Why did you stop writing fanfiction? HOw did you transition out of writing fanfic into writing your own realfic?
Itâs been a long time since Iâve been in fanfic world, so forgive me if my memory isnât that great, but I think I stopped writing fanfic, at least in part, because I got caught up in the drama. The flame wars and secret groups and all that stuff. It sucked away a lot of my writing time, and the further I fell down the drama hole, the less I enjoyed the writing. I was far too critical of the fandom, and the fandom far to critical of me (fair), for it to be enjoyable.
TL;DR - I filled the sandbox with so much crap, I couldnât play in it anymore.
Thatâs one of my big writing regrets, really. That I got so bogged down with the drama and forgot about the writing. I wish I had spent more of that time writing and giving people stories than bitching and giving people ulcers.
But Iâm also glad I learned that lesson early on in fanfic world, not as an adult in real world. And now, whenever Iâm tempted to get caught up in the drama and ignore the writing, I remember how it sucked the joy out of something I loved, and how it destroyed potential friendships before theyâd even begun, and I make correction.Â
The second part, about transitioning out of writing fanfic and into writing original stuff, is a bit more complicated. Because it wasnât like I decided, âOK, no more fanfic! Iâm going to write original stuff now!â
I mean, I did decide that. A few times, actually. But it never worked.Â
Truth is, it took several years for me to learn how to finish an original story.Â
And it took several more before those stories were anywhere near as good as the fanfiction stories were.Â
And several more before I got to the point where writing my stuff felt easier and more rewarding than writing fanfiction.Â
It was a gradual process, one I barely noticed was even happening.Â
But here are my best guesses as what might have contributed:
Read more, read different. Diversify your TBR pile. Read books and genres and authors you arenât sure are for you (or better yet, are sure ARENâT for you). Teach your brain that there are things other than fanfic out there, and that not all of your writing has to look like fanfic.
Write every day. Not all day, every day. But, you know, ten minutes. Make writing your original stuff a habit. You donât have to give up fanfic if you donât want to! But make sure you fit your original stuff in, too.Â
Give yourself permission to practice. I was going to say âGive yourself permission to suck,â but thatâs not a very positive (or accurate) way of putting it. Practicing is how you get past suck. Practicing is how you get used to the fact that sometimes your writing sucks. And practicing is how you build up a tolerance to the fear and panic that might otherwise keep you from writing because your writing sucks. When writing, even ten minutes a day, scares the utter crap out of you, just tell yourself: âIâm only practicing,â and do it anyway.
Make peace with your process. There is no one right way to write a book. My experience has been that even after youâve written a book, the next book may come out completely different. (So might the one after that.) So instead of melting down in a panic when the words arenât flowing and you donât know whatâs going to come next, stop, take a breath, and ask yourself what it is you really need to get this book written.
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