Fanfiction: Good or Bad??

[Devor]

What if the Hulk fought Superman? What if the X-men teamed up with the Avengers? The latter actually happened. . . .

The Hulk fought Superman, too. Superman won.

DC vs. Marvel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Zero Angel]

I always thought the whole point of being a writer is to use your own creation and imagination - I guess you do in a way with fan-fi. I'm just not a fan.

The whole point of being a writer is ... what you want it to be.

 

[Amanita]

I absolutely don't get the whole "slash" fascination either. Especially the fact that it's such a large number of fanfiction out there for reasons I completely fail to see. I don't understand the idea the women/girls don't want to read about their favourite characters being with another female for jealousy reasons either. Maybe I'm not a normal woman but this kind of thing is beyond me.
Usually, in case of good fanfiction being true to the original is the goal that's supposed to be achieved. Here in Germany, writing your own addition to a work of classical literature is actually done in school for exams, so they probably think it's worth something. I have to admit that I've always avoided to do this and chosen the more analytical tasks though.

 

[Anders Ämting]

You know what I notice about these fanfic discussions? Nobody wants to defend slash. So the question is, if pretty much everyone agrees it's bad...

Eh, I don't know. It's basically just shipping, except between same-sex characters.

I've writen one slashfic, kinda, mainly as a reaction to a forum debate not too dissimilar from this one. It was short and generally harmless and got pretty good reviews.

It's not a field I've devoted a lot of attention to, but I certainly wouldn't say the concept of slash itself is inherently bad. I mean, why would it be? Because homosexuals make you uncomfortable? Come on, let's be grown-ups here.

But... why??? Why do they do it? It boggles me that people are willing to twist characterization around like a pretzel in order to make their two favorite characters hook up. Faithfulness to the source material be damned. This goes for shippers in general, but slashers in particular.

Well, playing fantasy matchmaker is fun, pretty much. Heck, writing romance in general is pretty stimulating. Have you seriously never seen two fictional characters and thought: "Hey, under the right circumanstances, those two would make a good couple." And then you start thinking about it and suddenly you have a fanfic just begging to be written.

If anything, I'm guessing writing around the established characterization is part of the challenge. Kinda like: "How do I make these alledgely straight characters gay for each other without completely derailing their personalities?" (And keep in mind that sexual orientation isn't necessarily a defining character trait.)

Probably an element of "fantasizing" in there, which is an element to a lot of fiction, slash fanfic or not.

Granted, some people take their fantisizing a little too far. But those people are crazy and the rest of us generally stay away from them and try our best to avoid eyecontact.

And while on the subject: I can totally understand why people would pair up two characters of the same gender. (Because they think it's hot. Duh.) What I don't understand is people (almost always women) who apparently seriously believe that any act of villainy and any character flaw no matter how severe is entirely forgivable if the villain in question is sexy enough.

I don't think there is any contradiction in loving the source material and writing fanfic that is very different. I assume most people that write fanfic do it with respect to works they are "fans" of.

Mostly. Some get a bit carried away, though, and some do write fanfics mainly to make horrible, shamless self-inserts, or to write hatefics specifically to be mean to characters they don't like, etc. A few even write extremely terrible fanfics on purpose, as a form a of parody or trolling.

But again, there is a differance between fanfiction and bad fanfiction.

It seems more like the fanfic writer declaring "Screw you, my way is better!"

That's a rather cynical way of looking at it.

Most fanfic writers genuinely like what they write about. Otherwise they wouldn't find it inspiring.

In which case the question becomes, why don't you write your own stuff?

Because the disire to create original fiction is different from the desire to write fanfiction. It's really not the same thing at all, at least not for me.

There are days I don't feel like writing on my own stuff but is really in the mood for fanfiction. But then there are days when I would much rather write on my own stories.

The absolute best and most charitable interpretation of fanfic I can muster is that it is like the pretend games we play as children, where we "become" our favorite characters and have adventures in the roles.

