A great many bloggers I enjoy and admire have been talking about fanfiction in the last few months. I’ve been quiet on this topic for the most part, even when I really want to jump in, because I know very well I’m biased. I said it way back in my first post: my very first fumblings in writing were all fanfiction.
Fanfiction gets a bad rap. At times, it deserves this. If the only fanfiction you’ve ever read was “My Immortal” (warning, have booze on standby for that one, my friends.) then yeah, you’re going to think it’s dumb. But there are people who put real effort and thought into their fanfiction.
These kinds of fanfics have four things in common: They respect the style of the original work, they use the world as a scaffold and not a crutch, they grow the characters, and they use English well.
What I’ve always found interesting is that many of the same principles apply in original fiction, so today I’m going to compare those principles and how they are applied in each aspect of writing.
Respect of Style
In fanfiction, this means that an author tries to take the writing or ambiance of the original work and put into their derivative. Unless the author is going for comedy, they don’t write a Dark Souls fanfiction in a tone as sugar sweet as Disney movies. While this is somewhat subjective, a fanfiction written in the same style as it’s original will almost always trump one written in an Alternate World.
In original fiction, this means respecting your genre. There’s something to be said for genre breaking, but at the same time mislabeling your writing is akin to mislabeling the mayonnaise. Reaching for vanilla pudding and getting mayonnaise would make anyone cranky, so if you’re going to write a romance novel, it needs to have some romancin’ going on. If you’re in the fantasy genre, something fantastic had better be happening.
Strong Use of World
In fanfic, this means the author knows what the world is. They have studied it more extensively than “I read it once a while ago”. Now, I’m not saying that to write a good fanfic you need to know every little detail, but the world should be familiar to you, and thus easy to access through the fanfiction. It also means that the world is used to tell the story, and not be the story.
In original fiction, it’s the same thing, almost exactly. We want and need characters, yes, but in a way the world should be it’s own character. We should understand it well enough by the end of the story to give a basic run down of its characteristics. Maps are helpful, but they aren’t everything. How big is it? Are there many different land forms? What’s the weather like? My rule of thumb, actually, is to give an audience enough that writing a fanfiction would be easy and pleasurable, but avoid textbook numbers at all costs. That means no “the population is X, the export is Y and the greatest import is Z.”
Proper Use of English Language
This is a no brainer on both counts. Writing has rules for a reason. When we write with the rules, readers can sink into the world. When we break the rules, readers spend too much time working out what we’re trying to say.
Dynamic Characters
In fanfiction, you take a ready made character and then put them through trials and joys in order to change them in some way. In original fiction, you create a character, and then put them through trials and joys in order to change them in some way. Notice how the concept ran together after a little while? This is the most important shared principle of fanfic and original writing. In the end, both stories, and indeed, all stories, require change. Whether you learn to orchestrate that change in fanfiction or original fiction, it’s up to you.
These four principles, once mastered in fanfic, can be fairly seamlessly transferred to original fiction. There’s a lot of other hairy stuff to get through when striking a path into original fiction realms, such as world and character building from the ground up, but while fanfiction gets it’s bad rap from fumbling attempts at characterization and plot (and a dose of pretty-much-unethical publishing) it has it’s place and it has it’s uses.
What do you think? Are you a fanfiction fan? Did you cut your writing teeth on original or fan fiction?
Edit: If you found your way here through Freshly Pressed, welcome and thank you for coming! Here on the blog we write articles like this one, provide updates on our forthcoming books (see sidebar), and write a lot of flash fiction. If you’d like to keep track our facebook is here, and our twitter is here. Again, thank you for coming!
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I write Fanfiction and in the past I have read it. Why’d I give it up? It wasn’t because of the things you mentioned in your blog…(though wether it was well written or not would determind if I kept reading) it was because what most people find entertaining is not my definition of entertainment. I do not like to see characters that I love in the situations some folks put them in….
Haha, most notably, High School!
