bironic: Neil Perry gazing out a window at night (Default)
This year on LJ, I:

- Upgraded to a paid account, thanks to my patron who may or may not wish to remain anonymous.

- Made a spiffy layout in place of the old Refried Paper template.

- Ran the fairly successful Comment on Neglected Favorite Fics Week, which you should participate in (again?) this October.

- Read a bunch of fic in fandoms I didn't know and ended up getting into Stargate: Atlantis (Season Four next week!) and also MI-5/Spooks for a little while, the latter of which is all [livejournal.com profile] tigertrapped's fault.

- Wrote 16 pieces of fanfiction/fan poetry in four fandoms totalling 30,000 words, including:
- Three ficlets
- Five sestinas
- Four "regular" fics
- One meta/parody/birthday fic
- Two remixes
- One MST
Sadly, most of those came into being between September 2006 and January 2007, and 30,000 words isn't much to speak of for an entire year. This year I really want to do better in both word count and number of stories completed. I just need to manage my time more efficiently and figure out a way to get rid of these hangups I've developed.

- Beta'd a bunch of stuff for people, both individually and in groups on people's LJs. Next to writing, it's one of the most fun and satisfying parts of being a member of this community. Maybe this year I'll keep track, see how much I'm actually doing.

- Made some wonderful new friends and somehow managed to double the number of people who subscribe to this journal. I cannot tell you how happy-making this is. Perhaps the big red exclamation marks will help:



- Have become more aware than ever that I'm writing to (and for) an audience, which can be tricky when choosing what and how much to write about, because I'm not always sure why everyone's here. Too much House or not enough? More details about personal stuff, or is the balance right? More emotion or more analysis? Do people miss subjects I used to post about? I made a promise to myself when I started this LJ that I would always post for myself instead of letting imagined pressures dictate content and frequency, but at the same time, I want to keep you all happy. Stay tuned for a poll on this subject.

Relatedly, I've run the "top commenters" algorithm again and can confirm in the first ten results alone that the demographics here have shifted away from RL friends/acquaintances just a bit in favor of an emphasis on House-related topics. While I'm thrilled to be so involved in the fandom, I would like to regain a better balance around here, for everyone's sakes.



Top Commenters on [livejournal.com profile] bironic's LiveJournal
(Self and anonymous comments excluded from rankings)

1[livejournal.com profile] daasgrrl230 230
2[livejournal.com profile] kabal42206 206
3[livejournal.com profile] elynittria185 185
4[livejournal.com profile] catilinarian153 153
5[livejournal.com profile] thewlisian_afer151 151
6[livejournal.com profile] nightdog_barks130 130
7[livejournal.com profile] usomitai120 120
8[livejournal.com profile] purridot86 86
9[livejournal.com profile] firestorm71775 75
10[livejournal.com profile] topaz_eyes70 70
11-52 )
Total Commenters: 225 (173 not shown)
Total Comments: 4831
Report generated 9/9/2007 10:49:06 AM by [livejournal.com profile] scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.7




Last year's goals were:

- Hold another Memoryfest for all and sundry, probably in January. Check. Memoryfest II saw a jump in participation to the point that I couldn't keep up with comments and will probably reduce the frequency of posting for the next one. I loved reading everyone's memories and noticed with interest the difference from last year's 'fest in that more people were reading and sharing whom I don't know personally.

- Meet some of you lovelies who live within driving distance, and perhaps some who don't. Done! Fangirl brunches and outings have been such fun, and I hope to not only continue to enjoy them this year, but also meet a few more of you who live nearby (or don't, but will be visiting).

- Improve my commenting skills so I can say in one paragraph what it now takes four to cover. I think I managed this one. That, or I've just been discussing less. Hm.

