So, You Wanna Be a Fanfic Writer?
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| Title: | So, You Wanna Be a Fanfic Writer? |
| Creator: | CiCi Lean |
| Date(s): | 1998 (written), 2001 (posted) |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | focus on The X-Files but applicable to many fandoms |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | So, You Wanna Be a Fanfic Writer? |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
So, You Wanna Be a Fanfic Writer? is a 1998 essay by CiCi Lean.
It was written in 1998 by CiCi Lean for the website The Circle of CiCi, and linked to the X-Files website Working Stiffs in 2001.
Excerpts
Okay, you've been reading XFFanfic for a while now and one night, not too long ago, you've been wakened from a deep slumber by a deep, ominous voice.
A deep, ominous voice that has bestowed upon you...
The Calling.
Yes, The Calling. Those five little words that will change your life. The Calling that says:
"Hey, I can do that!"
Yes, you've determined that YOU too can write an X-Files fanfic and be an author to rival the best of them. So, the next day you sit down, keening with anticipation before your word processor, ready to bestow upon the world your very own XFFanfic masterpiece.
Good for you! You've taken your first step into a very fulfilling hobby, one that is many hours of work and pain, but it has an untold richness of rewards. But, there are pitfalls and disappointments in the land of fanfic writing, so to help you avoid those, I have created a small outline of help for the novice fanfic writer.
I've been writing fanfic since 1996, and I've learned through hard work and embarrassment, the wrong way and the right way to produce an XFFanfic. So, below are the lessons I've learned from experience, editors, trial, error and lucky breaks, and I hope you'll find them useful.
So, you want to write a fanfic, huh?
Well, here are the basics you'll need.