So, how do we feel about fan fiction?

[Thorn Wilde]

I know I'm not the only one here who has roots in fan fiction. I didn't start out there (I started out at the age of 5 writing a story about a rabbit, as many authors before me), but in many ways it was through fan fiction that I learned to write properly, mimicking the works of others to find my own style. For me, this happened through the Harry Potter fandom (which may or may not be the reason why my stories are so very British despite the fact that I'm not).

 

I still dabble a bit, though not as much as I used to, and I read fan fiction still (though not so much based on literary works, most of it is for TV-series after they've been cancelled or I've run out of episodes and need a fix). I've always thought that the day people are writing fan fiction based on my work will be the day I'll know I've made it.

 

Some authors have always encouraged fan fiction writing, J.K. Rowling among them. Neil Gaiman also states that though he doesn't read fan fiction (and occasionally finds the things people come up with quite disturbing) he thinks it's a good way for people to get into writing and takes no issue with it. Other authors never address the topic and mostly just turn a blind eye, while others still strongly discourage the practice. Anne Rice, for instance, made herself very unpopular by sending lawyers to harass fans who posted fan fiction online.

 

Now, I'm curious to know how people here feel about this phenomenon. 

 

As a reader, is it something that interests you? Do you read fan fiction for fun? Why or why not?

 

As a writer, have you ever written it? And perhaps more importantly, how would you feel about people writing fan fiction based on your work? 

Edited August 31, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Cia]

Nope, not a fan. A lot of it either creeps me out, or confuses me when something I know gets 'changed'. I only read it to beta for those of my authors that write it... which is all of one. For myself, it smacks of the opposite of creativity. I wouldn't feel like I could expand the world and characters in a way that feels natural to me when coming up with my own stories. That may be because I write a lot of paranormal/contemporary mixes that I like to take and twist, but fan-fiction just doesn't work for as an author or reader.

[Bumblebee]

I probably read more fan fic then I read original stories. I find it easy to get into the stories and extends the universe for whatever fandom its about.

 

There's some fantastic authors that write fan fic, and if it encourages people to get interested in writing (about their favourite characters or whatever) then I think it should a bit more celebrated

 

Plus isn't imitation the greatest form of flattery?

[Mann Ramblings]

I can understand the appeal of fanfic even if I don't indulge in it. I can see how the fans want more stories and delve further into the realms they love and enjoy and for some this may be the only way to get it. I'm sure some of it is very well written and very clever and obviously satisfies a need out there.

 

I myself would rather see someone funnel that creative energy in creating their own worlds and characters. I prefer unique fiction efforts. I suppose it's easier to write when all the basics are already laid out for you in advance and you can skip a step in the process. Encouraging writing is good, but if you can write fanfic, you can write fiction too.

 

I am also uncomfortable with the idea of people using my stories and artwork for their own purposes without my permission, even if it is meant as a simple form of flattery. A lot of time and energy goes into my work, so I can imagine I would be less than happy to find my characters in stories that I had no part in.

[Persinette]

I suppose it's easier to write when all the basics are already laid out for you in advance and you can skip a step in the process. Encouraging writing is good, but if you can write fanfic, you can write fiction too.

 

As somebody who's written both fanfiction and original fiction, I would say this isn't actually the case.

 

In fanfiction, you have to work within somebody else's boundaries - it's not just a pre-made framework. You have to carefully get down the character voice for a character you never created, handle issues you might not know how to (say, one of the characters has a mental illness you know next to nothing about), and you can't change the rules the world runs on.

 

While with original fiction, if my plot hinges something being possible but I already declared it was impossible? I rewrite that part. I need a stoic character to break down over something, even though it's happened to them before and never effected them like that? I rework the character to make that plausible. And so on.

 

But you can't do that with fanfiction. Somebody else has already laid everything out and you can't change that. If anything, it's a serious challenge.

 

Of course, I might be biased because I find creating characters and worlds to be utterly effortless - give me a long bus ride, I can give you framework for an in-depth fantasy setting and a plot to go with it by the end. So the whole 'the true difficulty of making it yourself' thing has always seemed very odd to me.

[Thorn Wilde]

As somebody who's written both fanfiction and original fiction, I would say this isn't actually the case.

 

In fanfiction, you have to work within somebody else's boundaries - it's not just a pre-made framework. You have to carefully get down the character voice for a character you never created, handle issues you might not know how to (say, one of the characters has a mental illness you know next to nothing about), and you can't change the rules the world runs on.

