Why You Should Write a Novel "Just for Fun"

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Not everything you write needs to be published—or even publishable.

A few years after I published my third novel (Darkfall), I fell into a dark time with my writing. I was drafting a novel that did not want to work the way I wanted it to, and I dreaded sitting down at the keyboard every day. Writing was no longer fun.

With sad relief, I set the manuscript aside and worked on a non-fiction project I'd been wanting to do (my very first writing book, Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure). I fully intended to return to fiction afterward, expecting my dread of the novel to have passed by then.

It hadn't.

I'll be honest—it was terrifying.
 

Every time I tried to write, all the old stresses and fears came back and I avoided the keyboard.

I'd written my entire life, and I couldn't imagine not crafting another novel again. It wasn't that I couldn't write, I just didn't want to write.

I'd lost my mojo.

I'll spare you all the soul-searching and frustrations I went through during that time, and skip right to the part that helped me get over it.

I wrote a book "just for fun."

It was an idea my husband had come up with years before, in a different market and genre than what I usually wrote at that time (adult urban fantasy vs. teen fantasy). I'd started it once or twice as a young adult novel, but it had always fizzled out after a few chapters.

This time though, I looked at it objectively and chose the best route for it, even if that path led through unfamiliar territory. It didn't matter if I'd never written an urban fantasy before—if it was "just for fun" who cared if it was terrible?

As luck would have it, this decision happened right before NaNo (National Novel Writing Month), so I figured, "What the heck? Let's do this as a NaNo novel and see how much I can get done."

Thirty days later I had over 60,000 words written and most of the first draft of a novel.

Aligning with NaNo was a lucky break for me, but it wasn't the reason I'd written so much. It was my decision to write the book for fun and not worry if it ever got published. I wasn't going to show it to my critique partners, I wasn't going to send it to my agent. It was for me and me alone, even though I was writing it for my husband (he didn't get to read until much, much later, and that's a bit of a funny story itself).

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Here are three reasons writing for fun gave me back my writing mojo:

1. It reminded me why I loved to write in the first place.

Before I was published, writing was fun. I had dreams, but no deadlines. I had excitement, but no expectations for the next novel. I had no pressure but what I put upon myself.

Writing a novel I didn't plan to show anyone freed me to do whatever I wanted. I made cheesy pop culture references. I swore (something I don’t do in my teen novels). I wrote in-jokes and silly exchanges no one but my husband would ever get.

But most of all, I laughed the whole time I was writing it. I enjoyed myself and ignored all the things that I'd have stressed over had this been a "real" novel.

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2. It let me stretch creatively.

I've read urban fantasy all my life, but I’d never tried to write it before this manuscript. Writing in the "real world" had always been intimidating, because there were actual rules and laws, and making up everything was just so much easier.

Mixing the real and the unreal was a challenge I actually had fun with. It allowed me to explore themes and characters unavailable to me as a kidlit author. It also let me pursue a stronger mystery story arc than I'd ever done before, so it was like having two new genres in one.

And I loved it.

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3. It reset my writing focus.

The more I wrote, the more I realized (and accepted) that a writing slump was just my brain's way of telling me I needed a break. I hadn't "used up" my only good idea or all my talent.

I'd just gotten caught up in the end game and forgotten that a first draft was about discovering the story, not publishing the book.

As soon as I shifted back to writing for the joy of the story, writing became fun again.

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If your dream is to publish, it's easy to get sidetracked by the need to be productive and lose sight of the need to create, or the need to have fun. 

Here are three reasons YOU should write a book just for fun:

1. It's good to shake up the creative engine once in a while.

Every book taps into your creativity, but always doing the same thing can get stale after a while. It's easy to inadvertently repeat yourself or fall into familiar patterns, and even when those patterns are good, they're still the same old same old. Shaking up your writing is like dying your hair a new color, or buying a funky pair of shoes or shirt, or playing a sport you've always wanted to try. It changes your perspective and gives you new insights.

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2. It lets you try something new without consequence.

A just-for-fun book lets you try new genres and styles without risking your brand. Your romance series won't be affected by that political thriller that's been nagging you to write it. Your middle grade contemporary won't have to worry about that erotica novella that's keeping you up at night.

If a different genre doesn't work, no one has to know but you. And if it does work, you get to decide how to proceed. Maybe that just-for-fun book is a great way to launch a pseudonym and test a new market.

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3. You never know where a just-for-fun book might lead.

I hear story after story from writers who tried something new, or took a chance, or had an idea they couldn't shake that was so not what they normally write, that turned into their best-selling novel or the novel that got them an agent or publishing deal, or the book that made them realize they ought to be writing X instead of Y and they've never been happier.

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My own just-for-fun novel grew into my novel, Blood Ties. It's proof that you never know where an idea might take you. This book went from a funky "what if?" idea to a way to get over my writing slump, and now I have multiple books planned for a series I never dreamed I'd write. It has taken me and my career in a new and exciting direction, and I'm a stronger author now because of it.

We put a lot of energy into our writing and our careers, and once in a while it's a good idea to take a vacation from the norm.

Even a just-for-fun short story or novella can have positive benefits. It's not the size of the story that matters, but how much fun we have writing it.

Just like Mom used to say: "Try it, you might like it."

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Spend an hour or two brainstorming an idea that’s always appealed to you, but you’ve never pursued it for whatever reason. What if you wrote it for fun?

Have you ever written a novel just for fun? What genre would you write in that’s not your normal genre?

*Originally published on Writers in the Storm February 2018. Last updated August 2024. 

For more help on plotting or writing a novel check out my Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure.

Go step-by-step through plotting and writing a novel. Learn how to find and develop ideas, brainstorm stories from that first spark of inspiration, develop the right characters, setting, plots and subplots, as well as teach you how to identify where your novel fits in the market, and if your idea has what it takes to be a series.

With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure offers ten self-guided workshops with more than 100 different exercises to help you craft a solid novel. Learn how to:

• Create compelling characters readers will love
• Choose the right point of view for your story
• Determine the conflicts that will drive your plot (and hook readers!)
• Find the best writing process for your writing style
• Create a solid plot from the spark of your idea

Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure also helps you develop the critical elements for submitting and selling your novel once it’s finished. You’ll find exercises on how to:

• Craft your one-sentence pitch
• Create your summary hook blurb
• Develop a solid working synopsis And so much more!

Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure is an easy-to-follow guide to writing your novel or fixing a novel that isn’t quite working. 

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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