Fanfiction is like a Caesar Salad (just hear me out)
Updated: Nov 2
So I love Caesar salads. They're my go-to salad. Been making them for years. The combination of flavours and textures just works so well.
I'm not the only one who enjoys them. There’s a whole community of people who make and consume Caesar salads and share our recipes with each other. The result is always some version of a Caesar salad.
And then one day, I wanted to make another salad. Don't get me wrong, my love of the humble Caesar is eternal! But I'd been making them for so long that I wondered if I could use what I learned to create something else, something new.
TL;DR - swap the Caesar salad for fanfiction and this analogy describes what it feels like for me to write original fiction.
It’s been...daunting. For a bunch of reasons.
Saladcraft is for lyfe
When it comes to writing, skill acquisition is not a discrete event. It’s a life-long thing. Even if I take a course on creative writing and finish with a formal qualification, writing demands continuous improvement through engagement, self-reflection, experience and practice.
Now, these are BIG asks when it comes to hobbies, which are supposed to be fun, stress-relieving activities. There’s not meant to be a test at the end. I don’t think about saladcraft when I make salads.
When I write fanfiction, it’s shamelessly self-indulgent. I don't worry about the mechanics. 90% of my work isn't even beta-edited. It's got typos and errors, too many bathrooms and it's always too damn long. The only 'standard' I care about is whether I enjoy the process of writing, and whether readers enjoy reading. That's it.
But when I write original work...whoo boy. I can’t help but care about the technical details, the mechanics, the quality. I want to do a good job precisely because it actually qualifies as a job now.
I’m thinking about the Aristotlean 3-act structure, or the Kishōtenketsu 4-act structure (and belatedly realising I've always unintentionally been a 4-act structure writer). I'm using the recommended templates and guides and learning that there are established terms for the concepts/techniques that seem to work well in my writing, as well as for my mistakes. And if I can recognise my mistakes, I can correct or prevent them.
Writing original fiction changes both the process and experience of writing for me at a fundamental level. I've had to adapt and that can be really uncomfortable at times.
Unfamiliar ingredients
The process of creating a brand-new fictional world with new characters, good buys, bad guys, motivations and quests is daunting. I know all fic writers do this already, but writing original work underscores how much easier it is to build stories on canon foundations. God, it's so much fun. We get to dismantle or add to existing infrastructure. And most readers who read your work are already familiar with the world. They're already invested.
If a canon magic system makes no sense, we nod in commiseration, blame the source material and smugly write our little workarounds. If this happens in your original writing, it's a big, potentially expensive problem.
Yo, I'm no pro: the perils of Imposter Syndrome
Amidst all this angsting about my professional identity as a writer, I was flailing around on Twitter/X yesterday, seeking assistance to write my website bio. A bunch of really kind people offered to help. @UnwrittenIris provided an interesting take on the difference between writers and authors, ie. writers write, authors write and publish. This explains the source of my imposter syndrome, but it also reminded me that I'm not some freshly hatched storyteller. I've been 'authoring' for a long time, goddammit. I don't have to wait for my mother to buy my first book for me to accept this fact.
Transitioning from fanfiction writing to original fiction writing is not a new concept. It's a well-trodden path traversed by the likes of Stephanie Meyer and Cassandra Clare. From my own fandom, some notables include Ali Hazelwood, Olivie Blake, Elle M Drew and Julie Soto, just to name a few. The 'coming soon' list includes no less than Brigitte Knightley and SenLinYu.
The prospect of adding my name to this list GIVES ME HIVES.
Which leads to the next concern.
What if no one likes my salad?
Fanfiction and fanart are part of a gift economy. No money is meant to be exchanged. The work is free and so the common etiquette when providing feedback on a gift is that constructive criticism is only acceptable if the creator requests it.
The practical reality of this stance, whether you agree with it or not, is that sometimes, writers get insulated in a sort of protective bubble. I mean sure, the bubble gets poked at a lot (see my Goodreads 2⭐ or less reviews - ouch), but on the whole, the nature of fanfiction means that my work is not expected to hold up to professional standards.
This is a major reason why fandom can be such a nurturing space to grow as a writer. But it also means that receiving negative feedback on your writing can be confronting. Once I start selling original work, the protective bubble disappears. I'll be out on the street corner with everyone else, hawking my salads.
This is when imposter syndrome strikes again.
What if I actually suck and no one's told me because of the flameproof bubble? Have I confused praise with politeness? What if I have no business making this a business?
Professional 'salad-maker'. Fine, add it to my LinkedIn!
The doubt spiral hit me pretty hard yesterday.
BUT THEN I reminded myself that all writers probably feel this way once in a while, right? I'm not alone in all the ways that matter. Fanfiction writing has been a happy but hugely solitary endeavour for a long time.
Now, however, I feel like I have a team behind me to help me create my new salads, to taste-test and provide feedback on my recipes. In addition, I know I can rely on the support from fandom friends.
I'll never stop making and enjoying Caesar salads, but I think...no-I know, I'm ready to accept my author identity, which will no doubt evolve over time. It doesn't represent all of who I am (or even all of my writing), but it's OK for my writing to be more than a hobby.
(Twitter folks are still helping me write my author bio, btw - I'm so behind!!)
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