How fan fiction helped me become a (better) writer

I've been into fan fiction for well over ten years -- take of that what you will. As a teen, I read a lot of Star Wars fics (oh Luke and Han, just get it over with and kiss already!) Then I moved on to anime (GW and FMA, in particular). Something about the Gundam Wing Internet fandom in the early 2000's caught my fancy.

Was I obsessed? A little. I don't care. I was also in love.

Now, I wrote before I tried my hand at fan fic. I wrote really terrible wannabe literature that sucked donkey balls. I was young, and it was bad. Really, really bad. We shall never speak of it again.

But Gundam Wing opened up my imagination and made me want to tell a story about these wonderful, complex characters. So I did. I wrote a romance (2/4, if you must know. I'm not going to explain the number jargon), and people liked my story. I got several reviews. Cool. I could do that.

So I wrote some more -- built up a fan base and won some awards.

200,000 words later I had two full length novel fan fics. Several novellas and several more shorts. That's a lot of words.

The thing about fan fiction that's different from most other kinds of writing is the instant feedback from your fans. If they liked something, they reviewed it or emailed me for more. I learned how to build a story, write myself into (and out of) corners and how to write believable dialogue -- all by using someone else's characters and world. But most of all it gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my own non-fan fic writing.

If I could write a 60,000 word novel about GW characters, why not my own characters? I realized I could.

Not only that, but fan fic introduced me to genre writing, romance and gay fiction. Funny how things come full circle, huh?

Without the boost I got from fan fiction, I wouldn't be where I am today -- you know, an awesome full-time writer.

So, thank you G-boys for all your wonderful help.

And I suppose Ed and Roy helped a little too. (It was way too hard to find a pic of these two not kissing!)

Success and stuff

If my 24 year-old-self met my current self, I'm not sure what would happen. Besides the whole time paradox thing, I don't think we'd agree about writing decisions and what it means to be a successful writer.

Back then, I thought you had to do things in this order:

1. Get an agent
2. Get a book deal with a big 6 publisher
3. Success!

Self-publishing was a wasteland for talentless hacks -- reserved for weirdoes who had "book signings" at Barnes and Noble for their memoir about growing up in the suburbs of middle America. Thrilling!

I was a jerk back then.

But times are changing. Now self-pubbing isn't just easier than ever; it's actually possible to be successful when you do it. But many writers don't like to admit that. They want to sit on their high horses and claim their way is the only way. That's not only narrow sighted, but it also glosses over many problems with big publishing as it stands (more on that later).

Self-pubbing is one path to success. It's one way a writer can make a wonderful living for herself or himself. It's not the only way. It takes a lot of hard work, but it's comparable to the other paths. And the payoff can be just as big -- or bigger -- than going the traditional route.

However, people still say: "Well, he might have a book on the NY Times bestseller list, but he's just self-published."

I've done it. Maybe you have too. Take a minute and think about why you want to put down other writers for their choices. Does it affect you? Probably not. Are you jealous of their success? Disapproving? What makes you better than that self-pubbed writer?

Not every writer is going to make the decisions you would make, but that doesn't make them any less of a writer. I put a lot of work in my books/series. They are revised/edited by me (several times) and several beta readers in my online writing group.

I have writer friends who've made different choices than I have. One got a MFA. I have no desire to pursue one, but that was right for her and she deserves the success that comes with it. Another writer friend has an agent and just released a book of short stories through a small press. Did she work hard for that? Yes. Is she successful? Yes.

Every writer has a definition of success for themselves that might be different from my definition or yours. I want to build a big fan base and make tons of money. Self-pubbing gives me a better chance of doing that than traditional publishing, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

This is my path to success. What's yours?