#I figure i should post this before tackling those excellent 3 sentence prompts!

[nancyheart11]

How could he? Wild found himself shaking even as the physical sensation of the world around him faded. How could a brother of the sacred sword let Wild believe that he had been the only one to wake up to a Hyrule in ruin, being burdened by the knowledge that if he’d just been enough the first time around this wouldn’t be happening. And worse than the fact Time hid it, is the fact that he could pretend like it never happened. The people in his era weren’t haunted by the ghost’s of the past, mourning and wishing and struggling for just a scrap of what had been. Why had he ever thought that he might be able to measure up to any of the other heroes? He finally got far enough away to just breathe. So he sat on a rock and turned to face the bloody disk settling low in the sky, trying to keep the tears at bay. He had no reason to cry! He’d already known that he had failed in practically every way that matters. When he heard soft footsteps behind him he kept his eyes firmly on the horizon, he wasn’t ready to face his shame yet, but instead of Twilight or Hyrule with soft words like he was expecting he felt a cloth get pushed in his face with a sweet smell, before his eyes closed against his will.

DAY 6: “you lied to me” (Wild)

[louandhazaf]

Annual Writing Self Evaluation

1. List of works published this year:

Loudest Thing in my Head

How Many Licks

Aftercare

Swallow My Words

Always Holding on to Stars

Let’s Not Fight in Vegas

Darkest Night Hour

Got Me On My Tiptoes

Let’s Raise a Cup

Those Summer Nights

how long nothing lasts

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

I’ll Be Your Pride

Polish Rider

What I’ve Wanted to Tell You

So When the World is Cold

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

I have two that stick out to me.

The first is Swallow My Words because it’s on the longer side (for me...) but I was still happy with the pacing which is normally where I trip myself up when writing long fics. And I just really love those characters so much. What I’ve Wanted to Tell You is the first part of the series and I have two other fics that will go into that universe that I just need time to write, but sometimes I’ll just think about what those two are up to these days.

The second is how long nothing lasts because I think I have a lot of emotion in there without it being soppy or overdone. And to me, it was fun coming up with a not-so-literal interpretation of the prompt (... um, even if at the end I had to sneak it in there because I don’t think it was entirely successful without it) and then it’s been absolutely fascinating to see the reaction it’s gotten after I posted it.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

Honestly, I’m actually really proud of all my fics this year, for a variety of reasons: pushing myself to write new pairings/plots I normally wouldn’t tackle/under-represented smut/shorter fics/unhappy endings. In 2016 I posted a fic that I wasn’t 100% proud of, and it still raises my hackles a bit thinking of it, so I promised myself I wouldn’t do that this year.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I chose a bit from Swallow My Words because they’re not great at communicating and I really like how dramatic they both are at this moment as they’re trying to navigate through their own priorities.

While Louis dug through the pantry for the popcorn, Harry idly shuffled some papers on the counter. The corner of one of the sheets near the bottom caught his eye. It had the state university logo. He tugged it a bit so he could sneak a peek. Harry hadn’t gotten his letter yet and Louis said he was still waiting to hear. Clearly he was lying, the word “congratulations” in the first sentence gave that away.

Louis pushed the food around on the shelves, a cacophony of packages rustling and knocking against each other. His voice was muffled from inside the pantry. “I just think it’s funny how you act like you’re so proud and strong, yet you won’t stand up to those assholes. And you’re supposed to be their captain.”

Right. Well, he was glad to hear what Louis really thought of him. It was almost like Louis went to a super liberal private school where they taught things like sex ed, gender studies, and women’s history, where they had a diverse staff who upheld their zero tolerance bullying policy, and where there were already a few out kids. It was almost like he and Louis were living through completely different school experiences. It was almost like Louis hadn’t listened to a fucking word he had been saying for years as he tried to navigate the minefield that was his own school.

And now the person who’d been his rock, his source of comfort through it all, thought he was a coward. He’d been lying to Harry about the acceptance letter from State because he didn’t want to go to college with him or play on a team with such a chicken shit. Louis was probably trying to figure out how to break up with him right now.

“Yeah, real fucking funny, Lou.” Harry turned and left the kitchen in silence. He was at the front door and shoving his feet into his shoes before Louis probably realized he was alone in the kitchen. He slammed the door and caught the tail end of Louis calling after him.

5. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

All of them? But also when ao3 emails me and I see that one reader has kudos multiple fics of mine in a short time. That always makes me overjoyed.  

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

Every single fic that I posted in 2017 had a deadline, whether self-imposed because of a milestone/birthday that I wanted to hit, or was written as part of a bigger challenge/collection/exchange. Anytime I tried to write something without a deadline, it got swept to the side. (To be fair to me, this is also because of the amount of stuff I ended up modding & pinch hitting, which meant I had a lot of last minute stuff that ended up taking priority.) So, writing for *myself* I think was really really hard this year. I’m making that a priority in 2018.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I think the Coach character in Swallow My Words was a surprise. I always knew that in the end he’d be there for Harry, but how it all unraveled was all them.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

This year I’ve written more, and faster, than I ever have before. I volunteered to pinch hit a few fics and doing those really stretched me with both writing concise fics quickly and finding my voice in fics that I might never have written otherwise. They were a fun challenge. For the first time, I also did a canon fic, which is still super scary and which I’m not sure I’m going to do again, but I’m really glad I was able to follow through with it. 

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

This is an excellent question that I don’t have an answer to... maybe I’d like to do some more experimental fics? I know I need to work on dialogue, so maybe that too? 

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Oh wow. Um, I have a lot. First and foremost, I’m going to say gettingaphdinlarry (@gettingaphdinlarry) for being the most thorough and wonderful beta. Anytime I scream-typed my histrionics and doubted myself “AH! I CAN’T DO THIS”/“THIS IS TERRIBLE”/“WHY AM I DOING THIS?” she was there with calm reassurance that I could, in fact, do it and it was never as terrible as I thought. She’s so much fun to work with because I learn new things every single time she betas for me and I always end up laughing at myself. Plus, her writing is incredible, so getting to work with someone like that is fabulous. Please go read her works. Please. 

I have really really really been into short fics at the moment and in particular myownspark (@myownsparknow) & jiksa (@jiksax) & softly have all written such concise, powerful fics where so much is left unsaid in a really satisfying way. I love when authors trust in themselves enough to let the reader fill in the white space surrounding the words and I hope to do more of that in the future. 

And last, but certainly not least, fullonlarrie (@fullonlarrie) for literally talking to me about fics and writing day and in and day out this year. I cherish your endless support, I’m in awe of your writing speed and how you’re able to spin up stories, and I want us to be friends forever.  

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

yes, of course, always.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

I did what any self respecting person would do in this situation and I Googled what better writers than me had to say on this matter. 

I think the two main ideas I’d like to share are:

“I have a sort of idea that isn’t really an idea. .... I just show up in front of the computer. Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too. If she doesn’t show up invited, eventually she just shows up.” -- Isabel Allende

This is something that’s hard for me to remember sometimes as well, but honestly just sitting down and doing it is the very best advice I think there is. And I’ll follow that up with this, because I think they’re linked:

“You have to finish things — that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.” -- Neil Gaiman

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I have a boatload of WIPs that I need to finish in 2018. Like... 7. PLUS I’m doing the @1dshortficfest so I’m excited for that. 

14. Tag three writers whose answers you’d like to read.

I’m not tagging anyone, but I know a lot of you writers are out there and I would love to see your answers, so please consider doing this!

*All answers should be about works published in 2017. Also, you can skip any questions you hate or don’t want to answer, but please leave them on the list so that others can do them if they want. 

(also, here’re my responses from 2016)