Fanfiction - Good or Evil?

[pinkdoom]

My original writing had its starts in the fan fiction I wrote when I was a teenager (13 years old to around 16).  Like anyone familiar with the fan fiction world, I know there's the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly.  When I wrote fan fiction, it was because I was a huge fan of whatever fandom I was writing in, and I wanted to show my appreciation of that world and the people who created it.  It was never meant as anything but flattery.  But I know people who are frighteningly possessive of these worlds, so much so that they become warped, thinking that they're not just good, but better than the fandom's creator(s).  *shudder*  It was a tool I used to learn how to plot storylines, use characters, and understand the nature of language.  But it was just that: a tool, a way to practice.  Eight years later, I think I'm a better writer because of the practice I got.

While fan fiction can be fun, writing your own material is so much better. 

[spygrl]

That's being contracted by the owner of the rights to write something ineir universe. It's sort of the difference between being invited in by the owner of a house, or just wandering in and making yourself at home while they're out.

The premise is still you writing in someone else's world.  Not one that you have created of your own. 

Fanfiction has its purpose, it allows a fan to express their imagination... if they were to print on demand and sell their work rather than submitting it to a publishing house with the rights to that world, then yes.. that's the equivalent of stepping into someone's house and peeing on their furniture. 

But to write it and share it with other people in the fandom and not for profit, that is more a developmental exercise than flagrantly stepping on an author's toes.

[neminem]

But I know people who are frighteningly possessive of these worlds, so much so that they become warped, thinking that they're not just good, but better than the fandom's creator(s). 

You mean like how Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels are about a hundred times better than anything Lucas ever made?

[Tersa]

I am guilty of writing fanfiction.  A lot of it. I share only a tiny fraction of it with anyone, including my friends.  I don’t really write it for people to read, I write fanfiction because I like the world I'm playing in and bow to its creator, not because I think anything will ever come of it.  I agree some people take their stuff waaaaay too seriously, which is probably why most people think fanfiction writers are freaks. 

I think that fanfiction has its place and one should NOT expect much to come of just writing fanfiction and not developing their own worlds and characters, but creating a new world and developing a cast of new characters is daunting, especially for someone who has never written for pleasure before.  If you start out playing with some premade characters and an existing world, it makes figuring out how to create a little world of your own easier.  It makes writing easier to get used to. 

Maybe I'm inclined to let fanfiction exist because it's how I discovered writing.  I know why people dislike fanfiction and don't want it written.  A lot of it is really, really bad, and the author has the right to keep their ideas theirs.  I totally understand that. After all, I would be livid if someone stole the two characters I'm currently trying to construct.  However, if the author doesn't mind and the fanfiction author is just writing for fun and not profit, I'm not going to say they can't.  I think Jim has the right attitude about it, letting it exist as long as it stays out of his sight.   

*Opens umbrella in anticipation of tomatoes and ducks down behind it*

[Kali]

I've written a few pieces of fanfic.  Usually I write them because something in a story sparked a question that's never answered by the author.  For example, in Laurell K. Hamilton's "Lunatic Cafe", there was a throwaway reference about Edward finding a witch to lift a curse.  I wanted to know who the witch was.  And, frankly, at the same time I wanted to explore a little bit about how a character could survive in that world and NOT be an uber-everything.  So I wrote "Swan Song".

Then, because I liked the interplay between my OC and Edward, there was a follow-up.  A third story stalled out, shortly after I realized I was writing it because people had asked me to write a story where my OC and Anita Blake met up.  It wasn't the story I wanted to tell, so it died out.

I also don't consider it time wasted when I could spend it on my own stuff.  For one thing, I myself do not have an actual well of creativity that can run dry.  There's always something to do.  Writing fanfic doesn't stop me from having ideas about my own writing.  The time sink is the only thing that might apply, and it's irrelevant to me.  I have no plans to publish, so it doesn't matter if it takes me two months or two years to finish a story.  I love writing, I couldn't not write.  I write a lot.  But, although I have submitted a story or two (actually, two in the last fifteen years or so) for publishing, I don't really want to.  I'm a writer, not an author.  I write for the sheer love of it.  Having to submit it to editing and deadlines and all the other crap that goes with being published would suck the joy out of it, for me.  So I write, and fanfic in no way impinges on my ability to enjoy the hobby.

I don't read much fanfic because, as other people have said, the vast majority of it is terrible.  Bad grammar, bad plotting, and don't even get me started on the horrible characterizations.  "What if Jack and Daniel were blue, telepathic aliens?!"  Then why use Jack and Daniel at all?

