FINISHED BUT FAMISHED
Aug. 23rd, 2022 10:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javainkIt's complete. My writing contribution to the ORV zine has been beta'd, turned in, and now all I have to do is wrangle together a preview to share on twitter.
This was probably the most fun, despair-inducing, tangled project I've ever taken on. Not because of the zine itself or anything, but how I went about it. I took many missteps throughout the process, but I still finished on time! I still got it all together! I polished off my bad red wine after I turned in my piece!
Now for my missteps, which I'm explaining as a sort of log for myself. Things to remember for next time.
1. Too detailed of a pitch. It was overly ambitious, and I had to shave off parts I couldn't execute due to either my word limit (1.5k!) or my lack of skill. The mods were very chill about bending our pitches, since ultimately this is a passion project and the lead mod wanted us to have fun above all else.
2. Too many breaks. I went through this rollercoaster of being in sync with my piece, knowing exactly the atmosphere and scenes and ideas I wanted to accomplish, and specifically knowing exactly how to accomplish them. The words were at my fingertips, warming my keyboards. I would start, make some headway, and then take a break. This was stupid. A day or two break is fine. But after those 2 days? I lost my stride and lost my track of thoughts. Keyboards too cold!
3. Not rereading my fic enough. This sounds misleading. I reread my fic so many times. I had to; I exceeded the word count and had to shave shave shave continuously. So many darlings were killed. My piece is not one continuous scene; it's made of vignettes and jumps around in time. But my beginning vignette I left basically untouched. It was perfect, and it's probably my favorite piece I've written all year. I twisted it together back in May for the first zine check-in, and lightly edited it when I got desperate to meet the word count. Because I loved it so much, I didn't check in with it and compare it to the tone of the rest of the piece. I have a somber voice throughout the piece, but the beginning is the most serious. I wish I had been able to match the rest of the piece to that tone better. But maybe I'm being too picky; maybe my ears deceive me.
4. deadlines. procrastination. the old song and dance.
5. When the zine team gives you space to brainstorm with other, use it. It's not that I was out of ideas; but this very day, despite having turned in my piece, I've been going through this spiral of insecurity where I'm unsure about my fanfiction being in-character. I asked for one of the mod's general feedback last week, during my final edits, but they didn't comment on this particular aspect. If I had used the brainstorming channel earlier, maybe I could've gouged my potential audience's interpretation of my piece's set-up. I focused on two very-on-the-side side characters, who's backgrounds were too obscure to get a proper feel of what they were like before the events of the novel. And yet I decided to write about said obscure background! Because of Canon Reasons, I basically came up with what I fear are OC's. I have nothing against OC's, but this is a zine project! It should be about canon characters, and here, it reads to me now like I made OCs. I hope I'm looking at this from the wrong angle, but it's too late to change anything or show insecurity to the mod team now.
Everyone's pieces are slowly being submitted to the zine's discord, and they're all coming out great, stunning, I'm so excited for this zine to be shared.
There's this trend nowadays where most fanzines on twitter are essentially professional passion project art books that cost $15-$40, some for profit or not. The price tag is due to being printed, and the pages and covers are glossy. They've all been lovely, but the price tag has made me a little disappointed because I can't afford all of them. I have gotten a few! But. There's quite a lot going around, especially since I'm in multi-fandom spaces on twitter. I'm not saying the price tag isn't worth it. All of these zines are incredibly cool and put together so well. But that's why I was drawn to this particular fanzine, "THEMA;", in the first place. It's not being printed and doesn't have a price tag. It'll be a free PDF. If I had been a simple reader, I wouldn't have to weigh my wallet.
Ironically? I'll probably spend $15 anyway trying to bind it into a physical copy myself. But that's even more enjoyable than getting a book shipped to my house. Labor of love, beginning and end :D
This was probably the most fun, despair-inducing, tangled project I've ever taken on. Not because of the zine itself or anything, but how I went about it. I took many missteps throughout the process, but I still finished on time! I still got it all together! I polished off my bad red wine after I turned in my piece!
Now for my missteps, which I'm explaining as a sort of log for myself. Things to remember for next time.
1. Too detailed of a pitch. It was overly ambitious, and I had to shave off parts I couldn't execute due to either my word limit (1.5k!) or my lack of skill. The mods were very chill about bending our pitches, since ultimately this is a passion project and the lead mod wanted us to have fun above all else.
2. Too many breaks. I went through this rollercoaster of being in sync with my piece, knowing exactly the atmosphere and scenes and ideas I wanted to accomplish, and specifically knowing exactly how to accomplish them. The words were at my fingertips, warming my keyboards. I would start, make some headway, and then take a break. This was stupid. A day or two break is fine. But after those 2 days? I lost my stride and lost my track of thoughts. Keyboards too cold!
