WIP Challenge - Check In, Day 18 - Wednesday

[the_rck]

Poll #14238

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

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Today I

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planned
2 (66.7%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

wrote
1 (33.3%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

edited
0 (0.0%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

rested
0 (0.0%)

did something else
0 (0.0%)

How I feel about that is

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Mean: 3.67 Median: 4 Std. Dev 1.25

Dreadful 1		0 (0.0%)
2		1 (33.3%)
3		0 (0.0%)
4		1 (33.3%)
5		1 (33.3%)
6		0 (0.0%)
7		0 (0.0%)
8		0 (0.0%)
9		0 (0.0%)
Spectacular 10		0 (0.0%)

What's the most obscure canon you've ever written? How about the most widely known? How did you feel about each?

The most widely known canon I've written is Harry Potter. I did it for Remix, and I've got a couple of crossovers that include Harry Potter stuff. The most obscure canon I've written is probably But We Are Not of Earth by Jean Karl. I wrote that for Yuletide. It wasn't my best story because I got really quite sick during the last couple of weeks of the writing time and couldn't give the story what it needed.

Writing a widely known canon meant more readers than I usually get (the fandom I write most is only moderately popular. It's an older anime/manga fandom. I'm lucky if a story gets 100 hits on AO3). It also, though, made me feel more aware that I might make mistakes and get called on them. There's a point at which I have to take the plunge and assume that I know a canon well enough to write it. I fact check some details, but I have to trust myself, too. (This can lead to screw ups, as it did with my one Pretender story.)

Writing an obscure canon is kind of cozy. I know that I'm not going to get many readers, so I can focus on making the story what I (or the recipient in an exchange situation) want it to be. Chances are that readers will be less critical in some ways because finding a story in that fandom is so rare. (They're more critical in other ways because they can't just move on to the next story and hope to find satisfaction there.)

Comments

[lilly_c]

I'm doing a little planning on my big bang for a couple of hours because I need to find a way of explaining death to a child (aged 3) and I haven't got a clue about how to actually approach it without it sounding scary. Hopefully a rewatch of the ep I need for reference will help. I also decided to do the gen version for it too.

The most widely known canon I've written are X-Files, all Law & Order's and SG1, there are others too but they're the main ones that I can think of just now. The most obscure I've written are Killer Instinct, and to an extent Taggart. I once wrote a short POV fic for Lie With Me.

I'm quite fond of the obscure because it feels like I have the playground to myself and can do anything at all. I do like going back to the widely known too but I try to make sure I write gen or a pairing that isn't A/B and to use ideas and themes that haven't been done to death, especially with episode tag/related fics.

[rebecca2525]

I feel like I'm doing the slowest outlining ever. I just hope this means that the problems I face now get solved for good and that I can write all the faster once I've finished the outline...

My biggest fandoms are Harry Potter, Star Trek and James Bond, though I've only written one story for each. I get lazy when there's enough fic for me to read. But the regular kudos I get are quite nice!

But mostly I write for smaller fandoms, and for three fandoms, I am not able to find any other fics than mine. I agree that small fandoms are cozy. I like that anyone's just excited to see fic, and knowing that only a few thankful people will look at my fic reduces the pressure for me. On the other hand, my last story was for a pairing many might find weird, and sometimes I feel a little ... exposed? with it being the only fic out there.

[linaewen]

Writing is impossible. I'm just too busy. Maybe next week!

My most widely known canon is Lord of the Rings. That is my main fandom which includes all my writing except for one story. Even though it's a huge fandom, there is room for a lot of interpretation of characters, so that makes it interesting. There is a vast amount of research material available, as well, and I love that.

My obscure canon is Major (anime/manga). You can't find anything more different from Lord of the Rings than an anime/manga about baseball! There are very few stories in this canon, so I don't have many readers, but I don't mind. I enjoy writing something different, even if there are very few following it!