Do it. Hope it works well.
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So, I let my imagination run wild today. And I started thinking, okay, so I’ve completed, and am working on “the middle” book to what I assume can be a 3 part series, right? And if I kill this character in the first book, it leads to the one I’ve already completed. And because I’m already loving the character I have to kill, I’m like, but what if I DON’T kill him, and just make another series where the first book can branch out two ways. Character dies, leads into current story. Character doesn’t die, brand new story, different stakes, different power struggles/enemies etc.
Which sounds amazing until I’m like… I still have to write all this. Someone send help. 
I need to stop. (cough, maybe it’s do-able if I make the first “book” a short story instead of a full length novel?) 
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Eh. It’s never too late. 
I had the same thing happen to me. Hadn’t written a fanfic in years, and then I became obsessed with a webcomic, and started writing again. I use fanfics now to take “breaks” between my original works so I can keep the creative juices going without taking it so seriously. Kind of like warm ups? 
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Nothing wrong with promoting yourself the “old fashioned way” by letting people discover you via “analog”. I’ve discovered some good books from my local library purposely leaving books in the subway seats with “support your local library” stickers on them. Free books. 
But if it was good enough, I sought out more to read from the same author.
That helps me sometimes. I get so stuck on certain scenes or details, that I get so tired of it, now I just write anything from any point in the book. Even if it’s a scene I end up getting rid of later. It’s hard to figure out a road map as a semi-pantser until you’ve laid down some stones first. I also started doing a lot of “dialogue only” writing where I don’t bother with all the descriptions, fluff in between, and literally just write it almost like a script. Character A: Says something, Character B: Says something else. Sometimes I’ll mention an action in parenthesis if I feel it’s important, but it’s been helping me a lot to do that, and it’s faster to get what’s in my head versus trying to “write it for real.”
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Go wherever your muse takes you. Or why not both?
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I think you can totally do a branching story.
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That’s awesome. It’s great when someone leaves such thoughtful, and lengthy feedback. That’s another reason why I went back to writing fanfics between my original stuff too. It helps my imposter syndrome. Granted, just because people like my fanfics, doesn’t mean they’ll like my original works, buuuut it still helps for morale. 
I would frame that review too.
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I used to read/write on fanfiction.net all the time, and I think for certain fandoms, it can still be a great place to find stuff. It’s harder to find good stuff for large fandoms though. Lately I’ve been hooked to Ao3. I like how they roll. Authors can basically write whatever they want, just warn people in the tags if they need to. I almost feel like it’s a more accepting community where people are used to the, “Don’t like, don’t read, and move on” versus flaming someone’s story because of a pairing/whatever. I also feel like 85% of the stories I’ve seen on ff.net are “I got sucked into a TV one day and woke up in [insert game/anime]” or “[anime/game] as high school students”! Not that there’s anything wrong with those if that’s your jam, I just want more variety after a while.
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Yep, definitely try archiveofourown.org then. Hope you find something you like. I’m writing Lore Olympus stuff there. I used to write for all kinds of fandoms back in the day, my mains being Jak & Daxter, Kingdom Hearts/some FF7, and Gintama. So far I haven’t come across any harsh reviewers on Ao3 whereas on ff.net, people can be… mean to put it mildly. (cough, I stopped writing there for years largely due to getting a stalker there)
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Yes. 1000 times yes. I get days when I think everything i write is crap but then I look at this type of comment and rub it in the imposters syndrome’s nose. Read it. Read it! It’s evidence!
It’s a different market, different audience. Fanfic markets itself (as much as your fandoms are popular). It takes more effort with originals because not only discover ability, but you also have to work harder to have the readers get your character. But I really hope it’s reproducible.
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Thank you. 
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Yeah, you just put your email I think, and it might take them a few days, but they’ll email you an invite link so you can create your profile etc.
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I started to write a new portal fantasy.
It’s a twist on the world of talking animals and the idea of a rat king.
And some secret agent stuff.
And the mother is not going to die. Hopefully.
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I remember I couldn’t figure it out back in the day, lol
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And nope, I didn’t succeed in making Harris likable. Perhaps, misogyny is not a trait you can have in a male narrator. Or I just don’t have the ability to write something people want to read. All those books with abusive male LIs with millions of reads… but I’m not getting it the right way. (Hits her head on the wall).
Basically I start feeling that I should quit writing because I don’t have the main talent for it, making the characters and books interesting. I have zero interest in writing technically sound books people walk away from if they even open them.
Today, I was reminded again
A) Why the cancel culture sucks.
B) That I’m a nerd.
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Oh for sure! That’s well said. The books I have done this kind of writing with - dialogue only scenes when I’m not feeling it, writing a random idea I have that might not show up at all or maybe in 50 pages, etc. - have always felt more fun and rewarding to write. And they always feel more cohesive and solid, too.
The hardest part of writing fragmented like that is editing it all later The one I’m starting to work on now is an old story I haven’t touched in about 3 years that’s currently 54k words long. With this story, I have so many fragmented scenes that don’t attach to any of the created chapters, lots of scenes where it’s just [scene description in bracket], and random highlighted notes about things I want to change all throughout the book (half of them I don’t even want to change anymore). I have no idea where to start. Not in the slightest and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed!
But honestly, I think writing like you’ve said above will be really helpful with getting back into it, too. Just start writing it - something, anything, even if it’s just a random dialogue stream. Once I get back into the feel of the characters, then I can go back and start putting all of the pieces together.
Anyway, this was a long rant in response to your message ahaha. Sorry about that. Though I am curious, have you ever found yourself kind of overwhelmed when you look back and think of all the gaps and scenes you have to fix up later writing this way?
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I think if you insist on a character being misogynistic, you can make it more doable if they truly believe that their approach is the right, noble one, if they think of themselves as being chivalrous, etc. There’s risk to it that if readers will get it or if they make assumptions too early on.
A good trick out of that is to have another character call him out on the misogyny. It might go over your MC’s head but it’s a signal to the audience.
Don’t give up. There’s a way out of it.
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Damn it that makes me want to look at it and I’m over here with my inner nanny going “Not for 2 weeks!”
But right there with you on what mysogenistic tendencies people like vs. what they hate. It’s the whole Werewolf genre on Wattpad in a nutshell. My whole reason for writing in that field is to handle what people like and hate about questionable behavior, to make it make sense.
And it doesn’t help that humans aren’t really concise on what’s appropriate behavior. Things that get labeled mysogenistic but if a woman did it it’s all, “YASSS, QUEEN!”? shows it’s not quite misogyny that’s the issue, but baggage. As in: it’s not that people can’t act like this, but a man’s likeability takes a hit because of history. I’m sorry, unless we are breaking out and calling women misandrist every time, then the particular issue is a human trait, and we won’t let men be human.
There is some leeway given on mysogenistic behaviors that stem from unfair hurt (butthurt over legit “you deserve this reaction” doesn’t count). There’s also some leeway given when the villain is worse and being a complete donkey is the only sure path to win against him, but it’s better accepted if the man is unsure of his actions and asks a female if he’s doing the right thing in the middle of an emotional crisis.
But it’s this sweet spot maybe a millimeter wide. Catering to it has got to be killer.
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