forestofglory

New month, new goals, but first let see how I did on my goals for last month. I set myself relatively few goals for February and I thought I wouldn't have problems. However the last week of February turned out to be pretty stressful both because of world events and personal things happening. So I had to really scramble to get everything done.

1) Write on 20 days (stretch goal write fic on 10 days)
I did this! I actually manged to write on 21 days and write fic on 11! (I was going trying to write fic everyday for the last two weeks of the month, but once things got stressful my brain got all mushy and it wasn't fun to write anymore.) For the fic I mostly noodled around with a project I had intended to abandon. It was fun!

2) Sew two shirts for the kid
I did this, but forgot to take a picture of the first shirt before I gave it to the kid. So have a picture of the second one.

3) Do lesson 1-5 review and lessons 6 and 7 in A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese by Paul Router This was one of the goals I really had to work on getting done in the last week of the month. The review was lot more work than I thought it would be!

4) Valentines day
As mentioned in my mid-month check in, I helped the kid make valentines for her entire class. I also got fancy cupcakes.

Well all the things that made the last week of February stressful are still happening so I'm going to try to not commit to too much for March. We'll see how it goes.

1) Write fic on20 days (stretch goal write fic on 10 days)
Pushing myself to write a bit more fic last month turned out to be fun! I want to try that again. Besides the various not fic things I'm writing seem to mostly happened without me needing to set a specif goal.

2) Post essay about my research process
I wrote a draft of this last month and sent to a friend for comment, but then a lot of life happened. I think I should be able to get this cleaned up and ready to post in a month.

3)Work on Improv Rainbow quilt
I could maybe finish this in a month, but I want this to be a fun low stress project so I'm just planning to work steadily on it.

4) Do lessons 8 and 9 in A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese by Paul Router. Stretch goal: Also do lesson 10.

5) Hugo Nominations!
Nominations close March 15 and I hope to read at least a few more 2021 shorts before then

6) Get medical attention for my wrist pain, and if given exercises to do at home do them regularly
My wrist has been hurting for the last couple of months and I really need to talk to someone about it! I actually have phone appointment with my doctor latter today. And that will likely get me a referral to PT.

I also have some on going projects to keep up with, I've been contributing regularly to group posts at Lady Business and I want to keep that up. Also the read along of The Social Life of Inkstones is still ongoing. So that's plenty to do for the month.

Happy Year of the Tiger Everyone!

Since its the start of a new month it's time for goals. Here's how January's goals went:

1) Top secret sewing project
Done!

2) Cut of all the pieces for Sea Star Quilt
Done!

3)Write two posts talking about what I've been observing in the built and natural environment around me
Not done. I haven't been very happy with my writing for this project for the last couple of months, so I'm putting it on hiatus while I think about how I want to continue to write about these topics.

4) Write on 20 days
Done! Due to wrist pain I'm not able to do longer writing sessions, not even my 15 minute writing sprints, so all my writing feels unfocused and fragmented. But I wrote all my year in review posts, and bunch of stuff for ladybusiness even if I didn't write any fic.

5) Write 2021 Year in Review Posts
Writing
Reading,
Learning
Watching Things

6) My Mom’s birthday
This went pretty well! My mom liked her presents and everyone liked the desert I made.

7) Take cats to the Vet
As mentioned I wasn't able to get an appointment for both cats in January, but I have one for latter today.

8)Work through to lesson 5 in A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese by Paul Router
Done! I'm still very much enjoying teaching myself Classical Chinese

Well January was a busy month. I failed to meet one goal and wasn't able to meet another due to logistical complications, but I still feel pretty good about what I did do.

Here are my February goals:

1) Write on 20 days (stretch goal write fic on 10 days)
I thought about bumping this up to 25 days, but February is a short month and my wrist still hurts

2) Sew two shirts for the kid
Its going to be warm enough for short sleeves soon!

3) Do lesson 1-5 review and lessons 6 and 7 in A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese by Paul Router

4) Valentines day
Are we going to do something for this? I'm not sure, but I have been helping the kid make valentines for school which feels like a big project. Maybe I will also make something yummy and chocolate to eat that day.

This a lot fewer goals than last month. I don't know, I'm just not coming up with a goal shaped things I want to get do in the next little bit. I have been feeling overwhelmed by the world, which is silly because I have very few obligations. But I want to rest and not push things. Maybe I will try to have someone look at my wrist since its been hurting for a while now.

Do you have any plans for this month? I hope its a good one for everyone!

I know its a couple of days past the middle of the month, but lets have goal check in!

1) Top secret sewing project
Some progress on this but I realized that I needed some supplies that I didn't have and had to wait for them to arrive in the mail. I have them now so I'll get back to this soon.

2) Cut of all the pieces for Sea Star Quilt
Done! I worked on this while I waited for the supplies for my other project.

