So, how do we feel about fan fiction?

[comicfan]

I was never one to write Fan-fic. I have read some, both good and bad. To me it is reading the work and seeing the world that is created. I loved the world of witches and wizards - yes, I do love Harry but before him there was a series called - The Worst Witch. That whole area isn't new, but it is up the creator of those worlds to give an audience something unique. Those who chose to write in the worlds already created are working hard to both honor the original creation which they enjoyed and create something they wish could have or would have happened in the story. Whether you look at new movies of Sherlock Holmes, the modern take on Sherlock called Elementary, or the British tv series where Holmes now has all his old stories played against today aren't these just new forms of fan-fic of the original?

 

As far as an editor or beta for these works I believe it must always be a testament to the team as a whole whether something is successful or not. If the writer, beta, and editor do not mesh well, then the stories won't work. Like them or hate them if the team does work together as a cohesive unit then I see nothing wrong with them.

[Thorn Wilde]

I was never one to write Fan-fic. I have read some, both good and bad. To me it is reading the work and seeing the world that is created. I loved the world of witches and wizards - yes, I do love Harry but before him there was a series called - The Worst Witch. That whole area isn't new, but it is up the creator of those worlds to give an audience something unique. Those who chose to write in the worlds already created are working hard to both honor the original creation which they enjoyed and create something they wish could have or would have happened in the story. Whether you look at new movies of Sherlock Holmes, the modern take on Sherlock called Elementary, or the British tv series where Holmes now has all his old stories played against today aren't these just new forms of fan-fic of the original?

 

As far as an editor or beta for these works I believe it must always be a testament to the team as a whole whether something is successful or not. If the writer, beta, and editor do not mesh well, then the stories won't work. Like them or hate them if the team does work together as a cohesive unit then I see nothing wrong with them.

 

I love that you mention The Worst Witch! I used to watch the TV-series based on that when I was a kid. They always showed it around Christmas, along with the old Narnia TV production. It's good stuff. Diana Wynne Jones also has a magic school as part of her Chronicles of Crestomanci. Definitely not a new idea, it's just that none other was so commercially successful as Harry Potter.

[iSimba]

[snip]

 

Right now I am 3 chapters into a work based on a (I'll try not to blush here), a video game (yes, I play a few video games) series called Dragon Age: Origins, an obvious fanfiction, but one of the main characters of the Game series is so outlandish and funny and odd, that I am so intimidated by him when I write parts including him.  If I were to show it to people, I would be scared to death that they will tell me that, you killed so and so character for me, that I cannot read your story. Only because I would be ashamed with my own writing skill that I missed him and couldn't capture his characterization on any suitable level.

 

[/snip]

 

 

Wow that sounds awesome! Publish it sometime, I'd love to read it!

[iSimba]

If I wanted to write a HP fan fic, i'd go in an alternate universe, where Neville is the hero of the story and make Harry a great supporting character. I would change the dynamics of all the characters, reverse and warp the concept of good and evil with Dumbledore being a seemingly benign dictator seeking to dominate the magical world with his Army of disciples and Voldemort, his ex pupil and ex-lover (yes, I'd go there ) building a force against him from the outsiders of magical society. Theme wise, I'd stress more on the areas untouched by Rowling: the notion of social alienation, how power can easily be abused, and the complexities between true heroism and villains.

 

 

Luckily for everyone, I don't write fan fics

 

 

I actually think that would make an excellent fanfiction!

 

Some of my most favorite fanfics are the ones involving Dumbledore being evil. A lot of parts in the story have made me feel negatively towards Dumbledore and I can no longer view him as a character I like.

[W_L]

Some of my most favorite fanfics are the ones involving Dumbledore being evil. A lot of parts in the story have made me feel negatively towards Dumbledore and I can no longer view him as a character I like.

 

Darn, I am starting to feel like I should have wrote an HP fan fiction.

 

PT forgot to quote my words, but that was my story concept he was referencing.

