2024 Writing Goals!

[chocochipbiscuit]

Technically, I failed most of my 2023 Writing Goals.

'Technically' because no, I didn't post either of my longfic projects, and no, I didn't do all the writing exercises I planned on doing.

Instead, I wrote a lot less in 2023. But I did a lot more nonfandom hobbies; I read more original work, including nonfiction. I spent more time jogging and going out with friends. I joined a board game meetup group. I have binoculars and while I hesitate to say I go 'birdwatching,' I definitely go bird-looking. (I'm also terrible at identifying most birds by their calls, but the Merlin app is very good for that!)

I'm trying to take that same sense of gentle exploration into 2024. Especially because I've been thinking of various reasons for why I've not been enjoying as much fanfic lately.

Essentially: I've come to think about the ways that fandom does (and does not) nourish me. Despite the much-vaunted transformative power of fandom, it often feels difficult (when it's not fundamentally hostile) for me to write about or for characters who are not just queer, but queer women of color, when writing for fandoms that so often default to white or pseudo-European fantasies as the baseline. (Some nitpicking about when it's the canon vs the people in the fandom who make those default assumptions, but the essential points remain the same.)

I've realized that for fandom to remain fun for me, I have to start consuming different fandoms and/or being more selective about how I engage with my existing fandoms.

So! I'm going to continue reading original work, and try writing fanfic for a few works that are new for me. I also plan to experiment more with writing original work, even if I choose not to post it. :)

Very loose bullet-point goals, just because having specific goals always helps

• Still finish and post one longfic WIP (either Awoo AU or the Fallout Necromancy AU). (Undecided which, right now, which might be part of the problem; I need to get excited about them again. They're both in messy first draft stage so need revisions, then beta, then more revisions based on feedback.)
• continue reading books about writing and doing the writing exercises; while 1 chapter/week remains the goal, no shame if it slides to 1 chapter/month
• write for at least one new (to me) fandom this year, preferably for a canon that predominantly features characters of color. I'm already thinking about finishing my Fraud Squad fic, or maybe writing something for The Burning Kingdoms. I love Black Water Sister and don't feel like I can meaningfully write something for it right now, but there is this fic I'm so excited to read for it!
• I am officially giving myself permission to be weird and experimental! Here's to writing the weird kinks and hyperspecific fetishes! Here's to writing second person POV! Here's to forced metaphors and alien analogies and leaning into my weird synesthesia tendencies!

That's it! Some very gentle goals for a very gentle year. :)

Comments

[hibernate]

Bird-watching! That's so cool! There's an island off the coast of my town that's a popular bird-watching area and it always seems like a really fun thing to do.

Fandom, fandom, fandom... you know, I've been involved in fandom for a long time and I don't think I'll ever leave, but I struggle so much with finding spaces that fit me. Social media in general is so toxic. And I'm interested queer women but I find the way fandom does femslash often is so unpalatable to me. I'd never want to ruin someone else's joy, but I like the way you phrased it, about finding canon and fandom spaces/fic that nourish you. It can be hard!

I am officially giving myself permission to be weird and experimental! Here's to writing the weird kinks and hyperspecific fetishes! Here's to writing second person POV! Here's to forced metaphors and alien analogies and leaning into my weird synesthesia tendencies!

HERE HERE!!!

[isis]

You may have "failed" your writing goals, but you've clearly done will with RL goals, which I believe are more important - or at least, I applaud each of the things you are doing, because I'm doing them, too! (With the exception of a board game group, which, the one I used to do stopped during the pandemic, and I wonder if I could prod the library, who had sponsored it, to get it going again?)

Good luck with your writing and other goals for 2024!

[sideways]

Bird-looking is a very respectable hobby 😤 Whyever did they work so hard to evolve into so many delightful shapes if not to be gazed upon admiringly, after all.

I like the notion that fandom should be a nourishing experience. Certainly no shame in being selective!

