Misguided Creative Juices

Creative juices are a fickle thing. For me, 89% of the time they’re sweet, but for the remaining 11% they’re sour and full of pulp, yuck! However, what’s worse is that lately those juices have been filling the wrong glass.

Alright, enough with the juice metaphors, what I’m saying is I have a writing issue. For the past couple of months I’ve found it far easier to continue writing a pointless fanfiction then to actually work on, optimistically, a future published novel.

Fanfic’s are a guilty pleasure. I haven’t actually written a lot or even finished one, but they’re easy writing. The characters, settings, plot etc., are practically sitting in a box saying, ‘Pick me!’ and all you’ve got to do is play it out on a page. I won’t admit what TV show my fanfic is based on, only that it’s no longer running

To be honest it’s coming along well and if I really wanted to I could finish it, expect that irks me. Like I said in the paragraph above, fanfic’s are easy writing because the structure is there; you know the characters and their world and how they react and live within it. The same could be said for my own work, I know my characters, where they are, why and what they’re supposed to be doing. So why is it easier to work on the useless fanfic? Why do I get more enjoyment for it then from working with my own true creation? I’m excited about my story, I can’t wait to see where it goes and yet it feels like a struggle to sit down and write about it. The creativity just isn’t flowing.

It’s quite possible that I’ve fallen into my own, unintentionally laid, trap. Originally I’d wanted to use fanfic’s as a writing exercise, a way to figure out my style and flow. Now, though, I think my creative side has become ensnared and addicted to these prefabricated stories.

I desperately want it to escape so I can imprison it within my novel and let it feel safe and addicted there. But how do I convince it to make that jump?

Maybe I should finish the fanfic. Just get it done and pray I have enough juices to put back in the right glass. I hope I haven’t ruined my creative side, I love writing but the thought of being reduced to this uninspired form of writing scares me. There are stories I want to tell and once I get this pesky problem out the way, hopefully they’ll be told.