madebyme_x

Talk about why you participated in Snowflake &/or what you got out of it.

I've done this challenge every year since 2014 (I'm a sucker for tradition!) I think it's a great way to see in a new year; allowing you the time and space to really reminisce, reflect and evaluate your fandom experience, and what it means to you. It encourages you to meet and touch base with people from other fandoms which is something that I don't often do (and I should do more of!). It also gives me an opportunity to post more, and to share some more personal things which I'd like to do more of this year.

But most of all it's a place of positivity and encouragement, and a wonderful way to connect with like-minded people who all treasure their fandom experience ♥
                                                                                                                

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.

I tend to have similar fannish goals every year, and I'm not great at following through with them all, but if I only achieve one I'll be happy:

1. I'd like to post more on LJ. I do post fics, episode drabbles, recs etc, but I'd like to be a bit more active here in terms of posting on my journal; whether that's more personal posts or just something random. I have a terrible habit of talking myself out of posting things, and overthinking too much. I need to stop that.
2. Last year I wanted to complete and post a fic that wasn't linked to a challenge, and I managed it. So I'd like to match that, or even maybe increase it if I can.
3. Carry on writing a drabble for each episode of season 14 (so far, so good. I did this for seasons 11, 12 and 13 and I'd like to keep it up as it helps to keep me more active in fandom).
4. Work with an artist on a collaboration (fingers crossed I can do this for gencestbang).
5. Be more positive; with Show, in my posts, in my personal life, and just in general.
                                                                                                                   

In your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

I often struggle to write without prompts and a deadlines to guide me, but occasionally an idea will just come seemingly out of nowhere, or I'll get inspiration from other TV shows, books, movies, articles, the news, or sometimes from conversations with fandom friends and other fanworks.

My not so secret tool when I'm struggling is to brainstorm with my friend and beta harrigan, and that will always result in something that I look forward to writing (I honestly don't think I'd be writing if it wasn't for her). I tend to write a rough outline and will sit for that for a while and usually a few sentences or speeches from characters will come and I'll jot those down. Then I'll jump in and start to write. I almost always try to hash out the opening first, and will usually have a few words for the ending too. I also find that a work environment at a desktop computer suits my writing style (which means that I do the majority of my writing in my lunch hour, or I'll stay late in the office and do a bit then). It isn't a perfect solution, as sometimes I have to stop when I've found a good flow, and picking it back up after stopping can be hard, but I find less distractions there than when I'm at home on my laptop where there's always something else I should be doing.

One thing that I always find hard is writing titles and summaries. If a title doesn't come to me early on, I'm doomed, and I just about always find summaries challenging. I don't think there's anything I can do to solve that, but hey, if anyone has any secrets up their sleeve I'm all ears!!!
                                                                                                                                   

Commit an Act of Kindness.

This is so very in line with what the snowflake challenge is all about, and is something that I'm trying to do a little of everyday; in RL and in fandom. Funnily enough it coincides with a donation that I made to a local charity for taking away my Christmas tree (and for getting it recycled!) I've also granted a few wishes over the last few days (mostly feedback on fanworks) but I will be going through the wishlists again to see if there's anything else that I can do.

I will also add that if you're reading this and you're in need of a little pick me up or any cheerleading, please do send me a message here or PM me and I'll happily send you some love and positive vibes ♥
                                                                                                                          

Stretch yourself a little and try something new. Go play in a new fandom or with a new pairing. Try working in a new medium. Or check out some fanworks that are new to you.

I signed up for a new challenge gencestbang which I'm really excited about! I'm working on my draft now, and I'm looking forward to hopefully working with an artist again (although I've never been through the artist selection process before, so that's kind of nerve wracking and puts the pressure on my summary which I always struggle with!) I also have a handful of your recs to read that I've been storing up, so I'll dip into those too.

                                                                                                                                  

In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.

1. A little bit of self-promotion as I lend a hand over there, but I love spn_littlebro for hurt!Sam/Jared recs because I just adore a little h/c.
2. There's a new challenge that I'm taking part in this year and it's called gencestbang and the focus is all on Sam and Dean and their strong bond and relationship. I think signups for authors are closed, but it's still open for artists. So keep your eye out for that!
3. SUPERWIKI is my go to place for sourcing all sorts of information; from dates and timelines, to character bios, to weapons and transcripts, etc. It's such a rich source of information and I don't know what I'd do without it.
4. A quick shout out to some of my challenge highlights throughout the year, whether that's taking part or just wallowing in all the fanworks; spnspringfling, spn_summergen, spn_reversebang, sammybigbang, spn_j2_xmas, spn_cinema and spn_j2_bigbang to name but a few.
                                                                                                                                    

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.

Perhaps this is cheating somewhat, but the complicated and often co-dependant relationship between Sam and Dean is what drew me to Supernatural. It's ended the world, it's maybe/definitely unhealthy, but we've been there with them through the highs and lows, and we've seen it grow and develop over the years, and for me it's fascinating to watch, and I can't enough of it! The bickering and banter, the arguments and fallouts, those man-hugs, the tears and smiles, the way they communicate non-verbally - basically, just all of it! For me they're very much a package deal - you can't have one without the other. They are the reason I started watching, and they are the reason I'm still here.
                                                                                                                                      

In your own space, talk about your Happy Place—the things that give you joy, calms you or keeps you sane.

I have many happy places! I love snuggling up with a hot drink and a warm blanket, I love my pyjamas and my bed, I love spending quality time with my friends and family wherever that might be, and I love watching movies and TV shows, and I love going for walks outside and connecting with nature and the beauty all around me (especially around the lake near where I live which holds a lot of childhood memories for me).

From a fandom point of view, I love LJ; this is my happy platform place. I love that I can interact with you all and see what fanworks who've created, or thinky thoughts and meta that you've shared, as well as more personal posts too. LJ has connected me with so many wonderful people from all over the world, and I'm so incredibly grateful for that ♥
                                                                                                                               

In your own space, create your own challenge. Whatever your challenge is, have fun with it!

I'm going to interact more in my chosen platform of LJ! I'm going to try and post more, leave more comments, reach out to new people, press that friend button, participate in challenges, and just rejoice in the happy place that my flist is!!! I'm surrounded by old and new friends and I'm just going to allow myself more time to enjoy it, and I encourage you to do the same ♥
                                                                                                                        

In your own space, create a fanwork.

I recently wrote a fic for the spn_j2_xmas challenge (it's told through the eyes of a series of outsider POVs at a motel and features hurt!boys) and you can find that here.

I would like to write a drabble, but I can't think of a simple prompt, so if you have any ideas drop me a line and maybe it'll spark some inspiration!

EDIT - milly_gal's suggestion - Decoration (fill in comments)