That's actually a really interesting thought. Though, I think it's more comparable to playing with action figures.

But even that comparison is unfavorable for fanfic, slash in particular, because every game has rules and the fanfic-ers seem to forget this. Exempli gratia:

Kid A: "Bam! I just killed you!"
Kid B: "You can't do that!"
Kid C: "Because Batman doesn't kill, DUH!"
Kid A: "Yeah, play right."
Kid B: "Okay, okay."

Fanfiction writers seem to have forgotten the rules that small children know instictively.

I don't think this is a very good example.

First of all, the rules you are talking about are social contructs children create so that they can get along. Whereas if you are a kid playing playing with Batman dolls alone in your room, nobody is going to tell you that Batman can't kill people.

Second, there are actually "rules" to writing fanfiction. You are supposed to keep the continuity in mind. You are supposed to keep the characterization accurate as your story concept allows. You are supposed to emulate the basic style of the source material.

You don't have to follow all these rules all the time - you can break some if you have a good reason and the skill to pull it off well. But you can't get away with breaking all of them in the same story.

Do some fanfic writers get this all wrong? Sure, all the time! But that's because those people are not very good writers. It's not a problem with fanfiction itself.

If you assume the role of (or write) a character, you must be consistent. If you want to deviate significantly from the source, the best you can do is to set your fiction in an "alternate universe". Fanfiction includes no such disclaimer.

Actually, most people who write deliberate AU do generally advertise their work as such.

And I fail to see how destroying characterization just so you can see [insert villain] sodomize [insert hero] and afterward discuss their wonderful relationship is "social commentary."

Eh, anyone who writes a fic like that and tries to pass it off as social commentary with a straight face is either a terribly pretentious hack or trying to troll you.

Most of us admit we're just doing it for fun.

It just seems contradictory to me. If you love the original so much, why would you want to change it? (And I mean change it wholesale, not just make tiny edits like Psy mentioned.)

Well, sometimes it's just a matter of wanting to change it to see how it turns out.

For example, I've written a Harry Potter fanfic where almost all of the characters have different personalities, to varying degrees. But that's the only thing I changed, the rest of the setting is exactly the same. (Short of me adding a few minor things like new spells, etc.) I even went as far as studying Rowling's writing style just so I could imitate how she told her story. The whole thing was supposed to begin following the same plotline as the books, and then I'd just see how it would deviate based on the changes I'd done to the characters.

I was basically looking at the characterization and setting both as individual components of the plot, asking myself if I could arrive at a whole new story by changing one of its main aspects (the characterization) while still keeping the over-all concept as recognizably Harry Potter. I wanted something that fans could look at and go: "This is completely different, but it's still definitely HP."

On the other hand, there is this other Harry Potter fanfic that does pretty much the same thing - it drastically changes the personality of Harry and a few others, thus creating new circumstances for the plot. It's very well written, quite popular and I did enjoy it myself for a while. But then I noticed that the author was also taking liberties with the setting, making quite significant conceptual changes. That rather annoyed me, because I thought it felt like cheating. Or rather, it skirted dangerously close to the point where the author might as well create an original setting from scratch.

See, it's a balancing act. On one hand, you need to express your own ideas, or your fanfiction will be kinda pointless. But on the other, you can't take too many liberties because then you aren't writing fanfiction out of love for the source material, but rather just exploiting it as a vehicle of your own ideas out of lazyness.

Some people love it I personally hate it. Right noe there is a lot of Twilight fan-fiction and Hunger Games. I just feel that, those authors created those characters, no one knows them better than the author.

Then the author hasn't been doing a very good job, has he?

When I read fan-fi it's just not the same. It's not as good, and the characters alwys feel different to me, almost like entirely different characters.

Once more, this is probably because you are specificaly reading bad fanfiction.

 

[Devora]

I think that a lot of writers forget that even the "professionals" are just writings stories that have already been written; we just change the names and settings, and and put our own spin on the story.

