lettered | You did it!

Okay, so I'm not done writing the book. So I probably shouldn't be posting to DW. But I'm going to finish it, and while it probably isn't what I would have planned for my first published novel, there are some good things in it, I think. And I'm going to finish it. It's totally premature to make a celebration post, but I need something to look forward to. So, there's this!

The "It Nearly Killed Me But I Did It" Survey Pimp!
This is where you think of that fanwork or fannish thing that was hardest to complete. I don't mean your best work, or the work you are most proud of. It's okay to talk about something that flopped or you were ultimately disappointed in or you kind of hate now. I mean the thing for which the finish line seemed miles and miles away. You thought you couldn't do it or you wouldn't get there, but you pushed through and you did. This can be a fic or piece of art, but it could also be . . . organizing a meeting or running a fest or even . . . making your journal, if you are very shy!

Got it? Okay. Now, here are your questions!

What was it?
Link?
Short description, please.
Why was it so hard to finish?
What got you through it?
Are you happy with the result?
Should we read it/look at it/experience it/etc?
Would you try something like it again?
How did you celebrate when it was over, and was there pie?

For your convenience:

If this interests you, please pimp. I'm always interested in lots of answers. :o)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What was it? "Book two" of my epic SG-1 AU, called A Howling In The Factory Yard.

Link? A Howling In The Factory Yard

Short description, please. JD Nielson, aka the teenaged clone of Jack O'Neill, goes deep undercover in Ba'al's Seattle corporate empire, trying to ferret out the truth of what Ba'al's plan on Earth is. In order to succeed, he'll need to confront most of his old demons -- and they bite back.

Why was it so hard to finish? It's one of the most complex things I've ever tried to pull off, both stylistically and plot/theme wise. The stylistic conceit I used to drive home the theme of identity (and self-identity) had me tearing my fucking hair out omg. (I don't want to spoil for those who haven't read it, because if you notice it consciously, it becomes really obvious and obtrusive -- but nobody noticed it when I posted it, which means that it functioned exactly the way it should, as a subconscious thing that just worked.) The first draft was horribly muddled, both theme and plot wise, and it took me tearing out the draft and spreading it all over the workbench in pieces -- and I am so not the type of writer who works well that way. (Usually if my pieces need more than a light edit after completion, I throw them out and start over, but there was too much good stuff in there to do that.)

What got you through it? Imagining how badly I was going to break everyone's brains when I posted it.

Are you happy with the result? Oh, God, yes. I still lose myself in it every time I have to go look something up for a canon check, and it's one of the only bits of work I've ever written that I can still stand to re-read.

Should we read it/look at it/experience it/etc? Yes, but start with book one, This Town Is A Song About You, along with the pre-stories for Howling ("Carthago Delenda Est" and "Dial Tones"). It's a complex AU, and the stuff that goes before really is important to get the full weight. I've been told it stands alone pretty well if you don't know canon, as long as you know that the Goa'uld are evil snakes that take over your brain/personality/etc and turn you into prisoners in your own mind, and "JD" is the teenaged clone of General Jack O'Neill, fiftysomething Special Ops (read: black ops) veteran. Canon said that clone!Jack, de-aged to 15 years old physically but with all Jack's memories and skills, went back to high school. I spit on canon.

Would you try something like it again? Oh yes. I do regularly, although Howling is perhaps the most ambitious, both plot and theme wise and stylistically.

How did you celebrate when it was over, and was there pie? I slept. A lot. And then I posted it in six sections over six days, and watched people fret and squee and speculate and bite their nails and squee, and it was glorious.

Edited (obtrusive is different from unobtrusive) 2011-06-04 06:08 (UTC)

I find almost all the stories I begin very hard to finish. Many of them sit around for years. I think doing Yuletide is good for me, because I am able to meet rock hard deadlines, and the occasional, "Hey, look, you can do it! Doesn't this feel great?" is motivating.

What was it? So I'll just pick the latest slog: the J/D sex swap, which I started as a short, silly, this'll-just-take-a-minute, cliché-a-thon prompt fill. Ha.
Link? Good Morning, Penthesilea
Short description, please. The gizmo had zero effect on any cultural signifiers of femininity, naturally.
Why was it so hard to finish? I had trouble untangling the set-up, all the ickle little plot-logic bits that everybody forgets about anyway, once they get to the porn. And I wrassled with the "so what?" for quite a while, too. Yes, but what does all this nice porn SAY about Jack and Daniel? It wasn't enough for me to justify it on a meta level: "Nobody ever writes genderswap with Jack as an old, silver-haired, doughnut-middled lady! It's always young, gorgeous, pouty-lipped Daniel! Phooey, I say!" I had to manufacture some kind of internal plot engine as well. I half succeeded.
What got you through it? "Dammit, it has really good parts. I want people to read them and praise me for them, dammit!"
Are you happy with the result? I don't know; I haven't been able to read it straight through since I finished it. I'm too scared it's awful. This is normal, and will go away eventually.
Should we read it/look at it/experience it/etc? Oh, yes!
Would you try something like it again? Such is my fate.
How did you celebrate when it was over, and was there pie? The pie was a week early, actually. I fed

kyriacarlisle pie in return for a final beta. :)

You did it!

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