There is a method behind the madness

First of all, a bit of necessary squeeage:

( Statistics ahoy! )

Anyone who’s been reading this journal for some length of time will realize how much I <3 the metawriting. Author’s notes abound here – hell, that is the entire point of the exercise, to share the ideas behind the ideas, how I came to certain conclusions, what my motivations were for writing this character in that situation, and why I think it does (or doesn’t) work.

So you can imagine, in an undertaking so massive as this one – a simple thirty prompt challenge table that somehow morphed into an incredibly complex, multi-layered intrigue-laden serialized fic, that I’ve been absolutely dying, trying to keep all the meta inside. Just look at the lengths I go to for single drabbles, and you’ll have some understanding of my struggles, LOL.

But, it was a tradeoff – the suspense and drama that keep the readers coming back for more (more than one person has referred to this fic as their crack, LOL) would be completely and totally spoiled if I laid my thoughts bare after completing and posting each chapter. My favorite part of writing notes – dissecting the characters – would absolutely ruin the reading experience, as half the fun with this fic is trying to figure out who’s the most reliable narrator, what some of the characters’ motivations truly are, and if certain relationships can ever be repaired.

So, this won’t be one of my usual “here are my thoughts on yaoi” author’s notes posts. To do that would absolutely ruin both the readers’ enjoyment of the story, as well as my motivation for writing it. I truly enjoy the feedback I receive after posting each chapter, here and on the archives, as it really helps me see things through the eyes of my readers and helps shape the story in many sometimes surprising ways. You guys keep me on my toes, LOL, always trying to stay one step (or twist!) ahead.

But I’d still like the other part of writing author’s notes – keeping a log of references and personal motivations – for this piece. Thus, I’ve decided to compromise: have a little something for me, and let you guys in on some of the “inside stuff” of this story.

( Points of interest… )

As the story progresses, I’ll be adding more bits and pieces to this post.

Updated 11/05/13: Chapter 29 notes added

Today marks my official fandom anniversary, as close as I can tell. I’m not sure exactly when I first dipped my toes into the fanfic/fanart pool (I watched the Inuyasha anime and read the manga up to date sometime during the summer, then started searching out fanart, which lead to fanfic, which lead to Christmas ’07 as a Tales from the House of the Moon timesink, which lead to even more reading of ‘major fandom works’), but I do know that on March 11, 2008 I signed up for an account at Media Miner and posted the first three chapters of Every Heart, with no small amount of trepidation.

The rest, as they say, is history…

2009 in review | 2010 in review

( What have I accomplished in the last twelve months? )

( 2010 Goals ~ How'd I do? )

But what are your thoughts on yaoi?

Probably the biggest thing that happened this year was that I branched out in a big way from my “original” fandom, and it’s probably not a surprise why I did that. My third year in fandom started quite the way 2010 started in general: with tragedy.

( A look back – 2010 in review )

( My favorite stories from the last year )

( Goals for the year ahead )

And, since I enjoy making traditions out of things, I'd like to revive a little metawriting meme, since metawriting is what I'm all about on this journal, LOL :P

[+] Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any fanfic I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track. [+]

Today marks my official fandom anniversary, as close as I can tell. I’m not sure exactly when I first dipped my toes into the fanfic/fanart pool (I watched the anime and read the manga up to date sometime during the summer of ’07, then started searching out fanart, which lead to fanfic, which lead to Christmas ’07 as a Tales from the House of the Moon timesink, which lead to even more reading of ‘major fandom works’), but I do know that on March 11, 2008 I signed up for an account at Media Miner and posted the first three chapters of Every Heart, with no small amount of trepidation.

The rest, as they say, is history…

( What have I accomplished in the last twelve months? )

( 2009 Goals ~ How'd I do? )

But what are your thoughts on yaoi?

This was a year defined by the good, the bad, and the ugly. No longer a n00b, not quite a BNF (or the writer of BNF(ic)s), but stuck somewhere in between. It wasn’t a perfect year – I’m the first to admit I’ve made some mistakes – but on the whole, I’d say I’m pretty pleased with it. Sometimes you have to be hurt to know your own strength, and goodness knows I went through my share of wank through the greater part of ’09.

( The good - finding my niche, making friends, working on a fandom opus )

( The bad - life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans )

( The ugly - in which I find just what my big mouth gets me...turns out, not much )

( My favorite stories from the last year )

( Goals for the year ahead )

And, to end this post on a good note, I'd like to revive a little metawriting meme, since metawriting is what I'm all about on this journal, LOL :P

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any fanfic I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.