May it be a great year! And wishes for creativity for all!
Also, thanks for your help, advice, and support! Much appreciated :) You are all great!

5713616 Back at ya, and to the rest of the group too!

Raise your glasses, here's to 2017!

5713616 Woo. Another year done.

Resolutions, gents?

5714533 Oh, a few, I suppose:
1. Learn to cook new things.
2. Drink. (But hell, I was gonna do that anyway.)
3. Write new stories.
4. Make a few new friends.
5. Win the Everfree Northwest writing contest in at least one category (or at least not lose to Apple Bottoms again [not that I have anything against him, it's just been 2 years in a row ])

How about you, Hap?

5718063 Quite frankly, I'd like to dabble in original fiction for a change.

At least to see whether I can. I'm all about experiments.

5718460 Good on you! I finished an original novel when I was 19 (it was crap, though).

The rough part about original fiction, though, just seems to be getting it seen by a sizable audience, unless you're lucky enough to get published and promoted somehow. I suppose that's one thing I like about fanfiction: it comes with a ready-made audience.

Still, let us (or at least me) know when/if you come up with something. I'd certainly give it a shot.

5718921 Oh, I'd be blogging about that left right and centre. No clue where I'd post it, though.

Things to investigate, I imagine.

5719113 Well, you can put it on Google Docs and let people know about it to get some feedback, if you want. That's a start.

As for a wider audience, there's FictionPress.com, which is FanFiction.net's sister site for original fiction. But of course it comes with all the same headaches that FFN has, if you're at all familiar with them. After working on FiMfiction, the prospect of going back to that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

You can also self-publish on Amazon. No telling how well that would do, but it's possible.

Or of course you can always publish professionally the old-fashioned way. Some folks suggest hiring a literary agent, but you can go it alone and submit directly to multiple publishers. And, surprising as it sounds, there are some magazines that still publish short stories and such that you can submit to. A co-worker of mine recently got a story published in Weird Tales, for instance.

No matter what the case, getting a good amount of recognition can be tough, and you're not as likely to get the gratification of instant feedback, like you can with fanfics. But, on the upside, you can get paid.

Oh hey! I forgot I was in this group. I think I might participate more.

Happy new year!

5719355 I do most of my writing on GDocs anyway. The other places are all good places to start.

At this point, money isn't really a factor. I've always treated writing as a hobby, so I'm more about the glory and smug satisfaction. There's no real consequence if I'm bad at writing other than the unfortunate realisation that I'd be, after a lifetime of carefully building up my ego to unsafe levels, not-good at something.