(no subject)
This post that was linked to via daily_snitch got me thinking about how damaging the distracting influences of the internet and fandoms are on writers of original fiction. It's nothing I didn't know before, but it was well articulated.
My response was as follows:
Amen. Fanfiction is dangerous to a writer of original fiction. I'm 24 and have been seriously writing since I was 11. My greatest dream is to become a published novelist. I started out writing fanfic for my own enjoyment. This was before the days of the Web! That eventually evolved into my own original SF/fantasy universe. I finished the first draft of my first full-length novel in late 1996. I got online for the first time a few months later. And my original writing has been at times painfully stagnant since then. Everything you said about patience and instant gratification is so true. It's a shame, but it's true. I'm sure it's possible to balance online fanfiction with offline original work, but I don't have that self-discipline.
It's a vicious cycle, too, because the more you write fanfic and get positive reinforcement from other fans, the less you want to work on original material that gets completely ignored. 90% of the hits to the website for my original universe comes from a fansite for a fantasy series that I also run. That's horribly depressing to me. Nothing means more to me than the characters I've created all by myself, in a universe of my own making. Yet they get completely ignored by all but a precious few friends, while scribbles about Harry Potter or whatever get gushed over. It's insulting in an indirect way, and not at all conducive to pursuing a career as a published writer of original fiction.
My response was as follows:
Amen. Fanfiction is dangerous to a writer of original fiction. I'm 24 and have been seriously writing since I was 11. My greatest dream is to become a published novelist. I started out writing fanfic for my own enjoyment. This was before the days of the Web! That eventually evolved into my own original SF/fantasy universe. I finished the first draft of my first full-length novel in late 1996. I got online for the first time a few months later. And my original writing has been at times painfully stagnant since then. Everything you said about patience and instant gratification is so true. It's a shame, but it's true. I'm sure it's possible to balance online fanfiction with offline original work, but I don't have that self-discipline.
It's a vicious cycle, too, because the more you write fanfic and get positive reinforcement from other fans, the less you want to work on original material that gets completely ignored. 90% of the hits to the website for my original universe comes from a fansite for a fantasy series that I also run. That's horribly depressing to me. Nothing means more to me than the characters I've created all by myself, in a universe of my own making. Yet they get completely ignored by all but a precious few friends, while scribbles about Harry Potter or whatever get gushed over. It's insulting in an indirect way, and not at all conducive to pursuing a career as a published writer of original fiction.