I was wondering if any fanfic authors here have an opinion on when you think it's time to hang up the keyboard. When story plots get boring? when you get bored with writing fics? What would make you stop writing fanfics?


Bye-
Lisa

When nobody reads my stuff.

TEEEJ

I'd say when you get bored with it or when you are out of ideas.

- Laura

When your energy and attention are remorselessly drained away by real-life situations. When it's not fun anymore. When you can't come up with any ideas that excite you.

And sometimes, at least temporarily, it's when you are convinced that the idea you've been working on has been done many times before, by authors far better at it than you. Yeah, I know that every author will have a different spin on the basic story idea, but it can get really difficult to come up with any new spins that don't seem like a waste of everyone's time.

PJ

The only thing that would make me stop writing entirely is if my muse took a permanent vacation. I've had writer's block on a story for months at a time, but I usually get an idea for another story somewhere during that time.

My muse tends to focus on one or two fandoms at a time, so I've stopped writing for a few particular fandoms, but that doesn't mean I'll never write for them again.

Yeah, what Pam said. Well and TEEEJ too. If I wasn't getting any feedback at all. That would probably kill my motivation.

Sara (who is currently writing too many fics to count)

That dreaded thing that is named Writer's Block and includes lack of ideas/inspiration, that symptom where you can't find the appropriate words to describe what you want to describe, that other symptom where what you write looks like useless crap, and makes writing *not* fun.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

I just wanted to add...though it's a tad off topic...Anna, I've never seen useless crap from you. But come to think of it...I haven't seen *anything* from you in a while...

Sara (who's conviced that relentless nagging *must* help writer's block...at least a little bit )

I stop when I lose interest -- the key ingredient to writing, for me, is to enjoy it. Feedback helps greatly with this, but the person who absolutely 100% must be enjoying my story is me

It's funny, but after every story I write, my brain completely empties of all things Lois and Clark. And it's about then that I figure my LnC fanfic writing days are over - all of my ideas are dried up and I'm going to retire.

Then somehow, a little germ of an idea gets planted and next thing I know, I'm writing again.

So I guess I'll finally stop writing when people stop reading and offering feedback or when that little germ of an idea just doesn't come.

Lynn

Bingo!

It's been multiple months now since I've written anything because of real life situations, and now that school's started up again...free time? What's this novel concept? Any free time I get pretty much either goes to my paintings (which I've already got 5 to do for various people plus a wall on campus that needs artwork), or just kicking back online and collapsing before bedtime.

But that's not to say that I'll never write again.

JD

Like Lynn, when I finish a story, it's as if I have poured every Lois and Clark thought out of my head. I feel completely done. And I think, "Well, now I've gotten this ridiculous hobby out of my system!"

So far, though, that finished feeling hasn't lasted more than a few months. I guess when that next idea doesn't come, something that feels new and interesting to me, I'll know I'm truly done. And that would be the only thing that would stop me cold.

Otherwise, I write fanfic because I just really love to. It's great fun for me.

CC

I'd say when other things attract my interest. I'm very much into the political season nowadays, spending quite a bit of time debating politics on other message boards, and haven't even visited this site in a while to even see what stories have been posted. This might even be my first post in weeks.

I've had a bit of an idea on stories but simply haven't had the time or inclination to get them down onto electronic paper.

Exhaustion is another factor that keeps me staring at a blank page for long periods of time before I give up and go to sleep.

I'd say when I stop getting ideas for new stories (which usually happens when I'm about half-way through the current story ), or when I suddenly wake up and realise I'm spending most of my free time writing stories about a man who flies.

Yvonne

Lack of inspiration, lack of time.
Lack of motivation, lack of time.
Lack of an original plot (preferably smooch-waffy free), lack of time.
Lack of interest in actually reading the story (I'm very critic with my fics).
Lack of time, lack of self-confidence and...did I mention lack of time?

Carole

Like Lynn and CC, when I finish a story, I feel as though I don't want to write ever again, even though I may have an idea or two on my hard drive. I spend so much time trying to get it just right, that I feel written out. But in a few months, I'm ready to go again. This year though, RL has interfered with a bang, and the story I've been trying to finish may have to wait till next year.

I'll eventually stop when the characters and situations don't challenge me anymore. A few days ago my husband, in a disbelieving tone, asked me if I was going to do this for the rest of my life. This from a man whose idea of a perfect way to spend his time is to stand hip deep in swirling waater in rain and wind to catch a steelhead and throw it back. After 44 years of marriage, he still hasn't learned that a remark like that is guaranteed to keep me going for another year or two.

Jude

Sanity.

Tank (who thinks that sometimes the simple answers say it best )

Sanity is highly overrated. Who needs it?

Nan

This is it for me ... I haven't written anything in 9 months now and it's mainly because real life has been keeping me really busy.

But in contrast to what a few others have said (Lynn, CC, Jude), finishing a story makes me *more* likely to write, not less. I draw a great deal of energy from the creation process and when the feedback is coming in, it's like a drug that makes me want more of it. It's when I *stop* writing (the way I have this year) that I start to believe that I may never get back to it.

My one hope right now is that I've gone through this once before a few years ago, and though I was positive that I was done writing, the muse finally came back and I produced several more stories. I just hope history repeats itself and I get that creative drive again. I miss that heady "stop everything to write" feeling.

Kathy

There is such a thing?!?!

And, Kathy, I hope that the creative urge comes back for you, too - I miss your writing.

What would make me give up? Running out of ideas, maybe, though that doesn't seem to have happened yet; feeling that no-one was interested in reading anything I wrote (though even then I would probably still have the drive to write, but I might not post it); feeling that I'd simply lost the ability and couldn't write anything even half-decent any more and that every word from my keyboard was terrible - that's led me to have a couple of periods when I wasn't writing at all, so I could see that stopping me permanently if I couldn't get over it. Lack of time? Maybe, but I've usually found ways of getting around that.


Wendy

Ooh! I second that..or third that...whichever! You're one of my favorite writers, Kathy.

Sara (who will always hold a special place in her heart for Camping with Clark...one of the first fics she read )

Well, personally, I think anyone here who's sane should leave right now. We don't want any of that type in here. Brings the whole neighbourhood down.



LabRat

Hey Lab, pass me another pina colada.

And tell that cabana boy I need him to rub some sunscreen on my back...

L.

I've only just begun! I can't even begin to think about stopping! I have entirely too many ideas. (Of course, it's not always like that... Dry spells may be frustrating, but they only make me think harder for a good idea to come along...) I can only think of one time it even crossed my mind (for one-tenth of a second) to stop writing fanfic, and I was quickly encouraged to continue my writing by about 80 incredibly supportive FoLCs. So, no, stopping is not in my future any time soon...

...Another pina colada for me as well!

--Wanda *stretching out on her lounge chair* Detroit

<shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh> No talk of cabana boys or pina coladas please. My Muse has only just waltzed back into the office after her extended vacation...wouldn't want her to get any bright ideas... She has a backlog of work waiting for her.

LabRat