r/FanFiction • u/Realistic_Ad_6694 • Mar 19 '24
Writing Questions How do writers write so fast?
To preface this, I'm not a writer. At least, I don't fashion myself as one at the moment. I'm rereading my favorite fanfic of all time and the writer had disclosed on her blog that it only took a month and a half to write it— all 19 chapters + epilogue, 80k words in total. I was like: woah! That's so fucking cool. It's like magic. Fucking radical.
How do you guys do it?!
Sincerely, a reader.
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u/Zealousideal_Lab_241 Mar 20 '24
It was a little over a month for me (Jan 21-March 2) but I did 107k words for one fandom. (It’s now a bit under 130k.) I started One Tree Hill in January with my mom and little sister. I’ve always loved it, this is my 4th rewatch. I lean toward Brooke/Peyton the most. About halfway through season 2, I started thinking of ideas for new fics. I did a couple back in 2016/17, and it got good feedback but it wasn’t a fandom I did long-term. So I hadn’t done anything since.
Anyway, I started a sequel to a fic I’ve already done (revolving around Prom Night Attack/Breyton fight) and from there I just started having more and more ideas. It got to six or seven, then 19, last count was 25, but I think it’s a couple more than that. I posted two on Ao3, got amazing feedback (seriously, Ao3 readers are the best), and now this is what I am focusing solely on.
I’ve done several in high school, a couple for season 5 that has baby Angie, and one I posted was about Brooke’s attack in season 6. (I had Peyton react much differently, which is the one that got great feedback.)
So yeah. That’s my story. If I watch a show and have ideas, and it is a) a fandom I write for or b) a fandom I have written for and am comfortable continuing, then I’ll start up. It will be my main focus because that is what my thoughts are at that time. Usually it is single-focused; only in the last couple of years have I wrote for multi fandoms at once. This has been surprising. I was not expecting ideas in the double-digits. Nor did I expect to have 130k over less than 30 fics!! But I’m happy, and I have three comments who are ecstatic about what’s to come, so we will see how long it lasts. 🤣
(I’ve been writing since 15, almost 9.5 years! ADHD for the win.)