One the one that's all alone and ever more shall be so

[amanuensis1]

Yuletide fic is finished! I should be banned from writing in that style; it's criminally easy for me to slip into that kind of voice. The format, though, is one I don't think I've tried before, so that was enough to give me gleeful cackles.

Writing for these small Yuletide fandoms gives me the sense of That's it; there is no other story I can ever write for this fandom; that was the behind-the-scenes tale I wanted to see told, and that's all I have for it, even if I didn't really have any idea what behind-the-scenes tale I wanted to write for that fandom until the recipient requested it. Somehow just one story solidifies, and I feel as if know that's the only one I can write for that fandom ever; the wad is shot. Does that happen to anyone else?

Comments

[puella-nerdii.livejournal.com]

Yes, generally -- that's the reason I've never offered to write for fandoms that I wrote for in previous years. I think if I ever got an assignment for a canon that's really foundational for me, like The Sandman or Macbeth, I'd find more to say, but as a general rule I seem to find the story I want to tell for the canon I end up writing for, and I don't have much left to add.

(And congrats for finishing! Lord, I need to get cracking on mine.)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I seem to find the story I want to tell for the canon I end up writing for, and I don't have much left to add.

Yes, that's it exactly! I put down my offers knowing I have a feel for what I'd write, and when I see the request that I get, my feel and their request kind of wind around each other and turn into one storyline from which I really can't deviate at that point.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Yep, I know the feeling. Although I think conversely this means that I have never been stymied by a Yuletide assignment; there's always that one story lurking in my subconscious.

PS mine is almost done! Expect it for beta v. v. soon.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

there's always that one story lurking in my subconscious. Exactly. I don't ever offer unless there's something in there!

[ishafel.livejournal.com]

Yes! And yet I have written so many HP stories and could write so many more if I only had the time/ energy. I do think some canons are more "closed" than others, but I'm not sure that's really the issue. I am really struggling with mine this year!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I imagine we look at some smaller fandoms/sources with an idea, rather than an overwhelming love for the characters which would make us want to write them in every convolution possible. And so once that idea's gone, we're done!

I'm sorry you're struggling!

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

I definitely know what you're talking about here. I'm kind of like that with Criminal Minds -- I'm enjoying so much what's happening ONscreen, that I don't want to insert more stuff into the cracks offscreen. I've done a drabble or two, but I've no urge to delve into more.

Now READING more... that would rock hardcore.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

As it dawned on me above, perhaps we fall in love with either the characters or the world structure so much we want to see every convolution of them or it possible, when we write over and over in the same canon. Otherwise it's just a nifty canon and a nifty story idea for it, but we don't have infinite ideas.

[mctabby.livejournal.com]

*nods*

That's just what happened to me in Yuletide 2005, when I wrote some backstory for A Little Princess. I still feel I have nothing further to say for that fandom.

Y'know how it is... life is short, art is long... there's an infinite number of monkeys tiny fandoms... yadda yadda... movin' on now... Next!

Sounds like you're having yourself some good Yuletidery this year. Nice to hear. :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It took me a few years to discover Yuletide, but now I love it. For a time, all I could do was look through the list of fandoms and sigh that the canon I most wanted to read or write was too big for Yuletide, but then I stopped being afraid of fandoms that I didn't know perfectly, trusting I could find something to say about each one if someone else wanted it badly enough.

(It also helps that there isn't just one single fandom that has my entire attention these days...sad, but that happens!)

[mctabby.livejournal.com]

Not sad, surely? IMHO, the more multi-fandom you are, the more you can enjoy Yuletide as a glorious huge candy-store that flings open its doors each 25th December for reading-gluttony. :D

*twitches in anticipation*

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. That just happened with my last big story. There wasn't anything WRONG with Law & Order: UK except for the obvious mistake they made in the few minutes of hiatus between 5x06 and 6x01. Once I'd sorted that out, there really wasn't anything else to say in that universe. (Okay, I could talk more about the Boyfriend They Left Off The Show, but I'm scraping the names off it for that.)

Hornblower, on the other hand - there's SO MUCH they left out. I can keep filling in gaps for a long time. (Also, I think I've just figured out how to solve THEIR obvious mistake [and, wouldn't you know it, it's the same mistake that happened in Law & Order: UK] while still preserving the continuity of an earlier story where I let the mistake stand. The ghost was a fetch, that's all.)

I have yet to figure out whether there are any stories that need telling in the Garrow's Law universe. I'm having too much fun doing meta with one of the other fans (and I think there are maybe five of us out there, so). Backstory, maybe. I don't know. (Shit! Plotbunny! GO AWAY UNTIL I FINISH THE EMILY'S WEDDING STORY, OKAY?)

Harry Potter... I had one big story that needed telling, and then there were the other stories that followed the threads brought up by the big story, and once I'd settled all of the characters I cared about into their proper places, I didn't really need to write more, not even PWP smut (although some of that happened along the way). I could read other people's stories, but they weren't my story.

So yes. Often there's only one thing that really needs telling. Then it's done.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I keep going back and rereading this Yuletide story and thinking, "Yeah, that's...it. That's all I have to say, and I'm happy about it." I guess that does happen with some fandoms!