First lines - Add Your Own

Authors, what’s the first sentence in your WIP or most recently published book? Tell us the genre too.

First one in my Zombie, Post Apoc WIP:

 "He had known when the apocalypse had struck; had known the very minute it happened, even before he threw open his bedroom curtains and looked outside.”  

Tagged a few authors I know/have seen here on Tumblr. Get involved, tantalise us!

@rehnwriter​ @theoddcatlady​ @pippinacious​ @unsettlingstories​ @mareebrittenford​ @evanthenerd83​ @spookyspaghettisundae​ @sulfurousdreamscapes​ @idreamtofmanderleyagain​ @pagingdrsleep​ @the960writers​ @tcstu​ @k-l-neidecker​ @xavea​ @spoldhamindieauthor​ @theouterdark​ @in-defense-of-the-horror​ @ghost-possum @niftywriter​ @imintheunderworld​ @illthdar​ @unisom-nightmares​ @theweewritinglassie​ @rehnwriter​ @tcstu​ @stephrawlingwrites​ @halfbloodlycan​ @theouterdark​

Thanks for tagging me. Sorry for the long delay in responding! 

The genre is high fantasy, with plenty of dark fantasy thrown in. By this point in the series, the first line is comically benign - fair warning. From the current WIP in the Illthdar series: The King’s Men

Illthdar was a beautiful planet, a world covered in unspoilt forests, great valleys, rolling hills, majestic mountains, rivers crystalline and oceans clear.

Tagging: any other writblrs that want to do this, if you haven’t had the chance to already.

Please understand that it’s impossible for my app to become official because AO3 wants to remove my app from the AppStore.

You stole people’s work for money! Ofcourse people are going to be pissed as I am! @unofficialao3app My account vampheart410 did not agree to allow you to use me work for your app just so you can earn money. If my work is not taken down, I will use legal action. I choose AO3 to put my work out for those to enjoy for free, not for you to use to gain money. You steal others work to gain money which many people I know are already pissed. You are just as worst as an Art Theif! Anyone who give you money is just as wrong as you taking others work they spend so much of their time on for others to enjoy. Not for you to steal an make a quick buck off them. I am deeply upset that I had to find out about this through tumblr but I will not allow this.  

 What you’re doing by hosting Ao3 works without the acknowledgement and consent of each and every author is THEFT, and you are earning money that you don’t deserve.  Ao3 is a FREE site, and it is the platform that I chose to put my works on. It is not up to you to decide what to do with it. I have never and will never consent to have my work on this app.

Dear person,

I hereby serve you notice that if your app is making money of from ads or app purchases on any fan fiction related to my original work, you are in violation of my copyright.

You will remove any and all fan fiction related to the Illthdar series from your app effective immediately. If you fail to do so, I will also be seeking to have your app removed.

We are delighted to formally launch Pencils in the Margin!

Pencils in the Margin is connecting artists, writers and other creators with the aid organisations working on the ground on behalf of detainees – from humanitarian shelters to pro-bono migrant law services, human rights initiatives, and people working tirelessly to reunite families separated at the border.

You donate your money, we donate our time. Simply follow direct links from our curated list of charities and send your donation receipts to the artists who have ‘adopted’ those organisations for rewards in your inbox. 

The more you give, the more you get!

To sign up to offer incentives as part of the project, leave your details here.

Share, share, share, give money, get art, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, suggestions, or want to be involved!

Thank you tumblr!

Alright writeblr let’s boost this!

@pens-swords-stuff @writingmyselfintoanearlygrave @writer-jessicac @scottishhellhound @quilloftheclouds @jaywrites101 @bexminx @capricious-writes @captain-el-writes @035isms @alexis-writes-sometimes @aslanwrites @ofinscriptions @thel3tterm @theliteraryarchitect @futureauthor-mabye @maple-writes @madammuffins @mvcreates @bookishdiplodocus @bookenders @royalbounties @armageddon-tea @nkta-ink @avi-burton-writing @kalis-scribbles @thatsmybluefondue @littlelovedsilverlining @kiramartinauthor @hannahs-creations @pens-swords-stuff @pen-in-hand @jynecca @the-write-to-cry @every-book-has-a-secret @writings-of-a-narwhal @ink-flavored @ownworldresident @this-was-my-2nd-choice-for-a-url @abalonetea @woodhouse-jay @albatris @thatwriterofsorts @blueinkblot @bronzeinferno @caz-writes @etjwrites @romanthewriter @pixel-is-writing @literate-libby

Why are people ashamed of writing fanfic? I just saw someone who is writing a fanfic for NanoWriMo - who has dedicated themselves to writing 50k words of fanfic this month - say that fanfic was their ‘secret shame’ on a forum entirely made up of fanfic writers. 

