I try to sit down to write every day. Lately, the time I set aside to write has gotten shorter, mostly limited to keeping this blog. Don’t get me wrong, I have a ton of ideas running around my head, it’s just my motivation is minimal. I decided to look at the fanfiction I’ve written over the years to see about revising one or two of those old stories.

I pulled up one of my old fanfic stories to take a look at it with fresh eyes and see if I can rework it. The prognosis is good. I have the bones of a story that I’m sure I can pluck out of its current environment and drop into the setting of my choice. I could drop it into my little corner of the universe, but the premise of this particular bit of fiction had a LitRPG flavor to it, something I don’t want to lose. On the other hand, I have another story about a character sucked into an entirely different world. I might be able to mash the two stories together and retain the flavor.

I started writing this particular fanfic story as an experimental piece back in 2014, sometime before I had ever heard of the “LitRPG” genre. The origins of the genre are a bit fuzzy with some sources tracing it back to the 1980s, but is thought to have gained popularity with the translation of the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor series by Korean author Heesung Nam to Russian in 2010. I’ve read or listened to a dozen or so LitRPG novels, and if you like playing video games, they’re a fun read.

I would like to keep the misfit flavor, but widen the scope of the story. I’ve always loved the classic fantasy genre, but have also taken an interest in urban fantasy and cyberpunk. If you have ever read any of the Shadowrun novels, you’ll get a feel for where my imagination has been heading. It must have something to do with current events.

I have ideas that are slowly making their way out of my head. My goal is to sit down with my morning coffee and begin to sketch out how I plan to mash up these two concepts. I need to devise comparable events that send my protagonist through the “looking glass” to another world (the current setting is under copyright), and my imagination is the limit.