Heya *waves* thank you so much for the second ask! 🙂 I hope that it wasn’t because I got tired and went to bed and you thought tumblr ate the first one. Anyway I answered #12 here so I substituted #13 I hope that’s ok 🙂

13. Aside from fanfic, are there any other fan works you’d like to try creating? Fanart, or fanvids, gifsets, or podfic?
I’ve already done some fanart for Rumbelle. I think I’ve already admitted that back in the day *cough* over a decade ago, I did all the fanworks that were a thing back then. I made fanvids, audio mixes, graphics. I did music playlists and created fake CD covers. I ran an indepth fansite for my first ship obsession and does anyone remember fanlistings? Yeah I was all over those.

I even made one of those “choose your own adventure” story games *looks through archive* hmm I can’t find anything else. Anyway gifsets weren’t a thing back then so far as I know and neither was podfic. I would love to be able to make gifs but I don’t have the patience. I do actually now have a computer and a program that could do it (that wasn’t true a month ago) but I don’t have the video files and I really don’t need to get into making anything else.

Fanart though. Yeah expect to see more of that from me 🙂

16. Do you have that one fanfic that you wrote a ton for, ages ago, but never posted? Will this be the year, come hell or high water, that it WILL get finished and posted?
I have over 10k on a season 1 AU written, and several thousand in planning for it which goes up to Neverland. That was my first Once Upon a Time fanfic actually and I’ve talked about it a bit. That will never see the light of day though because a) it would be a mammoth project, that 10k only took me up to day 2 of Emma being in Storybrooke and b) Regina had an OC love interest and with this fandoms ship-wars *shudders* I don’t dare.

Changed my answer because I forgot about Nightwalkers!! How could I forget about Nightwalkers? I have I think 3 chapters/12k on this and oh sweet merlin yes. I’ve been talking about writing this since summer 2016. So WIPs and then this for sure. Don’t let me start anything else *slaps self*

11. Would you like to try any new fanfic genres or tropes in 2018?
Always! Only I’m not quite sure what I haven’t done. *thinks* historical maybe? The Beauty and the Tragedy was more gothic/fantasy. Oh heist! I do have that on my list. Hmm I can’t think of anything else, anyone care to help me out? 🙂

As for tropes I always find those hard. You know those author questions when it says favourite trope/hated trope? My mind instantly goes blank and I can’t think of any tropes and it’s the same with this. I wish there was a reference list, that would be so helpful.

12. Will you change anything about the way you edit or rewrite in 2018?
I don’t think so because my method has developed over years of practice. I’m not saying it’s a good method but it works for me *shrugs*

14. Have you ever lost large chunks of your work in the past, due to not backing up your work? Will you change your methods in 2018?
Actually *touch wood quick* I’ve never lost any work. I don’t delete anything either which is why I’ve got 20 year old stories on my hard drive. They are awful because I was nine but they exist.

I keep everything on an external hard drive in case something happens and I need to wipe the PC. I also have a memory stick backup, an email backup and a google drive backup. This is weird because this only applies to my creative files, I’m terrible at remembering to backup anything else. So if the question was “have you ever lost anything important?” then ohhhhhh yes 🙁

15. Do you foresee any personal or professional obstacles in 2018, that would keep you from creating fanworks?
Well … yeah heh. Last September I started my second attempt at university. So far, so good, I’ve handed everything in and attended approximately 98% of classes. What marks I’ve had back have been ok and I’d like to keep it that way (or do better) so obviously uni has #1 priority.

Then there’s the fact that I’m me and I’m my own worst enemy. My mental health is a constant battle. I always feel really guilty, like I’m lying to people because it’s not that I don’t have the time, it’s just that I don’t have the energy. I liken it to being a video game character with limited resources. Fanworks used to be all I had to do so they got the resources but now there’s uni and quite often I just don’t have anything left.

