Whether you’re a new nerd or an old veteran, you know the joy of being part of those legendary and ever-changing groups known as fandoms. Discovering a new favorite book/movie/show/etc. is awesome, but often, getting to talk about the ins and outs of that new interest with others who love it as much as you do is even better.

But what do you do when you’re a fandom of one?

It’s pretty inevitable that this will happen at some point (or even several times) for most nerds. As we discover more things we love, and delve deeper into them, and seek out other, new things that spark our interest along the way, our paths will eventually diverge and lead us to other new things, and before we know it, we’ve fallen in love with something no one else is interested in — maybe even something that no one else we know has even heard of.

So what’s a lonesome nerd to do? That nerdy energy has to go somewhere, after all. You can nerd out about something by yourself by writing a blog or some fanfiction or creating fan art (all things I’ve done to cope in the past), but ultimately, that will never be quite as fun as it is to talk over the finer points of the story, discuss theories about what will happen in the next installment, or geek out about the latest plot twist with someone else who loves the new thing you’ve found.

Fortunately, there are a couple of good ways to solve this problem. The first stems from the fact that, while you personally may not know anyone else who loves your new nerdy interest, there are almost definitely other people out there somewhere who already love it, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can find whole forums full of them. In bygone days, nerds had to join fan clubs to find others with the same interests, and frequently had to communicate with other members of those clubs primarily by mail, but these days, if it exists and it’s nerdy, there’s most likely an online forum for it, or at the very least, someone on Tumblr who has gif-ed it to perfection. I myself am part of a forum centered around historical/period films and books, and despite the fact that I now know more people IRL who enjoy such things than I did back when I joined the forum, it’s still one of my favorite places to fangirl about Jane Austen and Shakespeare and suchlike.

Another great way to assuage your loneliness is to bring more nerds along with you for the ride. You may be the first among your friends to discover this great new thing, but you certainly don’t have to be the last! If your new thing is similar to other things you know a friend already likes (or even if it’s not, and your friend is game for trying something new), go ahead and recommend it to them so that they can share in the joy (and pain, if your fandoms are anything like mine…)! You’ll want to proceed with a little caution here — as you’re already super excited about this thing and really invested in it, it’ll be hard not to make your recommendation of it a little…overwhelming.

I can attest to this fact — those of you who have been on the receiving end of my evangelical zeal for books like the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor know that this sort of thing can get a little intense. But if you can curb your enthusiasm just enough (but not too much, mind) to make a good pitch, pretty soon you just might have another friend who’s joined the fandom train right along with you. Ah, sweet victory.

These are just a couple of ways to handle being the single member of a fandom — what’s your preferred approach? Have you tried these strategies, or something else altogether? Tell us about it in the comments!

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