 

[Steerpike]

I think that's true, Christopher, but the difference with fanfic is you're using the same actual characters and/or settings created by the other author, not simply taking ideas, general plots, themes, and the like and putting your own spin on it.

But writers need to get used to the idea that for a lot of fanfic there may well be nothing you can do about it, legally, even if you had the desire and resources to do so (though if you have the resources, you can try to intimidate the fanfic writer with threats of suit, I suppose).

 

[Devora]

(though if you have the resources, you can try to intimidate the fanfic writer with threats of suit, I suppose).

To me that doesn't make since the fanfic writers aren't making money off of the material written (and most of the time fanfic writers put disclaimers in their stories), but then again: there would be someone asshole enough to try and bury them out of butt-hurt over their work being used.

 

[Mindfire]

To me that doesn't make since the fanfic writers aren't making money off of the material written (and most of the time fanfic writers put disclaimers in their stories), but then again: there would be someone asshole enough to try and bury them out of butt-hurt over their work being used.

I think one or two writers actually have. I don't recall coming across any actual trials, but I have heard of threats being made. From what the internet tells me, usually the fanficcer would rather take down their stuff than go toe-to-toe with their favorite author (and their publisher's lawyers).

 

[Steerpike]

To me that doesn't make since the fanfic writers aren't making money off of the material written (and most of the time fanfic writers put disclaimers in their stories), but then again: there would be someone asshole enough to try and bury them out of butt-hurt over their work being used.

Well, if they're really violating copyright a disclaimer won't matter, and you don't have to be making money off something or even trying to in order to infringe copyright. But a lot of fanfic stuff isn't really infringing any copyright, or is otherwise protected, so in many cases you'd have a hard time winning a lawsuit. But a writer with enough money versus a fanfic writer with none...well, you can just spend them into submission because legal fees aren't cheap.

 

[Zero Angel]

I can understand, for instance, if the writers were deliberately promoting a worldview that went against everything you stood for how some people might become offended.

For instance, I think a lot of people would be offended by a slash fanfic of the New Testament where everyone hooked up. In fact, this is somewhat related to a massive scam that I hope is not still making the rounds (but probably is); you can read about it here.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Thanks to this thread, I am now writing fanfiction again.

I hope you are all very proud of yourselves.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Anders,

The only thing that matters is - are you enjoying it?

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Hi Anders,

The only thing that matters is - are you enjoying it?

Do I enjoy writing? Well, yes, of course. I wouldn't hang around this place if I didn't.

 

[Devora]

I should have done this as a poll thread.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Stayed up all night writing. The new chapter only got one new review, which was two words long.

...Now I remember why I can never keep this up for extended periods. I'm a shallow man who can't function without constant praise. o__O

 

[Kit]

I used to assume fanfic was the lowest dregs. I have never glanced at any of it before. However, these past few weeks I've been reading a little fanfic related to a serialized story whose original author is just not producing enough volume and frequency of material to satisfy my hunger for it.

Yes, there's a lot of cringe-worthy garbage- and bad slash- and Mary Sue stories- but fortunately, people with more time and obsession that I have sifted the trash to some degree and I can find the better stuff via reviews.

I think that the fanfic writers who are looking to gain/please readers are trying to stick to canon. The ones who don't get called out by all the people who have obviously memorized every word of the original works. The people who are just pleasing themselves can obviously do whatever they want and not care what others think.

I'm currently reading everything I can find by one particular fanfic author who appears to have written novels'-worth of stories (totalling much more volume than the original work) and is not only very faithful to canon, but is an incredibly talented MAD GENIUS. I can't imagine why this person isn't writing their own stuff, but if s/he ever does, I'll be all over it.

