The word fanfic brings back a lot of memories. A time where One Direction was in their prime and Justin Bieber wasn’t…well…as much of a scumbag to say the least. For those of you who don’t know what a fanfic is it is a story where you substitute characters with your celebrity idols and the protagonist is normally the teenage girl writing the tale. These stories were the closest thing to meeting our idols as we could get. Especially if we couldn’t afford their concert tickets.

The power of a good fanfic stirred a female’s emotions to their raw core. It united fandoms worldwide and even landed a few creators publishing deals. I was in the eighth grade when I gave it a try and it opened my eyes. It’s been since sophomore year of high school since I’ve written a fanfic, but when I did writing became fun—a hobby even.

I had joined several websites and shared my stories. Overtime I gained a following. The crave of others wanting the next chapter—the need to know what happens next—it was a rush myself as the author couldn’t refuse. Also because I knew the feeling and related to it all too often.

My friends and I were die hard One Direction fans (still love them to this day and probably always will). We would talk about the new stories we’d find and make recommendations. Other girls in our class would overhear and join in. It appeared that there wasn’t a girl I came across that didn’t love a good fanfic.

As the craze grew stronger so did my love for writing a good story for others to read. When I wasn’t thinking about hot British boys, I was outlining my own stories. I took creative writing classes and honed my skills. It was amazing how after reading so many fanfics I developed a taste for storylines.

If you take a look at a finished fanfic, copy and paste it in a word document, the story is as long as an actually novel. The beauty about them though is that it doesn’t feel like you’re writing a novel. You only upload one chapter at a time. You as the author craft the chapter like an episode in the series. The goal is to always leave the reader wanting more!

Taking all of this into mind it had led me to writing my first novel my freshman year of high school. When people ask me how I managed to write an actual book at such at such a young age I tell them I felt like I’ve been doing it for years. Fanfics were on average 40 chapters. Imagine how long that would be as an actual novel!

After my first novel came my second and third and now a fourth which is a series. I had always loved reading and writing and storytelling, but getting into fanfics was the icing on the cake. It sounds a little weird, but the addiction is real. Trust me.

Fan fiction did jump start my writing career. I wrote for a newspaper and several websites and continue still to this day. So don’t knock someone down if they say they read fanfics. You may be talking to the next Danielle Steel or J.K. Rowling. And if you want a recommendation, I’d be happy to share mine with you.