I always loved writing, and I just enjoyed writing about different fandoms. I loved posting on fanfiction.net because it’s like…a stepping stone to writing something greater. You get to flesh out characters in your own way, and sometimes if you’re daring, you add your own characters to the mix. What’s even better is that occasionally you do get those people who review and criticize your work so you can become a better writer. Fanfiction was always like…a proving ground until you can create your own original fiction.
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At times I get this urge to write fiction. Perhaps this would be one area I could explore later. Your blog post on facfiction is enlightening, kinda made me revisit some elements of my writing interest which I’d like to contemplate on.
I would view it as a dialogue between the reader (with a bent on writing) and the original piece. With the reader’s background, he/she doesn’t look at a piece from a static angle. He/she interacts with it. This makes the piece dynamic in the eyes of the reader. The latter in his/her engagement of the piece moves even further from just imagining it going to other alternative directions. His/hers does not only end with imagination. It moves him/her towards writing one of those alternative directions.
Now that’s making the imagination concrete. Although it is somewhat viewed as veering away from an original, or being “less” than the original (as others would have it but which I don’t share), it is nonetheless original in itself and original in the world of its maker, the fanfictioner. The canonical universe from where the original breathes and is contextualized, becomes a framework of dialogue then for the reader-fanfictioner.
[...] Fanfiction: What’s the use? (kaitlinandmichaelbranch.com) [...]
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I think fanfiction can be a good way for writers to get their work out there, to test the waters and see how the audience takes to their style and quality of writing. Of course, as with anything, there are some pieces that will drive you to drink…but every now and then you get to see some really excellent work written by very talented people.
This was a great post! I’ve enjoyed reading other posts on your blog as well. If you’re ever in the mood for some non fanfiction, check us out at bloodworkorange.com!
Exactly – fanfiction is so versatile that way and with the community backing it you can get feedback relatively easily.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to browse!
I started out by doing fan fiction when I was in middle school, early high school. I didn’t do anything online, but I played around with the stories and characters I love. These became the foundation of my own plots, characters, and ideas, teaching me the concepts you mentioned above.
Exactly – this is what Fanfiction is perfect for. It’s a foundation, not the building itself. Thank you for commenting!
My very first pieces of real writing (aside from the 10-page, crayoned “novels” we wrote in first grade) were all fanfics, although at the time I wasn’t aware that “fanfics” were a thing. I’m talking early to mid-90s here, so long before fanfiction.net. To me, it was a way to explore how those same people would act in a different world or in a different situation than the ones they encountered in their original works. I think that is one of the reasons I’m so drawn to characters and worlds more so than plots–I frequently changed the plot so I could see what it revealed about the characters and the world.
I’ve been working on some original fiction (mostly a pile of half-finished NaNoWriMo stories), but to be perfectly honest, my favorite things of my own writing for me to go back and re-read are all fanfics. I am adamantly against saying that an author got his or her own world wrong, because that person owns the world and gets the last word about what happens in it, but I think it’s a lot of fun to apply other rules to the world (say, rules of reality, wherein tortured anti-heroes need a little but more than TRUE LOVE! to become socialized) or do “What if?” scenarios. I was actually just talking about this earlier tonight in the context of Avatar: the Last Airbender and how the canon couples wouldn’t work in reality.
Anyway, great post–I write more fanfic than I read, and you’ve nailed the reasons why. I don’t want to waste my time reading something poorly written or which does nothing new with the characters or the world (or changes them so much as to be unrecognizable).
Oh gosh, ATLA… My husband challenged me to write a fanfic which made him a believer in Azula/Aang. It is nowhere online, but I guess it sort of did an ok job.
That’s a guilty writing pleasure of mine, making things which shouldn’t make sense. (for the record, I prefer Zuko and Katara… what can I say?)
