This is purely a fan fiction about the struggle of writing fan fiction. We don't all have Daryl's in our lives to help us write. But, I figured the sturggle to create might actually be funny. I'm not much of a hummorist, but I did try.

So, please enjoy this little piece I wrote about the tribulations of writing fan fiction. I don't know if someone else has written a story like this before, but I'm sure we've all gone through a similiar situation as Todd has, until he has a breakthrough and writes fan fiction about Gordon Korman. Enjoy!

The computer whirred and clicked, almost as if in pleasure at having been turned on. Todd stifled a yawn as Daryl sat down next to him, staring at the keys expectantly.

"So," Daryl said, watching Todd watch the screen.

"So? Is there a point to this?"

"Of course. You said you were tired of watching lousy plotlines in your favorite shows. So, write your own and post it on-line." Todd rolled his eyes and opened the word processing program. It was a simple, easy-to-use program that would spell-check his words and correct his grammatical errors.

"This," he muttered through gritted teeth, "is stupid."

"No, it's not," Daryl commented without hesitation. "You're a good writer, and all writers need to write a little fan fiction to jolt them from the doldrums. This will be good therapy to get your creative juices working."

Todd glanced skeptically as his best friend.

"You're logic is oh-so-perfect. Yes, Todd, plagiarize another person's work to glean praise for your own crappy writing. I'm sure I'll win a Nobel Prize." Daryl issued a short, barking laugh. Todd could be such a drama queen.

"Plagiarism is the best form of flattery."

"Who said that?"

"Doesn't matter. Just start writing something." Daryl leaned back and close his eyes, humming to himself. This would be good therapy for Todd to get back into the seat and take up the reins of writing again. To write a meaningless, vapid piece of fan fiction was definitely the best therapy.

Todd sat there, drumming his fingers, not really attempting to think of a subject to write about. He started to surf through the lists of categories and stories on for an idea. He paged through the TV shows, struggling.
There was E.R. That was pointless. He hadn't watched that show in years. Or maybe Heroes would be a good one to write about. He shoved that idea aside. There were more lousy couplings and bad soft core porn in there than actual storylines. He didn't want to add to the garbage. The Witchblade series was one he wasn't familiar with, but to him it was along the same lines as Charmed. Moonlight sounded good. He would try that. But he threw out that idea too. Vampire fiction was also not a strong point of his.

"I can't do this," he moaned. Trying to think of an idea for a fan fiction that was creative and new was difficult. Trying to actually write the story so people would read it was even harder.

"Yes, you can. If nothing else, write a Harry Potter fiction." Todd glared at Daryl with bloody murder in his eyes. "You like Harry Potter, don't you?" Daryl felt uncomfortable under his friend's glare.

"Have you seen the number of Harry Potter entries in the folder Daryl? I think they total over several thousand. Talk about over-used and convoluted. The plot lines are more predictable than a Sesame Street episode." Todd cradled his head, furious at his own stupidity.

"Okay, let's not try Harry Potter, or any other popular book series for that matter." Daryl became thoughtful as he studied Todd's room. It was cluttered, first of all, and second, the walls were covered with posters of bands and movies. He eyes alighted upon a poster of Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist. He nudged Todd and gestured towards the poster. Todd's eyes sparkled with delight at the prospect of writing a fan fiction about Full Metal Alchemist.

"I've got it!" He shouted. Daryl shushed him to be quiet. They didn't want to disturb the rest of the household. Daryl yawned.

"Well, I'll leave you to it while I take a leak, and go and get something to drink. You want anything?"

"Nah. I'm fine. Just wash your hands after your done, okay? I don't want you getting pee everywhere." Daryl chuckled. Todd had such a problem with germs, it was actually quite comical.

Todd planned out the story, and he began to write. He wrote and wrote till he had about half a page, then stopped when Daryl came back. He started to read aloud what he had written.

