So You Want To Be A Writer?

By Julia Temlyn, Editor-in-chief

You want to be published? Then you've got to submit for publication! Publishers aren't going to necessarily seek you out--you've got to make yourself known!

A childhood friend of mine was determined to be an Olympic gymnast by the time she was in her teens. The problem? She didn't practice. "Practice makes perfect" is right! You need to make an effort!

Online message boards and groups for writers can be distractions for many writers. Spending time at these places isn't a bad thing, because you can learn many things about the writing craft, as well as network with other writers. However, if you spend 3/4 of your time on the boards, and only 1/4 writing, then it's a bad thing. It's so easy to lose track of time--I know--I'm a member of one of the largest writing forums. Instead, save the boards as a reward when you've completed your daily writing goals.

Have you ever wished that a movie, book, television show, or story had ended differently, or that characters should have fallen in love, or been portrayed differently? If so, you might be interested in the concept of fan fiction.

Up until recently I had not been a fan of the concept of fan fiction, also known as fanfic. This is due mainly to frustration with friends who have lofty dreams of being published writers, yet do not climb the ladder of the writing world by writing various works and submitting them for publishing. Instead, they spend time writing fan fiction based around various television and film characters. I viewed this as a waste of time, mainly because, in my mind, the time that they spend writing fanfic could be time well-spent writing articles, or even stories…but I’ve had a change of heart.

While I still do not believe that it is wise to put all your eggs in one basket by writing only fanfic and not submitting your original stories and other writing elsewhere, I now recognize that writing fanfic is a viable creative outlet. In fact, upon some reflection I realized that I wrote a bit of fanfic when I was a teenager, though back then the internet was in its infancy, and fanfic was not well-defined and widespread. It didn’t become a defined genre until the dawn of the internet. In fact, I didn’t even own a computer at that time--my story was written on a standard typewriter! I’m not even sure how many other people wrote this stuff when they were growing up. My story was based on my childhood obsession with the New Kids on the Block, and after it was all said and done, it was over fifty (50) pages, single-spaced!

There are whole series of books based on various television series, including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” etc. Some writers have even taken it one step further and published whole novels (and book series) that are continuations of favorite and beloved tales.

Some examples include:

Scarlett : The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind", by Alexandria Ripley

Cosette: The Sequel to Les Miserables, by Laura Kalpakian

 Cosette, Or The Time Of Illusions: The Sequel To Les Miserables, by Francois Ceresa

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues, by Linda Berdoll

Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, by Juliette Shapiro

Pemberley : Or Pride & Prejudice Continued, by Emma Tennant

Mrs Darcy's Dilemma: A sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, by Diana Birchall

Letters from Pemberley: The First Year, by Jane Dawkins

An Assembly Such as This (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman: Book 1), by Pamela Aidan

It is not always recommended that such "sequels" are published because many readers are very loyal to the original author and his or her vision for the storyline. Some of these listed above were well-received, while others were not. You just never know. If you do attempt such a feat as to continue a beloved tale, do it with all the justice possible to the original author.

An idea for another kind of fan fiction that might be better received by publishers and readers alike is that of rewriting the story from another character's point of view. Quite a few authors with titles in various genres have succeeded at this.

Some examples include:

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire (an adult book)

Son of a Witch,  by Gregory Maguire (an adult book)

Mirror, Mirror, by Gregory Maguire (an adult book)

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire (an adult book)

Sleeping Ugly, by Jane Yolen (a children's book)

The Stinky Cheese Man, and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, by Jon Scieszka (a children's book)

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka (a children's book)

The Frog Prince, Continued, by Jon Scieszka (a children's book)

Prince Cinders, by Babette Cole (a children's book)

Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter, by Diane Stanley (a children's book)

Cinder Edna, by Ellen Jackson (a children's book)

If you are a writer with hopes of being published, I urge you to write and submit for publication without reserve. You aren’t going to get published by just wishing. The likelihood that someone is going to want to publish you simply based on your fanfic is highly unlikely, though it may be a good example of your style. However, most publishers of stories, etc., will want to see your own creativity, not necessarily stories written based upon characters of someone else’s creation. So, use fanfic as a launch pad into your own creativity. If you can write interesting and creative fiction based on someone else’s characters and plots just think of what your own imagination can create--the possibilities are endless! New characters, new plotlines, new stories…you may even end up writing The Great American Novel!

An interesting link: FanFiction.net

Discuss this article here.

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Julia Temlyn is a writer, editor, and proofreader, and the owner of Temlyn Writing Services. She is the Editor-in-chief of Writers Remember. Her professional website is located here. Please contact her for information regarding the availability of reprints of this article.