If I ever published my own work, I would let people write fanfic, assuming my lawyer or agent didn't have an aneurysm at the very notion.  I dunno if she still handles it this way, but for awhile Mercedes Lackey used to permit fanfic IF the writers used an alternate timeline wherein a major character who had died in the "real" timeline managed instead to survive.  Since most readers were upset he had died in the first place, that was fine.   I'd probably handle it in a similar fashion, if all the legal angles permitted.  Make a drastic change, so that all fanfic is actually happening in an alternate universe.

I haven't yet written any Dresden Files fanfic, mostly 'cause Jim's doing a bang-up job of writing it himself.   If he leaves a big gaping hole in a story that bugs me no end, I suppose I'd end up scribbling twenty or so pages.  But I have a feeling the Dresden Files RPG will give me all the room I need to tell whatever stories I want in that universe.  Go MUSH!

[Dayna Barter]

Hi all, first time post, so hopefully I won't inadvertently break any forum laws or anything.

Fanfiction is something you should write, you should cherish, then keep to yourself that you ever wrote it and likely burn it, just to make sure. Sometimes having a platform to start from is a great spring board into writing. But never let fanfics see the light of day. Please. Won't somebody think of the children?

This is pretty much where I come down on it too, ethyachk.  I'm not a published author (yet, hopefully) either.  What writing a fanfic did for me was to reawaken a passion for writing that I had let fall by the wayside in the rush to make a living, etc.  Through writing that, I got the blood flowing to those writing muscles again, and I experienced the rush of not only starting a piece, but actually finishing it.  It was a wonderful experience.

That having been said, I agree that those things don't really need to see the light of day.  The fanfic served its purpose, and now it can rest on its laurels and gather dust and not go out in public to embarrass me or the poor author whose yard I played in.

[Ghoulfish]

I don't mean to offend anyone but in my opinion the fan fic writer is just being lazy.

I would rather read a story filled with original ideas and charactors than a person copying an already amazing author. I also bet that some authors find it annoying when their ideas get screwed up in fan fic.

These are just my opinions I'm sure fan fic writers are nice people I would just rather read original material.

[becroberts]

I can't speak for other fanfic authors but personally, I've found that writing fanfiction has been a real help in producing original pieces. The original stuff I started writing at sixteen was absolutely terrible, but when I hit the Internet and discovered online fandoms (mostly anime), writing fanfic helped tremendously. I've found what works for me in terms of plotting strategies, obtained plenty of practice at pacing dialogue etc. Now that I'm working on a couple of novels of my own, I write very little fanfic, but I'm happy to have had the experience.

Whether fanfic is worth writing or not depends very much on what you want to get out of it. If all you want to do is throw a few characters together in a bedroom scene that would make Anita Blake blush, then so be it. Some people like the characters/plot/setting of a story and want to make them work for them. In my case, it's often that I feel there's a scene missing somewhere in the original media, and I feel the urge to fill in the blanks. (Between chapters 5 and 6 of 'Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within' springs to mind.) I've written for some pretty obscure fandoms but there's usually at least a tiny audience out there, and I admit that yes, I do enjoy getting feedback from them. Who wouldn't? I don't feel ashamed of what I've written, and if I do it's usually for technical reasons rather than remorse for the content.

Wow, that was a long first post for me...

[Qualapec]

I love fanfiction. I've written everything from Aliens, to Dukes of Hazzard, to a crossover between the two of them. I haven't written any Dresden Files fanfiction and I don't really intend to.

I'm not doing any harm. I'm not making money off of it. And I certainly don't mean to insult the origanal creators of said fiction.

It has helped massively with my writing in general. I haven't yet written anything with original characters but my storylines have the tendency to be original enough.

So yes, I wouldn't write the way I do without it.

~She-Wolf

[TigerKat24]

I can't speak for other fanfic authors but personally, I've found that writing fanfiction has been a real help in producing original pieces. The original stuff I started writing at sixteen was absolutely terrible, but when I hit the Internet and discovered online fandoms (mostly anime), writing fanfic helped tremendously. I've found what works for me in terms of plotting strategies, obtained plenty of practice at pacing dialogue etc. Now that I'm working on a couple of novels of my own, I write very little fanfic, but I'm happy to have had the experience.

