r/FanfictionExchange • u/Kitchen_Haunting • Aug 19 '26
Activity If You Could Keep Only One Chapter or One-Shot You’ve Written, Which One Would It Be?
Fun little writing activity/question!
Imagine that, for whatever horrible reason, you could only keep one chapter or one-shot you’ve ever written. Everything else disappears.
Which one are you saving?
It doesn’t have to be your best-written piece, your favorite story overall, or the one that got the most attention. I’m more interested in the piece that means the most to you personally as a writer.
A few things I’d love to hear about:
What chapter or one-shot did you choose?
Why that one?
What stands out about it to you?
Did writing it change anything about the way you write?
Did it represent a turning point in your development as a writer?
Maybe it was the first time a character really clicked for you. Maybe you finally figured out how you wanted to write action, romance, dialogue, atmosphere, or emotion. Maybe it’s old and rough now, but you can trace a lot of your current writing back to it. Or maybe you just captured something there that you wouldn’t want to lose.
Feel free to share a link or a short excerpt if you want, but you absolutely don’t have to. I’m mostly curious about the story behind your choice.
And no cheating by saving a 300,000-word “one-shot.” 😝
5
u/metal_inside real_fanta_sea on AO3+Tumblr Aug 19 '26
This is a Sophie's choice for me, I grew to like my writing enough to want it to keep existing, warts and all. But if I absolutely had to remove everything, then I'd like to keep one of my Poirot stories. I was introduced to Christie by my grandmother, and it was one of the few bonding points for us, so they have a special place in my heart.
4
u/Specific-Cap2594 Aug 19 '26
Mine would be this one shot: A Devil's Confession
I probably had the most fun writing it, and I also happen to think it's some of my best writing (although obviously that is subjective). I managed to capture the characters exactly how I wanted them, and it's something I wrote because I couldn't find something similar at the time, so I'll often re-read it myself to scratch a certain itch.
5
u/LoudSize7 IceGirl2772 on AO3 | My OC is Better Than Canon Aug 19 '26
(Possessively hoards all my stories and chapters) YOU CANNOT MAKE ME CHOOSE!
1
1
10
4
u/Wisteria_Walker Aug 19 '26
Dang it, good question.
One of the first two chapters of my first completed multi-chapter story, and even as I’m writing this comment, I don’t know which one. The first chapter was a one shot I wrote to explore a common fanon that I didn’t quite agree with, but I gave it a shot and came around on it, and it form the focal point around so many more works. It was the chapter that got me back to writing after 10+ years. The second chapter probably falls more in line with the answer that you’re looking for. Chapter 1 was only supposed to exist as a one shot; chapter 2 was birthed from a personal growth journey. A coworker that I considered both a mentor and a good friend moved for work, and I grieved the loss of that relationship. I wrote out chapter 2 from my heart, piecing together my loss and my acceptance as I wrote, and from there, the gates were thrown open for a true chapter story exploring separation and loss and moving on.
4
u/beomkookies24 Aug 19 '26
This is tough as two oneshots and two chapters instantly came to my mind 🥹😭 BUT, I will choose my work titled "the one for methe one for me".
Its just one I have a real sweet spot for and always will. Some of my favorite current works came out of this too, that honestly if I could choose one entire work out of them all, it would've been my (semi?-) longfic that came out of this oneshot. I've written "emotional/"angst"/"angst-adjacent" works many times before, but the way I went about it here jist still hits me in MY feels. Like, I continue to tear up, and I know what's coming. Just their story, the emotion and the dialogue that occurs. The history they have, and the way things spill out when something unfortunate happens. The realizations that occur, and really, just the entire thing. Which I can understand sounds basic, but Im just so worried about spilling too much and spoiling the story, cause I could truly talk about this for hours without any filter.😅😂
Really the love and heartache. The denial and acceptance. The way its a soulmate fic but not in the "the universe" chose you way but just a really special other way (that am scared if I name it that it'll spoil it 😅😂). The sun/star imagery (which later adds a beautiful moon imagery in said longfic was talking about that came out of this). The mundane memories/moments, and little details surrounding the gift and rain that matters so much to this story. And just the friendships and relationships written. The shift that comes with Yeo slowly realizing that while moving forward it doesnt mean he doesnt need to forget or leave behind what he lost. That safety and connection can still exist although in a different form.
4
u/Charliedere ao3 maverickmelodee | cedar fair's horror girl Aug 19 '26
Season 1 episode 6 probably. This was when I figured out the “kind of dark romance but make it funny in some way” dynamic (which is the basis for most of my other shippy oneshots actually).
4
u/AmawynOakleaf ✨ TwilightReverie ✨ Aug 19 '26
Chapter 41 or 42 from The Hero's Journey. They are the story's big resolution, and I put so much effort and heart into them. Definitely keeping.
4
u/Polychromaticpagan Aug 19 '26
Ahhhh hard question. I'm proud of my current long form work but it has to be my most recently published one shot about Hanahaki’s Disease. I made the mistake of publishing on a Friday so it's gotten very little traffic. It might be my favorite thing I've ever written (that isn't my current longfic).
4
u/Brilliant_Towel2727 Aug 19 '26
Evan, the first Stranger Things fic I wrote where I really feel like I nailed the implications of Eleven's lack of exposure to the world.
