How Not To Be A Groupie

Chapter One: How It All Started

My mouse hovered over the publish button. I had checked and edited this chapter about a hundred times and I was still nervous. Is it really finished? Am I really done? After clicking "publish", I went to my story details and marked it as complete. Now it really felt official. A huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I had just completed another fanfiction trilogy.

I leaned back in my chair and relaxed. No more writing, no more updates, no more deadlines, no more staying up past two in the morning editing. I could take a well deserved vacation from Wattpad and move on to my other hobbies. 

Only, I didn't do that.

The gears in my brain started turning. Words and thoughts and ideas floated right to the front of my brain and danced around, waiting to come to life. I groaned and lay my head on my desk. Another fanfiction was about to be written. 

And what else could I possibly write about other than my favorite band AC/DC?

I know, writing about real people seems a little odd. That's what I thought when I first started and I still think that now. But as long as lines are drawn and I stick to being as respectful as possible, I don't lose sleep over it. 

I scrolled down my list of stories and winced at the growing pile of unfinished works. Plots I had dreamed up and wrote down but never finished, probably disappointing loyal readers. A good amount of them were finished and even more so were not. Just an endless list of broken promises and wasted potential. But if I hadn't snagged that plot, someone else might have! I scrolled back up to the top and clicked "New Story". 

What kind of bandfic trope was popular among the classic rock fandom?

Time travel. Of course. 

What better fantasy than to go back in time and meet your favorite band when they were all young and available? But of course this had to be realistic. Chances are they wouldn't all trip over themselves to accommodate you, but rather be polite and treat you like a respected fan. 

But I didn't consider myself just a fan.

I was a groupie. 

A lousy groupie.

I didn't do much for bands on social media as I didn't have any social media. I couldn't follow bands on the road due to my motion sickness and financial situation. The only thing I could do was buy their records and talk positive about them through word of mouth. Maybe that was enough?

Oh, and write so-so fanfictions. 

After selecting a photo from my camera roll and setting it as my cover, I began to write. Only...what could I write? 

I wasn't new to writing self inserts. Most of my catalog consisted of those kinds of stories. They started off my worst examples of writing and I slowly got better over the years of writing in first person. Third person was always easier for me, but those stories ended up being extra challenging to maintain. 

But what could I do to make this one more interesting? 

My other stories had some basis in real life one way or another. Minor experiences found their way in my writing, that way I always had something to write about. I thrived on accuracy. Resting my head in my hand, I sighed.

You know what you need, Hannah Ruth? Real life experience.

Of course that was wishful thinking. Time travel wasn't possible and why on earth would God or the Universe or whatever send me to the 1970's to see my favorite band? There was just no point. So I could scrap that idea.

But...I adored time travel stories...and the only one in my works was...in the nicest way possible....a shit stain on my history. I wanted to fix that. I wanted to write a much better one that showed just how much I had improved over the years as a writer and storyteller. There wasn't anyone to prove myself to and yet...I wanted to prove it to myself.