I’m going to do my best so hopefully *crosses fingers* 🙂

20. Any plans to work on original fiction this year?
Yup! I suppose that’s something else that would be an obstacle to creating fanworks. I’ve already admitted that my plans for January are to finish my novel, which probably pushes all fanworks back to February. When I joined tumblr (May 2016) I figured I could do both and for a while that was true. One day it might be true again. I need my mojo back. I wrote 177 words yesterday which is not enough. To do ‘all the things’ I need a lot more.

Wheee thank you so much for the ask!

I just answered #1 here 🙂 so I’m going to replace it with #6 because that’s the only other question on the list I haven’t answered.

6. Which yet-to-be-started fic is first on your list?
*pulls up ideas list* Urk … ok I’m going to take “yet to be started” literally which helps me out as I can *whistles* ignore ones I technically should do first because they are part-started/promised.

Yikes I still can’t choose. The more I read through the list, the more unsure I become. I like my ideas – this is a problem. Erm well I can’t do the one with all the feels until I’ve finished PLL as I can only take one mammoth feel fic at a time. So either of the two Swanfire/Rumbelle Enchanted Forest AU’s or the ConArtist!Belle, Mark!Gold fic.

Really though I could practically generate a random number to pick. I want to write all the things!

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is 2018 the year?
To be honest no I don’t think there is. Either I want to write it and it’s on my list, or I don’t want to and it’s not. There’s nothing I want to write but don’t feel brave enough. There’s plenty I’m not in the mood for. I think I wrote way too much smut in April and it’s completely killed my desire to write anymore. So all my fics which included smut either have to be changed to be T-rated or are permanently on hold.

Whoop this was fun! Thanks for asking me all the questions 🙂

*hugs you* you are the best! Thank you so much 🙂

1. Do you have a word-count goal for 2018?
For fanfic? No but … I really want to finish Painting Layers of Love so I’m thinking maybe 100k minimum.

2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc?
I decided during RCIJ that would be my last exchange. I felt a pang when sign-ups for RSS went up but I just can’t do it anymore. I have far too many of my own projects and I don’t have time and I can’t cope with the stress.

Please don’t get me wrong I love the community aspect and I would never have met @little-inkstone without RSS 2016. I talk with her most days and I’m so glad we became friends. Exchanges just are too much pressure for me these days.

Now fic challenges? That’s a whole other kettle of fish. That’s like Monthly Rumbelling, no stress, just do it if you can and don’t worry if you can’t. I like those! BUT I do still have to prioritise my own projects so as much as I might like to participate I don’t know if I can/will.

3. Do you anticipate writing for a new fandom in 2018? Which one?
I really shouldn’t, especially not until I’ve finished my WIPs. I mean starting something new before you’ve finished is … I can’t think of the word. It seems like a bad thing to do, like I’d be letting people down.

That being said I would love to write Agents of Shield. There isn’t a bad ship there (Yo-Yo/Mack, May/Coulson and Fitzsimmons of course heh), and while I would have once said I didn’t like Daisy she’s improved. It’s just all round an incredible show. I’m also utterly in love with Killjoys (bounty hunters in space!!!!) and then there’s always the marvel movies.

I want to write what happened to Lady Sif because she wasn’t around in Thor: Ragnarok, and I want to do a Maria Hill-centric story. I did write one little ficlet from Tony Stark’s POV last year and I wouldn’t mind doing that again, he’s an awesome character. Plus there’s always the Star Wars movies. I find Anakin quite fascinating and I went into the Last Jedi with my fingers crossed going “please don’t make me fic it” because if Finn had been short-changed… I kinda want to write a Finn story to be honest. I love Finn 🙂

Basically I want to write all the things! Don’t worry, I almost certainly won’t.

4. Do you think you’ll stop writing for a fandom in 2018? Which one?
I currently only write for one fandom – Rumbelle, and I’m not stopping that anytime soon. Rumbelle are inspiration itself, I have enough ideas on the list to keep me writing fic for years to come. So nope, can’t stop, won’t stop 🙂

Hmm … yes and no.

