Writing: Change of Direction
Okay, I know some people aren't going to like this very much, but I've given this some serious thought and I've decided to shift my writing focus much more towards writing original fiction and less to writing fan fiction.
That is not to say that I'm going to quit writing fan fiction, I love it too much to do that!, but I do have a dream of being published professionally some day. Between that and the fact that I've had quite a lot of inspiration and desire to write more original stuff lately, I've decided to keep starting new fan fics to an absolute minimum.
I won't be able to stop them entirely, especially drabbles, as they're so easy to start and write, not to mention that I have a few more fics quite well planned out already, but it is definitely my goal. In one or two cases I'm even going to twist existing plot ideas around to become original pieces, not that this would work with the majority of my ideas, though.
Behind the cuts below, you'll find a list of each of the fics that I've started for the 3 fandoms I write for. As you can see, these are not trivial lists (especially for Numb3rs!) so I won't be vanishing from fandom any time soon.
In alphabetical order (as that's how they appear within my Started folder for this fandom):
A Beautiful Day: a fic written in response to a challenge posted on the don_robin comm. It was started and interrupted by NaNo last year and by the fact that Hydra seemed to throw a wrench in the works and I needed to see the episodes after it to be sure that I didn't need to change some major details. I didn't see those episodes until earlier this year. This is set in the same 'verse as The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same.
Interlude drabbles: Three drabbles to go along with Morning Interlude, all focusing on the relationship between Margaret and Don. These are mostly done.
Crimin4l Numb3rs: There are supposed to be 100 drabbles in this series, I've posted 20, I've another 15 finished and a further 8 started. I can't yet post the ones that I've finished as I'm posting them in order of the prompt words and some were written out of order (I was following particular threads that run through the series).
Elegant by Design: This is the multi-chapter fic that I started writing before In a Mirror, Darkly but which I never planned to start posting until I finished it. It got pushed to the side by both In a Mirror, Darkly and NaNo. A large chunk of this fic is already written and it features Megan!
Execution: A planned 5 chapter fic focusing on, surprise!, Don. Dark and angsty.
Family Secrets: This and a potential secondary slash spin-off series though the latter is looking more and more unlikely, even considering that a lot of that has been written. We'll see.
In a Mirror, Darkly: This will definitely be finished, I've only got 2-3 chapters to go on it!
Untitled: loozy's birthday fic that is hopelessly late (sorry!). This is also a response to the February Clue Challenge over at hurt_don and is nearly finished.
Working Title: Meet the Parents: Don goes to Robin's place after a really bad day at work and finds that she's got some unexpected company. To make matters worse, Robin's not home yet.
No Good Deed...: A fugitive Don and Billy captured unexpectedly shows up in LA with some shocking news for Don... and some completely uncharacteristic behavior. The question is, can they trust his intel? A drabble series using a series of numb3rs100 prompt, in order!
Onverwacht: I have several more drabbles for this series finished but, as with some of the cases listed above, they're out of order and can't be posted yet.
Working Title: Shot: A fic that completely took me off-guard. I couldn't even remember writing what I had nor where I planned to take it when I looked at it a few months ago and since then it has blossomed significantly.
Stardust: Quite a few of the parts of this story are done, but, yep you guessed it, not the ones that need to be posted next.
Untitled: A fic focusing on the events of The Fifth Man, originally started right after the episode aired and then abandoned in favor of something else (I can't remember what now).
Waking Nightmare: A prequel (kinda) to Destination Nightmare that is all but completely finished, it just needs some work to connect the various parts I've written. This takes us back to the events right after McBride's attack.
There are actually a few more pieces than what I list here within my Started folder, but not all of them are truly developed and I suspect they'll all languish there forever.
Echoes from the Past: a WIP that I've seriously neglected (sorry!) though I know exactly what I want to write and have the whole story mapped out. It's one of those fics that really got away from me in size and I made the mistake of instantly editing each chapter as it was finished, which puts me out of the mood for writing the next bit.
Magical Echoes: The first of several planned fics within the greater Echoes 'verse. This is the only one that has been started and may well be the only one that will ever be written, depending on how things go.
Snape... the Deadly Bunny co-authored with tallymark: Despite the title, this isn't total crack (though I will admit it is partial crack, yes that does exist). We wrote most of what was originally going to be chapter 1 in a 4 chapter arc, though I think we may just have to concede defeat and simply leave it as a stand alone if we ever manage to finish the first bit.
I have to admit, I was surprised when I looked in the Started folder for this fandom. I'd thought I only had 2 fics that I'd never finished for this fandom but found another for which I'd written quite a lot and thus am not willing to completely reject out of hand.
Decoding Enigma: a WIP about Luke, Rogue Squadron and the way in which the Alliance was able to decode the blue prints of the second Death Star they managed to get their hands on. I have to admit, I thought about this fic again when I recently was able to see and touch a real Enigma coding machine.
The Search for Sidious: a sequel I started long ago to The Quest for the Jewel of Zenda. As such, it would totally ignore movies 2 & 3 in favor for 1 and the universe I created within the first fic. This one is a little lower on my list of priorities as it so totally AU in a way I don't normal write.
Working Title: Hoth: This is the fic I completely and utterly forgot about. As it is, I only half remember it now as I haven't had a chance to reread what I've written, but there's quite a lot, so, we'll see.
