When it comes to writing, we all have to start somewhere. For me, it was fan fiction.
I started writing when I was ten-years-old using up notebook after notebook. It was a little while later that Kris discovered a website catered to just fan fiction. She got an account on there and posted a story based off of one of her favorite video games, The Legend of Zelda.
Meanwhile, in my notebooks, I was writing fan fiction based off of my favorite TV show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
When I found out people were reading and liking and reviewing Kris’s stories online, I begged her to post my story. I was too young to get an account and Kris decided to be a nice sister and add my story on there.
Thus began my fan fiction “career.”
The majority of people I know or heard about say they love fan fiction. They think it’s a great way to get started with writing. Plus, it’s always fun to fantasize about your favorite characters. Put them in new and different situations than your shows or comics would normally put them in or even add yourself as a cast member. The possibilities are endless and fun.
But there are those few people that don’t like fan fiction. They say it’s not “yours” or it’s not “original.” Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I think any writing is writing.
Fan fiction is important to me because, without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
I might still be jotting down random ideas in notebooks and never getting anywhere with them. Or maybe my writing would have fizzled out completely.
But one of the reasons why I stopped writing fan fiction was because I kept coming up with all these new, great ideas. And I thought to myself, “Why not create my own characters and use this idea in an original novel by me?”
There are times when I want to get back into fan fiction. I still have my folder filled with ideas for various categories on the website. When I get stuck on my original novels, I sometimes get the itch to revert back to fan fiction.
I never have, though.
My account is still on fan fiction. I have a link to it on my Contact Me page. Though I wouldn’t advise anyone to go check it out or to even read some of the stories I wrote on there.
The stories are old, pretty dumb from the mind of a young kid, and just plain old embarrassing.
I’ve thought many times to take down my old stories or even just to delete my entire account. Like I said, looking back on some of the stories now, it’s really embarrassing. I cringe just by looking at my profile.
Yet, I can’t take them off. Those stories are part of who I was as a kid. Those stories got to me to this point in my life. They helped me realize what I want to do for a career. They helped me realize what I truly love and have a passion for.
Writing. Creating. Using my imagination.
Once I was old enough, I created my own account in January 2005. That was almost 11 years ago. I last updated my profile in December 2014 with hopes I would get back into it, but I never did. In all that time, I uploaded 58 stories and a total of 421,396 words. The last thing I posted on there before that was in 2012.
April 2012, to be exact. I started blogging in May 2012.
I think it was at that point when I realized I wanted to be a full-time writer. I started my blog to build my platform and get more of my original writing out into the world.
I stopped fan fiction, ending one chapter of my life to begin a whole new chapter; writing originals. Writing for a career. Writing for you. Writing for me.
So, as embarrassing as it is, it’s fun to see how much I’ve grown as a writer since I’ve started. I’m still not a perfect writer, but I’m a lot better than I used to be.
With that being said, I’m posting a four-part series about my fan fiction (this post being the first part). The next two parts will be posted in October and the last part will be posted in November.
I hope you’ll enjoy this blast from the past with me as I make a fool of myself looking back at my old stories.
Have you ever written fan fiction? What got you into writing? Let me know in the comments!
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