Discussion You Know You're a Fan Fiction Writer When...

Yes, this I am SO guilty of! Well, guessing the whole movie part much more than me assuming my writing skills are 10x better...

YKYAFFWW...you've created such in-depth stories that they have entire worlds developed. Each story has it's own world. So, imagine how many worlds are in orbit in your mind right now, for every FF idea you have!

 

I've crafted worlds solely for fan fiction stories. It's not really that difficult, really...just take a few cues from games like Mass Effect and the various Star Wars strategy games wherein planet information is described. There are a lot of "generic" terms that can be adapted into descriptors, such that there can be a huge variety in the planets of a given system, sector, or galaxy. Which is a good thing too, since the average galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars, 60%-80% of which have planets.

 

While I haven't really bothered too much with entire planets, I've crafted several smaller locales. Neighborhoods, various facilities, etc. Generally I have a basic idea of their layout in my head, but I've also drawn simple maps from time to time just to keep things straight.

 

I love crafting planets but I wouldn't say it's easy for me. I think it depends how much depth and detail you put into it. If it's merely a stat sheet yeah, that's pretty quick but actually making it a vibrant, living place? That can take years, decades.

 

YKYAFFWW...you're looking forward to feedback from your beta more than feedback and marks on an essay for school, which involves, like, actual grades and stuff.

 

Well, since I'm not in school any more...

YKYAFFWW:

...you take great pains to comb sites like Wookieepedia for research data, so that you don't use the same tired old planets and species (and other things) in your stories.

...you use the planet descriptions in Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 as a sort of inspirational guide to creating worlds of your own upon which to base a story or stories.

 

...you've traced the evolutionary path of some species simply to gain a better understanding on how their bodies may work. simply for one little tiny minor detail in a story that you've forgotten about entirely, but still remember doing the research for.

...you're still cooking up evolutionary histories for various species within various fandoms for no real reason other than to have a better understanding should you run into a situation in a fic where you need to know their bodies inside and out.

...you then realize how dirty that sounds.

 

Xenobiology for the win.

 

After you have done all that, or something similar, and want to share and/or have other comment on your ideas, were do you post it?

 

Gamiel: The fanon wiki I linked to also hosts species articles. It's like Wookieepedia for Star Wars fanon.

 

... you find yourself using the Pythagorean theorem to figure out height and distance, and you've not used the theorem since high school.

 

When you get a headache trying to figure out how we're going to tag fanfic in the future.

 

......when you get an idea about characters in your head, and it won't go away. You imagine how it could/should go for best dramatic effect, and before you realize it the whole thing is planned out/resolved to completion, so you figure you may as well put it down on paper.

 

...when you're trying to write your term papers, and instead of philosophy, dialogue and new OCs' faces and voices are swirling round your head in a maelstrom of potential stories which you're going to forget just as soon as you have the time to scribble down even sketchy notes/outlines.

goddamnit, I always always get rabid plot bunnies in the fortnight before finals.

 

That just means your brain's working proper and you've got your finals in the bag, mate.

 

... you have a truly spaced-out, fic-worthy dream with an interesting plot featuring a favorite character, yet the character is quite obscure (DC Comics' Phantom Stranger) so anything you write would likely wind up a drawer fic. You are tempted to write it anyway.

 

YKYAFFWW...
... You stalk your story's stats for the first few days after posting.
... Any critical comments make all jittery inside because it means someone actually cares about the quality of your story.
... You have an idea that you refuse to write for until you have time to do research for it.
... Your "recently opened" list on your computer is a list of all your stories, rather than the papers that you turned in last week.
... You live for the weekends... Because it gives you time to write.
... Procrastination is your muse.
... Your most visited pages on your browser are the sites where you post and the sites where you research.
... You watch movies or TV shows just to find a good/original "fanfic moment"

 

For fanfiction writers with military experience: you wonder how to tactically employ any Star Wars era infantry squad/platoon/company's firepower.

 

I do that without having the actual time in service...

 

I distinctly recall nearly writing the words 'repeating blaster' instead of machine gun on a written military test.

 

Oooh, I have one...

...when you try to look for ways to use your favorite characters' actors (mis)adventures in your own fanfic—for example, a certain *scoundrel" and his unfortunate encounter with the old performers' cheer.

 

When your sig pic on another forum has you considering a story around it.

For example, my sig pic on another forum is this:

Spoiler: A bit big

Of course my sig image is much smaller...

The plot bunny trying to sneak in behind it is essentially, "what if a Hypno got access to a TV station and hypnotized a huge segment of the viewing population via TV?"

Not entirely sure where to go with that idea, so it's just lingering and begging to be written every now and then.

 

TrakNar: Eeeeep, that's a very creepy picture! Creepy and hypnotic, it made me think there was a ghost behind that Hypno!

YKYAFFWW....hmm, when even little scenes in video games and movies make you think of in-depth backstories?

 

Let's see... how many times have I come up with complex stories around the meta game in Pokemon? My Mewtwo is a love-crazed cuddler, my Alakazam acts like a toddler, my Hypno suffers from PTSD, my Gardevoir is transgender and proud, and my Zoroark loves treats. The unlucky younger trainers who I've somehow missed during my initial playthrough suddenly come out of the woodwork when I've got Mewtwo in the lead, because he's babysitting the younger Pokemon on my team and showing them how to fight. So, I'm crushing the dreams of little kids by kicking their low-level Pokemon into orbit because they decided to challenge me.

The Meta Game. Story fuel for fanficcers.

 

Swear words from the EU/fanfiction (like "stang" or "krebs") start slipping into your real-life vocabulary. I haven't started writing my fic yet but I've been reading a lot of EU and fanfic stuff to get into a certain frame of mind for it. Just now, I dropped my super-tiny fitness tracker and had to spend a few minutes searching for it. My first thought? "Oh, stang!"

I'm still not 100 % sure what curse word that's supposed to be but here I am, throwing it around anyway. Awesome.