One of the biggest differences between the official National Writing Month and my Petite Writing Month is that I only count the words - no matter in which form they come.
This means that if I write a blog post for floralcars it is counted. When I write about Porsche in the WEC it goes into the word count baggy, and when I write a piece for DriveTribe ... you guessed it - it goes in as well. I do not have a plot or only one project that gets my full attention. Instead, I need to get up each day and think of a new idea ...
In theory this doesn't sound too bad. After all with a variety of no less than four different blog - surprised myself there - I should not run short of topics any time soon. However, we have entered mid-November I found myself in the unique position of stalling.
Even though, feeling slightly uninspired plays a small part in it I am not short of ideas - since I have a list. The problem lies in the sense that everything I write seems to be the same. The flame is no longer burning as bright as it has at the beginning of the month. The romance has slowed down, and the first date excitement of Petite NaNo has gone ...
Let's be honest, this has happened to the best of us bloggers. After writing a lot in a short time things become harder and you start to wear out. In an effort to re-charge my brain I turned to this side called Archive of Our Own - commonly known as Ao3.
"What is that?" I heard people of a non-fandom disposition ask. Ao3 has been born out of the need to create a safe place for every type of fanfiction - which is non-commercial fiction by fans for fans often based on commercial fiction.
As an example: have you ever watched the X-Files and wondered what Skinner does when he isn't baby-sitting Mulder and Scully? Then you pondered on his golf-weekends and wrote about it. There you have it. That's fanfiction. This can range from writing characters go shopping, or putting them in a romantic relationship, and probably ends with the slightly controversial real person fiction.
The reason why I find fanfiction so appealing is that you don't have to worry so much when you write it. It is from fans for the fans. Hence, you don't have to wonder if it is going to appeal to a publisher or the wider public. After all, the audience is already there and looking.
On top of that, most of the characters are already shaped. They have character traits and a story. Then the world has already been built. Another worry falling of your shoulders. Furthermore, fanfiction is widely known as selfish. You literally write for yourself.
A lot of things that play in the back of your mind and put pressure on you when blogging fall way in fanfiction:
Is it going to get any clicks? Doesn't matter. When is the best time to publish it? Whenever. But how am I going to find any readers?! Usually, they're already there lusting for more content. I am really unsure about this piece ...well, you don't have to publish it.
After breaking my head over word-count, blog post ideas, inspiration and when would be the greatest time to squeeze this piece in, a little bit of fanfiction in between was the perfect way to undo the knot that had built in my brain.
When you stall in your writing, I can only suggest trying a little bit of fanfiction to get back into the groove again.
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