We all want to be writers…
More and more people are writing, and I am not talking about being able to write. But about writing for fun. Whether it is in a journal, a blog, fiction or fanfiction more and more people sign up to do either one of those or even more.
I asked around about it on NFA NCIS Fanfiction Addiction, and I got some interesting results. I asked four questions;
- 1.Why do you write fanfiction?
2.Why do you write fiction? ( if you do )
3.Do you aspire to be a writer for real or is this just something that you like to do in your spare time.
4.And if you have a blog and you write personal posts, about your real life or about your feelings and thoughts why do you choose to share that with the world?
The fans on that board are really helpful and I got a lot of responses on my questions. And even a discussion or two about the questions. It really helped me to write this piece and I am grateful to them for it.
Fanfiction
Most of them do not aspire to be a writer for real, which surprised me. I would have thought that there would at least have been a couple of people who wanted to be a novelist. If you read some of their stories they could have easily been real writers if you ask me.
Writing fanfiction in my opinion is easier then writing fiction. For fanfiction you use a tv show, movie or a book and their characters. You have the settings, the characters and you write stories utilizing those things to tell what you want to tell people. Now when you write fiction you will have to write it all by yourself, make everything up. It is a bigger process, you have to make everything up. While with fanfiction if you have watched the tv shows you know you characters inside and out and you can write them without thinking too much about it and for writers who do this is a hobby I think that this might be easier to tell your story.
Besides that I also think that fanfiction is a release you can do anything you like to your favorite characters and people around you will read it. You can undo the wrongs that haven been done by ‘the powers that be’. And there are always people around you who think the same way as you do.
Fanfiction gets you instant gratification, especially when you write and post it on a forum which was set up for that particular show, movie or book. Because the fans are right there they can read it and reply to it. Usually most of the replies are people saying that they love it. Some help you out with constructive criticism which can learn you a lot. And that is what makes it fulfilling.
Besides that for a lot of fanfiction writers it is an outlet of feelings, anxiety and just general things that happen in life. I have noticed that a lot of writers including myself started writing to deal with things like bullying or abuse. Other people start writing because of boredom or because they do not like what ‘the powers that be’ did to their favorite characters or tv shows. Every time something huge happens in the fandoms you see the reaction in the pieces that are written. For example ( yes here she is again ) Jorja Fox’s decision to leave CSI, and well due to her decision the departure of Sara Sidle who left Gil Grissom behind in Vegas. The responses to that are countless; people who want her gone, people who want her to stay.
Fiction
I do have an account at Fictionpress.net but I only have one post there and it is something I wrote basically from my point of view but I have also submitted it to Fanfiction.net as a one parter. I got a whole lot more responses and I and for me the reviews are important without them I probably would have quite writing a long time ago. And that was a response that came up a couple of times.
Do you want to be a novelist?
Like I said before most people answered this question with a no. They say that they just do this as a hobby. Some would like to one day if they are good enough to be a novelist.
I myself do not share that idea, I never wanted to be a novelist for me this is just a hobby. Okay one that got completely out of hand; but I consider it a hobby. Even though over the past years my goal has been to get better at writing and with the help of some very kind beta readers who proofread everything I write for me I have gotten better. And I have learned a lot and I will continue learning new things. But no I, like a lot of people, do not have the urge to become a novelist.
Blogs and journals
A blog or a journal is mostly used as a soundboard, most people don’t really care about who reads it or even if anyone reads it. It is just a place where they can write down their thoughts. I personally use my blog to write down things that I need to get out of my system, or just things that I don’t want to forget. Sometimes I write three posts a week sometimes it takes me a month to update.
I can understand why some people prefer to do those things in a regular journal at home straight onto the paper because it gives you the idea that you can write down what ever you want without anyone reading it. I have done that before but I don’t know for me it works beter to do it on the internet. It is also nice to get some feedback from people around you without having to explain what happened a couple of times. I just give them the link to the post I made. I value the input from certain people and that won’t happen if you write it in a journal which you keep in a save place.
Challenges
Because so many people are writing on the internet all kind of challenges are set up. Either fanfiction writers set up challenges for each other which happens a lot on Livejournal.com. There is at least one group for every fandom and for every possible pairing on lj; and if it isn’t you can set it up for yourself and be sure that people will join when you if you promote it of course. There are also a lot of RPG’s ( Role Playing Games ) and writer livejournals.
You can find the same thing on Yahoo groups, there are literally numerous groups completely devoted to fanfiction and writing.
Or you can look for a specific forum on a tv show, movie or book. Like I did, I am a member of NFA ( NFA NCIS Fanfiction Addiction ). A forum solely dedicated to NCIS fanfiction, who sets up challenges for the writers which are very inspiring. And twice a year they hand out ‘the Hinky Awards’. Awards that we, the writers and readers, can nominate other writers for, this Saturday the 15th of December will be the big day. It stimulates you when you are nominated, and it does that even more when you win.
Next to these challenges that fanfiction writers have there are also other challenges one of the most famous is the NaNiWriMo challenge. Or maybe better known as the National Novel Writing Month which has been held for the past 9 years in November. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
What keeps the writers writing
So I have been writing for a couple of years now, five years more or less. And besides my own will to keep on writing there is one huge thing that is very important for me, and from the comments that I have read before, I am not the only one. But reviews really are what keeps people writing especially when it comes to fanfiction, fiction or blogs. People like to get reviews, first off it shows that someone takes the time to read what you have to say. In a review you can get comments that tell you what you are doing is good. Or they can help you with some constructive criticism. Okay truth be told I have had some comments that weren’t so nice but all in all you forget the bad ones ( usually they are anonymous ) and cherish the good ones.
So if you read something that you like, review it the writer loves it. That is the least you can do for all the hard work they put into it.
Take a look at the stats
Just the stats from the past years of NaNoWriMo tell you that more and more people take writing as a hobby serious. We are talking about people who participate in a challenge that asks you to write 50,000 words in a month. And well I personally have written some novel sized stories and believe me 50,000 words is no small task to take lightly, and I didn’t even have a time limit.
How many novels have been written through NaNoWriMo?
1999: 21 participants and six winners
2000: 140 participants and 29 winners
2001: 5,000 particpants and more than 700 winners
2002: 13,500 participants and around 2,100 winners
2003: 25,500 participants and about 3,500 winners
2004: 42,000 participants and just shy of 6,000 winners
2005: 59,000 participants and 9,769 winners
2006: 79,000 participants and 13,000 winners
2007: 101,510 participants and 15,333 winners
This year 1187,931,929 words have been written between the writers of NaNoWriMo, that is more then ever before. But I am sure that 2008 will top that number again, just like there will be more fanfiction/fiction writers in general and even more people will start blogging.
Sources:
NFA NCIS Fanfiction Addiction ( thanks for all the help )
Fanfiction.net
Fictionpress.net
Livejournal.com
Yahoo groups
National Novel Writing Month
