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The ramblings of a designer turned writer turned computer geek turned writer turned designer with way too much time on his hands.
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FFC #58 - Engines revving...

Posted September 22nd, 2020 at 08:45 PM by TGRF
TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #58

So. It's been a week or so under two months since I said I was taking a break from writing. In that time I've been able to address some things which really required addressing. Most of that stuff still isn't remotely resolved, but writing, at least, seems to be coming back.

Very, very slowly.

But it is coming back. While I say that, I'm aware that I have not yet actually written anything, so this is all based off of my reliably-unreliable intuition. But I'll take it. Here's what's going on:

Writing is going to happen. I am once again sure about this. What I am NOT sure about is the format that writing will be in (fan fiction, novel, something else, etc.).

I've always assumed that once I had written enough fan fiction, I would create my masterwork of a novel, send it to an agent, get published, and make a million bucks. Or something along those lines. I'm... not so sure about that now.

The publishing route is looking less and less like something I should do, for various reasons, some of which are personal. Meanwhile, writing as a whole has had to take a reluctant backseat to life in general, and the need to get an established income specifically. That doesn't mean I won't be writing - it just means there will actually be other stuff going on which is a higher priority.

Those two things have combined to make publishing look pretty unrealistic for the near future. The next question is obviously where that leaves my writing.

There are some things I want to work on with my writing. There are a few habits I want to break, some skills I want to learn, and some things I need to practice. Fan fiction is great for that, and currently I intend to go ahead with an unending series of some sort where I can test all that out.

I'd say there's an 80% chance that will happen.

The other 20% is not really something I've considered until recently, but in light of the publishing route being (at least temporarily) closed off, it's suddenly become a lot more logical.

Instead of working on my writing through fan fiction, I could skip straight to novels - and publish them online on my own website.

Why am I considering this? Two reasons: 1) I keep getting ideas for non-HS stories, and 2) an online publication, if it does really well, could actually remove the need to do traditional publishing at all. (Or, if not, definitely be a step towards getting published in the distant future.)

What's wrong with this idea? Again, two things: 1) I have zero experience with it and no idea what I need to do, and 2) no audience. Aside from my awesome readers here, of course. I don't know how such sites are run, or what I'd need to protect against bots and spam and hacking and whatnot, and how to get the word out to potential readers, and then let them create an account so they can comment easily. It's something I've never investigated, so there's a lot I'd need to research.

So I say it is a possibility, but only about 20% likely to actually happen. At least instead of fan fiction.

So, while I wrestle with that decision, there's one thing I know now which I didn't know two months ago, and that's that I will almost certainly be coming back to writing - in some form - soon. Once I find a good story, I would say the development will begin.

I'll keep you posted, and let me know what you think of my two options. Any knowledge you have on the subject of online self-publications would be great.

~TGRF.

P.S. The decision is really about if I try to perfect writing with fan fiction and then publish online, or just publish online, and perfect as I go. Either way, I'll probably end up publishing at some point, online or otherwise. Assuming nothing else happens to stop that plan, naturally.
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TheAverageFan's Avatar
If nothing else, readily available written works (be it fanfic or otherwise) serve as a sort of resume for your writing abilities to those worried about publishing a first-time author.

~TAF, who doesn't know anything about the subject other than that writers who he knows are inferior to even himself get published so there's no reason you shouldn't be able to
Posted September 25th, 2020 at 04:55 PM by TheAverageFan TheAverageFan is offline
 
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