Writing Plans

[peroxidepirate]

Writing's not an ambition for me or anything like that. It's just something I do. But it's something I like. It's something I miss, badly, during the times I'm not doing it.

I've realized, lately, that my writing skills are a lot more limited than I'd like. Specifically, I have trouble with plot, I lack staying power, I don't finish what I start, I rarely bother to outline or plan, and I'm much better at fanfic than at creating original characters. Since I'm not going to stop writing, I might as well work on some of these things.

But first there's this tournament that I'm kind of attached to...

So here are my writing plans for the rest of 2010:

• February to March: a mess of ficlets and drabbles for Goldenlake's Tortall Smackdown (I'm too lazy to link; click "smackdown" from my tags list to find out more). I'll be posting commentary on all of the fights, and if I can get organized, I'll also crosspost some of my fics after each round is over.
• April to July: Firefly novella for scifibigbang , tentatively titled, Finding Malcolm Reynolds. Starring Zoe, Kaylee and a couple of original characters (to sort of ease myself into this "real writing" thing). I don't know how much I'll be posting, outside of the occasional complaint or non-related ficlet to give myself a break.
• August to October: August is a bunch of family stuff, and work is nuts during late summer and fall, so I'm not planning anything definite during this time. Again, I don't know what, or even if, I'll be posting here. If I manage to have any free time, I should spend it researching for...
• November: NaNoWritMo novel! Set during the Golden Age of Piracy, full of swashbuckling adventure and romance (and starring a pirate lass, naturally), with a conscious mission of upsetting some of the overused tropes of the genre. Most especially, the heroine is NOT going to end the novel still thinking she's in love with the law-abiding sailor boy who was her first sweetheart (I'm looking at you, Celia Rees and L. A. Meyer).
• December: yuletide  again -- and of course I have no idea what I'll be writing for that, only that it will be a fascinating challenge. (And by that time, 1000 words should seem like nothing at all.)

You might notice there's no Buffy on that list. If you friended me based on shared interest in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I'll say right now that I won't be offended if you want to un-friend so as to not have all my stuff cluttering up your list. I'll probably still read and comment on your posts, though! I'm still a fan, I'm just... distracted.

As for this Smackdown thing... The first two fights went to Alanna and Dom, meaning both the contestants I was backing lost. But I've come around about Kel/Alanna, thanks mostly to some amazing stories by kitty_ryan  , and I was just about out of ideas for Kel/Uline fics anyway. So I'm not too upset about that. I'm not upset about the other one, either: Kel/Wyldon is still going to be a favorite, Smackdown or no, and it was such a pleasure to see Kel/Dom written well.

I'm planning to write a full analysis of the next two fights tomorrow or Sunday, but first I have to decide who I'm backing! 

I'll stay out of the Faleron v. Rikash fight, I think. Nothing against Faleron, I just don't find him interesting -- he and Esmond and Seaver all blend together in my mind; Merric, too, in the first three books. Wonder if I'll get something different on  re-read, now that I work with so many guys? Anyway, I may write a couple of Rikash drabbles just to see if I can, but I don't want or expect him to win.

The real question is, Sabine or Yuki? I love them both. Lady knights are the best, past or present, and Kel/Sabine would kind of give the finger to the notion that one of them has to be "femme," which is always fun. Plus, you have the option of drawing Sabine into Kel's time or vice versa -- the Provost's Dog world is fantastically fun to write. On the other hand, Kel/Yuki is easier, logistically. And there's the "close friendship turning into a romance" thing, which always gets me, and their shared frame of reference since they've both lived in Yamen and in Tortall. And you get to use Neal as a comic or dramatic foil, or even third party if you want to go that route. The possibilities are endless.

It's close, but I think Yuki wins my support. Is anybody else writing for her? The talanted and extremely prolific Greenie is in Sabine's corner, so I wonder if there's even any point?... maybe I'd be better off saving my energy for Neal-or-Raoul and Buri? I just don't know.