OCD in Fandom

[jedibuttercup]

One of the side effects of being a touch OCD in my fic writing is that -- in addition to getting frequently stuck on details I feel like I haven't yet sufficiently researched -- I can also put my fingers on a lot of obsessively organized facts at the click of an Access query.

For example: I keep a list of all fic titles I've ever used. It also contains a column for what I call the 'clipped title' (using a formula to remove all initial punctuation or articles) by which I sort. This is the only reason I have never accidentally duplicated a fic title. [This list is currently 962 titles long.]

This list also has columns for completed fic posting date, wordcount, whether it's a crossover, fandom(s), POV (1st/3rd), POV (gender), tense (past/present), rating, and what type of ship it is. [This is how I can tell you that about half the words I wrote last year were from a female character's perspective; that gen is still my most popular category by far; and that I have written 20 stories that are exactly 3,000 words in length.]

In two months, I'll have been active in fandom for seventeen years: 2,170,457 words posted since March 13, 2002.

*cracks knuckles* Here's hoping I'm still going in another seventeen years. Though I think the list is going to be even more unwieldy by then. :)

Comments

[sulien]

OCD in this case is most definitely good. I'm not saying it's what makes you one of the best out there, but it is a contributing factor for certain. And again I'm going to say that I truly wish the scriptwriters and producers of tv series were more like you, they could avoid so many internal inconsistencies if they used a system like yours! Also, 962 fics in 2,170,457 words...dayum! Congratulations and an early Happy Anniversary (since I know I will forget long before March 13th)! :-D

Pardon all of the fangirling, but you how much I think your writing rocks. :-}

[jedibuttercup]

Fangirling does always make me want to hide my face, but it's also a great motivator, so, you know. Thanks. :) I really appreciate that there are people out there whose days I might be making brighter with my words.

Probably half of those titles are for stories <1000 words, of course; I did a lot of drabble challenges early in my ficwriting career, and I still stick my toe back in sometimes to practice word economy. Although, you know, that might account for another one of my OCD tendencies. You can count the number of stories I've published whose word counts don't end in a -00 or at least a -50 since, let's see, 2007 on the fingers of one hand. :)

[beatrice_otter]

You are so impressive.

[jedibuttercup]

Thanks. :)

[pronker]

I am amaze, go you!

[jedibuttercup]

Thanks. :)

[xgirl2222]

That's amazing. I wish I was so organized. Do you use Excel for that, or is there a specific program or App. Because if its a program Me wants.

[jedibuttercup]

I started out in Excel, but the size of the list, and some of the other functions - like being able to quickly count words by fandom, and so on - got unwieldy very fast.

I moved it to Microsoft Access several years back: the database program in the same suite as Word and Excel. Though these days I think it's mostly only available in the Professional pack - I also use it for work, so it was handy for me to set up a quick little custom database with it. Probably any simple database program would work for that?

[kerravonsen]

I am certainly glad you have been here.
Here's to another 17 years!

[jedibuttercup]

:) Thanks.