I don't know as I'm ashamed of it, but I certainly don't tell other people either so take from that what you will.
I think I've always had some sort of leanings toward fanfic. As a child, I was a voracious reader so disappointment in an ending was bound to set in from time to time. To make myself feel better, I'd re-write/add an epilogue to "improve" it.
It wasn't until the advent of the internet that I found FoLCs. This was my first experience with fanfic, and remains foremost in my heart for many reasons. Nowadays it is, once again, my only fandom of interest. Don't watch television much, and don't have time to wade through the dreck even if I were interested in another show.
As for other people knowing, I find it's easier to just not correct people's impressions that I'm hard at work researching my next paper or deep in some Kafka-esque reading.
Apparently those of you who discuss this with others are in a much more open-minded group of people. Kudos to them. Mine consider television watching a frivolous waste of time, and I shudder to think what they'd say if I told them I not only watched but actually wrote stories for free about it.
Besides, it's nice having a guilty pleasure that hurts no one