[wolffyluna]

Many much support on the gentle goals and trying to make your writing ~good for you. (Also, bird looking is definitely a real hobby, and a good one at that.)

[chocochipbiscuit]

Bird-watching! That's so cool! There's an island off the coast of my town that's a popular bird-watching area and it always seems like a really fun thing to do.

It really is!!! Some areas are more interesting/varied in the birds you're likely to see, but I've started getting fond of even the "common" ones like house finches and sparrows. They can have very bright or cute colors and it's fun watching them do their things! Plus the birds are the neighbors I actually see most regularly. :)

Social media in general is so toxic. And I'm interested queer women but I find the way fandom does femslash often is so unpalatable to me.

Also true! And tbh I've not always been great about it myself in the past in terms of critiquing trends rather than individuals, but just... when so many people are doing the same Thing I Question And Do Not Like, it just becomes easier to disengage.

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS AND LOVELY, HERE'S HOPING FOR A GREAT YEAR FOR BOTH OF US!

[chocochipbiscuit]

Thank you! I do think the RL stuff means more to me, it's just a self-reminder when I look at my wordcount or posted fics and can't help thinking how much less I posted than previous years. (Then again, admittedly, my most prolific years for fanfic were ALSO years where I was, in hindsight, depressed, isolated, and/or working graveyard shifts, so!)

I wish you luck with restarting the board game group!!!

[chocochipbiscuit]

Those birds are just absolutely so delightful!!! Even birds I previously took for granted (like pigeons, mourning doves, and finches) have all kinds of interesting traits and colors when I actually start paying attention to them!

[chocochipbiscuit]

Here's to gentle goals and looking at birds! <3

[vriddy]

I've come to think about the ways that fandom does (and does not) nourish me.

I love the way you phrase this. And I love the way you're deciding to be deliberate about it!

I enjoyed reading about your goals, and browsing through your book reviews. This is maybe the 4th rec I see for Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow!! I can't wait for my library hold to arrive. I hope it's okay if I add you to my circles :) Best of luck with 2024 and congrats on what seems like a great 2023 in terms of nurturing offline communities, among other things! I want to do more of that as well.

[chocochipbiscuit]

That's absolutely okay, and I hope you enjoy the book! It was one of my unexpected highlights of the year. :)

[meikuree]

I am officially giving myself permission to be weird and experimental! Here's to writing the weird kinks and hyperspecific fetishes!

so here for this and cheering your future adventures on all the way!! it's always fun to indulge your id or just where your interests go, and experimental weird fucky (in various senses) fic is absolutely where we should all be at.

it's timely you mention the disjunct between fandom's purported transformative powers and the actual... poverty of transformation that really happens wrt race and gender and so much more, because that's something I've often noticed from day one and have recently conversed with friends about. to be honest, I roll my eyes every time I see a breathless post about how subversive fandom is just because women are in the driver's seat, etc. etc. etc. because there's often the implication that of course fandom should then be exempt from introspection and examination.

sympathies!

[chocochipbiscuit]

Thank you thank you!

I roll my eyes every time I see a breathless post about how subversive fandom is just because women are in the driver's seat, etc. etc. etc. because there's often the implication that of course fandom should then be exempt from introspection and examination.

Mhm! And that's just Bad. (:

like...I feel like I've already ranted ad nauseum at you about this before but just! it's like belief that fandom is simultaneously Just For Fun (and because it's just for funsies, it's too 'frivolous' to criticize, so you shouldn't) and also Actually Super Progressive And Subversive (therefore you shouldn't belittle it as being 'just porn' or treat it as trivial) so...where do you go???

(Or like the meme; it's not A or B but a secret third thing: it's a genre like any other, and thus encompasses so many works that I think it's worth studying as both an aggregate in terms of trends and fannish behaviors *as well as* being aware that individual works are not always going to be representative of the whole, but can be utter trash/utter gems. And like anything else, tastes may vary!)