From Fanfic to Lesfic

Hello and welcome! I’m J.J. and I’m so glad you found me. Click here if you want to know a little more about me.

Well, I’ve done it. I’ve made the leap. I’ve stopped relying on characters someone else created to tell my stories. I am a writer. Not a fanfic writer, but a full-on honest to God author. I  have christened myself with the title. And so, I embark on my new writing project. 

For my life as an indie author, I started in a comfortable and familiar place, with a story that started as a Once Upon A Time fan fiction piece. I left When Dusk Comes incomplete several years ago, but was confident I had written it so originally that it would not take much to take it completely out of the OUAT universe. Comfortable and uncomplicated. Easy, right? Nope. 

After a couple of months, I have finished the first draft of the first book in the series. In the editing process, I discovered a bunch of little trouble spots that make sculpting my story  from fanfic into an original piece more challenging than I realized. 

Starting with Nobodies

The Problem:

There is a tremendous advantage to writing fanfic. We all already know the characters and have cultivated a sort of short hand of significant facts before we ever start reading a fanfic story. When my fanfic protagonist steps out of her car wearing a red leather jacket, we all know exactly what that looks like and why its meaningful. When my original character comes on the scene and does something, or wears something, it has no significance until I have time to show you that its this character’s trademark. 

My original characters do not come preloaded with backstory that you know and care about. There is so much that I have to put on the page to make the characters have life and dimension. This is thrilling of course, as I get full control over absolutely everything, but man I had not realized just how much I relied on those shorthand moments with yellow bugs and red leather jackets. 

My Fix: 

Character profiles. I immediately stopped editing and started getting real drafting that backstory. A new one for every single character. Complete with detailed background, goals, fears, family history, and everything else I could think of that shapes my main characters. I made some profiles for minor characters too, though admittedly not as detailed. This has cost me days of writing time. Thousands of words that no one will ever read, but man it has been worth it. In just editing the first few chapters, I can already see realistic texture to my characters. Very. Exciting. 

Resources: 

Here are some links for working on character building that I found useful. 

Oy, that’s a lot of Sexytimes

The Problem: 

Femslash, and maybe all fanfic but I’ve only ever read femslash,  fills this need we have to see an often non-canonical relationship between two female characters play out the way our dreams (and probably subtext) tell us it should. We already arrive at the story with pent up angst that these two characters should be together. And fanfic authors can cash in on that angst right away. You have walked into my story already armed with the burning desire to see these two characters together – and I am more than happy to relieve that tension. How? With so many sex scenes. So many. And so detailed! And the problem is that they are not paced well for an original story. By the second chapter I have not given the reader enough stakes in this relationship for physicality between two characters to have much meaning. Also, because I am not writing erotica, the detail of the intimacy is probably too much. Okay, definitely too much. 

My Fix: 

Getting creative with the descriptors. Very creative. I’ve thought about what makes a love scene engaging apart from just the sex itself. Don’t get me wrong, this story is about vampires and I think they are super sexual creatures – When Dusk comes is still very R rated – but, I have been trying hard to keep the balance between what my fanfic base expects from me (assuming some of them come over to read my original stuff) and what I think a wider audience could also enjoy.

Resource: 

This wonderfully informative blog post: www.jcsimonds.com/2017/09/19/writing-sexy-sex/

Finding an Audience 

The Problem: 

Finding readers for my fan fiction was so easy. I went to a popular fanfic website, which I personally used to read fanfic. I opened an account, selected my pairing, and posted my first chapter. Right away I had the immediate satisfaction of readers and reviews. It was amazing. And addictive. I couldn’t wait to finish the next chapter and the next, not just because I was enthralled in my own story, but I was also so connected to this interactive writing model that rewarded me with an immediate payoff for my efforts. 

I sometimes feel like I’m alone on an island with no one to care when I finish a scene. I have no idea what my future readers might think as the story goes along. There is no one encouraging me to keep going because they can’t wait to read what I’ve written. It’s weirdly lonely and it feels a little like shouting into the wind. I’ve definitely been spoiled by the fanfic experience and having a community!

My Fix: 

This blog! I hope that this will be a way to bring back that connection I’m missing. A place where I can introduce others to my characters by giving you all sneak peeks of the story as it builds (or rebuilds), and maybe even get some feedback. I also hope we can talk about other things of interest to gay ladies and the people who love them. 

So, welcome! And thanks for being here with me. 

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