☮

My brothers and sisters of short attention span but great creativity, I know your feels. But if I can finish a book and half of its sequel, then anyone can.

Turn off the TV, shut your Youtube tab and - gasp - close Tumblr. Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Yes, it’s painful and the urge to click refresh is just so strong, but you can do it. I believe in you.

Have a writing playlist ready. iTunes, Pandora, Trntbl, Spotify, whatever works for you. I have a playlist on my iTunes, phone and iPod waiting for me, so whenever inspiration strikes I don’t waste time trying to find the ~perfect song. Just pick one and go.

Make a list of everything you want to accomplish. If you’re working on a big project, say a book or a multi-chapter fic, it’s really helpful to make a list of what all needs to get done. And make yourself do it. Hold yourself accountable.

Draw your plot up in advance, not right before. Confession time. I’ve started at least five books that fizzled out after a few chapters because I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Now, I have to draw up my entire plot, including foreshadowing and back story, on big posters. They’re taped to my closet door, so I can consult them whenever I feel like I’m getting off track. This keeps you from going off on a tangent, and gives you a goal to reach: the final chapter.

Turn it into a game. I like games. Tell yourself, I’m going to write ten pages before I finish listening to this entire album. Or I’m going to write three pages, paint my toenails, then do three more. Anything to make it a challenge works. Along with your plot and accomplishment list, you’re going to finish what you’re working on in no time.

Give yourself breaks. No one can resist the power of the internet forever. Every ten or fifteen minutes, do a quick check of your sites. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest and my phone all take about three minutes to check. This includes answering messages. Once you’ve seen that the modern world hasn’t ended in your absence, return to work.

Multitask. I write some of my best stuff when I’m supposed to be doing something else entirely. Class is a particularly creative time. If you know you’re more than likely going to get an idea, split your page in half, drawing a vertical line right now the middle. One side is for notes and the other side is for your story. Take a bullet point down, write a sentence. Two bullet points, another sentence. Scrub, rinse and repeat until class is up, then rush off to finish your brilliant masterpiece.

Whenever inspiration hits, run with it. You aren’t going to have that little spark of an idea for long, so don’t let it get away from you. Write it on your arm, text it to yourself or even ask a stranger for a piece of paper to write it down. Trust me, you’ll be so glad you did.

When you hit a roadblock, don’t sweat it. Take a shower, put on some comfortable pajama pants and open up a good book. Read for awhile and maybe take a nap. When you’re feeling it again, the story will come back. You can’t force it, and don’t try to fight it.

☆ May 29, 2012 // 6 notes

Tammie, not Tamara: On Fanfiction

A lot of authors seem to be adamantly opposed to fanfiction, a position I don’t really understand at all. Many see it as lazy, or piggybacking on someone else’s idea. While it is inspired by the work of others, fanfiction is anything but unoriginal, bland work. I’ve read fics that are better than published books, that completed better story and character arcs than half the shows on television, and stuck closer to accurate psychology, history and sociology than multi-million dollar movies.

Fanfiction authors are dedicated, they are superfans, and they know how to work the fandom; after all, that’s what the point of fanfiction is. To share and celebrate something you all love. It’s not for money or recognition. These are underground authors, often with a cult-following, writing for the love of the work and for the love of their favorite show, book, or movie. It’s almost what writing should be.

Aside from the fact that we have no right to tell someone else how to use their creativity, I actually think that fanfiction (and fanart, and fandoming in general) is one of the greatest parts about loving something. Fanfiction is something that I believe every author should take the time to experiment with. I myself began as a fanfiction author, and I get just as excited about reading fanfiction as I do books.

So I’m telling you right here, right now, write fanfiction. I’m not kidding.

Fanfiction is a great teacher. Especially for writers who are just starting out, fanfiction is like training wheels, almost a stepping stone to writing an original story. The characters, their personalities and problems are there, as well as a setting and plenty of ideas for a story. It is intensive, focused practice with characterization, keeping a plot feasible, proper grammar and sentence structure, and set-up for a multi-chapter story. Writing thirty chapters of anything is no easy task, but writing thirty chapters with constrained, fixed characters and limits as to what’s “allowed”, is especially difficult.

You have to realistically think about how characters would interact with each other, how they would speak (in my opinion, dialogue is especially difficult to get right), how they would react to a situation we haven’t yet seen. It gives you a chance to practice and mistakes are often met with forgiveness and careful criticism. You can talk about it with other fans, who are usually kind and willing to help, because they’re learning too. There is a ready-made audience for the story that has been written, eagerly seeking more material. How many authors can say that two paragraphs, which will eventually be scrapped, can be met with squeals of delight or absolute anguish? Not many.

And for the writers who write fanfiction well, holy crap do they write it well. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and when someone can describe a character’s emotional turmoils to a T, without a single slip up, I’m blown away. Because these are the fans who understand the story, the fan who are willing to dig deeper, who are desperate to know more. They’re my favorite kind of fans, because I’ve been in their shoes. I was that fan, I’m still that fan.

Fanfiction authors have a distinct advantage over other writers: direct interaction with his or her audience, and the chance to speak with those people on equal footing. It’s a privilege to work so closely with people who appreciate your work, and when you begin to write as a professional, that is often lost. It’s one part about no longer being amateur I’m not really looking forward to.

Write fanfiction. Fill notebooks with your headcanons and theories. Do it often and without shame, because there is nothing wrong with it. But don’t stop there. Write the story you want to read, and when fanfiction isn’t enough anymore, don’t be afraid to put forth your own idea. If you can write a twenty-chapter fanfiction, you can write a book.

Trust me.