You don’t need to say a thing, because that’s exactly the point I was arguing
(actually, since the timing was perfect, I wrote a post combining my agreement with your post and my love of Zutara: http://mininerd.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/on-fanfiction-and-why-i-ship-zutara/).
Your “guilty pleasure” is one of the things I love about fanfic–the exploration of HOW something could (or did) happen.
this was a really great post. however..i don’t think i’ll ever be okay with twilight fanfiction being turned into a best selling book called 50 shades of grey. seriously, that happened.
also, olympics fanfiction exists about michael phelps and ryan lochte being gay lovers. yes that also happened.
haha thanks for sharing!! x
Yeah, Olympic fanfic is really squicky, I agree. Thanks for commenting, I really appreciate it!
I love this post, and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Although I definitely started with original fiction, I might be as equally involved in fanfiction. Though I don’t read very much of it (like you said, we can all agree it can be a scary place), writing it is a really good exercise in consistency. Having to use someone else’s world and characters challenge us as writers, whereas in original fiction, where we do also have to keep in line with what we’ve created, we have the liberty of tweaking and rearranging to fit new needs as the story develops.
Additionally, I love to use fanfiction for those shorter stories or simple scenes that just don’t have a place in my original fiction. Or, as is the most common for me, I can get away with writing about a topic that I am not an expert on, but the original author is, so I can pull what I know from their works, add my own research, and make it enjoyable, and believable. If anything is wrong or farfetched, it’s fanfiction, so it’s “allowed”. Pulling ridiculous stunts isn’t always feasible in original works, and sometimes we just want to do something outrageous!
Thanks for the super awesome post honoring the joys of fanfiction!
Oh yes! My absolute favorite kind of fanfic to write is the stuff that fits perfectly into canon. A missing scene, a “what happened while X was away” a “while you watched X doing this, Y was doing this”. thing. So much fun.
And you’re right, another nice thing is not having to worry about your research. I can just make up street names and such without worrying about it!
Reblogged this on Red Read Robyn and commented:
I’ve been trying to find a way to bridge my fanfiction writing and original fiction. This is excellent.
Thank you for the reblog! This is exactly what I intended this post to do, so I’m very happy it got to you!
It did! I really appreciated it.
I have to admit I get wary whenever someone asks me to read their fanfiction pieces. I too am a little biased towards fanfiction sometimes, usually because (as you stated in your article), there are some really awful ones out there. It’s also because I write original stuff with my own worlds and whatnot, and for a long time before I was introduced to any ‘good’ fanfiction, I felt that fanfiction writers were lazy when it came to creativity – there is a lot of getting characters together that wouldn’t be for example, and often the quality of writing can be poor if you don’t know where to look.
We all develop as writers though, and over time, now that I have a friend who has shown my some inpiring fanfiction writers, I have to admit I am more likely to look at a fanfiction piece with a more open mind frame, without judging until after I have either gotten bored of the piece or reached the bottom.
I personally could never write fanfiction unless someone begged me, but hats off to those that do, and do it well!
I’m so glad you’ve found a few good examples of this style. The bad ones are so bad that the good ones are completely looked over, which is a pity. The one I mentioned above was amazing and taught me a lot about “hey. Sometimes you don’t have to go for the obvious and it’s *better*.”
I have to disagree a bit, I don’t think that fanfic should follow the author’s original style and characters exactly – after all, that’s the author’s job! But I do agree that when the style and character is completely lost then the fanfic becomes unreadable. I guess there’s a fine line to find the right balance between the author’s style and your own.
Exactly – that’s what I’m talking about. Mainly that is aimed at “High School AU” and the like… I’m sorry, Aragorn and Legolas should *never* be put through High school.
Oh boy, I HATE when people write those high-school fan fics. Like, The Hunger Games doesn’t involve school whatsoever, so why the heck are Cato, Gale, Katniss and Peeta all going to it together? AND WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SLASH?! Whoa gotta calm down xD
The concept of FanFiction is great, as it allows people to see out what they wish had happened in a story. My biggest issue with it is actually when someone posts what they call ‘FanFiction’ and it is basically just some rubbish story in which the characters have the same names as those in the original and there is not a single other thing the two have in common.
