Fan Fiction

I think that everyone has a book that they remember as the one that changed how they viewed books and reading. The book for me was THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley, though THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD by the same author is the one my friends and acted out for years. A lot of the books that I wrote when I was young were influenced by them. I even used the name Aerin. My younger sister did something similar using the RANGER'S APPRENTICE series by John Flanagan. Fan fiction is a good way for people to get their feet wet with writing. World building is intimidating and some people get world building disease, which means they never actually get to writing the story.

It is important to create your own stories, but sometimes it can just be a nice release, or a good jumping point. Just remember that while there is a market for a lot of fan fiction, mostly online through forums or with friends, there is a bigger market for original work.