3. Not rereading my fic enough. This sounds misleading. I reread my fic so many times. I had to; I exceeded the word count and had to shave shave shave continuously. So many darlings were killed. My piece is not one continuous scene; it's made of vignettes and jumps around in time. But my beginning vignette I left basically untouched. It was perfect, and it's probably my favorite piece I've written all year. I twisted it together back in May for the first zine check-in, and lightly edited it when I got desperate to meet the word count. Because I loved it so much, I didn't check in with it and compare it to the tone of the rest of the piece. I have a somber voice throughout the piece, but the beginning is the most serious. I wish I had been able to match the rest of the piece to that tone better. But maybe I'm being too picky; maybe my ears deceive me.
4. deadlines. procrastination. the old song and dance.
5. When the zine team gives you space to brainstorm with other, use it. It's not that I was out of ideas; but this very day, despite having turned in my piece, I've been going through this spiral of insecurity where I'm unsure about my fanfiction being in-character. I asked for one of the mod's general feedback last week, during my final edits, but they didn't comment on this particular aspect. If I had used the brainstorming channel earlier, maybe I could've gouged my potential audience's interpretation of my piece's set-up. I focused on two very-on-the-side side characters, who's backgrounds were too obscure to get a proper feel of what they were like before the events of the novel. And yet I decided to write about said obscure background! Because of Canon Reasons, I basically came up with what I fear are OC's. I have nothing against OC's, but this is a zine project! It should be about canon characters, and here, it reads to me now like I made OCs. I hope I'm looking at this from the wrong angle, but it's too late to change anything or show insecurity to the mod team now.
Everyone's pieces are slowly being submitted to the zine's discord, and they're all coming out great, stunning, I'm so excited for this zine to be shared.
There's this trend nowadays where most fanzines on twitter are essentially professional passion project art books that cost $15-$40, some for profit or not. The price tag is due to being printed, and the pages and covers are glossy. They've all been lovely, but the price tag has made me a little disappointed because I can't afford all of them. I have gotten a few! But. There's quite a lot going around, especially since I'm in multi-fandom spaces on twitter. I'm not saying the price tag isn't worth it. All of these zines are incredibly cool and put together so well. But that's why I was drawn to this particular fanzine, "THEMA;", in the first place. It's not being printed and doesn't have a price tag. It'll be a free PDF. If I had been a simple reader, I wouldn't have to weigh my wallet.
Ironically? I'll probably spend $15 anyway trying to bind it into a physical copy myself. But that's even more enjoyable than getting a book shipped to my house. Labor of love, beginning and end :D
no subject
Date: 2022-08-24 11:27 am (UTC)Man, I feel this.
There's this trend nowadays where most fanzines on twitter are essentially professional passion project art books that cost $15-$40, some for profit or not.
I've... sort of noticed this trend too when I've tabled at fanzine fairs and stuff over the last few years, pre-plague. I don't really like it, but I also feel that part of that is me being an antique and not appreciating the tools people have to make fanzines nowadays. What is important though is the sense of pride you have in making your zine, and I am so excited for you that you did this! Congratulations on the hard work, now it's time to sit back and bask in glory!
no subject
Date: 2022-08-25 06:50 am (UTC)*clinks my kombucha with your wine* Cheers to that!
I haven't read ORV nor am I well-versed in zine conventions, but I feel like if you filled in a character's background from your imagination while keeping everything canon-compliant, you're fine. You're not deviating from canon, just adding in your own details to it, which is what every canon-compliant fic does. Characterisation likewise in fic tends to be an expansion of what's in canon. I don't know if this is of any comfort, but I do believe it's true.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-28 06:34 am (UTC)Thanks so much! And you're right, I'm glad I created something from start to finish--it feels so good. I'm definitely amping myself up for the release date!
no subject
Date: 2022-08-28 06:41 am (UTC)I feel like if you filled in a character's background from your imagination while keeping everything canon-compliant, you're fine
You're right, and that's a good point. Rereading my piece, I've stayed true to the bare bones that canon threw at us about these two side characters, and I stuck to my themes, so in the end, this is a case of me worrying in the wrong direction. Thank you for your input, it reoriented me <3
no subject
Date: 2022-08-28 11:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-03 08:20 pm (UTC)It's really exciting that this zine will be free! I've never really gotten into zines myself because the cost feels like a big commitment. Maybe I'll finish ORV in time to read this one when it comes out. (The odds are low 😅 but I can be optimistic.)