Fanfic Ideas and the Creative Process... (was Quidditch!Ron)

[find_sam at hotmail.com]

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas wrote:

> Sam, have you ever had what I call a "paper jones"?  

I do feel urges to write, but they're not usually so strong that I 
buy a doughnut to satisfy the craving <g>. I tend to have 'flashes' 
when I'm lying in bed trying to sleep, which is why I keep a notepad 
next to me pretty much all the time. 

Sometimes I won't write anything but draw a picture. A picture is 
worth a thousand words, or so they say! A drawing can sometimes be 
more valuable than writing, because often I can draw ideas faster 
than I can write them down.


> Notebooks are a great idea!  

Definitely agree! I absolutely hate having an idea or hearing a quote 
of some sort but forgetting it later on. A friend of mine gave me one 
of the hardcover Harry Potter notebooks for my birthday and I use 
that to jot down anything interesting that pops into my head. 
Notebooks are a writer's best friend! <g>

> Fanfic writing online is valuable practice.  But at the same time, 
I think 
> writers would do well to remember that it is *not* their own 
writing--it's 
> more like extended writing practice and feedback.  The danger is to 
pour so 
> much creative time and energy into your fanfic that your original 
material 
> gets neglected (yes, I'm preaching to myself right now--I finished 
a final 
> edit of a MS late last fall and haven't touched it since I began 
writing 
> TiP).

This is one of the reasons why I don't write fanfic. If I have an 
idea I consider good, I'd rather invest it in an original fic than in 
fanfic. Having said that, though, there are lots of good ideas that 
could only come about in the world of fanfic.

I still love the idea about an illustrated Hagrid picturebook 
(illustrated picturebook? Tautology, much?). I've scribbled a 
cartoony looking Hagrid; if anyone wants to see him say so and I'll 
scan the pics and post them online.  

> Sam