Ah, yes! There are also some where the story itself is exactly the same as the original, but with an “original character” substituted for another character (think OC “Betty” replacing Hermione) which I generally dislike due to obvious Mary Suism.
First I have to say I’m not a huge reader of fanfiction but I respect the inspiration behind it. There are just some characters that hit you a certain way and you not only want to know what happens to them but you want to be a part of it and of their growth…I guess I should say I don’t write fanfiction that many people have actually read…:-)
Such a great way of explaining why we write fanfic – we just fall in love with characters and worlds and want to be closer to them!
Thank you for reading!
Reblogged this on prambry and commented:
Fanfiction, one of my greatest weaknesses. A good story is usually just what I need to distract me from my work.
Just an article of interest. Enjoy!
Thank you for the Reblog, I’m glad you enjoyed!
like our post, sob.. i will read our article
I might as well chime in here
I came from freshly pressed also. I do a good bit of writing, although none of it is fan fiction. However, I’ve read a ton of it, in the form of Star Trek novels, and Star Wars novels. I used to write stories when I was younger that blended the two, just for fun. I never thought about writing fan fiction for someone else to read – it was just sort of my own thing, something I did while I was learning, and I don’t have as much time to dedicate to reading as I used to. I still pick up the occasional Star Trek Novel though 
I was going to comment about 50 shades (I won’t call it here what I usually call it) but needless to say, yes, it was fan fiction, and no, it wasn’t/isn’t good. If you want an idea of what it’s like without making your eyes bleed at the horrible grammar/writing, just take a glance at some of the negative reviews. I guarantee that’s all you’ll need.
Having been keeping track, I kind of felt like 50 shades was a dead rotted, disintegrated horse haha.
I used to read a lot of Star Wars fanfic, but it was a long time before I realized that fanfic was what it was! I laughed once I did.
I don’t think you could have said it better. “dead rotted, disintegrated horse”. Awesome.
Nice to see an “in defense” of fan fiction. I have not the capability to study a book, game, etc. to be able to do such a thing well. But I admire the people who can create extensive story lines beyond what they’ve been given. If nothing else, it proves that creativity should be a communal thing.
How lovely.
And oh how communal it is! Those fanfic communities are amazing, I’ve been a part of a few.
I am in awe of the people with 100k word fanfics which make the world so much bigger. They’re amazing.
I got here from Freshly Pressed, and I love fan fiction. I first started reading it in high school and a friend soon convinced me I should post a fic I had been thinking of writing. It’s definitely helped me improve my writing. When I look at stories I wrote years ago and compare them to the ones I’ve written more recently, I think I’ve improved (though I still need more practice). One of the things I love is how it gives me an opportunity to gain experience in writing in different ways (e.g. a section with dialogue going back and forth without narration, a section with lots of description, dialogue spoken by characters when they have various emotions) in an established world.
You’ve made some excellent points in the post. Personally, while I don’t usually read very AU fics (e.g. stories in which Harry Potter’s living in the Muggle world), I love stories in which there is some difference (e.g. a character having a change of heart compared to how they were in the original, further development in the story of a side character, characters in different relationships). From the perspective of writing, I think it provides an opportunity see if I can write a plausible scenario that can still be compatible with the personality of the character in the story. Plus, it’s just fun.
One of the difficulties can be finding the good fan fiction, considering there’s so much out there, but I guess that can also be said for traditionally-published works.
Absolutely on the styles, I’ve tried first person in fanfic first, decided I still didn’t like it, and never had to worry about it. It’s funny, you can really see the progression of my writing in my fanfic right up to the point that I got too busy with my original fiction to write it haha.
Absolutely, and as has been mentioned here often, there are several fanfic better than published works.
