(no subject)

[nny]

I went through a huge phase of drabbles, (you might have noticed) and since then? Nada. I've written a fic for mery_smutmas, which I'm currently revising, but apart from that... it's pathetic.

I think maybe it's this fandom. Don't get me wrong- the people involved in HP have been absolutely wonderful (so far, fingers crossed), and I've made some good friends. But it's so *big*. There is a huge range of authors to choose from, and I seem to find such a huge amount of really good quality fic... it's extremely intimidating.

The truth is I might be happier in a little fandom. A place where I would have no competition. I don't think I'm a terrible writer, but neither am I particularly good, so maybe I should find a dark little corner, a neglected fandom where I can learn my trade. I need to practice.

I'm not going anywhere. I'm still hoping I have a couple of decent stories in me, and I may well continue to write drabbles and ficlets. I don't really know what the purpose of this is then- probably just a whinge. The lack of progress in my writing is depressing me.

New Years Resolution- write something every day. No matter how crap. Anything's better than what I have now.

Comments

[wikdsushi.livejournal.com]

I say go ahead and write HP if that's what you want to try. Think of it this way: the reason the fandom got so big is because people did go ahead and post their stories. The size is good for practise, too, because you're more likely to get feedback, find experienced beta readers, etc. When I go back and look at my first pieces in this fandom, and compare them to the ones I wrote after scads of feedback and help, I wonder what the Hell I was smoking to think they were any good.

In short: screw the size of the fandom. Write what you want! :P

[http://users.livejournal.com/_hannelore/]

"In short: screw the size of the fandom. Write what you want!"

Worth repeating and repeating and repeating. Great resolution, too!

[vimeslady.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of the 'write what you want to write' practice when it comes to fanfic. I tried for months to force myself to work on 'Last Rights' (sequel to 'My Brother's Keeper' (http://discfanfic.tripod.com/vimeslady/mbk01.htm)) before I realized that all that was happening was that I had stopped writing altogether.

As far as fandoms go, I adore your HP drabbles, but I'm always happy to see you writing in the Discworld universe. Your DW drabbles so rock!!

[tyraarane.livejournal.com]

[Pardon my poking my head in here; I realize you don't know me, but I was stalking friends-of-friends lists again and came across your post...feel free to ignore this if you so wish.]

The truth is I might be happier in a little fandom.

Actually, you'd be surprised at the competition and cut-throat business that goes on little fandoms (I'm in two itsy-bitsy fandoms at present). With little fandoms, there's only one or two web forums or main hub sites, so there can only be so many site admins and forum moderators, who by some general rule in small fandoms are always at the top of the heap. Personal opinions are more likely to be noticed (which is nice, at times), and you're more likely to be attacked for them if they're unpopular. I have a few opinions in one fandom which I am doing my utmost to keep secret, because I'm almost 100% certain that I'd be run out of the fandom for voicing them.

Let me give you an example: I write fanfic in a small, sleepy fandom that's been around for thirteen years. Everyone's basically sitting around waiting for the next installment in our beloved series to be announced. There are, including myself, six fanfic writers in the entire place. (There are other folks who write fanfic, of course, but they've never joined the fandom. Or they were in the fandom, wrote the fanfic a long time ago, and have since left.) And even among us, where we all know each other fairly well and do our best not to step on each other's toes and plot bunnies, there's a heirarchy. It shifts depending on either the quality of the fanfic you've made public (which more than likely includes if what you've written fits with popular opinion...) or what the fanfic writer at the top of the heap thinks of you/your fanfic.

Don't get me wrong; it's a nice fandom and I love it to pieces despite its sleepiness and the way its members occasionally snipe at each other (there's a flaw inherent in the canon that literally split the fandom in half after a while -- most of the time things are quiet, but every once and a while...). But sometimes I'd like to retreat the anonymity of a big fandom, where I could write slashfic about certain main characters and not get tarred and feathered. I look at you HP fanfic writers and think you're all bloody lucky--not only are there lots of you, but lookit all the slash writers, etc. (I know I'm not the first to consider the idea of slash in that little fandom, but I'm probably the first to actually write it (and then hide it in a drawer and pray it never gets found))

So, um, I think I lost my point in there somewhere...hopefully you'll find it. I think it was something along the lines of, "little fandoms are intimidating, too."

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Thankyou. That's the thing- I used to write stories all the time in my old fandom, and there's only about one I can still read without having to go hide for a bit. I don't know why it is that this fandom intimidates me, but I am trying to get over it.

And what I want is to write Snupin. Lots and lots of Snupin. =)

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Okay- that's officially my second New Years Resolution, right after "Write something every day, no matter how crap." =)

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Discworld is definitely going to happen eventually. Discworld and Neverwhere are two fandoms that I definitely want to get more involved in- at least, the Discworld *fandom*. With Neverwhere, I want to write, but it doesn't look like there is much of a fandom at the moment. =)

But yes- I'll certainly be trying my hand at Vetinari/Vimes at some point, and I also want to write Andre/Drumknott. (Oh, and Greebo/Sirius Black, but that's just me...)

Thanks for the compliment, by the way. *g*

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for interjecting. =)

I really appreciate the perspective- since I came here from the X-Files (I read my first slash fanfiction- which was also my first fanfiction- at the age of fifteen, and slash was already well established within a huge fandom) I have never been a part of a small fandom. I guess I should just write what I write, and whether or not people like it is their problem. I'll have to deal with the fact that I am a complete feedback whore on my own. ;)

Nice to meet you. *g*

[tyraarane.livejournal.com]

I think we're all secretly feedback whores, deep down...I know I am, at least. ;) Nice to meet you, too.