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.