Stargate Summer and squee generation

[fignewton]

So, today I officially dropped out of stargate_summer.

I'm disappointed but relieved.

I wanted to write a long fic this year. I haven't written any fic longer than 6,000 words in nearly two years now. But the story I wanted to write didn't want to make it out of my brain and onto the hard drive. I tried taking a single section of the story - it's actually three longer fics, with two shorter intervals in between - and expanding it to the right length. But that wasn't working, either.

I felt guilty. I asked for an extension, and tried to meet the revised deadline. And it just - wasn't - working.

So I stopped.

I'm sorry I drove the mods crazy like this, although helsmeta has been nothing but encouraging and supportive. On the other hand... well, I feel I can go back to my regularly scheduled squee again, instead of having enthusiasm subsumed by obligation. I can finish my meta on Nightspear's Daniel of Abydos series and write that kidfic discussion post and do more canon vs. fanon and go back to those silly fluffy team ficlets that I've owed people for - oh, six months now. :) I can sit down and listen to my very first SG-1 audio book (I'm particularly interested to know how well Michael Shanks can imitate Daniel, heh).

There was nothing to stop me from doing all that before, of course, but... I felt there was. It's why I've posted so little of late (outside of recs.) So, as sad as I am to fail in a challenge, I'm relieved to give myself the chance to try again, without the pressure. I'll just have to participate in the comm by reading and cheering for the gen fic!

Will the story get written? Yes, I do hope so. It may turn out that the chapters get written one at a time, as individual stories, instead of a single whole. It may take months, or even longer. But if the effort to write drains all the squee, then it's time to step back and try my hand at something else.

I think. :)

So! ::rubs hands together:: On a completely random tangent: story summaries! What works for you? What doesn't? What coaxes you to click on that link and read the first paragraph? What is the best summary you've read, and (barring badfic) what is the worst?

Or how about this? Give me your own summary for a fic - either one I've written, or one you know I've read - and let's see if I can guess it. :)