Me too. Fanfiction let me learn about the pure craft of writing, like pacing, dialogue and the actual mechanics, without having to deal with worldbuilding and characterization and all that. Probably why all my critiques say my writing's great but the plot sucks. ^.^ But seriously, I think it's a great learning tool for a young writer. I wouldn't put it out in the big wide world, though, because you're not playing in your own house, and it's impolite to invite other people to mess around in someone else's.

[terioncalling]

Guilty of being a fanfic writer.  Have one Harry Potter fanfic that's over 600 pages long (rewrote the first 4 books and then made up original plotlines for the other 3).

Writing all the fanfic's that I have has really helped me out with writing my original stuff.  I've gotten a great deal better since I first began writing (my very first original stuff read like crap) and it's all because of what fanfic's I've written.  Still write fanfic's (mainly Buffy now with a few HP mixed in) but I'm trying to work more on my original stuff.

[Paige]

This simply blows my mind. I asked a similar question on a writers loop...(wherein everyone on the list writes and most strive for publication or have already attained publication)

The question was, how do you feel about fan fiction based on your own personal worlds and characters. Love it, hate it, don’t care.

The response is almost exactly half and half. Half the writers love it, half hate it. It seems so odd that there isn’t a more decided view one way or the other.

One thing is certain, Fan Fiction elicits strong feelings (good and bad). Few people are indifferent about it.

With what I’ve read on this thread and what I learned from my unscientific poll, it seems to me, that the decision should be left to the original author. If he/she loves fan fiction then his/her fans should go to town and have a blast. But if the original author has made it clear they’d rather not have people playing with his/her toys then the fans should have enough respect to abide by it.

[Kilsokwa]

My question: Is fanfiction helpful to aspiring writers, or does it hurt?  I've heard people vehemently opposed to the very idea, and those who gush over their latest masterpieces.  What do you think?  I suppose my opinion is that originality is always better, but fanfiction will help you in the way that any writing helps you: practice, practice, practice.

(And I know we're supposed to avoid actual fanfiction within earshot of Jim on the forums, but I figured a discussion about its uses couldn't hurt.)

If people were trying to plagerize and steal characters etc, I could see folks being down on the fan-fiction.

Most of the stuff I've read is just writers wanting to express themselves with characters they love. I've done much the same, though I'm such a nervy creature I keep all mine hidden at home where only my Hubby may ever see it.    

Fan-fiction for me is just exercise, just like doing some yoga or working with weights. When it works, you end up with a little magic.  You feel kinda good, the way a nice round with weights or a good game of hoops makes you feel. I dont think writing fan-fiction cheats, or is in anyway a kind of laziness. It can be very challenging, and rewarding.

Like Jim I keep the focus on any writing on the craft of it more than just kicking up my heels. That's what a work out does, isn't it?


Kilsokwa

[trboturtle]

Hmm.....

Speaking as a fanfic writer, I see fanfiction as a good thing. Yes, there are problems -- there are several anime series that have been overwritten for (If I see another InYasha fic, I will scream! ) -- and most fanfiction is. . . .poor.

As for me, I've written in a couple of anime series -- Bubblegum Crisis (OVA series, and not that Thing called BGC 2040), and Salior Moon (Yes, but I try to avoid the real silliness) I flirted with Ranma 1/2 (But don't have the time for it right now.) I have written Self-Insert stories (Author as character), and have story plots for others.

Right now, I'm involved with writing stories based in the Battletech Universe. Now, because of the way the universe is set up, there is no need to use established characters. Writring in this universe allows the author to develop his own characters, create situations, all without invaladating anything that has happened in the time line. It's a rich universe, with many factions, many levels of story, and many places to set said story. I love it.

Fanfiction allows me to release some creative energy in a structured format, with no need to sit down and work out all the small details a completely original story requires. Once I felt comfortable in my writing as it pertained to fanfiction, it allowed me to take that next step and start writing original stories. To me, Fanfiction is a tool, a stepping stone to my own original stories.

Craig

[terioncalling]

Right now, I'm involved with writing stories based in the Battletech Universe. Now, because of the way the universe is set up, there is no need to use established characters. Writring in this universe allows the author to develop his own characters, create situations, all without invaladating anything that has happened in the time line. It's a rich universe, with many factions, many levels of story, and many places to set said story. I love it.

Ooo, Battletech?  Do you have stuff posted anywhere?  I'd love to read it.

And I definetly agree.  With CBT you can run with anything you want.  I was trying my hand at writing a story in that universe myself, involving the Kell Hounds and Clan Wolf-in-Exile, but I don't know if I'll ever complete that story.