 

While with original fiction, if my plot hinges something being possible but I already declared it was impossible? I rewrite that part. I need a stoic character to break down over something, even though it's happened to them before and never effected them like that? I rework the character to make that plausible. And so on.

 

But you can't do that with fanfiction. Somebody else has already laid everything out and you can't change that. If anything, it's a serious challenge.

 

Of course, I might be biased because I find creating characters and worlds to be utterly effortless - give me a long bus ride, I can give you framework for an in-depth fantasy setting and a plot to go with it by the end. So the whole 'the true difficulty of making it yourself' thing has always seemed very odd to me.

 

I agree with pretty much all of this. Back when I was writing a lot of HP fanfic, part of the challenge was to keep the narrative as close to that of the books as possible, albeit with added swearing and often quite a bit of sex.

 

I hear from a lot of people who don't read fanfic at all (boyfriend included) that fan fiction is just an excuse to put two hot characters together, keeping them in character be damned. But I find that all the best fanfic, even of that genre, is written by people who are slaves to how the characters are originally portrayed and write them so true to form that you see every action and hear every word in your head exactly the same as when you read the original work or watch the film or television show the story is based on.

 

I would also like to add that pastiche and parody are very closely related to fan fiction, and the tradition for that goes back centuries. It's not unusual to find creative published authors who have written a pastiche of a work they enjoy (I could mention Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald, which is a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes mixed with H.P. Lovecraft and a very enjoyable read).

[Persinette]

I would also like to add that pastiche and parody are very closely related to fan fiction, and the tradition for that goes back centuries. It's not unusual to find creative published authors who have written a pastiche of a work they enjoy (I could mention Neil Gaiman's A Study in Emerald, which is a pastiche of Sherlock Holmes mixed with H.P. Lovecraft and a very enjoyable read).

 

Psh. Let's admit it - if Neil Gaiman wasn't a published author and he'd just posted it online for free, it'd be called crossover fanfic.

 

(Which isn't a bad thing, seeing as how I think it's an excellent story no matter what you label it.)

Edited August 30, 2013 by Persinette

[Zombie]

Back when I was writing a lot of HP fanfic, part of the challenge was to keep the narrative as close to that of the books as possible, albeit with added swearing and often quite a bit of sex.

 

Er, that would be slash fiction

[Dolores Esteban]

I wrote LOTR fan fiction many years ago, but usually made up my own characters. It was fun for a while, but I finally got bored and started writing original stories. I don't read and write fan fiction anymore and I would not really feel happy with people writing fan faction based on my work. I would not read these stories.

[Thorn Wilde]

Er, that would be slash fiction

 

So it about 95% of fan fiction. Your point?

[Zombie]

Your point?

 

Don't hide in the "fanfic" closet - be proud of your Kirk/Spock heritage and admit you're a slasher

 

*why isn't it "Spirk" or "Kock"? *

[Percy]

The only fan fiction I’ve read was in X-Files back at the height of the show’s popularity.  A story was recommended to me by a friend and it was brilliantly written.  The author certainly had a distinct voice but was similar in style to William Gibson.  Clever, imaginative, crisp writing.  I read everything she wrote for X-Files and also what she wrote for some other show that I wasn’t familiar with and never watched.  So with the right writer, it’s certainly possible to produce a story with fully developed, interesting characters that holds the attention of someone who isn’t in the “fandom.”  At the time, I tried to read other X-Files fanfic and all I thought of it was “Meh."

 

This writer re-emerged on Livejournal in the early 2000s where she blogged brilliantly and tragically about her life on the streets and in the homeless shelters in the pacific northwest.  Many of her fans reached out to her with substantive support.  I don’t know how her life ultimately turned out or if it ended.  And, being the internet, it all could have been a lie.  Either way, she was a writer of tremendous talent.

 

Setting aside the ethical and legal questions of publishing fanfic, I would say this genre of writing is the equivalent of the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew mysteries.  Same characters in every book but different authors for the individual stories.  

 

When I was young and my brothers even younger (and thus under my control), I would write Batman and Robin scripts for us.  We would tie beach towels around our necks as capes and I would make my father come shoot us with the movie camera.  Sure fire way to make my family laugh until they have tears in their eyes is to watch these now.  So yeah, fanfic, great for kids of any age.

[Thorn Wilde]

Don't hide in the "fanfic" closet - be proud of your Kirk/Spock heritage and admit you're a slasher

 

*why isn't it "Spirk" or "Kock"? *

 

I AM a slasher, and proud of it too. That doesn't make me any less of a fanfictioneer, does it? I have read and written lots of fanfic that wasn't slash as well. I even have one or two heterosexual canon pairings that I love to explore (almost all my BtVS fanfic is centred on Spike/Buffy). 