"Edward sat on the ledge pondering his own existence. It was bleak. Very bleak, and he didn't have much else to do. Alphonse was out courting Noah, the lovely gypsy woman they had befriended ever since they had been trapped here on this alternate earth. Life was harder now that their alchemy was no longer with them, but the ladies sure made life interesting. Edward could only blush at the prospect of his still very much intact virginity." Todd finished the first paragraph only to find Daryl's mouth hanging slightly ajar.

"Well, what do you think so far?" Todd asked expectantly.

"Todd, as your friend, it's my job to make sure you don't make a total fool of yourself, unless I'm the one making a fool of you. This...this is total trash. It's horrible. No one would get beyond the first paragraph because it is so ill-conceived. What is this going to turn into, a transcontinental buddy story about Ed trying to lose his virginity? Trash it." Todd was a bit hurt. It hadn't been that bad, had it? He went back to reread the first paragraph, and then the rest of the type on the page. Daryl was right. It was total garbage, and not only that, but Edward spent the whole first page bemoaning his lack of a romantic life. It was convoluted and idiotic. Todd felt like he'd lost a few IQ points after having read it. He deleted all the text on the page and banged his head heavily into his desk.

"Todd, I'm going to go home. Mom expects me for dinner, so I better get going. Give me a call if you come up with anything good, okay?" Todd stared glumly at the screen and mumbled something like a "yes". What was he going to write about? This was more infuriating that trying to steal back the remote from his little sister. Again he banged his head on his desk, letting out a small and solitary "Owe" as he did so.

He got up and paced, and paced, and then paced a little more for good measure. Writing a good fiction was proving more difficult than first imagined.

"Okay," he said aloud to no one in particular. "I'm going to find something worthwhile to write about, even if it takes me all night." Todd, like Daryl had earlier, surveyed his own room. Several books lined the shelves. There was Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and a few other well known titles. He could have written a nice companion to Matheson's I Am Legend, but didn't feel he could live up to the fame of such a book. His eyes landed on a trilogy of books, and the first thing that popped into his head was a sequel for the series. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it. Gordon Korman's Island series was his absolute favorite. It was the story of survival, cooperation, and exciting adventure. He could write that. It was perfect.

Todd sat down and began to type, ignoring all the little red lines that appeared on the screen, along with the many green ones, that designated either a spelling error or a grammatical one. It didn't matter; he would go back and correct it once he had finished writing it out. By the time his mother had called him to dinner, he already had four of the fifteen chapters he planned to write finished. He had just started on numbed five when she'd called.

"Coming mom," he responded. He blazed into the kitchen and wolfed down his food, pausing only long enough to breath. When he had finished, he raced back to his room and wrote another four chapters. He was halfway finished. Where he left off, his main character Will was pitted against the daughter of the head smuggler that he and his companions had foiled at the end of the third novel, Escape. He wasn't sure if Will was going to be able to save his sister or not, but it would make for an interesting plot twist.

He read the first chapter, skimming through the plot as Will met the mysterious stranger who lured him into a trap and then proceeded to kidnap his sister and play a deadly game of cat and mouse. Yup. Sounded like good fiction to him.

Todd logged onto and opened his user account, and then uploaded his first two chapters. He had spell checked them before he had uploaded them. As he went back and made necessary omissions and added text, correcting a missed misspelled word, he felt proud. "Darn you," he muttered. He filed the story under General, because he just couldn't find the title under the book headings, and sat back, basking in the glow of a job well done. He picked up his phone and called his friend.

"Hey Daryl, it's Todd...Yeah...yeah...I wrote a story...Yeah, and it's not convoluted either...Yeah...I think you're going to like it..."

It didn't matter how many reviews he got or how many times the story got read. It was just satisfying to know that he was back in the game.

The End

So, I hope you liked it. If you didn't then you didn't. I can't please everyone. But, I thought it would make for an interesting piece, and as you can see, our lovely fan fiction hosting website got a little credit where credit is due.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

the rabbit