Please note, none of the above lists are promises of any kind, just what I hope to be able to finish at some point even as I switch the majority of my focus over to writing original fiction.
That is not to say that I'm going to quit writing fan fiction, I love it too much to do that!, but I do have a dream of being published professionally some day. Between that and the fact that I've had quite a lot of inspiration and desire to write more original stuff lately, I've decided to keep starting new fan fics to an absolute minimum.
I won't be able to stop them entirely, especially drabbles, as they're so easy to start and write, not to mention that I have a few more fics quite well planned out already, but it is definitely my goal. In one or two cases I'm even going to twist existing plot ideas around to become original pieces, not that this would work with the majority of my ideas, though.
Behind the cuts below, you'll find a list of each of the fics that I've started for the 3 fandoms I write for. As you can see, these are not trivial lists (especially for Numb3rs!) so I won't be vanishing from fandom any time soon.
In alphabetical order (as that's how they appear within my Started folder for this fandom):
A Beautiful Day: a fic written in response to a challenge posted on the don_robin comm. It was started and interrupted by NaNo last year and by the fact that Hydra seemed to throw a wrench in the works and I needed to see the episodes after it to be sure that I didn't need to change some major details. I didn't see those episodes until earlier this year. This is set in the same 'verse as The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same.
Interlude drabbles: Three drabbles to go along with Morning Interlude, all focusing on the relationship between Margaret and Don. These are mostly done.
Crimin4l Numb3rs: There are supposed to be 100 drabbles in this series, I've posted 20, I've another 15 finished and a further 8 started. I can't yet post the ones that I've finished as I'm posting them in order of the prompt words and some were written out of order (I was following particular threads that run through the series).
Elegant by Design: This is the multi-chapter fic that I started writing before In a Mirror, Darkly but which I never planned to start posting until I finished it. It got pushed to the side by both In a Mirror, Darkly and NaNo. A large chunk of this fic is already written and it features Megan!
Execution: A planned 5 chapter fic focusing on, surprise!, Don. Dark and angsty.
Family Secrets: This and a potential secondary slash spin-off series though the latter is looking more and more unlikely, even considering that a lot of that has been written. We'll see.
In a Mirror, Darkly: This will definitely be finished, I've only got 2-3 chapters to go on it!
Untitled: loozy's birthday fic that is hopelessly late (sorry!). This is also a response to the February Clue Challenge over at hurt_don and is nearly finished.
Working Title: Meet the Parents: Don goes to Robin's place after a really bad day at work and finds that she's got some unexpected company. To make matters worse, Robin's not home yet.
No Good Deed...: A fugitive Don and Billy captured unexpectedly shows up in LA with some shocking news for Don... and some completely uncharacteristic behavior. The question is, can they trust his intel? A drabble series using a series of numb3rs100 prompt, in order!
Onverwacht: I have several more drabbles for this series finished but, as with some of the cases listed above, they're out of order and can't be posted yet.
Working Title: Shot: A fic that completely took me off-guard. I couldn't even remember writing what I had nor where I planned to take it when I looked at it a few months ago and since then it has blossomed significantly.
Stardust: Quite a few of the parts of this story are done, but, yep you guessed it, not the ones that need to be posted next.
Untitled: A fic focusing on the events of The Fifth Man, originally started right after the episode aired and then abandoned in favor of something else (I can't remember what now).
Waking Nightmare: A prequel (kinda) to Destination Nightmare that is all but completely finished, it just needs some work to connect the various parts I've written. This takes us back to the events right after McBride's attack.
There are actually a few more pieces than what I list here within my Started folder, but not all of them are truly developed and I suspect they'll all languish there forever.
Echoes from the Past: a WIP that I've seriously neglected (sorry!) though I know exactly what I want to write and have the whole story mapped out. It's one of those fics that really got away from me in size and I made the mistake of instantly editing each chapter as it was finished, which puts me out of the mood for writing the next bit.
Magical Echoes: The first of several planned fics within the greater Echoes 'verse. This is the only one that has been started and may well be the only one that will ever be written, depending on how things go.
Snape... the Deadly Bunny co-authored with tallymark: Despite the title, this isn't total crack (though I will admit it is partial crack, yes that does exist). We wrote most of what was originally going to be chapter 1 in a 4 chapter arc, though I think we may just have to concede defeat and simply leave it as a stand alone if we ever manage to finish the first bit.
I have to admit, I was surprised when I looked in the Started folder for this fandom. I'd thought I only had 2 fics that I'd never finished for this fandom but found another for which I'd written quite a lot and thus am not willing to completely reject out of hand.
Decoding Enigma: a WIP about Luke, Rogue Squadron and the way in which the Alliance was able to decode the blue prints of the second Death Star they managed to get their hands on. I have to admit, I thought about this fic again when I recently was able to see and touch a real Enigma coding machine.
The Search for Sidious: a sequel I started long ago to The Quest for the Jewel of Zenda. As such, it would totally ignore movies 2 & 3 in favor for 1 and the universe I created within the first fic. This one is a little lower on my list of priorities as it so totally AU in a way I don't normal write.
Working Title: Hoth: This is the fic I completely and utterly forgot about. As it is, I only half remember it now as I haven't had a chance to reread what I've written, but there's quite a lot, so, we'll see.
Please note, none of the above lists are promises of any kind, just what I hope to be able to finish at some point even as I switch the majority of my focus over to writing original fiction.