Fanfic...Oy.

One of the things I've struggled with is how to get any of my work published before I start shopping my novel around. There doesn't seem to be much of a market for fantasy short stories. And for that matter, I'm still trying to figure out what makes a good one tick, as I haven't read that many. That hamstrings me a bit, as it makes it pretty difficult to get any publishing credits to throw on the old resume.

The only opportunities I've seen, as a matter of fact, are for fanfic. In particular, the developers of MMORPGs seem to enjoy putting their players' fanfic out there. I discovered last night that Blizzard is taking submissions for World of Warcraft fanfic, which would be a great thing to have on my resume, and for that matter, really would get my name out there to a few hundred thousand people or so--nothing to sneeze at.

The only problem is that, well, it's fanfic, and while I don't have anything against fanfic, I've kind of moved on from it. I got my start writing Star Wars fanfic, and while I will always cherish my time working in that universe, adding bits and pieces to someone else's story just doesn't energize me the same way that creating my own does.

I suppose that's a bit snobby, and the professional in me is certainly strong enough to say "Too bad. Write it, and write it damn well, because this could be a huge break for you", but I can't help but be the littlest bit sad that the opportunities for fantasy short stories seem to be centered around writing fanfic.