3)Write two posts talking about what I've been observing in the built and natural environment around me
No progress here. I want to reevaluate this project because I haven't been happy with my writing for for the last couple of months, but I still want talk about these kind of topics.

4) Write on 20 days
Counting today I have written on nine days, so a bit behind where I want to be.

5) Write 2021 Year in Review Posts
I've written a bunch of these: Writing,Reading, Learning. I'm going to write at least one more about stuff I watched which I have mostly drafted. I might do another one about sewing, but it would mostly just be links to my Instagram account and I'm running out of steam for this project.

6) My Mom’s birthday
I did some tidying and found a few things to regift my mom, plus I had the cookbook I already bought her. So presents are taken care of and also warped. I have picked a recipe for desert, so things are on track for a celebration this weekend.

7) Take cats to the Vet
Well it turns out that its harder to make two appointments in a row (for two cats) that it is to make just one appointment. So I have called the vet and made an appointment but it's not until early next month.

8)Work through to lesson 5 in A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese by Paul Router
I finished lesson 4 so I feel that I'm doing well on this!

How is your month going so far?

2021 was not the best writing year for me, a lot of the time writing was difficult, and I was only able to write small amounts at a time. Nonetheless those added up, and I wrote some things I’m proud of.

I wrote four pieces for Lady Business:
Short & Sweet: Very Short Fiction
Short & Sweet: Blast from the Past
Adventures in Classical Chinese
The Layered Pleasures of Alternative Universe Fic

Two of these posts were for Short & Sweet, my column about short SFF. Sometime in the middle of the year I realized that I was not reading enough short SFF to continue writing about it regularly, which is a bummer! I like short SFF and I think it doesn't get talked about enough. However I just haven’t had the focus to read it since the pandemic started.

Then I wrote about my new fandom adjacent hobby of learning Classical Chinese. And finally I wrote about AUs! It was fun to write a critical essay about fanfic, and I’m especially proud of that piece.

Another writing milestone for 2021 was that I was long listed for the Best Fanwriter Hugo! It’s an honor that I was not expecting at all.

Over the year I kept up with a couple of recurring series here. One was Observations my twice monthly posts about natural and built environments. I also posted Media Round Ups at least monthly where I talked about things I had been reading and watching recently. Over the year I managed to post here at least once every week.

As well as writing criticism I wrote fanfiction as well. In 2021 I posted seven fics and 39,372 words of fic to AO3.

The first four of the fics I posted where for The Untamed:

Gone to the Other End of the Sky
(5,168 words, Gen Space AU) This was part of the longer space AU project that I started and abandoned. This section works ok on its own, so I cleaned it up and posted it.

Family Economy (10889 words, Jing Ling & Luo "Mian Mian" Qingyang) The third story in my series “Your Life Again, Your Life Anew”

Letters (1633 words, gen) After reading Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China by Antje Richter I wanted to try writing letters in the format mentioned so I asked for prompts on Twitter.

To Live Without Regrets (16,341 words, Teen, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian) I wanted to write a fic exploring Lan Wangji's Chief Cultivatorship, and his post-cannon feeling about justice and I was finally able to do that here.

Then I wrote three short Word of Honor fics. These are all a bit structurally weird, but I enjoyed writing them!

Knowing Everything in the World (1393 words, Gen, Chengling focused) I wrote this mostly to play around with the idea that Drunk like a Dream is memory enhancing drug.

The River Moon is Waiting (2260 words, teen, Space AU told in vignettes) I had a lot of worldbuilding ideas for this Space AU but not a lot of plot ideas, so I wrote this to play around with the world.

Correspondence (1688, Gen, Zhang Nianxiang centric, epistolary) I really love writing epistolary fic, and it was fun to play around with some minor characters that I like.

This year so many people encouraged me to write, spitballed ideas with me, helped me with research questions, read and commented on drafts, and copy edited my work. None of this would have been written or posted without help. Thank you so much to everyone who supported me!

Overall, 2021 was a year of slow but steady writing for me. In terms of criticism I was not as prolific as in 2020, but I still wrote some good pieces. I posted slightly more fic in 2021 than in 2020. I hope that in this new year I’ll be able to find more time and energy for writing. I'm excited to write more criticism about transformative fandom, and to work on my story crafting skills.

The Layered Pleasures of Alterative Universe Fic

I want to acknowledge people who helped me to write this. 1st undeadrobins suggested that I include the characters as well as relationships, plots and settings as an important element of AUs.

Both Jenny and Mary read drafts of this post and offered helpful and insightful comments which made a stronger essay.

elvenjaneite copy edited the post and made it much more readable.

renay is an awesome editor! I would like to thank her for encouraging me to write this (and many other things) and dealing with the logistics of posting during these stressful times.

And finally thanks to everyone who responded positively to the twitter thread where I first talked about some of these ideas.

