguistics; WW1; ethical dilemmas; responsibilities of chroniclers and storytellers.

 

5. Write (or finish writing) and post the following short stories...

 

• Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. Maglor post-WW2, at a country house auction (half-written; got distracted by exchange swap fics!)

• Marginalia. Míriel and Indis, after the birth of Fëanor. Embroidery and untold stories. Gently shippy; nostalgic; sad. (Just an idea at this stage, but one I like.)

• Untitled one-shot with Maedhros/Fingon spending some time together at a remote, smallish outpost in one of their realms. Basically an excuse for me to get geeky about life in a medieval castle, and also write fluff for my original OTP. (Half-written; again, got distracted by exchanges.)

• A Thing about Orcrist through the Ages – kind of like The Red Violin, but centred around a sword and its bearers. (Currently consists of half a dozen bullet points in my notebook.)

• Finrod/Amarië after Finrod's rebirth. (This picture by Alystraea got me thinking about their relationship, and the seeds of a story were sown.)

 

6. Write 2 x character biographies for the Silmarillion Writers' Guild

 

Before Christmas, when I was feeling brave, I signed up to write bios for Vidumavi and Elemmakil. At the moment, what I have is a file of bullet points and notes. Probably one to pick up again after January, as work is crazy right now...

 

7. Co-run the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang again

 

This was probably the scariest thing I did last year – but I had a wonderful co-mod, and even the things that didn't go smoothly were good learning experiences.

Undecided yet on whether I'll write for it as well. I wasn't going to last year, but then I saw the artwork...! We'll see :)

 

8. Participate in the following fandom events...

 

• Back to Middle-earth Month

• Innumerable Stars

• At lease one SWG challenge

 

I may do more if time and other projects allow. I did lots in 2018 (well – lots for me) – My Slashy Valentine, B2MeM, Legendarium Ladies April, TRSB, Sultry in September, Innumerable Stars, Tolkien Secret Santa (twice, as I picked up a pinch hit), the Silm Lady Love Winter Prompt Fest, Fandom Stocking, and the Faerie Slashy Advent Calendar. I was really pleased with what I wrote, and it kept me working on fics throughout the year as I always had a deadline to aim for.

I was going to do Chocolate Box and the Worldbuilding Exchange this time, but work commitments made the thought of hard deadlines feel scary instead of motivating. I'm giving myself a break from swaps for the first part of the year so I can come at B2MeM feeling fresh and excited...doubly so, because we're going to be playing BINGO!!! (I missed out on that in 2012, and I periodically go and look at the Bingo cards from that year and feel mournful, so – yay for taking part this time! Thank you, mods!)

 

9. Complete at least three prompt tables for the One Sentence Only challenge community

 

I'm so glad I found this challenge. I completed my first table towards the back end of 2018, and am partway through my second at the moment (6/16 prompts complete).

 

10. Worldbuilding – pre-Darkening Valinor

 

This isn't an era I'm specifically planning to write this year, but there are stories I want to tell that will need me to “know” it in far more detail than I currently do. I have written a couple of short fics in that time period, but they were very much focussed on character interactions, and the setting played a very secondary role.

Probably won't amount to much more than re-reading relevant canon, making notes, and perusing interesting meta at this stage. Maybe this is something to keep for those days when I want to do something creative, but actually writing much is a struggle. (They happen.)

 

11. Assemble some Thoughts on at least three rare/obscure characters

 

For example, someone who is just a note in a margin, a name in a family tree, or a textual ghost who exists by implication only.

This might be anything from educated guesswork about their allegiances and culture through to actual fic or meta, depending on who I pick and what I've got time for.

 

12. Make monthly themed rec posts on Dreamwidth

 

The Day 2 challenge got me thinking about this – I really don't shout loudly enough when I find a fanwork that I love. So, to encourage myself to be better at this, at the end of each month I'm going to post a selection of recs based on a theme. It won't necessarily be something I've read that month (in fact, one of the themes I have in mind is Old Favourites) but hopefully it will get more people interacting with the stuff I squee over, creators might get a few more comments, I might get recs for similar stuff, and everyone will be happy.

Because January is a busy month for me, the theme this time will be “tea break fics”, i.e. stories of 1k words or less. Suggestions for themes for other months are very, very welcome :)

Comments

[keiliss]

Maglor and the Robin Hood myth would be fascinating and I really like the idea of themed rec posts. And deciding which longer piece to work on after you've finished .... that sounded familiar. Good luck to us both with that, they do exactly what they want in the end, of course.

[narya_flame]

Honestly, I've wanted to write that Maglor/Robin Hood fic for over a decade now, but never got round to it.

they do exactly what they want in the end, of course.

Oh, absolutely.

Best of luck with all your 2019 projects :)

[seleneheart]

I'm eyeing your list and loving every single thing on it. I'm intrigued by the Tolkien Reverse Bang. I had no idea there were any bangs in existence for those works.

Also, I'm especially intrigued by the tale of Orcrist.

I look forward to your productive year!

[narya_flame]

Thank you!

We ran TRSB mostly on Tumblr last year, although we did post updates on Dreamwidth (deadlines etc.). Given the Tumblr collapse, DW may become the primary platform this time, we'll have to see - and also work out how the Tumblr issues have affected artists in our fandom :/

[spiced_wine]

In the light of a horrible year there were 2 fandom-related things that were truly bright lights for me:

Paradox and Encairion’s Herald’s of the Dawn. Honestly, they kept me going.

Also, I adored writing Summerland, it was one of those stories that just dropped on me and I went at full-fling, but the best thing to come out of that was that you then decided to write a sequel; you have no idea how thrilled I am about that!