Hi there,
I got here from freshly pressed. I have written a heck of a lot of fan fics under a name that shall not be disclosed here. A lot of it got some great feedback. Some of it, is, I think, better than my original work. My pet hate is when authors and others attack fan fiction for being lazy/unoriginal/a waste of time etc For me, it was always about community and about sharing and telling stories. All different kinds. All different genres.
I’ve read some awful fan fic in my time, but I’ve also read some better written then the original source material. Just as is the case in “original” fiction (inverted comma’s because in my opinion all writing piggy back off other ideas- we don’t live in a cultural vaccum), fan fic is a diverse beast. Humanity and storytelling is so important. Who cares about the package it comes in as long as it entertains, has a point, teaches, makes a person feel something inside?
I completely agree with you. Though there is some ethical grey area surrounding fanfic, for the most part it is an awesome community (if occasionally prone to TEH DRAMAZ) and has some really talented people.
and ha. You’ll notice my ff.n name isn’t anywhere to be seen either
Interesting, I’ve never heard of fan fiction before, actually so thanks for the education
You’re so welcome! It’s a really fun side-hobby!
I am a fanfiction author (and don’t hide the fact well), and have had a fair amount of success in that realm, but the reason I got into it was because I was dissatisfied with some of the original works. Mainly I saw decent characters in bad stories, or there were canon pairings that had me banging my head. I got into reading it because a well-written fanfic is almost as enjoyable as the canon work, and I think there is a degree of difficulty in keeping things from straying too far off the canon path.
That said there are many fanfic authors I’d like to see do an original work, because I think they have the talent to be making money with something original.
Or, or, my favorite, canon pairings which never actually *happen*. I wrote a lot of fic for a certain anime because of that. Though one of my favorite ways to write fanfiction is to take a completely off the wall pairing and try to make it make sense without destroying characters. It’s fun and often rewarding.
I think a lot of time fanfic authors *do* move on to original works, but it’s often not talked about because of the stigma of fanfiction. After all, I didn’t link *my* ff.n profile. Yikes, that would be terrifying.
Great post, and congrats on being Freshly Pressed! I agree with you that fanfiction can be a great learning tool for novice writers. It can also be a great hobby for those with no aspirations towards original fiction at all but simply want to interact more with their favourite characters/settings. The online community aspects of fanfiction are also a wonderful thing. I used to write fanfic back in the pre-internet days, so I missed out on that part.
I wrote a five-part series about fanfiction on my blog a while back if you’re interested (http://occupiedandpreoccupied.wordpress.com/tag/fan-fiction/). Cheers.
Great points! Especially for people who don’t really want to make anything of it but *enjoy* writing, fanfiction has absolutely no drawbacks, and the community aspect is *so* strong, you could even say I met my husband through it!
I’ll check it out, thanks for commenting!
What a lovely treatment of fanfic. Thank you. It is still my genre of choice, though my original short stories have been published, too. It’s just my guilty pleasure and darn too much fun to give up. What I love is the structure. When fanfic is good, the characters are true to their origins, can be recognized by other fans of the world/media source, and grow in ways that make sense. It’s a little like writing a sonnet. The structure is in place, but the content is all original. If you like Star Trek, Batman or the Avengers, come have a look-see!
http://aminddivided.com/fan-fiction/
You are so welcome – it was my genre of choice for a long time, too, and for much the same reasons! So much fun, and it’s so nice to be a part of that community as well!
Writing fan-fic is just the same as buying your clothes from a shop instead of making them yourself. If you un-stitch those clothes, then you learn how to make your own.
In the end, we all accessorise…!
Ohhh! Another great analogy! I never would have thought of that one!
It’s always easier for writers like myself to go to a more comfortable world to write when we are just trying to get out ideas. And many people were writing before writing fiction even became a thought. So honestly it’s just a fluent way for us to think; it’s easier to live in a world we already know than to try to create our own, even if our ideas are original. I liked this post, and like the point you made.
