That awkward moment in fanfiction when...you don’t know what comes next

That awkward moment in fanfiction when...you don’t know what comes next

So you finished your first story…

First off, congratulations!

Readers who don’t write have no idea how difficult completing a piece of work is, it can be a one-shot, (insert-number-here) prompts, requests, collections and full on chaptered stories.

It takes a lot of motivation to swallow down the excitement, anxiety, pride and fluctuating feeling of self-loathing (“Dear Fanfic Gods on High, why did I make it more complicated than it has to be?”/ “Why aren’t the plot bunnies cooperating?!”). Question is: Are you ready to do it all over again?  

My answer was this, “Tap out.”

Maybe I just have commitment issues. But the work required to get the story started, to keep it going and then end it was emotionally exhausting.

We’ve all come across amazing stories that sit on the first five chapters, and they never finish. Why?

It’s hard. So hard. Very hard. Frustratingly hard. It’s creative constipation really.

But you know what?

I’d do it again.

I haven’t really written anything for a few weeks (months?) since I changed the status of my story from “Incomplete” to “Complete”, and I’ve never felt so fulfilled in my entire life. Yes, the story wasn’t perfect, but it was finished and very few people can actually say that when you take into consideration the number of aspiring writers all over the world and those with completed works under their belt.

I’d do it again to feel like I have something to show for it. It was the evidence of my abilities as a writer and proof that I can push through the muddle and slug of writer’s block and lack of support and be less of the “spur of the moment” writer I was years before.

I would do it again.

But how? I didn’t want to do a sequel (which is happening anyway because plotbunnies). And I didn’t want to be a one trick pony by only writing one type of story.

But how would I be able to create another story without the influence of the one preceding it?

Writer problems.

Have you recently completed a piece of work you didn't think would ever be complete?  Were you proud? Exhausted? Excited? Filled with regret that it didn't end the way you originally envisioned it months/years before? Share your thoughts below :)