I long to challenge myself, but I *don't* want to promise something that I can't quite deliver.
This is my terror. Last year, I was sure I'd done precisely that - I volunteered for Mr. and Mrs. Smith because it has that bantery, dialog-intensive style to it that I'm most comfortable writing.
And then my recipient wanted porn. And I totally wanted to give it to her, but I wasn't sure I could. It was very scary. (She liked it, though! Or she said she did, anyway.)
(Side note: the coolest thing that has ever happened to me, Yuletide-wise - last year, when I wrote my Dear Santa letter, the recipient from the year before commented on it to say how much she'd liked the story I wrote for her. I - I honestly almost tear up thinking about that even now, because I was so touched. The only thing I really, really want to do every year is make my recipient happy. And that's so hard to do, and you can never be sure you have. Except, if someone makes the effort to say thanks again a year later? You pretty much can be sure. It was the best thing ever, especially since I've never been very confident about the story I wrote for her; I was new to Yuletide that year, and I was really panicked, so hearing that was cool beyond measure.
Hmmm. Possibly I should let my writers from the last two years know I liked their stories again. *makes mental note*)
I'm being smarter about NOT offering things that a simple revisiting of source material would be insufficient for the *fandom*, if you get what I mean -- like, there's a difference between "nonexistent" and "established-but-rare" fandoms, and quite honestly I'd rather tackle the nonexistent fandoms than the ones that may have all sorts of fanon that I'm unfamiliar with.
Oooo! Smart. This is something I had in mind when I was picking fandoms, but I didn't quite articulate it; it was just kind of subconsciously there, that I'd prefer a nonexistent fandom to a rare one. (Only two of the ones I volunteered to write are rare, and I'm familiar with both of those fandoms, so the fanon, etc. won't be a problem.)
But I wasn't sure why I was veering away from the rare and new fandoms (as opposed to the nonexistent ones) until you made this comment.
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This is my terror. Last year, I was sure I'd done precisely that - I volunteered for Mr. and Mrs. Smith because it has that bantery, dialog-intensive style to it that I'm most comfortable writing.
And then my recipient wanted porn. And I totally wanted to give it to her, but I wasn't sure I could. It was very scary. (She liked it, though! Or she said she did, anyway.)
(Side note: the coolest thing that has ever happened to me, Yuletide-wise - last year, when I wrote my Dear Santa letter, the recipient from the year before commented on it to say how much she'd liked the story I wrote for her. I - I honestly almost tear up thinking about that even now, because I was so touched. The only thing I really, really want to do every year is make my recipient happy. And that's so hard to do, and you can never be sure you have. Except, if someone makes the effort to say thanks again a year later? You pretty much can be sure. It was the best thing ever, especially since I've never been very confident about the story I wrote for her; I was new to Yuletide that year, and I was really panicked, so hearing that was cool beyond measure.
Hmmm. Possibly I should let my writers from the last two years know I liked their stories again. *makes mental note*)
I'm being smarter about NOT offering things that a simple revisiting of source material would be insufficient for the *fandom*, if you get what I mean -- like, there's a difference between "nonexistent" and "established-but-rare" fandoms, and quite honestly I'd rather tackle the nonexistent fandoms than the ones that may have all sorts of fanon that I'm unfamiliar with.
Oooo! Smart. This is something I had in mind when I was picking fandoms, but I didn't quite articulate it; it was just kind of subconsciously there, that I'd prefer a nonexistent fandom to a rare one. (Only two of the ones I volunteered to write are rare, and I'm familiar with both of those fandoms, so the fanon, etc. won't be a problem.)
But I wasn't sure why I was veering away from the rare and new fandoms (as opposed to the nonexistent ones) until you made this comment.
*admires your sleek and shining mind*