#and that's on my different pseud so people subscribed still get the notif but you don't immediately see them on my ao3

[allsassnoclass]

2021 Writing Self-Evaluation

Hello all! I saw this tag game in another fandom and thought some writers in this corner (including me) might enjoy it!  My answers got kind of long so lots of them are under the keep reading!

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: as of tonight, 30 for this year!

2. Word count posted for the year: 132,751 on ao3, but if I add everything I solely posted on tumblr this year as well the total is 181,198 (i wrote a lot more prompt fics than i thought!!! wowza!!!!)

3. Fandoms I wrote for: 5sos, 911, One Direction, All Time Low

4. Pairings: mashton, malum, cashton, lashton, muke, roylum, mirry, zouis, jalex, 5sos ot4, and buddie on ao3, but i also did a cake prompt on tumblr!

5. Story with the most Kudos/Bookmarks/Comments: kudos are my two buddie fics, lighthouse in the storm and One True Thing, but coming in third is Kiss Me (x3)!  For bookmarks it’s the same but with the first two swapped, and for comment threads we have 1. One True Thing, 2. if we make it through december, and 3. unmute

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): if we make it through december!!!! this fic is my longest one so far, and i’m really, really proud of the quality.  i think i did a good job being intentional with my storytelling, and i think the writing style worked for the story, plus i pulled off a nice extended metaphor!  i’m planning on doing a director’s cut for it to talk about it more, but i’m also really proud of myself simply for finishing it early and giving it time to rest before i edited!  it was my nano project and i Struggled some days, but ultimately the fic got finished and turned out great.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): i’m proud of all of my works in different ways and i don’t really want to focus on negatives, but i really wish i had gotten further in unmute.  i initially didn’t want to go over a month without updating, and that definitely isn’t what happened and i honestly feel really bad and unhappy about it.  the story itself is good, but it’s really not good for reader engagement to go this long between updates, and honestly it feels like this fic is hanging over my head at every moment. the thought that i might still be writing it in a year is not a happy one to me

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: honestly, every review of if we make it through december has been really nice.  i didn’t expect anyone to cry! and five people told me they did! jess also simply said “absolutely no words” which was neat, and team said “this story changed me” which was also neat.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: there were a few for different reasons!  during the summer, i just genuinely had no time to do it, which was upsetting because i wanted to, but circumstances weren’t letting me. i started bringing a little notebook around with me so i could write fic at work while the kids were doing arts and crafts.  i also struggled the two weeks before halloween.  i had the halloween fic event to complete, and it was a Struggle to do so.  I simply didn’t have the right combination of the time-inspiration-motivation triangle, but I had to get the story out

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: i wasn’t really expecting to write zouis, but they snuck in there right at the end! OH ALSO THE FIRST ROYLUM FIC WAS THIS YEAR. that was on january 3 i think. when i woke up on that day i did not anticipating writing roylum but i did! and i also wrote another one for them later!

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: i really like the third to last scene of if we make it through december, but i can’t copy/paste it without spoiling things.  i’m also really bad at picking favorite excerpts.  i have a few that i like but otherwise i think most of my stuff is neutral-good

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: honestly, i churned out a lot of words this year! i think i got better at persisting in my writing.  i know that quantity shouldn’t be my focus, but i have so many ideas that i want to write, and it frustrates me that not all of them will get written, so it makes me happy when i do write a lot!  i think i also have stretched different writing muscles this year, branching out a bit more with what i write (whether it’s pairing, genre, or trope) and i like that.  i also honestly have gotten a lot better at not comparing myself to others. there are other writers who are more popular than me and that’s just how it is! and there are writers who are able to produce a lot more (and longer) work than me and that’s also just how it is!  and i can’t let myself be too upset when specific works of mine don’t get traction. this is something that i still struggle with, but i’ve gotten better at it this year, and i hope to keep getting better next year!

13. How do you hope to grow next year: besides not comparing myself to other people, i want to stretch even more muscles!!! write more different tropes and different pairings (like a non-ficmas muke on my ao3!!! i want that to happen!)!! versatility! i also would like to be a little bit gentler on myself when it comes to my writing productivity.  i shouldn’t let how much i write dictate how much i’m enjoying writing. also, i’m not sure this is exactly an area for growth, but i would love to write all the prompts sitting in my inbox right now and be able to clear that

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): I’ve really enjoyed @squishmichael and @lukemichaelcalumashton’s presence this year!  It’s really nice having two writers who also love the pairings that i do to a high degree, and taylor and monse are both very supportive and leave very nice comments :)  i’ve also really enjoyed talking through aus with @igarbagecannoteven!!! megs is a great sounding board and i love talking through ideas with her, plus she’s typically one of my earliest kudos on a work and i really like seeing her ao3 handle in my kudos notifications <3

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: yeah, lots of little things that i probably can’t remember! i stole some inspiration from a rough day at my job for this installment of college mashton, and i sometimes sprinkle little real life things in my writing (like luke’s family shoveling his neighbor’s sidewalk because she’s elderly in if we make it through december, or luke’s socks in the cake prompt).

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: you do genuinely get better with practice!  keep writing! try different tropes and styles!  but also, it’s a good idea to do some reading, too, which i know is what everyone says, but i get into a writing mode and then don’t read anything (fic or novels) for weeks.  it’s good to remind yourself what other people’s writing sounds like, especially if they’re a professional, because it can show you some elements that you might want to improve or add to your own writing

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: I have a single parent au that i need to finish by may! i really enjoy single parent aus and this one will be relatively easy i just haven’t worked on it for a few months.  I also am excited about the mashton dance au!!!!! i have a particular fake dating fic that i’d love to write, and i think it’d be very cool if i managed to finish the ghost au finally.  i also might not finish unmute (in an ideal world i definitely would, but i’m also trying to be realistic), but i hope i get to a particular chapter that i’ve been looking forward to writing since i started outlining.  looking at this list i don’t know if all of these will get done but i think it sure would be cool if they did!

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read. there’s a lot of awesome writers in this corner of tumblr so i hope to see this on my dash a lot, but for now i tag anyone who wants to do it, @clumsyclifford, @daydadahlias, @squishmichael, @lukemichaelcalumashton, @igarbagecannoteven and @lifewasradical to start out (only if you guys want to!)