How to be a Prolific Fan Author this Coming Year

[grayseeker]

Happy New Year!

And please do forgive the click-baity title. As you'll soon realize, "how to become prolific this coming year" is actually something I'm trying to figure out... for *myself.* It's something I've always struggled with: never feeling satisfied with my level of productivity as a writer. I want this year to be different, and I want to invite you along for the journey!

What's that going to look like?

Well, it's going to look like me overcoming one of my *other* hurdles, which is my seeming inability to maintain a stable blog presence. I tend to start blogs, then abandon them when the task begins to seem overwhelming. So I'm going to try and avoid that sense of overwhelm by setting modest goals for myself. I'll try to post a weekly update on how my Prolificity Project is going, even if it's just, "Aaaaargh!"

What else can I say about it...?

Well, one thing I *want* to say is that I chose the title words very deliberately. It says "prolific *fan* author," emphasis on "fan," because most of us do this as a hobby, and I think that for most of us there's also a social, community aspect to why we write the stories we do.

So this blog series is going to have a different emphasis than a blog series about how to become a prolific *paid* author. It's not going to be about how to write 5,000 words per hour, how to release a novel per month, or how to write for a particular market. There are lots of great places to find that kind of information if you want it, and if going pro is your goal. (I even have recs.)

But here, the emphasis is going to be on writing *purely* for love, rather than for money, popularity, hits, kudos or clout. It *is* going to be about how to write more of what you love, yes - but it's also about having fun while doing so. Also about building community and forming heartfelt connections with other fans who love the same things you do. And about *balance,* since most of us fan authors* need to spend big chunks of our lives on things that aren't fandom-related.

In short, the emphasis is on satisfaction: how to achieve a level of productivity you feel satisfied with, without burning yourself out. Are you with me? Excellent! Onward, I say!

Image credit: Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels