InsaneJournal

Writing meme
This is actually a bit of an old meme, since it was going around about a month ago. However, since I was just considering this sort of thing very recently, I think it's fairly appropriate for me to post this now.

Tell us which of your stories...

(1) you would show your mum if you didn't think she'd freak out.
(2) is most representative of you as a writer (however you choose to define that).
(3) is your best shot at "ventriloquizing" a voice or style that you don't normally use.
(4) contains characterization you're proudest of.
(5) has the cleverest premise (in your opinion) or contains the cleverest ideas.
(6) feels the most emotionally genuine to you (however you choose to define that).
(7) you'd give to an editor as a writing sample (pretend that porn isn't an issue).
(8) you would actually reread for pleasure.
(9) contains your best sex writing.
(10) you really want somebody to illustrate.
(11) has the best title.
(12) you wish more people had read.


(1) Probably Though Nothing Else Remains, because I'd like to show her that a romance doesn't have to be either a tragedy or have a truly happy ending. There is an in-between. Of course, it helps that this fic is one of my less sexually-driven ones. She is, after all, my mother.

(2) Though at 17,000 words it's too long to be at all representative of the length of the fics I usually write, Though Nothing Else Remains is a good example of both the style of writing and the type of plot I prefer writing. It's a fic where no one is quite truthful and the ending is (meant to be) a revelation even to the reader. There's smut, but it's meant to add to the fic rather than be the basis of the fic. And, perhaps most of all, the ending is neither entirely conclusion nor particularly happy, which is my favourite way of rounding off a fic (and the most realistic 'end' to a story that can be written, I feel, since no story is ever perfectly ended).

(3) That would have to be, without a doubt, my hpvalensmut fic. Nothing else that I've actually posted comes close, though a fic I have half-written but not completed could give it a run for its money. However, since the exchange isn't yet completed, I can't give away the identity of the fic quite yet.

(4) I think I'm proudest of my characterisation of Harry in To Not Remain Damned. I felt I did a decent job of building upon Harry's penchant for rule breaking, his deep need to have a connection with his family, his teenage anger and his angst in an AU fic where he didn't grow up in the same way. Also, I think that I lot of people overlook the fact that Harry is selfish almost as often as he is selfless. This fic examines that selfishness in a Harry-like way.

(5) I don't know about the cleverest ideas, but I personally couldn't believe that no one else had ever written the very original pairing of Remus/Fortescue in Slowly Dying Embers despite the fact that it could be tied in so seemlessly with canon. I thought I was pretty clever, even if not enough other people read it and agreed with me. ;-)
Of course, by way of originality and cleverness, I also feel I should give an honorable mention to A Reluctant Trust. Draco Malfoy rarely seems to show up in fanfics as a financial advisor, of all things, and yet this fic showcases just how much of an impact he can have from a seemingly innocuous job.

(6) Alterations of Mind and Body is a fic that confronts how people secretly wish that they could change this or that part of their relationship, even though they know very well that they should be happy with what they have. It also addresses how people are rarely entirely satisfied with their partner or their sex life and yet are often scared to even hint at the slightest possibility of change. Because it's such an upfront indication of the pains of every relationship, this fic feels very emotionally honest to me.

(7) The best writing I've done to date, in my opinion, is part of a fic that I haven't finished, and so haven't posted. However, since I have no real idea what on earth a writing sample should encompass, I'm not really sure what answer I should give.

(8) I would reread any of my fics for pleasure, as long as they weren't particularly recent (written and posted within the last month or two). Once I've had time to distance myself from my fics, I can generally read them as if they were written by someone else. If I had to pick one, I'd have to say Slowly Dying Embers, since it's my favourite.

(9) To be honest, I barely remember a lot of the sex in my fics. Though I don't write sex scenes unless I think they'll add something to the fic, they still manage to be somewhat incidental to the plot in my mind. However, from what I can remember ... well, What Nightmares Are Made Of might not be the best written of my sex scenes, but it's the dark, ambiguous sort of eroticism that I like most, and it hits quite a few of my own kinks.

(10) Of all my fics, I think I'd most like to see Barriers illustrated. I love to see how artists handle voyeurism, for one. I'd also like to see how an artist would depict the transparent wall. But, more the point, I'd like to see the contrast between Narcissa and Draco; though they're mother and son and usually very much alike, in this fic Draco is in tattered clothing (and is only half-dressed at that) and in an emotional state, while Narcissa is perfectly put together and is very much in a dominant role.

(11) Actually, that would be Fluctuations of the Mind, which I felt (on top of sounding reasonably cool) totally gave a feel for how unstable the main character (Sirius) was, and how much the writing from his POV jumped around rather insanely. Unfortunately it was chan, and I'm Australian, so I had to take it off the net when the laws changed. Of the fics that actually are still up on the internet, I'd probably say my favourite title is Where Even Dreamers Should Fear To Tread

(12) This is an easy one, since I just mentioned this in a post the other day. Slowly Dying Embers is my favourite of all my fics, but it's also the least read of all because the pairing is Remus Lupin/Florean Fortescue. I wish more people had taken a chance and read it.