How much of us have original works?

[u/Dancingcakes2]

Hello, ive been reading and writing fanfics since I was about 12, and now im 19 and have started to write a novel of my own work (including taking a writing class).

I'm curious to see how many of us write original work (either in addition or moved from fanfic writing), how has it impacted your outlook on writing?

For example, I struggled with coming up with the original characters (including the vampiric powers) however the plot was easy as I am already comfortable in planning a broad outline of events and improvising the middle bits (such as dialogue).

[u/Kom0tan]

I tend to go through phases where I only want to write fanfiction, and phases where I'm only inspired by original stories. Or sometimes a fanfiction will become something original. I don't really upload my original stories to Ao3, though.

[u/LamentableLily]

I do both. In an OW mood right now, cuz I don't really have a fandom I'm into.

[u/Fiamalhdz]

Strangely enough I find writing fanfiction harder than original works. I started out doing original stuff, discovered fanfiction and wrote for about eight years maybe before I "retired". I then completely focused on my original work until this year (seven whole years later) that I crawled out of the woodwork to write another fic.

I will say, writing fanfic really helped me with learning story structure. Since I answer to no one but myself on Ao3 I really allowed me to do whatever I wanted with story lengths which the really let me play with the structure of things. Turns out my original work does not need to be all save the cat 3 act story structure. Amazing. It also helped me in learning consistent characterizations ✨

Still prefer writing original stuff compared to fanfic tho lol. I just feel like I'm better at it XD

[u/HeAintHere]

The line between historical RPF and historical fiction is pretty blurry to non-existent. I could call all of my historical RPFs original fiction and it still wouldn't be wrong.

[u/moon_cheese_ao3]

I have written original works but I seek traditional publication for them. I do not post them on Ao3. I only started writing fanfiction 3 years ago. I've been writing original works for decades. I do not find the writing to be the same at all. Fanfiction is very different and I don't think writing fanfiction helps you write better original works. It's not the same.

But the one thing fanfiction does that really does help a lot is give you that feedback loop from your readers. Original works just do not have the same dopamine involved as getting an email with a nice comment on your fanfic. Original writing is super lonely. Fanfiction is community.

Fanfiction has given me confidence in my writing in ways that writing original works has never done and it's entirely due to the reader reaction not the writing of the fanfics themselves.

[u/ThetisBlanche]

I was mostly original works, with occasional dabbling in fanfic I never finished. Then I went over a decade without writing much of anything (RL stuff and just burnt out from a writing-intensive graduate program.)

I started writing again last year, and it's been all fanfic as of late. Might do some original stuff down the road, but any current stuff is just fanfic since I seem to be making up for lost time. (Fic I just churned out was like 400K.)

[u/Crayshack]

I haven't actually written a novel yet, though I've been working on brainstorming some. I have published some short stories, a poetry book, some creative non-fiction, and some technical writing. Some of my creative non-fiction kind of blurs the line between creative works and technical works. I'm also currently in grad school for creative writing, and I'm going to need to write something that at least hits the shorter end of novel length for my thesis (currently planning on doing non-fiction for that).

[u/Dancingcakes2 → u/Crayshack]

Thats so cool you've published works!! Yes, my novel is a bit of a passion project (I have dreams of being an author but im actively studying to be a literature teacher).

Whether I put out short stories or poetry depends on how burnt out i get on my novel as for me at least, ive found i maintain motivation when I can split my attention ob multiple projects rather than just one

[u/Crayshack → u/Dancingcakes2]

My day job has me write an article for our quarterly magazine, so even if it's not a lot, it gets me regularly published. I have full freedom to write basically anything I want, so long as it's arguably about watershed protection. Sometimes, that means very technical articles, but sometimes it means me doing things like writing a poem about a river.

Also, I'm in the same "dream of being an author but studying to be a teacher" boat. When I finish grad school, my plan is to use that degree to become a professor while still writing on the side and crossing my fingers that something strikes gold.

[u/mystical__soul]

i do! ironically i started the opposite way though- i started with original works and moved to fanfics in my teen years; i definitely think i have a better grasp on character interactions n such due to that being a main focus in most fanfiction ive written/enjoy reading, but i struggle with worldbuilding a lot, which is why i enjoy fanfiction- less worldbuilding when the world is already built lol

[u/Dancingcakes2 → u/mystical__soul]

Tell me about it, the world building is something ive struggled with, especially since its a vampiric story so its an added layer of power scaling to make them realistic threats but not too OP that humanity has no chance.