 

I view a Dumbledore/Voldemort relationship to be like a Master/disciple thing, Japanese variant of age structured homosexuality. (No I am not saying I would make Dumbledore into a pedophile, but it would be a progressive relationship that blossoms as Tom riddles grows up, then breaking up as both follows a different path.) However, I don't write fan fiction that was just an example.

[Thorn Wilde]

I just came across this quote, by Lev Grossman, on Tumblr:

 

 

 

"I adore the way fan fiction writers engage with and critique source texts, by manipulating them and breaking their rules. Some of it is straight-up homage, but a lot of [fan fiction] is really aggressive towards the source text. One tends to think of it as written by total fanboys and fangirls as a kind of worshipful act, but a lot of times you’ll read these stories and it’ll be like ‘What if Star Trek had an openly gay character on the bridge?’ And of course the point is that they don’t, and they wouldn’t, because they don’t have the balls, or they are beholden to their advertisers, or whatever. There’s a powerful critique, almost punk-like anger, being expressed there—which I find fascinating and interesting and cool."

 

This makes a really interesting point about fanfic as well, I think.

[PTWalden]

Darn, I am starting to feel like I should have wrote an HP fan fiction.

 

PT forgot to quote my words, but that was my story concept he was referencing.

 

I view a Dumbledore/Voldemort relationship to be like a Master/disciple thing, Japanese variant of age structured homosexuality. (No I am not saying I would make Dumbledore into a pedophile, but it would be a progressive relationship that blossoms as Tom riddles grows up, then breaking up as both follows a different path.) However, I don't write fan fiction that was just an example.

PT tried to quote W_L's words and failed miserably.    

[Andy78]

I have no objections to reading or writing fanfics.

 

I have read some brilliant fanfics (Myr's HP stuff is amazing) and I have read some truly awful pap (including some Malcolm in the Middle stuff that I really wish I could forget).

 

I think to a large extent most of what is written today could be viewed as fanfic in some way or another.

 

For example, many of the Star Trek novels are not written by any of the original scriptwriters.  Modern remakes of films rarely involve any of the original scriptwriters or the people who came up with the concept.  Many TV shows are based on old films and vice versa.  These are all established universes that exist that a fan has simply picked up and ran with.

 

The only difference between them and us is that their works have gained mainstream legitimacy in one way or another.

 

I have to agree with earlier comments that there is probably very little in the way of modern literature or TV/film that could be called truly original.  If you look hard enough, you'd find something that has already been used at least a dozen times before.

 

I have been known to write the occasional fanfic and slashfic (mostly slash).  Sometimes they are true to the established universe, sometimes I see just how far I can pervert cannon.

 

We already know from several sources (including JK herself) that she had planned a huge HP universe, and a lot of in minute detail, that we never got to see - most of us thought that Blaize Zabini was a girl for the first five books.  Her list of all first year students included who were purebloods/halfbloods/muggleborn, who were in what house, and even what their ethnic and geographic origins were.  That is a lot of pseudo-cannon for fanficers (is that a word??) to use.

[Thorn Wilde]

We already know from several sources (including JK herself) that she had planned a huge HP universe, and a lot of in minute detail, that we never got to see - most of us thought that Blaize Zabini was a girl for the first five books.  Her list of all first year students included who were purebloods/halfbloods/muggleborn, who were in what house, and even what their ethnic and geographic origins were.  That is a lot of pseudo-cannon for fanficers (is that a word??) to use.

 

A lot of that info is around on Pottermore now. Little extra details and stuff that weren't in the books. While Rowling was writing the books, she released a lot of notes and stuff on an interactive website which I used to visit daily to see if anything new had popped up. 

[BEKelley]

The last thing I ever thought I would do is write fan fiction, I'm really not that big a fan of anything, but then one day my friend started talking to me about Damian Wayne, the current incarnation of Robin and after a little research, I was hooked.  Fan fiction can be really rewarding, I've got a great story about Damian and I'm really happy with the comments I've gotten from readers.

[W_L]

The last thing I ever thought I would do is write fan fiction, I'm really not that big a fan of anything, but then one day my friend started talking to me about Damian Wayne, the current incarnation of Robin and after a little research, I was hooked.  Fan fiction can be really rewarding, I've got a great story about Damian and I'm really happy with the comments I've gotten from readers.