If I publish, and others write awful fanfic based on my stuff, I probably won't want to read it- but it wouldn't bother me much, I don't think- not nearly as much as a publisher insisting on a cover with characters that look nothing like mine. It's obvious that fanfic isn't "real"/canon, and I don't view it as reflecting on the original work/author- but if there's a crappy cover on the book I write, that does reflect on me, and makes it seem as if those (possibly wrong, bad) images are the "official" representation of the characters.

 

[ccrogers3d]

I like writing fanfic for fun and practice, but I don't share it. Then I can pillage it for ideas when writing with my own worlds and characters.

 

[Chilari]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread right now, but I've read a fair few comments and I'm frankly surprised by the number of people so vehemently opposed to fanfiction. Fanfiction is a good way of practicing many aspects of writing (characterisation, dialogue, description, pacing and more), and a good way to get feedback because there's an established fanbase interested in reading fanfics. And while an awful lot of it is dross, there are the occasional gems.

People enjoy writing it, and people enjoy reading it, so I don't see what's so wrong about it - are your characters that precious that something someone you'll never meet has written about them which you'll never read is an insult to you?

And while writing fanfic can be called lazy, what's so wrong about that? Sometimes it's okay to be lazy. Long day at work, can't get past this writers block, just want to enjoy yourself writing without any pressure for it to be good? Then why not fanfic?

Lazy or not, I find writing fanfic sometimes helps me work through problems in completely unrelated stories, give me ideas to get past those blocks. Without the pressure there to finish it, or anything riding on it being any good, there's greater freedom, not less, to try things out and play around. One fanfic I've been working on here and there over the last year has helped me realise that a character's major flaw can be as much as a drive to the story as their passion or skill, and it's a concept I hope to work into an original fic at some point. The fic itself will almost certainly never see the light of day. Nobody will ever read it but me. And even for those who do write fanfic to share, what's so wrong with that? As someone else has already said and as I stated above, getting feedback is useful, not only because it helps a writer improve, but because it helps them develop a thick skin in preparation for their original fic being torn apart.

Writing fanfiction for an audience of existing fans can also help you learn how to research properly, how to portray characters consistently, and give you a variety of well developed characters to write about where a beginning writer might be tempted (or just inexperienced enough) to write very similar, cliched or one-dimensional characters.

If an author has expressed a wish that people don't write fanfics of their works, fine, they're entitled to request that and personally I would respect that. But I don't think it should be taken as an insult if others write fanfic of it anyway, because it is inspired by enjoyment of the world and characters and a desire to emulate the author. And I don't think some authors not liking it means that all fanfic, or even most fanfic, can be seen as an insult. Personally I'd be happy to have fans in the first place, and flattered they enjoyed my writing enough to want more than I can provide.

 

[Aravelle]

I'm not a fan of it and I've never had the desire to read any. I think fan fic is the equivalent of "writer karaoke."

I understand. If you're a damn good writer, go make your own "music". But, kareoke can be practice.. and who doesn't like "singing" and sharing it with people who enjoy it every once in a while too?

I loathe the butchering of characters so carefully made by their writers... but honestly, raunchy fanfiction is one of the safest ways to explore one's sexuality. I feel that sexual fanfic is a necessary evil, whereas just... bad writing is bad. xD I understand the desire to write fanfiction, and wouldn't hold it against a wee one if they wrote it in my universe, as long as they don't change any of the character's sexualities or blatantly throw out/oppose a trait the characters have.

 

[Aravelle]

But... why??? Why do they do it? It boggles me that people are willing to twist characterization around like a pretzel in order to make their two favorite characters hook up. Faithfulness to the source material be damned. This goes for shippers in general, but slashers in particular.

As a woman who unabashedly enjoys a good slash fic every so often, I can explain.

It's not unlike how some men enjoy lesbian "action"... except it involves our beloved characters, adding the emotional intensity women commonly are attracted to. We prefer when there's more than lust involved, or if there is lust that it's just... uncontrollable. It's passionate; that is the right word. We are drawn to passion, and we love the idea of a man being passionate.. and we obviously don't oppose them exerting that passion onto/into/with another man. xD