 

*I've heard it referred to as Spork, and I think it's a lovely pairing, even though I never really got into Star Trek TOS.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Sasha Distan]

Fan fiction has a place, just not in my life.

 

i once had a friend try and write fiction using some of my characters, and it nearly ended our friendship. i would hate it if i found fan-fic of my work. it would really disturb me.... not that i think i'll ever be that famous.

[Celethiel]

I don't like fan fiction....

for multiple reasons....

one I've always considered it something a person does when they have little imagination of their own... to create their own worlds and universes and so on...

for two I can't get into it...

when I read i story If i want to have something special in it i put himself into the story in my own head... doesn't everyone though... I don't write about it however that would require me to create a character that follows the rules of the genre....

And I have never tried putting different characters into positions that I favored... Ie like Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, to which I just realized why I like Malfoy... it's the way he looks.... reminds me of people I was attracted to as a tweenager.

[clumber]

 

I myself would rather see someone funnel that creative energy in creating their own worlds and characters. I prefer unique fiction efforts. I suppose it's easier to write when all the basics are already laid out for you in advance and you can skip a step in the process. Encouraging writing is good, but if you can write fanfic, you can write fiction too.

 

But Original Fiction is massively easier than Fanfic in a remarkable number of ways. For one thing, actually successfully hitting the character voice can be incredibly challenging.

 

It takes serious skill to write, say Leverage fanfic where the characters have the same voice and feel as the characters in the show.

 

 

I don't like fan fiction....

for multiple reasons....

one I've always considered it something a person does when they have little imagination of their own... to create their own worlds and universes and so on...

 

 

You see, I consider Original Fiction to have far lower requirements in terms of creativity. Making up a few characters? A bit of a world to place them in? Standard plot structure? Pretty simple stuff.

 

Taking pre-established characters and working them into a plot which is not only different from the pre-existing canon, but also close enough to character voice to plausibly mesh perfectly well with it? That requires creativity.

 

To be honest, any of the people saying that fanfic requires 'no creativity' and is 'the easy step before real writing'? I challenge you to write a story using pre-existing characters, and to make it good. To actually sit down and study how those characters interact, with eachother and with their setting and world, to examine how they function within a narrative structure and to match that same interaction while still placing them within a story-arc which is your own?

 

It is really, really difficult, and I think many authors should try it before writing it off as the work of 'unskilled authors'.

 

Martin

[Thorn Wilde]

One of the hands down best stories I've read this year was a The Thick of It fanfic in which Malcolm Tucker gets cancer. The dialogue was amazing, the characterisations spot-on. The writer could have done with an editor, there were some typos and stuff, but all in all it was a marvellous piece of art, and I cried. Twice.

[clumber]

One of the hands down best stories I've read this year was a The Thick of It fanfic in which Malcolm Tucker gets cancer. The dialogue was amazing, the characterisations spot-on. The writer could have done with an editor, there were some typos and stuff, but all in all it was a marvellous piece of art, and I cried. Twice.

 

Is it possible to swear cancer out of your body?

[Thorn Wilde]

Is it possible to swear cancer out of your body?

 

No, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

[Krista]

Nope, not a fan. A lot of it either creeps me out, or confuses me when something I know gets 'changed'. I only read it to beta for those of my authors that write it... which is all of one. For myself, it smacks of the opposite of creativity. I wouldn't feel like I could expand the world and characters in a way that feels natural to me when coming up with my own stories. That may be because I write a lot of paranormal/contemporary mixes that I like to take and twist, but fan-fiction just doesn't work for as an author or reader.

 

I actually think FanFiction writing could be a way for writers to express themselves and practice their writing. I wouldn't put it down if authors want to dabble in it or say, "I only read it, because I'm a beta reader for so and so author." That tone makes it seem like you are STUCK doing something that you don't at all enjoy. I'm sure that author could find better betas for their fanfiction so you wouldn't have to 'lower' yourself and 'waste' your time reading it.

 

It's not plagiarism if they at least go out of their way to make some of the main aspects of the story their own. Those that say they would rather read original creative efforts are also sorely mistaken, good Fanfictions are distinctly original. Not a whole lot of topics, genres, or story-lines are original, just change the names and the setting, and the story still fits into the same mold as thousands of other stories already out there. So I don't feel like it is trespassing onto established ground by doing fanfiction, it's just in a world more structured than most other stories from the onset of writing it.

