At 03:53 PM 1/4/99 PST, Kiwi Noriega wrote:

To the older members of the FFML...

(Nick looks down at his cane, and scratches what's left of his gray hair)

What's that, sonny?  Can't quite hear you.  ^_^

How does one keep the fire of writing alive?
I feel I'm losing that spark that first got me writing fanfiction. 
That first bit of inspiration to write...
Seems long and gone.
And lately, for me, fanfiction is beginning to loose its luster.

How to put this...

I have considered 'retiring' from fanfiction on a couple of occasions, the
first in early 1997.  It just happens every so often.  To be honest, I'm in
one of those stages right now; I'm just working on tying up loose ends
while trying my hand at some original stuff.  If I get another fanfic idea
that has me aching to write, then I'll do it; if not, then not.  It's just
that my passions are primarily taken up by the original stuff right now.

The fire will wane on occasion.  This is to be expected.  I can think of
two writers who have within the past week continued works they had to put
aside for awhile.  Keeping the necessary energy for good writing is
difficult; for prolonged works, it is impossible to maintain throughout the
story's run.  It comes and it goes.  The key is not to give up totally when
it goes.

Sometimes, perseverence succeeds when everything else doesn't.  Ideas will
reshape themselves over time, sometimes becoming far more than we ever
imagined.  I had once planned a small story based on the 'Mirror, Mirror'
anime, where Ranma goes back to the future he saw there, and encounters his
future self.  I never finished it (though I am working on it); however, its
backstory eventually covered four main stories, two side stories written by
other people, and over 400k of text overall.  Some 'backstory', huh?

I guess, in the end, the important thing is to ask yourself why.  The
answer to that may change over time; mine is almost always 'I have a story
to tell, one that I think needs to be told'.  No offense, but you have to
WANT to tell the story.  It could be that you don't feel like telling the
story right now; step back, then, and take it easy.  There will likely come
a time when you DO feel like telling a story; when it comes, seize it with
all you have, and go to it.

Sincerely,
~ Kahlil N.

-- Nick