Fan Fiction

[enoch driscoll]

Hey All,

I am curious to hear your opinions on fan fiction. Is it fun? Annoying? counterintuitive?
Please feel free to share any works you have written about your own favorite books.

Thanks,
Enoch Driscoll

 

[Firefly]

I’ve been focusing a lot lately on making writing fun for myself and writing whatever excites me rather than forcing myself to be productive, and that’s resulted in me writing a lot of fanfic. I think I’ve written more complete, polished pieces over the last few months than I have in the past two years, and that’s because I love doing it. I’m writing what inspires me, for an audience of people who enjoy and appreciate my work, and it’s done a lot to build my skills and confidence as a writer.

I totally understand why some people don’t enjoy reading or writing fanfiction (it’s a genre in itself, and no genre is for everyone) but I think it’s important to write what you’re passionate about, and for some people, (me included) fanfic is it.

When I look at the stories I’ve written, I don’t see the ones that are fanfiction as being worth any less than the stories that are completely original. Yes, I can never publish them commercially, but that’s not what matters to me at this point in my life. I just want to build my skills and fall in love with my craft, and fanfiction has been very, very, helpful for that.