Thank you for reading! Yes, it’s much easier to write fanfiction in many ways, it’s just that it doesn’t mean fanfiction is useless, per se. I occasionally write fanfic when I need to write something but am stuck on my original stuff.
All of these modern superhero movies are fanfiction. Mark Twain wrote about King Arthur. Myths and folklore–e.g., vampires, werewolves, centaurs–are commonly used. Art builds upon itself.
Here’s a good article: http://tinyurl.com/7mf8r7q
“The Age of Fanfiction”
I don’t write fanfiction, but it can be a good exercise to overcome writers’ block.
Exactly. Fanfic is such a nice break when you just don’t have the energy to mess with your own worlds. Not only that, but it’s so prevalent in our culture and it’s hardly even acknowledged.
Great post! Reading and writing fanfiction has been a hobby of mine since I was twelve, and I have both had fun and learned a great deal about not only writing, and different writing styles, but about the world. There is fanfiction out there that trumps published original fiction. And it is a fantastic and enriching experience to be able to interact directly with the authors. I hate that I hesitate when mentioning it to people–why is there such a stigma associated with it? There are far stranger, less productive hobbies.
Why the stigma? Go read that link I posted.
That’s why. But you’re right, though I think it’s progressively becoming more accepted as a hobby, if not exactly an art form. I guess some people think it’s like saying you’re good at paint by numbers or tracing, when, really, it’s more like being good at looking at a picture and free hand drawing.
I tried writing Harry Potter fanfiction when I was 13. Both efforts were embarrassing to say the least. Recently – last month, actually – I started writing a Prometheus fanfic but never got around to finishing it. As much as I usually enjoy reading well-written fanfiction (especially of the Doctor Who variety), I don’t attempt writing it too often. My only real reason for trying would be as an exercise to get my creative juices flowing.
There is, however, a type of fanfiction that I really can’t stand: when authors create stories about real, living people. I’ve come across fanfics written about actors (usually slash) and, somehow even more unsettling, stories about Olympic athletes. The whole effect is just too weird and creepy.
Yeah. My fanfiction starts at about that age too. It’s… oh, it’s bad. There’s a reason I didn’t link my own fanfic here XD While the later stuff is pretty cool, the early stuff makes me shudder.
Oh gosh! I remember the stuff about n*Sync and Backstreet boys! So, SO weird, I completely agree. There’s a difference between fanficcing Jack Sparrow and Johnny Depp.
I do use fanfiction after a fashion: I sometimes take an already existing story, then I think to myself, “What would happen if…?” Pretty soon I’m adding things in, taking things out, changing a character’s personality, replacing them with a different character entirely, adding a new plot twist, creating new rules, and pretty soon it’s a whole new story. Sometimes all that’s required for this is just one character, while at other times several characters and a pre-existing world is needed.
But after that it’s basically an original work, so I start writing and make it my own. This is the same thing that the author of “50 Shades of Grey” did, if I remember right.
Other than that though, I don’t really do fanfiction, mostly because I just don’t see the point in it unless you are trying to create an original story. But hey, if it works for some people, it’s okay by me.
Nowadays for me fanfiction is sort of like floating and playing around in the pool rather than swimming laps for exercise. It’s amusing, it’s easy, it’s something I really enjoy, but doesn’t require too much thought or effort.
Thanks for commenting!
always happy too. And nice metaphor by the way. Very creative.
I’ve never actually tried fanfiction. Although I haven’t read the Fifty Shades of Grey series, I was surprised to hear they were Twilight fanfiction. I’ve heard, however, that the usage of English component has not improved…
So I’ve heard as well
I didn’t comment on that particular piece here because it’s kind of been done to death as far as I’ve seen. If you’ve read Wicked, it’s a good example: taking the land of Oz and expanding the story before Dorothy got there. The fanfic linked above is actually a really good example of well done Lord of the Rings fic.
