Fan Fiction vs. Original Fiction

I was reading this article: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/is-fan-fiction-a-good-writing-practice-71953.html and I've got to say, the things that the author was talking about made a lot of sense to me, but one thing that really did was how she said that a con to writing fan fiction was the fact that you get so addicted to writing fan fiction, CON – I also found I tended to use my best "bits" for such a story, leaving the well dry when it came time to write something more serious".

Reading that made me stop and think; is the reason why I don't write many original stories the fact that I've spent all my time and plot ideas on my fan fiction? In many ways, I'm inclined to say yes. I've had a couple of decent ideas for original stories, but I've always lost interest fast due to a greater interest in writing fan fiction. Would I have more original stories had I not written as much fan fiction?

Realistically, writing has never been more than a hobby for me. I entertained the idea of being a professional writer for a while during high school. My parents' response: "Okay. What are you going to do for money while you're waiting for a story to get published?" So that deflated any inclination I had to try and make it as a writer. From what I've heard, getting published is a lot of work and few even make it that far. So if I had chosen to use my plot ideas for original fiction, rather than fan fiction, I'd have all these stories on my computer and no one to enjoy them, like I have with fan fiction. And generally, my plot ideas have seldom geared themselves towards original ideas, Like I said in my first blog, my ideas come from a desire for more after the credits roll.

While I may have more fan fiction stories than original fiction stories, it's not a big deal. I'm going to be a teacher, not an author. I'm not a professional writer, like this author (hence her worries), I'm a fan fiction writer. In my case, I'm in the right place. :-)