'Tis the Season to be Late?

[gilpin25]

We got the first of the Round Robin letters in a Christmas card this morning, and I'm waiting for my mild-mannered husband to turn into someone highly dangerous, who must be approached with caution. And only if you're bringing in the dinner.

These are the letters you get from people you don't see from one year to another, but who send you a printed sheet of their accomplishments activities during the year. Usually with an incredibly flattering and air-brushed photo that the Royal Family would envy. Snarkiness aside, most of these are interesting, but there's a few that set your teeth on edge. These particular people are friends of my parents, I haven't seen them since our Wedding so we're talking years here, but they still think we'd like to know that daughter Tabitha will be reading Politics at Cambridge, son Gerald is spending three years in Hong Kong earning fabulous sums of money thanks to a promotion, and now that all the kids have flown the wealthy nest, the parents have invested in a sixty foot ocean liner to give them an interesting new hobby.

Okay, I'm exaggerating, but only just in some cases. I'm bracing myself for the one from our friends in New Zealand, who emigrated a couple of years ago, and seem to own more of the country now than Peter Jackson. It takes quite a lot to get my husband annoyed (just me, normally), but these letters drive him nuts. Last year he wanted me to compose one to send back which claimed that he'd climbed Everest on an afternoon off, and I'd won six Booker prizes in a row... ;

Which sort of brings me onto my Advent Fic. I'm just about on schedule for finishing 24.12.06, have written about 3500 words, have no idea what the genre is as I've included at least four and, in a shocking new move for me, I've given Harry a line to say. But I'm thinking of chopping it. And I've looked at some of those excellent angsty and short ones already posted and think perhaps I should be chopping a lot more. Anyone else writing long fics or is it the season to be brief so you can wisely wrap presents?

Comments

[bringandfly.livejournal.com]

And I've looked at some of those excellent angsty and short ones already posted and think perhaps I should be chopping a lot more. Anyone else writing long fics or is it the season to be brief so you can wisely wrap presents?

Erm, I'm a wee bit long-winded and had exactly the same thought; that I should be chopping. I'm at 2000 words so far and unfinished as I'm having trouble writing the necessary bit from Tonks's point of view.

I have no idea of genre either; I can't do romatic comedy to save my life, and I couldn't face angst so I'm pretty sure it's neither of those.

in a shocking new move for me, I've given Harry a line to say. *grin* Harry and Ginny make an appearance in mine. It was the only way I could think of to bring in my wizarding-ised Christmas song and keep it clean! lol

Your 'round robin' letters make me glad we hardly get any cards at all. I think there are more school friends and work colleagues than friends and family. *hugs*

[jdbracknell.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, I love Round Robin letters. If you haven't already read them, there's a journalist who compiles books of the things every year, and they're hilarious. Last year's was called The Hamster Who Loved Puccini (or something similar), and I cried with laughter reading it, because every year I always look forward to getting one from the family of a boy I went to school with 20 years ago. They go on and on and on about every single thing that has happened to them in the previous 12 months - and there's about nine of them, so it's a major work - in excrutiating detail (and they do charity work, which they always like to slip in somewhere: 'March was spent in Malawi providing free clean drinking water for the poor. Lovely country, friendly folk, missed EastEnders. Got dystentry - three months in hospital, but a very worthy cause').

On the fic front, I appear to be writing two. Couldn't decide whether to go angsty or fluffy, and ergo have done the sensible thing and gone for both.

[mrstater.livejournal.com]

Mine's hit 10,500 just before the final round of tweaks, if that makes you feel any better at all...And it doesn't even have any scene breaks. And multiple genres are okay; mine is a romantic comedy mystery. Sort of. Just whatever tags help people find the fics. ;)

I want to do two more and I'm really trying for brevity even though the anal part of me thinks they ought to be the same length.

I didn't realize that kind of letter was called a Round Robin letter, but I hate them too. The only good ones I ever received were the annual ones from the family I used to babysit for, who wound up being flower girls in my wedding. Every year their mother would keep a list of all the funny questions the girls asked or funny observations they made, and it was the most hysterical newsletter ever.

[godricgal.livejournal.com]

Not so fond of the idea of Round Robins myself. I'd much rather these people just kept in contact the rest of the year. Last year we got one that went into so much detail, we even got the colour of the daughter and son-in-law's newish-ly painted dining room. I generally find them amusing and aggravating in equal measure.

I've finished the introduction to my fic, in rough, it's come in at 2600, I anticipate that it will be 3500 by the time it's tweaked, and then I have to write the main scene, and the last scene, so I wouldn't worry about length...Apart from finding the time to write, that is.

[an-fhanai.livejournal.com]

Thankfully we only get those letters from people we talk to on a fairly regular basis - anything else usually goes through the filtering process of our parents, since we've yet to get on any "important" friends' mailing lists. I don't mind a bit - getting stuff like that only serves to remind me that I've failed spectacularly every year of my marriage to get any cards out at all.

I know what story I'm going to write, and I'm making notes on it now, but I haven't actually started it yet, so it very well could end up being far more monstrous than it should be.

It's nice to have a mix of story lengths, you know. The question is whether or not a longer fic will drive you nuts and take away too much time from your own Christmas preparations. Don't worry about it being long. Long = more R/T. How can that be a bad thing? ;)

[bratty-jedi.livejournal.com]

My mom always sends out those kind of letters but it is largely to family. We have a very large extended family that is still pretty close but it is hard to keep up with everyone. The letters fill everyone in on what the third cousins twice removed and the like are doing. The only annoying thing about those is that My grandaunt will send a letter talking about what all her grandkids are doing, then her kids will send letter telling about what all their kids are doing, and if those kids are grown, they send letters telling about what they and their families are doing. Hearing the same news in three or four letters is annoying.

Ray Stevens has a Christmas song called Xerox Xmas Letter where he makes fun of someone's letter and writes his own redneck version. I love it. Then again, I have a warped sense of humor and love everything by Ray Stevens, so what do I know.

[wildmagelet.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, the annual family newsletters. My family doesn't do one, but we're on the receiving end of many. I'm sorry that your most annoying one comes from New Zealand. =) If it makes you feel any better, I personally own nothing in New Zealand except too many books and lip glosses. I agree with your husband. Send a letter announcing your Pulitzer, lottery win and impending coronation as Queen.

[kileaiya.livejournal.com]

I’ve never received any letters of the Round Robin sort, they all go to my great grandmother who then fills us in on the happenings of people I don’t even know. Hee. I sort of wish I had now, they seem like they might be amusing.

[molly-coddles.livejournal.com]

I should post my Christmas postcard for you. I manage to mention all the pets and the children in 22 lines set to "Twas the Night Before Christmas." I'm getting the hang of this brevity thing.
My fic is 2500 words. The version I'm going to post, anyway. There is a second version with an entirely different ending that involves Gil and Santa...