I used to write some fanfiction -- mostly for video games -- and I have a hankering to write a fanfic for the new 'Borderlands 2'. I don't know why. I think it's because I love the game's world so much that I want to try my hand at transferring it onto the page. I thought I would ask you guys:
What do you think of Fanfiction? Do you ever write it? Do you agree with people who say it's only for those who lack the creativity to come up with stories on their own, or do you think it's a great way to further your relationship with characters after you've read a book?
I think if people write it for themselves then it's cool, I guess. When I first started writing I wrote some fan fiction (From Dusk Til Dawn, actually, hahahaha) but I can't stand reading fanfiction now. Even the books that go along with certain TV series and things sort of turn me off.
I don't know I would say that fan fiction is "for" people who lack creativity, but I would say that if you have the creativity to do otherwise and you're writing fan ficton instead you might be doing yourself a disservice.
Fanfiction pretty much means gay text porn to me. As such, I am all in favor of it. All fiction is just God's fanfiction anyway.
I think it's a boon to the actual creators of the fiction world. People reading Borderlands fanfic are keeping themselves in that universe and there's a good chance, if they have the money, that they'll buy whatever official Borderlands swag that might be available. Keeps the interest for a universe effervescent and jiggy.
As for the people who write fanfic, there are worse things in the world than pursuing something that brings you happiness.
I've never understood the urge to read it or write it. I mean have fun or whatever, but never clicked for me.
I think anything that gets your creative juices flowing is great. I wrote stories about The Legend of Zelda when I was young. It had none of the gay in it, but it would if I wrote it now.
I used to write a little X-Files fanfiction as a starter before a writing session. Sort of a run-up. I had a lot of fun writing challenge fics with a group, too. Sadly, so much of the fanfiction I've read is just painful to read, and yet the authors post it anyway. A lot of those bad fics have fans, though, so who am I to judge?
I've long thought it some measure of success if people are writing fanfiction about your work. I was incredibly happy when a couple of players posted fanfiction in the forums for one of the games I worked on. The fics were pretty bad, but it meant that something I had written had an effect on them, and that's kind of the whole point.
If you are inspired by the game and want to write, then go for it, no matter what detractors say. I haven't read any of your writing yet, but if your interest is strong enough to get you participating in this site, then you're probably already better than 95% of the fanfic out there.
I've never had the inclination to write it, and what I've read has been limited, and terrible. The show Supernatural has a particularly hilarious crop of fanfic in its wake. If it makes people happy, I say good.
Where I draw the line is people profiting on fanfic. My problem with 50 Shades isn't that it's poorly written but that it is admittedly, blatantly Twilight fanfic (which, in itself reads like fanfic but that's for another day). It's theft, plain and simple, to sell your fanfic without a license from the creator, and something hope no serious writer would ever consider.
@ME congratulations! That's a great accomplishment.
I would never post fanfiction on a site for people to read. The only write it when I want to write but I have no ideas. It's a good way to write without having to use a whole lot of creativity. That's the only thing I like about it.
I tent to take George Martin's approach to it. If you want to be a serious writer, or even a good one, stay away from it and create your own things. Most of it is so badly written that I can't read it anyway.
Twilight and other bodice-ripper swoony things can go die a nasty death in the firey pits of hell.
Though, Hellbound Hearts is one of my favourite books and could probably be considered fan fiction by professional writers. So as obvious as it sounds, I guess it just depends on the quality of the writing.
Go for it! Why the heck not? Fan fic got me into writing in the first place, when I was 9 or 10. Granted, these were hideous, cheesy copycats of the horse series I tearing through (and darn, those ghost writers couldn't write fast enough for me). These were in tiny, "book-sized" notebooks. After seeing Episode 1, I moved into Star Wars, and then discovered that, hey, the Internet is full of people writing fan fiction, too. It's how I discovered a writing community, learned to plot, be fearless and take criticism at the same time. Some of my stuff was hormone-driven (no, not smutty, just a bit emo) and some of it, years later, I got "wow, I wrote that. I'm kind of awesome." I liked to take "background" characters and explore their stories.
I still have an unfinished alternative universe fic from 2009 that is haunting me, and sometimes I wonder if it's part of the writer's block (which I never believed in) I've had since, oh, 2009. Now I'm focused on novel-length original stuff (only short stories and newspaper articles have been published), but I think I'll be bouncing back and forth between that and finishing The Damn Fic.
Yes, there is more bad than good out there in ficland, but I completely disagree with the earlier comment that fan fic writers lack creativity. I'd say the opposite. While there are plenty of tropes and cliches frolicking about like psychotic little bunnies, there is a crapton of creative ideas spurred by the original creators. I've read SW fics that I thought were better done than some of the books out there, and I've found some amazing Harry Potter fics made me look at the original text in a different way. And then spurred my own take ... It's just delightful.
I agree with the ones who say write what you are moved to write. As long as you know the deal, like what you can and can't do with it, then who cares if someone not involved with it doesn't like it, right? It's still enjoyment and it's still writing practice, if nothing else.
I haven't written fanfic but I've done a few flash stories that were take-offs on fairy tales and now I might do some more that are take-offs on myths. I do think it's a little bit easier than starting from nothing but I don't have a problem with that. :)
Maybe you'd also want to consider things in the public domain, like the old classics. Those, you could try to get published.