[narya_flame]

Awww *hugs* I'm so, so glad that people who aren't me have got some enjoyment out of it. I'd have written it anyway, but I didn't expect this level of response from readers.

Summerland was such a wonderful gift. I adore it. It was amazing reading Claire as written by someone else, and I love that you found a way to give them a future together.

[spiced_wine]

You said at the beginning that Paradox was fluffy, and I admit I thought: ‘I am not a huge fan of fluff’ (or of Modern-day) although that’s ‘in general’ and there ar e always exceptions! but because you wrote it, I thought I had to read it, because your writing is so good; you remind me of Pink, in many ways, and now she has gone from the fandom (all fandom) she needs a replacement, lol!

I actually don’t think it’s fluffy at all; it’s just all-round excellent and engrossing. And I love Claire. I had never read any modern-day fics where the ‘heroin’ was not to ‘young’ for me to understand or even be interested in. But Claire is completely brilliant!

[narya_flame]

To be honest, a lot of the darker/more melancholy stuff crept in as part of the redrafting process; the handwritten draft scenes were mostly quite 'light'. I still think it is a broadly positive/happy fic, albeit bittersweet because the reader knows their friendship can't last forever - but that's not the same as fluff, although there are fluffy elements.

Wow, that is such a huge compliment to be compared to Pink o_O she was a huge influence on me though, in terms of how I think about language and imagery. And I'm so glad you like Claire. I'm glad I waited to write the fic, in some ways, because I don't think I could have written Claire ten years ago - and as much as Maglor does like the younger three, I don't think he would have bonded with a heroine who was, say, more like Rosie ;)

[spiced_wine]

Oh, the others are very nice, and I am sure Maglor feels some friendship for them, but no, someone like Rosie, clever though she is, would not be the kind of person he’d bond with, you’re right. Claire has some of her own demons to deal with.

Oh, your imagery is up there with Pink’s!

[narya_flame]

<3

That's so kind of you.

Yes, I like writing the others and I'm very fond of them, but if I were Maglor I wouldn't trust them with half of the information that Claire has. Well, not by choice!

[independence1776]

Those are great things!

(Also, you're welcome.)

[narya_flame]

Thanks <3 hopefully also achievable...!

ETA - I might have submitted my bingo card idea already. I am a bit too excited about this.

[independence1776]

Let's just say that Dawn expected 25 cards in 2012. We fully expected enthusiasm. Somewhere buried in my icon folder is a picture of Gollum holding bingo cards. I did not make that icon. Nor the banner that says, "No sleep until April."

...I have three card ideas and the software to make them. And the notebook from 2012 where I kept track of everything, including a multitude of lists of cards to request for future rounds.

ETA: Mod privileges = looking at cards as they come in. EEEEE! Well, that's one card I'll claim...

[narya_flame]

Somewhere buried in my icon folder is a picture of Gollum holding bingo cards. I did not make that icon. Nor the banner that says, "No sleep until April."

XD

Please can that picture make a special guest appearance!?

ETA: Mod privileges = looking at cards as they come in. EEEEE! Well, that's one card I'll claim...

I know there are other cards with that theme but it's something I can't get enough of. I've tried to avoid too much overlap with the others, and to include some scenarios I haven't seen before.

I had ideas for other cards but I don't want to pay to install Adobe Photoshop Editor. *shrugs* I submitted the one I was most bothered about, anyway!

[independence1776]

The banner is here, though it's for 2012: http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/b2mem2012/banners.php

The icon... will have to wait until after dinner. Pizza!

[narya_flame]

Enjoy! And thank you :D

[independence1776]

And here's the icon! https://b2memsupport.livejournal.com/profile (Yes, we were enthusiastic enough to make a support comm. :P )

I think shadowbrides on LJ made it, though the icon is uncredited there.

[narya_flame]

Heeehee - love it!!!

Sounds like lots of people are getting excited...

[independence1776]

It's really hard to tell, honestly. But it's early days yet.

[independence1776]

Meant to say but ran out of time: I know Grundy is using GIMP, which is free. Also, depending on the number of form responses, we might open up the form to multiple submissions depending on how many come through the form; the limit was simply to keep people from dropping a dozen cards on us and ghosting.

[narya_flame]

Ugh, yes, I completely understand why you wouldn't want that. OK, thank you - I will take a look at GIMP later :D

[spiced_wine]

Had to go and find this on my Pinterest writing board, because you said:

Generally I'm a very character-driven writer; I work with small-ish casts in fairly contained locations, and I let my protagonists lead the way through to the end. The Plot (TM) usually sits somewhere on a scale of vague to non-existent.

And focusing on character is exactly right! I have read stories (published) where the plot just rushed the characters around so you never knew anything about them. Everything starts with the characters— it’s they who have to move the plot!

[narya_flame]

Oh - I love that!

I have always thought I was bad at plot, because half the time I would prefer to plonk my characters next to a fire or send them on a walk and just let them talk to each other. Maybe I've been doing it right after all!?

[spiced_wine]

No-one can care one iota for a book (or fic) unless they find the characters interesting (no matter how amazing the plot) — so yes, of course you have!

[narya_flame]

Well, the Summerland sequel (good grief, I need to think of a title...!) is "plotty" as well as character driven, but there's still a fair bit of just wandering around pretty locations XD

[spiced_wine]

Well obviously a plot is a good thing, because it shows how characters react to things happening, but I sometimes think people worry too much about having a fast-paced plot and not enough about making characters interesting enough to want to read.