- Write more. I posted 11 more pieces of fanfiction and 20 fewer journal entries than last year. There was a slight drop in subject diversity as well as posting frequency and, I feel, quality, but the increase in fic sounds okay to me. This year I'd like to try to post more about fandom/fanfic meta, dig into the pile of essays and books on my shelf and start some discussions. I've wanted to do that for a while. We'll see.


To mark the occasion, I've accepted [livejournal.com profile] synn's invitation to share her server space and have begun copying my fic over to bironic.nostatement.com. The index page will probably change so there's some sort of introduction, and the design sort of sucks, but it's a start. It feels somehow more legitimate as a fic writer to have an independent website. Feedback is more than welcome about whether enough information is included in each story link, whether the presentation works, or really, just about anything.


*raises glass* Here's to fun and growth in the next year!
bironic: Neil Perry gazing out a window at night (Default)
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of my first post. Tonight heralds the start of autumn and the commencement of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. (A very happy New Year to those who are observing.) Altogether a good time for a little recap. There was going to be a bunch of ficlets to celebrate, but they're not done yet, so it'll just be this navel-gazing for now.

This year on LJ, I:
  • Learned how to craft posts that weren't bloated with two or three posts' worth of information. (This one is my favorite cringe-worthy example.)
  • Discovered the joy of giving and receiving feedback.
  • Fell hard into House fandom and became part of an online community for the first time instead of watching from the outskirts or participating mainly in conferences/conventions.
  • Posted five pieces of fanfiction in two fandoms, totalling 19,700 words (with another 4,000 of Spike story and 1,400 of ficlets on my computer getting worked on). Have been thrilled to see several of them Memory'd and included on people's fic rec lists.
  • Held a month-long Memoryfest (friends-locked).
  • Hosted a birthday talk-about-your-usernames festival. (Still open! Drop in if you haven't yet.)
  • Befriended people I've never met and didn't have plans to meet.
  • From an initial list of six or seven friends, became "friend of" 56 people/communities (!), 54 of which are legitimate and 20 of whom I know in real life. Also known as the discovery of the golden rule, Create and Ye Shall Be Friended.
  • Wrote 176 posts, including reviews for 26+ movies, two plays, half a dozen ballets, nine books, and a lot of episodes of House. May I take a moment to apologize again to all the Harry Potter people who've put up with that last?
  • Found out exactly how much LiveJournal eats one's life.

Top Commenters on [livejournal.com profile] bironic's LiveJournal

1[livejournal.com profile] kabale140 140
2[livejournal.com profile] catilinarian130 130
3[livejournal.com profile] daasgrrl66 66
4[livejournal.com profile] maddy_harrigan56 56
5[livejournal.com profile] michelle_nine42 42
6[livejournal.com profile] synn37 37
7[livejournal.com profile] firestorm71731 31
8[livejournal.com profile] musicisbelievng21 21
9[livejournal.com profile] captain_tulip20 20
10[livejournal.com profile] thewlisian_afer19 19
11-52 )
Report generated 9/22/2006 10:02:44 PM by [livejournal.com profile] scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.7

(I've excised all the one-comment-ers. It's too bad this doesn't take into account comments on my posts in other communities.) Not surprising that six of the top ten are people I know personally, including a sister and some very good friends. [livejournal.com profile] kabale still holds the top spot after enthusiastic participation in the Memoryfest. [livejournal.com profile] daasgrrl, my goodness, you've shot up quickly. [livejournal.com profile] thewlisian_afer, I like how we hold parallel spots in each other's graphs.

Next year on LJ, I hope to:
  • Hold another Memoryfest for all and sundry, probably in January.
  • Meet some of you lovelies who live within driving distance, and perhaps some who don't.
  • Improve my commenting skills so I can say in one paragraph what it now takes four to cover.
  • Write more.
And in that vein, it's time to work on those ficlets.

In the meantime, TELL ME on this day of reflection: How has LiveJournal affected your life? (How) have you changed your posting style since starting? Did you make promises to yourself that you've kept or broken? Etc. Fellow LJ addict wants to know.

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