 

Sounds interesting, Are you doing it to fill in the missing story between Bruce's death and Dick Grayson taking up the mantle of Bruce with Damian as the new Robin in the ongoing storyline?.

 

I would love to read your take on his relationship with Dick, Tim Drake, and Jason Todd, plus his reaction to Ra's Al Ghoul, his grandfather. I know he and Tim Drake did not end things well and Jason Todd is the psychotic robin in the corner.

 

I've got really diverse taste in Fan Fiction, especially when it comes to stories I wish were told from different viewpoints.

Edited September 16, 2013 by W_L

[buildercub]

Just realised this thread is nearly two years old, so forgive the necro but...

 

I'm glad this thread exists, it's pretty encouraging (the odd accusation of no imagination notwithstanding). One of the reasons I was so reticent to join up and post in days gone by is that my magnum opus, if you like, is "only" fan fiction. I've encountered a lot of flak in the past for not being "creative" enough to write my own "original" story. Hello, my characters and plots are entirely original, thank you, and are no less valid for existing in a universe that has captivated my imagination since childhood. You don't* insult a new writer on a TV series for "playing in someone else's sandbox". The only difference between my fiction and theirs is that theirs got made into a programme... well, that's the way I like to look at it.

 

So yeah, the general feeling I get from this thread is that us fan-ficcers are okay here, so I think I'll get started on that publishing biz. Sooooon...

 

*Okay, I have actually seen people do that.

[Thorn Wilde]

Just realised this thread is nearly two years old, so forgive the necro but...

 

I'm glad this thread exists, it's pretty encouraging (the odd accusation of no imagination notwithstanding). One of the reasons I was so reticent to join up and post in days gone by is that my magnum opus, if you like, is "only" fan fiction. I've encountered a lot of flak in the past for not being "creative" enough to write my own "original" story. Hello, my characters and plots are entirely original, thank you, and are no less valid for existing in a universe that has captivated my imagination since childhood. You don't* insult a new writer on a TV series for "playing in someone else's sandbox". The only difference between my fiction and theirs is that theirs got made into a programme... well, that's the way I like to look at it.

 

So yeah, the general feeling I get from this thread is that us fan-ficcers are okay here, so I think I'll get started on that publishing biz. Sooooon...

 

*Okay, I have actually seen people do that.

 

Please do!

 

I've been reading almost exclusively Dragon Age fanfic lately. With a bit of Mass Effect mixed in for variety. Because when I obsess I really obsess.  

[JamesSavik]

Since this thread has risen from the grave, I have written a short "fan-fiction" story.

 

the War Inside

Edited June 23, 2015 by jamessavik

[Timothy M.]

To me one reason to read (or write) fanfiction would be to fill out the gaps in the lives of the characters I liked and wanted to know more about. But I can see how writing new characters in the existing universe would be creative on a completely other level.

[Thorn Wilde]

To me one reason to read (or write) fanfiction would be to fill out the gaps in the lives of the characters I liked and wanted to know more about. But I can see how writing new characters in the existing universe would be creative on a completely other level.

 

I did that in a Buffy fanfic once. It's, like, the only het work I've ever written, but I did a series of Buffy/Spike shorts and drabbles called Moments, where I explored their relationship through the bits we don't see. It was fun to write.

[Celethiel]

wow... you surely dragged this topic out of hiding...

[Thorn Wilde]

wow... you surely dragged this topic out of hiding...

 

I little necromancy is good for the soul sometimes.

[blake_logan]

I little necromancy is good for the soul sometimes.

Ummm....perhaps you meant to put this in the "Eew-Day Tuesday" thread???  

[buildercub]

wow... you surely dragged this topic out of hiding...

 

It's that search tool. It's evil, I tell ya. EVIL!

[Thorn Wilde]

It's that search tool. It's evil, I tell ya. EVIL!

 

 

I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time the search tool has led to necromancy.