Only forever, not long at all
I've noticed that lately some authors have been deleting all of their own works at fanfiction.net, because they're not writing fanfiction anymore, they're not going to finish their WIPs, and they don't want their works plagiarised. Fair enough. But what really caught my eye was one of these authors' blogs, where they talked about why they're not writing fic anymore. In particular they said that 'fanfiction isn't forever.' This got me pondering.
You see, for me, I think fanfiction really will be an eternal thing. I'll go my grave thinking 'But I still have more stories to write.' But then, I know I'm a little unusual. Many people 'grow out of fanfiction.' For some, it's a phase that passes. Many authors have aspirations of getting their original works published, or of becoming script writers. Fanfiction is just the start for them, and that's awesome. There's people working successfully in the industry today who began their writing careers in fanfiction. I find that so cool and inspiring and sort of squeeful. Yay, one of us, one of us lol. But here's the thing, for me personally, fanfiction is as far as I go. Both my Mum and my husband have asked me why I don't write original stories and try to get them published. The simple answer is, I don't want to, and also, I don't have any original story ideas or characters pushing at my brain, urging me to write them. I really don't. I write fanfiction because the characters and story ideas I have for them are so vivid and insistent, and because my fics are love letters to the characters and the shows or films, expressing how much I love them and why. It's a pain sometimes, but a joy mostly. I can't imagine giving it up.
I mean, I'll never say never. Maybe fanfiction won't be forever for me. I have higher priorities - I'm married now and we are hoping to have kids at some point in the future. But I like the idea of fanfiction always being there, something I can do even when I have brats of my own, a hobby I can always dip into, something that forever makes me smile and excited and inspired and galvanised. It's not forever for everybody, but I hope it is for me.
You see, for me, I think fanfiction really will be an eternal thing. I'll go my grave thinking 'But I still have more stories to write.' But then, I know I'm a little unusual. Many people 'grow out of fanfiction.' For some, it's a phase that passes. Many authors have aspirations of getting their original works published, or of becoming script writers. Fanfiction is just the start for them, and that's awesome. There's people working successfully in the industry today who began their writing careers in fanfiction. I find that so cool and inspiring and sort of squeeful. Yay, one of us, one of us lol. But here's the thing, for me personally, fanfiction is as far as I go. Both my Mum and my husband have asked me why I don't write original stories and try to get them published. The simple answer is, I don't want to, and also, I don't have any original story ideas or characters pushing at my brain, urging me to write them. I really don't. I write fanfiction because the characters and story ideas I have for them are so vivid and insistent, and because my fics are love letters to the characters and the shows or films, expressing how much I love them and why. It's a pain sometimes, but a joy mostly. I can't imagine giving it up.
I mean, I'll never say never. Maybe fanfiction won't be forever for me. I have higher priorities - I'm married now and we are hoping to have kids at some point in the future. But I like the idea of fanfiction always being there, something I can do even when I have brats of my own, a hobby I can always dip into, something that forever makes me smile and excited and inspired and galvanised. It's not forever for everybody, but I hope it is for me.