When I started writing as a teenager, I’ll give you three guesses as to the subject matter.
*plays Jeopardy music*
WRONG!
The first story I ever wrote down (by hand at the time) was not only Star Wars fan fiction, but it was Star Wars PREQUEL fan fiction! Are you shocked? You should be.
My sixteen-year-old self was pretty simple minded when it came to plots and such. She also had absolutely no mind for character introduction. That’s why fan fiction is so brilliant! Everyone already knows the characters. The shows/movies/books/video games have already done the work for you!
In between the theatrical releases of The Phantom Menace and The Revenge of the Sith, I worked on and off on a story that basically provided a love interest for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Dude had it rough, guys. Someone so hot and wise should never have to banish himself to the armpit of the galaxy (Tattooine) without having some kind of companionship besides the Force ghost of his former Jedi Master. (I LOVE YOU, LIAM NEESON! I welcome Qui-Gon Jinn’s Force haunting!)
I’m not ashamed of it. I wrote a pretty awesome, and strong female MC … from what I can remember. Honestly, I can’t go back and read it. I would, but I know that I can’t because I’d have to scoop my eyeballs out with a hot spoon, which would be so stupid. My eyes are all that my face has going for it.
There is one large reason, among several other smaller ones, why I can’t go back and read that fic. Well, fics, plural, actually. It’s all written in third person, and at the time, I did not understand the concept of writing from a specific point of view. I wrote from the point of view of the camera in my mind, if that makes any sense.
In other words, the PoV will switch every other sentence at times, from character to character, driving the universe mad, and making all of the children cry.
Again, I’m not ashamed of writing it. It’s just shameful writing, if you follow me.
I wrote X-Men fan fiction shortly after (and during) that. It didn’t stop there. I went on with Doctor Who, Star Trek, Heroes, even Law and Order at one point. Most of these are not published online … just in case anyone was wondering.
In 2011-2012, I wrote a ridiculous amount of Person of Interest fiction, which is published online. I wrote so much of it that I got a small group of regular readers, who constantly asked me to write more because, admittedly, it was funny and entertaining without the smut that a lot of fan fiction usually turns into.
In my fan fiction, I don’t like to deviate very much from the characters as they have already been defined. I’m writing fan fiction because I like them, and I want more of them, right? So, I always do my best to keep to what the original writers wrote for the characters, while adding in one or two new characters of my own into the mix, and with a plausible plot line.
In the PoI fiction, I added to “Team Machine” while also creating a spunky, smart, and articulate love interest for John Reese. (Still not ashamed!) I got really good at writing banter, humor, and arguments between the two of them.
I went back this past summer and read through each one of the stories I wrote in that universe. Unexpectedly, I found myself regretting that some of those clever situations and dialogue were restricted only to my online fan fiction profile.
I began to think of how I could create two similar, yet original characters and insert them into an original novel.
There have been successful published works that were originally based upon fan fiction before. I don’t want to mention the most obvious and recent ones because I’ve never read them, and I’ve also heard that they are crap, which is why I’ve never read them.
However, I will reference the more … credible authors who have had some of their own works originate from fan fiction. Neil Gaiman is definitely one. I also just recently read that Lois McMaster Bujold wrote Star Trek fan fic that preceded the amazing science fiction series The Vorkosigan Saga. Even in her original work, I noticed several different references to Star Trek, most of them technology based. Why bother to come up with a new name for some gadget or futuristic process when Roddenberry already provided everything for you in the first place?
I may have veered off of what I was originally going to talk about in this post. Regardless, my point is that I did come up with a perfect story in which to insert my two characters and their clever dialogue. It’s a series, in fact. One that I’ve already had in the works for quite some time.
The male and female lead characters in said series needed an enormous overhauling anyway. So, in the middle of rewriting Warped, I also wrote a second draft of another novel I’d written and set aside about four years ago now. It is technically the second draft, but could be another first draft because I totally overhauled it. I added and changed characters; I threw in more settings, and situations.
What I’m saying, I hope, is that writing fan fiction isn’t a waste of time if you put some effort into it. Not only can it hone writing skills, but it can also help inspire better ideas and characters into your original writing.
Now, with Warped finished, I am currently working on the second book of the same series, which I will discuss in more detail in a later post. Writing a series as opposed to a stand-alone is an entirely different ball of wax.
Since the beginning of August this year, I’ve completed drafts of two separate novels, and am about 27,000 words into a sequel of one of those novels. I’ve also spit out a little fan fiction in between the cracks as well.
All of that adds up to well over 200,000 words. Your move, George R. R. Martin.
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