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

When you're taking a shower then a random, awesome idea for your story pops into your head.

 

There is worse. Which happens to me pretty often, because I tend to carry my tablet with me when I need to...never mind.

 

... and you run out of the shower with shampoo still in your hair to write it down

 

I am too sappy today...and too curious.

When you have five regulars on your main fic and implementing your beta's corrections on grammar-related finesses takes LESS TIME than replying to awesome, incredible comments those five people have left.

When those five are one of your closest online friends from elsewhere and four out of five of your favourite fic writers on here.

When you hope your fifth favourite fic writer, the one whose style is the closest to yours, will catch up sometime, because THEY OUTED THEMSELVES AS A FAN IN ANOTHER THREAD AND NOW THEY CAN'T ESCAPE ANYMORE.

When you do wonder what happened to the sixth reader, as comments from a person who may as well be your polar opposite are actually a good thing for a sample of "general public opinion".

When you realise that comments from people who never before commented on your stuff because you wrote something pretty good and universal are big kriffin' deal.

When you realise that the above got a like from another person this morning, and that person seems to have completely different interests, goals etc than you and you wonder how and why that happened and now you kinda hope they will comment, as their comment may be something you're not used to.

When the above may motivate you to give a second try to their stuff, which is usually "too amatonormative" in your mind.

EP overthinks stuff, ALOT...



...simple creature, alot no overthink, alot can no think much. Rawwwr.

 

... when a random search on the Wook reveals that Nerf Herders Anonymous is a thing, and you're trying to make up a scene where you can use the expression.

 

When you are at the work Christmas party, and you start cataloguing and memorising the room structure, because you are inspired to have a similar scene aboard a star destroyer.

I have Googled and Wiki'd outfits before, to support a costume in RP/ fic.

 

When you use Pinterest for future character ideas.

 

You know you are a fanfic writer when you have a character infiltrate an Imperial Nebulon-B escort frigate, a year to eighteen months after you "mapped" one for a fic or RP, and you stop in your tracks because you know he has made a wrong turn, and have to refer to the earlier piece to determine what the **** happened.

EDIT: Actually, here is a related and I think, better one.

You probably are unable to use a "mind palace" as a memory aid, as described by Sherlock, or The Mentalist's Patrick Jane, but you know what they are talking about, and if you had a mind palace of your own, it would probably be a Star Wars vessel or base that you have already mapped out for a fic or RP.

 

And that is why I have my scanned deck plan from the Far Orbit Project always on hand.

 

...you get really p***ed off when people talk about how talentless and unoriginal fanfiction writers are.

 

What are they basing such views on? 50 Shades of Poodoo?

 

Sigh. I guess I'm just tired of the whole snotty "fanfiction is a joke so let's make fun of it" movement that some people feed into. Like, it's perfectly fine for a sports fan to have a fantasy football league but writing fanfiction is laughable? Seriously?
I know I'm a fanfiction writer when I refuse to laugh at someone's fanfiction. (Unless it's deliberately funny )

 

I can't remember what I thread I already wrote this in but I think it still applies. When you dream about your fan fic characters or doing things they've done. Good or bad.

 

Been there, done that, used such dreams as inspiration.

 

I hate it when people show fanfic or fanart to celebrities. The whole mocking of fanfic is absurd - Wicked is fanfic, The Once and Future King is fanfic, Clueless is movie fanfic (high school au at that!)

What annoys me most is looking down on fanfic by other geeks which is so hypocritical. At least fanfic authors (and fanartists) actually create something, not just consume.

 

I've posted this before, but I LOVE this Time article on fanfiction

I particularly love this part:

 

Findswoman I'll go you one better and suggest that this is the kind of nugget that would inspire a serial drama.

Think Law & Order but in reverse.

 

When you're looking through a military intelligence field manual for research, you know you're a fanfic writer...

 

...when after binge-watching JL and JLU, you want to write up a legitimate case (in story form) for the Green Lantern Corps to appear in the GFFA.

 

...when your writer's block finally cleared, but you end up with numerous outtakes, all hilarious, involving manic psychic technobabble and references to back story. (Oh how I wish those five pages where the final post... but they're not. Darn.)

 

...when you knew you had to write to somebody regarding their fanon on a particular planet, but you were forgetting who it was...and then, boom, here they are.

 

When you are surfing the plot bunny adoption thread and a plot bunny bites but you can't for the life of you figure out how to do it. Then a couple of years later while brainstorming a fan fic and going through different planning levels you realize that you have found the perfect way to do said plot bunny.

 

...when someone challenges you to write an SW/Animaniacs crossover and it turns into a triple crossover that also stars the Elf your college English class made up during a group writing assignment. (Triple crossover because Baby Plucky from Tiny Toons had a cameo. Hee.)