And you know what? That’s not at all uncommon. I can’t even count the times I’ve seen fanfic disparaged as something for teenage girls or unworthy all together and I think I’ve finally worked out why. And the reason irks me just as much as the fact that this happens. 

Fanfic is, by and large, written by women. It’s a creative voice that fills a void left in Hollywood as well as in publishing houses. Only 9% of spec scripts (for movies) sold between 2010 and 2012 were written by women. In 2010, 84% of the reviewers for the New York Review of Books were men and 83% of the books they reviewed were also by men. Female writers make up only 29% of TV staff jobs, a drop of 1.5% from last season, with things looking even bleaker for minorities, who hold only 13.7 percent of TV staff writer jobs. All of these facts add up to one thing - these days, writing is utterly dominated by middle aged, white men. They floods our televisions, our bookshelves, and our movie screens and sometimes we fall in love with the characters but maybe we don’t see the story we wanted told. So we write fic. 

But do you know what I think? I think that shame comes from being bold enough to dare to have a voice. I think we’re viewing our own perspectives as somehow less, unworthy in comparison to the ‘norm’ of ‘real’ storytelling that we see validated by being put on television and movie screens and bookstore shelves. While we might, as a culture, tolerate such daring activity amongst teenage girls, we also view it as childish, something women are meant to outgrow, something shameful to hold onto as adults. But it isn’t just fanfic we’re shaming. It’s our voices, our validity, and that makes me sick. 

So be a fanfic writer. Be the best goddamned fanfic writer you can be. Use your voice and be proud of it because it’s yours. There is nothing ‘less’ about fanfic. And there never will be. 

Not to mention, a growing number of professional writers were and sometimes even still are active in fandom in this respect. I’m one of them.

Fanfiction taught me how to write and gave me the courage to start submitting my stuff to places. I’ll scream it from the rooftops.

I’ve written fanfiction for AGES. Since before the internet, okay, I used to write it for myself. I’ve read fanfiction (particularly in my latest fandom) that was stellar, that blew published books out of the water. Ones I could read over and over.

And hey listen, last summer I got an agent for my original stuff. And my agent? Is super supportive of, and into, fandom and fanfiction.

Guys, so much stuff is fanfic - or is derivative, or a remix. (We do tend to label it “fanfic” if it’s written by women, and “remakes” or some other, classier sounding thing if it’s written by dudes. So yeah, let’s really think about why that is.) I could not even sit here and list every major piece of writing in history that was derived from some other thing, come on.

Don’t be ashamed of fanfic. Love it, read it, write it.

Because, according to some people, writing fan fiction is immature and uncreative. You’re using someone else’s ideas and characters instead of creating your own. You’re indulging in storylines that aren’t official by the creator. Maybe you’re putting characters together that “have no right” to be together. Maybe you’re doing scenarios that “no one wants to see.”  Fan fiction is the domain of “14yo girls squealing about their latest interest.”  It’s not “proper writing.”

Basically, everything possible is done to shame anyone who writes fan fiction into refusing to admit that they write fan fiction. It’s written by losers and people who “can’t get published”. It also doesn’t help that a lot of published authors get on their high horses about whether people can write fan fiction about their books. They’re saying fan fiction is wrong and shouldn’t be done. 

They’re all wrong. 

Never will I ever not be supportive of fan writers. 1, it is a massive compliment when people love the world and characters we create; 2, it fosters new talent - the fic writer of today may well become the next Tolkien, the next RR Martin.

Love writing, push your limits, learn more, experience the journey. You don't need my blessings, but you have them, always.