And I’m terribly sorry if I’ve introduced you to a lifelong obsession or anything.
Most “original” work is fanfiction anyhow — Disney movies, TV shows about Greek gods and whatnot, a million and one takes on alternate history, Shakespeare plays out the waz, etc. Even “Hogan’s Heros” can be regarded as fanfiction about real events. The TV writers for the show didn’t invent World War II, did they?
Even musicians do it — Brahms wrote a whole piece of music riffing off of something Haydn wrote hundreds of years earlier. Opera composers used peasant melodies. Rachmaninoff and Lutoslawski both riffed off of Paganini. Every art form executes some sort of transformative works.
Are you familiar with the OTW — the Organization for Transformative Works? All about fanwork — fanfic, vids, filks, and lots more.
You’re absolutely right, and when explaining fanfiction to people I tend to reference Wicked as an example. What was it – “We stand on the shoulders of giants”?
I am not, but now I will check it out for certain!
I got my start with fanfiction, and it’s still a good way to keep writing when my own ideas aren’t flowing. Reading them is also a good way to kill time at work without being too distracted.
One I’ve never understood about fanfiction is how many of the writers will upload chapters as they’re creating stories. That just seems to hinder the revision process (though I did meet an author who would edit each sentence after he wrote it and examine its relationship with the previous sentences).
That’s because some of us have already edited the chapter they are uploading and know they don’t need to change anything – the whole story is already plotted and ready to go…creating anticipation in your readers is the name of the game…think Charles Dickens publishing his works in chapters in newspapers and you’ll get the drift.
Exactly right – the serial story is exactly how it was done for many years. It takes a certain kind of style which I didn’t talk about here to take full advantage of the serial work, but it’s still valid. Also, you get more views and more chapter-by-chapter critique that way. Beta reading (if done) often takes place on a chapter by chapter basis.
And yes! I’ve used fanfiction that way too, when stalled in my originals I’ll take a break and scribble on a fanfic for fun.
This is the first time really that I’m indulging in a long fan fiction piece, but it’s been great fun so far. I wanted to practice multi-stranded story telling with different POV as well as epic battle scenes (still to come), so this has been the ideal excerice as preparation for my next novel. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your helpful piece.
I *still* need help on epic battle scenes. Ugh. Good luck!
In addition, my Husband reads a lot of fanfic at work XD I’m usually too busy playing on facebook or wordpress.
I write fanfiction myself, and your thoughts on the subject are very good. I like your clear perspective on the similarities and slight differences between fanfic and original work.
Thank you, and I’m glad a fellow fanficcer enjoyed the post!
In general, I think I’d have to agree with you. I came at it from a different angle awhile back, Kaitlin, and would love your thoughts on the post…
Your post was wonderful! I especially like the analogy of touring the world and then sneaking back in to play – so much truth there. And your observation about contribution vs contraband is why I usually prefer non-AU fics. Certainly it can be done, by plopping the character in a different world and seeing how they react… but it’s much better to grow the story than sort of force a new one.
Thanks! Yeah, the whole notion of a Disneyland approach to fanfic kind of creeps me out. I prefer it as a performance art or homage–after all, the best literature is fanfiction that turned into fiction.
Non-AU? Not familiar with the term… glad you agree, though.
Thanks for the post!
Non-Alternate Universe. Aka, it’s set basically in canon. Cheers!
Ah, cool. Thanks.
nice article. I’ve done fanfic, and yes it can be done well; as well as “professional” stories in a certain universe being done awfully. I find fanfic a good set of training wheels, where you can work on characters rather than creating a whole universe from scratch.
Exactly – I’ve used that analogy before when trying to explain to people why I bothered writing fanfic, it’s very apt for the situation. Fanfiction gives a stability and balance that’s hard to achieve in an original world.
Fanfiction was a new one on me … I had to google it … but thanks for opening my eyes to something new!
Great! Just be careful what you read, as I said, it’s got a pretty huge variable!