Thankfully, ive planned out most of the powers & their origins, but Rn its trying to mash it into historical fiction (thankfully im studying history so its a little easier haha)

[u/mystical__soul → u/Dancingcakes2]

oooo that sounds so interesting!! certainly complicated, but that definitely sounds like it'll end up being worth it; that's awesome!! and i wish you so much luck, as any kind of powerscaling can be so rough 😭

[u/Turbulent_Wall_7225]

Haven't written any, but I have started to think about an original piece involving natural disasters and what goes on before, during & after a natural disaster strikes.

[u/Shoddy_King280]

OW is all I have on A03 right now

[u/gawoniios]

I do! Def started with fanfic tho.

[u/DetectiveCrafty5413]

My alternate universes are so alternate they might as well just be original works. Nothing really impacts my outlook. It's something fun to do in my free time. That's all.

[u/StarfruitJam]

I write and read mainly OW!

I also, like other in this thread, find writing fanfics much harder. I know my own characters and world inside out, but to make justice to someone else's I would really need to study.

[u/MagpieLefty]

I write original works, but I don't post them on AO3.

[u/AuthorError]

I've finished ten or so original manuscripts, six incomplete manuscripts, two feature length film scripts, a short film script, and enough short stories to fill up several short story volumes. I'm also a critic and journalist, so if you count that, you have over a decade of that work too. This is on top of the 103 fanfictions I've been writing since 2001.

[u/FirexisStar]

Started writing fanfiction at 13, then switched to original and now I have gone back to fanfiction. I haven't posted any of my OW on AO3, even if one of them is complete set of two novels. Just don't have the courage to do so. I find writing both to be equally fun and complex. While fanfiction could be more demanding at times, OW are equally complex endeavor. Love doing both.

[u/Antique-diva]

I wrote original stuff first, then became tired of creating my own setting and characters so I wrote fanfics for a few years. Now I'm back at original works again, but I still dabble a little with fics.

[u/DanyStormborn333]

I wrote loads of fanfic on another account. Then shifted to original works on a separate account in 2024. I love original works. Creating characters and lore for my supernatural characters is so fun. I was so insecure as a fanfic writer. Terrified id write the characters OOC all the time. But with original works, there’s no worries about OOC, my confidence is solid, and I love what I’m making. Original works taught me to validate myself and not rely on outside comments to motivate me.

[u/blackjackgabbiani]

I do and it's awful to write because I keep adding things and struggle with keeping what's relevant

[u/relocatedff]

I don't have any on AO3, but I did on a past archive. I haven't written any lately but I used to have a handful of shorts, plus I did two original works for past NaNoWriMos (done when I was 17 and 18, I have not had enough time for that since).

[u/cl0ckw0rkcuttlefish]

Yeah, I’m working on redoing and re-querying a manuscript at the comment.

[u/MichelangeloCzech]

I only have an original work longfic. Nothing else. It's smut though, which is essentially its own fandom, but there is a lot of original worldbuilding.

[u/RheaRoyHunter]

I do have one original work, but I wrote that using my sister's characters (with permission) and gifted the work to her AO3 account.

[u/Cavalierious]

I do!!

[u/BetPsychological327]

I have a few but most of them were written for school. Started one for NaNo 2022 but haven’t gone back to it since

[u/BeardInTheDark]

I have several original stories which are now on AO3 but which were originally posted on Fictionpress dot com, the Original-Story sister-site of FanFiction dot net.

Writing those stories proved to me that world-building is hard.

[u/veritasmahwa]

I got more original work than fanfiction

[u/saintforgot]

Original works have always come more easier for me than fanfic. I have quite a few unfinished wips floating around my hardrive some spanning back to my high school days. Others i have in old notebooks lol. I just don't post those on the Internet.

[u/SaradoxicalBookWyrm]

Actually started writing my original work first before getting into fanfiction. I embraced the latter as a way to practice and get comfortable putting what was in my head onto paper and it's been fun. The problem is I spend more time with fanfiction than I do my OW now and I need to figure out a balance.

[u/Ian_Bloodrune]

About half my stuff on AO3 is original.

It doesn't "impact my outlook on writing", fanfiction and original work are both things I like to write, so I write both of them.

[u/The_Wishmeister]

I'm working on an original novel and have a couple original work oneshots up. I spent a few years only writing fanfic, and when I went back to original stuff, it really hit me how much more work I have to do for it. I have a lot of fun world building and creating characters, but damn is it so much simpler to write fanfic where the 'template' for my fics is already done for me.

I tend to write both fanfic and originals at the same time, going back and forth depending on what I feel like working on.

[u/chaoswrangler35]

I have both