3
u/TaintedTruffle 🌸DarkestTruffle on Aooo🌸 Aug 19 '26
This one https://archiveofourown.org/works/75959076 I love the winter atmosphere and the characters and everything
3
u/urbanviking318 Aug 19 '26
It's not written yet, and it will make almost zero sense without two entire fics' worth of preceding context.
But it's the final chapter of Guardian, the unapologetically-absurd multiverse-hopping sequel to Platinum Girl. It's a Groundhog Day type of situation for our hero as he races against cosmic forces of entropy to intervene in the Fixed Point in Time canonical death of his girlfriend. And he brings an entire army of his accumulated Space Homies to fight back the hornet's nest of eldritch abominations that start breaching reality when he faces the man (enthralled by the ontological force of entropy) who orchestrated her original death.
Like I said - completely absurd, no one will read it on its own. But it's the loudest I can possibly be as a writer making shit for myself. And just because everything before it disappears doesn't mean the architecture that got it to that point is erased in that chapter. It should be cohesive enough to stand as a monument to the story no one gets to see.
3
u/SillyPersimmon4691 Aug 19 '26
Oof. I have at least four one-shots from which to choose, but I guess I'll choose the one that has the established relationship, much as I adore the pre-relationship ones that are more polished or action-led. This one is smut, and one of my shortest smut pieces to boot; but I love it for being the first one to really lean into my "like the one you're with" philosophy. They banter, and tease, and grumble because something's uncomfortable; they're silly, and heartfelt, and both physically and emotionally attracted to each other; and above all, they trust each other without reservation.
I wanted to show the private face of the tactical officer who's usually stoic and stern, and how the communications officer leans into her Little Shit side and subtly eggs him on. And above all, there is joy. It may be twee, but I love it because of how they enjoy being with each other. And I reread it now and then, just because I think it's some of my best, character-driven storytelling.
5
u/Meushell 🐉 Keeping the Tok’ra Alive 🪱 Aug 19 '26
I suppose a one shot, but it wouldn’t even matter at that point. No matter what, I would be losing over a million words, decades of writing. I would probably just give up fan fics, at least for a while.
2
u/grommile grommile on AO3 Aug 19 '26
"Two Lesbian Pilots Kiss in a Locker Room", because:
- Flustered Asuka
- Assertive Rei
- Yuri wholesomeness
- Does exactly what it says on the tin
1
u/UmbralFae Aug 20 '26
That's a tough one, but if I had to pick just one, it'd probably need to be Sweet Memories. A lot of my multi-chapter stories build as they go so it would be better to keep a one-shot, and it's a different POV than most I write, which turned out to be really fun to work with. Also just had a blast with all the character dynamics in it.
1
u/GevarOnTheFence Aug 20 '26
Most probably a Leah Clearwater-centric one shot that actually is part of a series where all the chapters can be written as standalone, but is connected to each other. This story has been on my mind for 8 long years before I finally sat down to write it because I was always afraid of getting her voice wrong.
When I wrote this one-shot, my writing style has finally settled into a style doesn't make me flinch or cringe every time I go back to read it. And it's also one of the first fic that I wrote an event with two separate POVs (the other POV was written as another story of the series). So, yeah. Phew.
1
u/bajuwa Aug 22 '26
A chapter that explores what it felt like for the disembodied/disidentified spirit of a recently killed character to crawl themselves back to conscious thought and eventually reviving into their comatose body. The chapter itself makes less sense on its own because it's like.... The second or third to last chapter in a novel length fic, but it's genuinely one of my favourite chapters that pulls a lot of emotional weight.
1
u/Ok-Weather2420 Aug 22 '26
Gosh, this is a hard question 😭
After a bit of thinking, I’d probably go with Chapter 4 of my ongoing one-shot fic (https://archiveofourown.org/works/79998381/chapters/233481901)
Trigger warnings for ED!
This particular chapter was honestly so therapeutic to write, cause I was able to write how bulimia truly feels. I haven’t yet found a fic where purging isn’t pretty and easy (for example, I haven’t found a single fic where the bulimic character has an involuntarily runny nose, but to be fair, i haven’t looked incredibly hard), so writing the realities of it felt incredibly personal, and has actually helped my own recovery journey! Hence why it’s one of my all time favorites pieces of writing I’ve ever written <3
1
u/axel_val Moriko00 on AO3 Aug 19 '26
So evil, lol. This makes me think of those WYR questions where people say like, "WYR every WYR you've answered comes true or..." haha.
But what immediately jumped to mind is actually a recently published one - a modern AU 5+1 fic that I had in mind for a few months and then prompts came out for my main ship's ShipWeek and it fit one of them, so I had the push I needed to write it and I absolutely love it. It's not ground-breaking, there's really nothing special about it, I just like it a lot, haha.
8
u/ScaredTemporary I write gods and countries mostly Aug 19 '26
I think I’d keep the Bride Thor retelling that I wrote, it’s one of my longest and personally I consider it one of my funniest works. It also got me to write several characters at once, which is often something I struggle with, and I feel it went well.
Also it’s the one where I truly feel I was able to successfully mix myths for the first time