The Evolution of Fanfiction, and Creating a Writers Group

LOOW is a group of Wool series writers, who are donating the lifetime profits of their Wool Gathering anthology to NaNoWriMo! We talk with them about their anthology and how they created a successful writing group.

Has the group participated in NaNoWriMo? What have their experiences been like?

Ann Christy: I have! Twice. And both times I completed something I really like. Neither of those projects have been published yet because other projects needed to be finished, but it was my first experience with purposefully writing a full book. I had no idea I could do it until I signed up for NaNoWriMo. It changed my life.

Will Swardstrom: I had never even heard of NaNo before last summer and gave it a go last year. I successfully wrote 50,000 words in November 2013 towards my second novel, Dead Sight. It was a great experience and helped me to realize writing each and every day was essential to crafting a tight narrative. Also having the accountability was good for me.

WJ Davies: I participated in NaNoWriMo in November of 2013, and this proved to be one of the most challenging tasks I’ve taken on as a writer. Over 1,600 words a day for 30 days?!? My non-writer friends told me thought I was crazy, but you know what? At the end of the day I had written a 50,000 word book in a month. I’m extremely happy with the book, and I don’t think I would have written it for years without the encouragement of the NaNo program. Whether you’re an experienced writer, or a newbie, I would highly recommend participating this coming November. You won’t regret it!

What is LOOW? How did the group form?

Ann: LOOW stands for League of Original Woolwrights at first, however it has since grown to mean much more. Occasionally, we call ourselves the League of Ostrich Wranglers, which is fun. Most of the LOOW are early fans of the WOOL series by Hugh Howey, (before mega-stardom), and all of us have written fiction set in that universe. Now, the LOOW is comprised of a tight group of authors who are super supportive of each other. It’s a safe group where we can ask each other the scary questions, or commiserate with each other when there are stumbles and, yes, celebrate the successes as well.

What kinds of things do LOOW do as a group?

Ann: While we’ve never been able to meet up with each other in real life since many of us live on other continents, you’d never know it by the way we interact. We beta read for each other, provide art and story idea feedback and support each other’s marketing efforts. It truly is cooperative. And we know it works because we’re not even afraid to tell each other when something is bad anymore. That’s such a rare thing and so valuable.

Thomas Robins: We discuss cover design, marketing, and how we are struggling in our writing (we even delve into politics occasionally, if that’s not a sign of a strong team, I don’t know what is). We support each other and offer all kinds of free advice. We worked together on the WOOL Gathering collection and have starting working on a superhero short story collection to be released this fall (it’s looking good, too). Most of us interact online every day, we are that close.

How do you run an effective writing group?

Thomas: An effective author support team needs to be made up of people who are willing to freely share their talent and insight with each other, as well as admit any mistakes they have made. We learn from each other’s successes and failures. However, you can’t just get a group of people together and call them an effective team. There has to be some commonality, some sense of friendship among the members. For example, if swearing is somewhat offensive to you but everyone in your group cusses like a sailor, you won’t feel welcome. It takes time to get involved with a group that fits. It’s like finding a significant other, you can’t force it because you think you need it, you find it when you least expect because you are out there being yourself.

I think it’s also important to note that for a writing group to be effective, it needs to be small, ten or so people. It keeps the discussions more intimate and encourages everyone to participate. Along with that, the group should be fluid, people can leave when they feel they need to and new people are allowed in, being very picky not to upset the balance of the group. Ultimately, there is nothing to “do” to run an effective group, with the right people it runs itself.

Tell me about this anthology. Why did the group choose to write about the Silo Saga? What makes it special?

Ann: For me this was a no-brainer as a world to write in. If Hugh hadn’t given his permission and others hadn’t encouraged me, I wouldn’t even be a writer at this moment. I certainly wouldn’t be launching my fifth book (ninth publication if you include four anthologies). And since I started in the Silo world, I wanted to delve into it again for a good cause. I think for all of us, the stories inside are pretty close to our hearts. Mine is a glimpse into the earliest moments of the Silo 49 series, and it is the only place such a glimpse can be gotten at this time. That makes it special to me, for a special cause, so it’s all good.

Will: We chose the Silo Saga because that was essentially how we all got our breaks in the self-publishing business. It holds a special place in my heart. I followed Hugh Howey’s blog for a while before I decided I could do the same thing as him and write my own stories. It was his openness as an author that inspired me.

WJ: Two books really stood out to me as being exceptional, and those were The Atopia Chronicles by Matthew Mather, and WOOL by Hugh Howey. I became a huge Howey fan, and ordered many signed copies of his books, as well as devouring his entire library. When I started writing, one of the first ideas that came into my head was a story taking place in Hugh’s Silo Universe. I wrote it, mostly so I could get some writing practice under my belt, and then sent it to Hugh himself. To my great surprise he not only read “The Runner”, but also raved about it on his blog!

The book sold well right out of the gate, and gave me the much needed enthusiasm I needed to delve into writing my own, full length novel—an enthusiasm I still possess a year and a half later. The bottom line is, writing in Hugh’s world is plain FUN, and he created an environment so rich that dozens of authors have now produced Silo Stories.

The WOOL Gathering Anthology, I feel, completely epitomizes the excitement readers and writers feel when they delve into Howey’s exciting world. And that we are able to donate the proceeds to a great organization like NaNoWriMo is icing on the cake!

Why do you support the Young Writers Program?

Will: For myself, I never really had a lot of encouragement to writer when I was a teenager. In addition to being an author, I’m also a high school teacher and see kids that want to be creative. If I can help that by supporting the Young Writers Program as well, then all the better.

Ann: Because NaNoWriMo changed my entire life and how I viewed myself. Until that moment when I finished my first novel in NaNo, I was a scientist and a naval officer. That is what defined me. When I got that winner notification, I realized I was something else as well: a writer. And that is something I can keep with me for the rest of my life. How cool is that? Now…consider that I’m 47. What might that feeling be like for a young person? How might that change the entire course of their life and brighten their future? The real question is, how can anyone who hasn’t benefitted from NaNoWriMo not support the Young Writers Program?

Ann Christy is a career naval officer and secret science fiction writer. She lives by the sea under the benevolent rule of her canine overlords and a variety of unruly family members.

Her first published series, Silo 49, was set in the WOOL universe. She has stories in multiple anthologies and her newest release, Strikers, is now available at Amazon.

Thomas Robins is an indie author who writes science fiction with a focus on deep character development. Thomas is the author of the highly-reviewed series Desperate to Escape, along with several WOOL fan-fiction pieces. He is a professional during the day, an indie author at night, and a father of two wonderful children all the time. Thomas does a happy dance every time someone visits his blog and signs up for his newsletter.

Will Swardstrom is an indie author from Southern Illinois. He has written in Hugh Howey’s WOOL Universe as well as penning a number of his own books, including the first two books in the Dead Sleep Trilogy. He is always on the lookout for new ideas and stories. Will is married to his college sweetheart and has two children.

WJ Davies is the author of the colonization adventure serial novel Binary Cycle: (Disruption, Revelations, Skyward), as well as a post-apocalyptic, Wool-inspired trilogy of novellas, Silo Submerged: (The Runner, The Diver, The Watcher). He currently lives in Toronto and works for a computer software company. He writes in his spare time and on weekends. It’s a glamorous life. You can find him on Twitter and Facebook.