I've decided to take a break from my fanfiction mess and write a simple original fiction.

[Bramandin]

I think you've probably done enough reading on writing. Here is a short (12 1/2 minute) video from Brandon Sanderson on getting started on writing a novel. He did it for NaNoWriMo, but the ideas are good for any context. Spend no more than 3 days on any prep work (and perhaps less than that). The two important steps are one, get started, and two, finish something. Just getting to a finished novel will put you ahed of the vast majority of the human race. Good luck and get started!

Man I wish I could do NaNo when everyone else is. Autumn is my prep-time for the winter and I pretty much don't do anything that would interfere during late winter. I'll have to watch that vid again since I didn't absorb much, but stealing the plot structure from another book might work. I keep thinking my story is like To Kill a Mockingbird, which has Cliff Notes, or perhaps Gone-Away Lake.

Can I spend more than three days on prep-work? Sometimes the cats won't get off of my keyboard.