Fan Fiction of the Week: Just Hold On

Just Hold On is a gripping Harry Potter fan fiction featuring Draco Malfoy. In this edition of Fan Fiction of the Week, we take a closer look at this awesome work!

Give us a brief summary of Just Hold On.

Danielle Winfield finds herself intrigued by the malicious Slytherin, Draco Malfoy. An unlikely friendship starts to blossom between the two as they continue to get to know each other on a whole different level. Along the way, they start to experience obstacles with not only the people in their lives, but with themselves. Eventually, secrets start to unveil and unknown feelings will arise.

What inspired you to write Just Hold On?

I had originally started this story based on the song "Monster" by Eminem, featuring Rihanna. After a couple of weeks with publishing five chapters, I lost motivation for awhile until coming across Lights's rendition of Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Homesong". It was then that sparked my inspiration to completely re-write the entire story into something different.

How long have you been working on this story?

This story has been out since December, but I started re-writing it at the start of summer, I believe.

What is your favorite thing about writing Just Hold On?

Coming up with snappy remarks and portraying him as the arrogant, conceited pr*ck is what keeps things interesting for me. Especially with trying to develop this cute friendship between him and Danielle because throughout the chapters it's evident that there's something about her that brings out the best in him.

What is the most challenging thing about writing it?

Portraying Draco Malfoy in general is what I find the most difficult only because I'm naturally a nice person and it's hard trying to come up with mean things to say or do. Also, it's quite complicating a lot of the time to recall the events in the books and movies while tying in my own plot as well. It's my first actual fan fiction that I want to make as close to perfection as I could get it and I have a huge pet peeve with not matching it up with either the books or movies. So, it's quite the challenge, but every story has one, right?

Have you ever experienced writer's block with this story? If so, how did you overcome it?

Oh, writer's block is my best friend! I have hit a number of it because I have a tendency to lose motivation as quickly as I can blink. It's terrible. I constantly have to find inspiration through various songs and movies. Heck, even TV shows! Especially since anything and everything gives me so many ideas that I just want to write about. My mind will alter my original story line, but then it'll jump back. It's basically that back and forth all the time. In the end, I stick with what I had.

Do you write with an outline, or just wing it?

I normally never outline, but I had actually written this beforehand until I reached ten chapters. Even though I only have eight posted, I still like to re-read my chapters over and over until I know for sure that it's what I want to post without any sort of doubt.

Do you have any pre/post writing rituals?

I don't exactly have any pre/post writing rituals unless you count putting together a playlist of songs that keep the inspiration alive in my mind. I suppose I do have a pre-writing ritual, but post writing? Not so much.

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?

I want to thank those of you who have stuck by my side and remained supportive to the new re-write of the story. I know it's probably frustrating how excruciatingly long I take to post my chapters and I'm really sorry about that, but I do want to make this story perfect and absolutely amazing for you guys! It's unbelievable how much feedback I get with just the small amount of chapters I have posted. I hope you all know that your comments, recommendations, and subscriptions are the best encouragement I have ever gotten so please do keep them coming! I love you all so much and appreciate all that you guys have done for me in keeping this story alive and going!

Special thanks to Fandango and elixir for editing!