I used to belong to a Fanfic site devoted to Spike. I was more of a reader than a writer. The fun thing about fanfic is seeing what people wanted to see happen to characters. And all the vastly different ideas everyone had. Fanfic has a great place now, with the internet. The early fanfic usually got published as very bad Star Trek Stories. Until the publishing houses passed a rule that they would no longer accpet Star Trek novels unless the author had already published novels in their own worlds.
Is that what happened to all the Star Trek/Star Wars fic? That explains a lot! Used book stores I peruse are still filled to bursting with that stuff – some of it awesome some of it not so much.
I love the internet for hosting this stuff – it’s pretty much a direct trail to where I am now with my writing.
Thanks for stopping by!
Lovely post & blog. And hey, congrats on being freshly pressed! Rock on
Swing by my blog if you wish (please)! http://innamazing.wordpress.com/
Thanks so much for your comment and stop by! Very much appreciated, and I’ll check it out!
I should probably not talk about that one fic from high school, then, huh? Especially since you’re critiquing my stuff
Haha, yeah, exactly! I mean, the nice thing about that fic was that it was so *long* that you can see the progression of my writing XD
As someone who did cut my teeth on fanfic (for a slightly obscure webcomic, I might add.), you can learn a lot from it. I pumped out a novel and some short stories worth, and I learned a lot (mostly about what not to do) and also that feedback and people saying “I like this” is addictive.
That’s the other thing – the fanfic community has a way high prevalence of positive reviewing I think – and on places like fanfic.net, it’s also way easier to get reviews. That is a HUGE community.
Fanfiction certainly has its place. While I didn’t “Cut my teeth ” with it, my early stuff was heavily based on characters I loved. But my first taste of “storytelling” in general (since high school) was through fanvideos – music I love + characters I love = heaps of fun.
It’s a great way to learn. But whenever you’re learning a new craft you start off emulating work that you love. It’s no waste of time.
Ethically-questionable publishing may be another matter. Especially if the link to the original work is used to sell the fanfiction.
Oh, a well made fanvideo is a thing of beauty, there is no denying that. I have seen some really amazing (and hilarious) AMVs (anime music videos). Unfortunately, I have never really developed the flare for it!
Exactly – and I’ve gotten the argument that fanfiction is a total waste of time so many times, I just want to ask in what craft you *don’t* first practice what others have done before creating your own. I think most of the prejudice comes from the really bad ones (no, really, I’m scarred for life by My Immortal) as well as the frequency of drama surrounding comments/authors. Maybe that’s just me?
My making fun of My Immortal in no way implies that my first fanfics were any good, by the way. I’m seriously considering making a post about the mistakes I made in my fanfiction and what corrected them… but I’m terrified that someone will use google to find the fics and I will lose all credibility XD
It’s OK, I haven’t read it. But yeah, everybody’s got to start somewhere. The trick is to get BETTER!
Hey, I was just checking out a “Sookie Stackhouse” series book because I do rather like the show. And it got me thinking: Quite often, our favourite TV shows are fanfiction, are they not? Because what’s going on in the opening chapter of the book I’m taking a sneak peek at is quite different to where the characters are at in the show … But, I assume they started out the same.
And “Justified” was based on a short story …
And all those fairy tale shows and movies at the moment are basically fanfiction.
I think it only gets a bad rap because, yes, it is often a learning ground for people. Perhaps they shouldn’t be sharing it in the public domain, but how else are they going to get any better? (I’ve a long way to go before I consider myself an awesome author, but I’ve only come as far as I have through the help pI’ve received from the online community). As long as they’re not asking people to hand over good money before they’ve lovingly crafted it into something special, what’s the problem?
Exactly – as long as you are ethical with your fanfiction, it’s slightly annoying or possibly insulting (if you are sensitive about it), but nothing more.
Great post today. Thanks so much for sharing. I enjoy reading your blog very much!
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