I don’t think I do anything particularly wrong in how I interact with other writers BUT I do feel that I need to make more of an effort. I think it might have been last year I made a resolution to read and review older fics, but I haven’t even been able to keep up with current ones.

#SupportFellowWriters sounds like a sound-bite but I really do believe it’s important. Writing can be lonely, it can feel like screaming into the void. I very much hope that I’m seen as someone who is approachable and friendly. I would willingly help any writer I could. Not that I’m saying I would be able to help but I can cheer and *wave pom-poms* at least 🙂

So basically I want to keep being me but I want to try harder. The comment fairy needs to go visiting a lot more often.

Ask Me? New Year fic meme

Thanks so much for the ask!! 🙂 *hugs*

Well … I can’t post a snippet as I don’t have anything written on any WIPs. I’m kinda terrible that way. Once I start a chapter I usually finish it in reasonably short order and then I post it. Waiting is hard, I just like to post things when I have them. Although I’m more terrible for it having been 11 months on one and 9 months on another without me working on them. Where has the time gone?

Anyway I know you want me to say Painting Layers of Love. I WANT to say Painting Layers of Love. It’s just that fic is nowhere near done. It’s going to be double or triple the length at least I would think. So from a personal point of view it makes more sense to me to finish the shorter WIP so I have less to worry about.

I am trying super hard this year. I know it’s only the 2nd and so I have tons of time to screw up but I’m hopeful? I’ve organised myself to the nth degree, my alarm is going off at 5:50 so I can be at my desk for 6am for a guaranteed writing hour every day of the year. I know, I know, I said I was going to do that before and then got tired and didn’t manage it. I’m not promising that won’t happen again but I have two weeks to get used to the schedule before uni starts again.

I really, really, really want to do better. I want to write more, I want to finish stories, I want to get stuff done. I don’t want to look back at 2018, the way I look back at 2017, and feel like I totally let myself/the world down.

TLDR: Under My Skin will be finished first because that shouldn’t be more than five chapters and then I can cross it off the list.

Ask Me? New Year fic meme

Yay I haven’t done asks in ages. I forgot how fun it is 🙂 Thank you so much!

9. Short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in January?
This week? I’m aiming to write everyday but my focus is on art. I’m doing a 12 panel comic/art thing on creativity for my universities comic book and it’s due on the 7th. Writing will always be my main thing but I’d like to get better at art. Signing up for my (probably rubbish) drawings to be published is probably a bit dumb but hey at least it’s making me stick to a creative deadline for the first time in six months.

In January? I really want to finish my novel. I know that’s not the answer I should give on tumblr because it should be my fic WIP’s. It’s just I started this damn book October 2016 and I’m still only just halfway through. I want to be done with it. I also want to go through some feedback I got on another novel and maybe do the edits. To be honest as much as I hate to say it I don’t think I’ll get to fanfic this month *hides*

10. Will you keep a record of all the fics you write and/or post this year?
Always hehe 🙂 I am the Emperor of tracking. My “fanfic year in review” wasn’t very accurate on word count because I was lazy – not because I couldn’t have totalled it to the last word because I totally could have.

Forget entire fics I can look back and tell you how much I wrote on a specific day – on a specific story. When I focus write I keep note of how much I write in the set time frame, so I can see how my speed/focus is doing. I love tracking because it shows me what I’ve done, and helps me formulate goals to do better because I’m never satisfied.

Actually forget writing I just track everything which is probably why I’m so in love with my new Apple Watch. Steps, stairs, distance, heartrate, sleep – I’m in stats heaven. Plus I installed this new app on my phone called HabitBull to remind me to drink enough water, hoover the house, read books etc. It timestamps when I do it and how many times if applicable. Same with words done everyday or hours spent drawing etc.

TLDR – Yup tracking is my thing 🙂

Ask Me? New Year fic meme