1) Sew a shirt for the kid\
Done! (picture via Twitter)

2) Bind the Unicorn Forest quilt
I have been to the fabric store and gotten the thread I need for this.

3) Various winter holidays and family gatherings
I fed two groups of people latkes, which made me very happy. The rest of these events are all clustered around Christmas so haven't happened yet.

4) Write two posts talking about what I've been observing in the built and natural environment around me
Daily walks

5)Write on 20 days
I was hoping to get ahead on this during the 1st part of the month which was supposed to be less busy. But my tendonitis has been acting up meaning I had to rest my wrist and not write for a couple of days. So I've written on nine days, which is not bad, but behind where I wanted to be.

Stretch goal: Read some 2021 short SFF
No progress. I completely forgot about this goal until I started writing this update.

It's been a rather disorganized month, but I have made progress towards all my goals except the stretch goal. Past me was wise to set unambitious goals for this month.

It's somehow now the last month of 2021. So its time to look back at last months goals and create some new goals

1) Finish the Space Bees quilt
Done! This is now packed up and in the mail to its person! ( pictures on instagram)

2) Finish the Unicorn Forest quilt
I cut out strips to make the binding for this then I realised that I don’t have any matching thread, so a trip to the fabric store is needed.

3) Write two posts talking about what I've been observing in the built and natural environment around me
Rainy Times are Here Again
Dentists Offices

4)Finish with Classical Chinese for Everyone
I did this! I have learned a tiny bit of Classical Chinese! Next I’ll get a more advanced textbook and work through that.

5)Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving break
I had a very good Thanksgiving this year, with plenty of people to feed.

6)Write on 25 days.
I did this! Most days this was just a few hundred words. I wrote some DW posts, about 3k of a fic that I don’t think I’m going to finish, and essay forthcoming at Lady Business, and tiny bit of a new small weird fic. Looking back, that's more than I thought!

7) Make napkins for my kid's class (Added mid-month)
Done, this fun project took a bit longer than I thought.

I did well with my November goals even if I didn’t finish the Unicorn Forest quilt. December tends to be a rough month for me so I’m trying not to set my expectations too high.

1) Sew a shirt for the kid
I’m actually part way through this already!

2) Bind the Unicorn Forest quilt
This will be quick once I get the right color of thread

3) Various winter holidays and family gatherings
I always find this a bit stressful but at least this year I can feed people latkes.

4) Write two posts talking about what I've been observing in the built and natural environment around me

5)Write on 20 days
This worked out well last month, but I’m going to fewer days because of the stressful month.

Stretch goal: Read some 2021 short SFF
I have not been keeping up with short SFF and I would like to get back to doing so.

I hope you all have an excellent December!

My write for 15 minutes every day plan has resulted in another small weird fic. This one is mostly space AU worldbuilding without a lot of plot, because space worldbuilding is fun.

The River Moon is Waiting (2260 words) by Forestofglory
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Wen Kexing, Zhou Zishu
Additional Tags: Space AU, Gardens, Vignettes, Worldbuilding, Implied Child Abuse, canon typical suicidal ideation, Self Harm
Summary:

Ghost Station is falling apart. It has been since long before the boy came here.

In the far future, two boys grow up.

I've been trying out doing a 15 minute writing sprint everyday. Well I'm not sure if sprint is the right word since I don't try to write as fast as possible, I just close everything but the document I'm working on and focus for that time. My first project from this practice is now out. It's also my 1st Word of Honor fic. It's a odd little gen thing and I enjoyed writing it.

Knowing Everything in the World (1393 words) by Forestofglory
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 山河令 | Word of Honor (TV 2021)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Zhang Chengling, Ye Baiyi, Bi Xingming
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Memory, Grief/Mourning, Slice of Life, Chengling has been through a lot
Summary:

To save his shidi Chengling must remember the past

I have now posted all chapters of "To Live without Regrets" This fic took me a long time to write, even longer if you count all the time I was thinking about writing something like this. I'm happy with how it came out.

To Live Without Regrets (16341 words) by Forestofglory
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lan Wangji & Jin Ling
Characters: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Ōuyáng Zǐzhēn, Jīn Líng | Jīn Rúlán, Luó "Mián Mián" Qīngyáng
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Letters, Chief Cultivator Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Traveling, Cultivation Sect Politics (Módào Zǔshī), Lan Wangji has feelings about justice, Wei Wuxain invents things, Lan Wangji is petty, Mention of past cannon suicide
Summary:

If the leader is not righteous, how can the followers be righteous?” Ouyang Zizhen says hotly, and Lan Wangji can’t help but smile a little at the young man’s faith in him.

“Well, of course, but what I mean is that going where the chaos is requires different skills than being Chief Cultivator,” the young woman replies

Lan Wangji’s duties as chief cultivator separate and reunite him with Wei Wuxian. Together, and apart, they solve mysteries, reunite with old friends and meet new ones, and work out how they want to live in the world.