My mom always read mine, till she couldn't get to the computer to read due to the illness. She used to call me or email me to give her advance plot details after a chapter ended on a cliffhanger, or putting the pressure on to get another chapter out if I was taking too long. Several times she called right after reading to say,

"That Malan is a stinker!"

She still wants to know what is going on in the story, and asks my nephew to read it to her when he is visiting.

My father won't have anything to do with fantasy fiction at all, but he did like my Pirate story.

I don't let anyone read anything of mine. Ever, lol

Except y'all.

And we enjoy your writing

You and me both. No one would ever imagine I write it. I try to keep secret in the manner of hell would freeze over if I ever considered writing fanfiction. My family would be like "What is wrong with this child."

Does anyone else feel like an elite group of secret writers?

Like, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters by day, creators of wonderful worlds at night?

Yup, lol

Hahah. Yes! Normal fellow during the day, massive nerd by night!

"No one would suspect that the quiet dollar store worker was actually writing fantastical stories about vampires and dragons and werewolves!" XD

I don't mind being a nerd during daylight hours, the only one that gives me a problem is my husband. He thinks fiction of any kind is a waste of time, that if I'm going to write anything it should be about politics or religion. I can really see that happening, ROFL !!!

I have a cousin who doesn’t read fiction. He says why should he read something that didn’t happen.

Because it's cool??

And maybe it happened in an alternate universe!

Exactly the same here; the stuff I let my family read is the much 'safer' original fiction that I've written, which is generally of a much lighter and less serious tone than the fanfiction I've written. Not that I'm saying I haven't written serious original fiction, as I certainly have, but that stuff is stuff I don't show my family. Most of it would be dismissed with their usual close-minded handwave of 'it's wierd' which seems to happen to anything that dares take a larger step outside reality than Margaret bloody Atwood.


Maybe? Then again nowadays I get the feeling that I should be channelling my creative energies into stuff that I can actually publish.

Do what makes you happy, Mustard.

Anyone wanna talk?

I'd rather go I hell!
Than be in purgatory,
Cut my hair,
gag and bore me,
Pull his pin,
Let this world explode!

KoB, there is a time and place to talk about your hardcore bondage fetish. Now is neither the time, nor the place.

Freedom of speech

I don´t think we have that much freedom here!

Where I am, we have a lotta freedom of speech

It's a verse from a song though. I think you know which one, lol

Not convinced the two have to be mutually exclusive - with two different outcomes. Writing can be lonely, something which takes you a year to write and edit can make you feel lonelier still, especially with no feedback or encouragement. That's why so many people join writer's groups, so they don't feel like they're doing it on their own.

With fanfic, which by it's nature is episodic, you get a kind of instant gratification. You get the feeling of accomplishment when you post, people read and give feedback almost instantly - it gives you motivation to continue and a warm gooey feeling inside... that you don't get from other writing. It's like joining a writers group you go along to each week, except it's all online - like Critters but much, much friendlier.

So, why not do both? Your original fiction is going to take a long time to write. You want to get published, so you'll spend those months and months writing it. Your fanfic, and this community, is there for you in those moments when you need that encouragement and gratification (or when you're so fed up with editing your original work for the 12th time you want to scream...)