 

So, I don't have a problem with fanfictions or the writing of it and I definitely would like for everyone to lose the attitude that it shouldn't be done.. or that it isn't "creative" enough.. or that it is a form of "generally accepted" plagiarism. 

Edited August 31, 2013 by Krista

[clumber]

I actually think FanFiction writing could be a way for writers to express themselves and practice their writing. I wouldn't put it down if authors want to dabble in it or say, "I only read it, because I'm a beta reader for so and so author." That tone makes it seem like you are STUCK doing something that you don't at all enjoy. I'm sure that author could find better betas for their fanfiction so you wouldn't have to 'lower' yourself and 'waste' your time reading it.

 

It's not plagiarism if they at least go out of their way to make some of the main aspects of the story their own. Those that say they would rather read original creative efforts are also sorely mistaken, good Fanfictions are distinctly original. Not a whole lot of topics, genres, or story-lines are original, just change the names and the setting, and the story still fits into the same mold as thousands of other stories already out there. So I don't feel like it is trespassing onto established ground by doing fanfiction, it's just in a world more structured than most other stories from the onset of writing it.

 

So, I don't have a problem with fanfictions or the writing of it and I definitely would like for everyone to lose the attitude that it shouldn't be done.. or that it isn't "creative" enough.. or that it is a form of "generally accepted" plagiarism. 

 

 

I agree with pretty much all of this.

 

Also, yeah, if somebody doesn't like fanfic, they really shouldn't Beta for it. That's just going to result in either no feedback or bad feedback and is utterly unfair on the author.

Edited August 31, 2013 by clumber

[Celethiel]

I agree with pretty much all of this.

 

Also, yeah, if somebody doesn't like fanfic, they really shouldn't Beta for it. That's just going to result in either no feedback or bad feedback and is utterly unfair on the author.

well then don't ask them to beta read it... problem solved... I mean many times it's the author who asks the beta reader isn't it...

[Former Member]

I don't mind fanficton, but I can't write it.  Call me uncoordinated, but I have had serious trouble writing other people's characters.  I don't like the mold that it forces me into.    It's one of those things that just...doesn't work and they end up being more mine than the original author's.

 

I do have to credit Bleach fanfiction for getting me into M/M fiction though.  Wow...that was something else XD

[clumber]

well then don't ask them to beta read it... problem solved... I mean many times it's the author who asks the beta reader isn't it...

 

And if the author is aware that this beta reader considers the story inherently low-quality due to its nature as fanfic, then I guess that is the authors choice.... but that beta reader still isn't really suitable.

 

It's the same as someone asking me to beta their Hard Military Sci-Fi.... I don't like that genre, it bores me and many of the genre tropes and tendencies are things I personally associate with bad writing. (Within the genre they are probably perfectly fine, or even desireable... but thats the point. If I don't like the genre I don't see that.)

 

Could I beta that story? Yes. Should I? Sod, no. My ability to beta it well would be severely impaired by my own biases and would prevent me from giving suitable feedback.

Edited August 31, 2013 by clumber

[Krista]

well then don't ask them to beta read it... problem solved... I mean many times it's the author who asks the beta reader isn't it...

 

It is ALSO the Beta reader's job to turn down projects that they are not comfortable with or turning down a project that is outside of their expertise. You are not doing the author any justice by taking on a project that you know little about or have no ambition or enjoyment for. Authors should be building a relationship with their beta readers, learn what they are good at, what genres they like, etc. If they do not wish to read something because they feel that it is 'beneath' them or they 'cannot respect the creativity of it,' then they definitely need to step aside and let someone else do it. But then again if the author is fine with them reading something they don't enjoy reading, that's that. I would never ask a beta reader to read something that they don't want to read. That is why I do not have Steve editing my Fanfiction, because I feel that he'd not enjoy it. 

 

Beta readers and editors shouldn't be like, "well I'm working with so and so, because they are so and so," they should work with them because the relationship is strong.. and that means only taking on stories that is within their skill set and turning down the ones that aren't and authors should respect that as well. To do so, to me, just feels arrogant.  "I don't like this story, I don't like this genre, I do not respect this genre, but I'm still skilled enough to take it on.."

 

But anyway, back on topic: It's fine not to like Fanfictions, a lot of people don't. I don't necessarily read them, but to express the attitude that your fiction is better JUST BECAUSE you deem it 'more' original, is a very snobby and arrogant stance to take. In a forum that has new, experienced, original, and fanfiction writers alike, it is a detrimental thing to do... to put anyone off of writing when they want to write is in bad taste.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Krista