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Fanfiction: Good or Bad??

Good or bad?

  • Good

    Votes: 10 33.3%
  • Neutral

    Votes: 15 50.0%
  • Bad

    Votes: 5 16.7%

  • Total voters
    30
  • Poll closed .

Zireael

Troubadour
I defend fanfiction as a writing activity that can help people to write their first stories, useful even though they are borrowing someone else's characters and world. The first stories that I wrote were fanfics, so I believe that there is some value in writing Fanfictions.

A very good point. Many authors started from fanfics and went on to write original works. This is not to say this is a rule which MUST absolutely be followed.

On the other side of this. Does this mean an author being a fan of their own works and worlds and writing stories based on works make those new works fan fiction too. So every sequel I write based on one of my worlds and works is a fan fiction of myself? Or if I'm a fan of my work in progress, does that make my work in progress a fan fiction too, even though it's the only work based on that world?

Ok I think I just hut my brain.

Omg. I think you're not writing a fan fiction of yourself, since you're the author.

Fanfiction, on the other hand, requires a huge amount of research if you want to do it right. I'm not that hardcore, but I've seen fanfic writers that pay attention to every single detail. Such dedication is to be commended, in my opinion.

This is true. I've spent hours to figure out if a particular idea of mine works or not.
 

Addison

Auror
I find that writing fan fiction is good under one circumstance: the lingering influence of whatever you just watched or read. After I watched one episode of Angel I was seeing him and his friends in all of my stories. Even other smaller stories I thought I could write but couldn't because Angel kept popping up. So I took a deep breath, wrote an Angel fan fiction and he was out of my head. True, some cases need more than one fan-fic but it works.
 

saellys

Inkling
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... who writes this garbage?

I'll defend it. If someone picks up on homoerotic subtext in their favorite work, they ought to be able to write about it. I may not always agree that the subtext was actually there--Sherlock Holmes is asexual, the end, and Steve Rogers and Tony Stark don't like each other on any level--but I will defend anyone's right to expand upon it as explicitly as they want.
 

saellys

Inkling
I'm frankly surprised at some of the vitriolic replies and straight-up elitism over the last thirteen pages. We're all writers, and we all know how wonderful writing is, so what could possibly be negative about something that encourages people to write more? Especially when the writers of fanfiction are so often young people who may not be inspired to write otherwise. Even if you believe people should only ever write about their own original ideas (which is silly), fanfiction just means that the people who don't want to write their own original ideas aren't out in the marketplace, trying to get their work published and making things harder for all us "serious" writers.

Contrary to a number of similar claims in this thread, no writer takes up fanfiction in order to avoid having to create their own worlds. That isn't anyone's motivation for writing stories in their particular fandom. They do it because they love the story and they have an idea specific to that universe that they feel compelled to write. If they totally mess up a character, nobody will tell them so as quickly as the other fans. In my experience, though, there are more fanfiction writers out there who take the time to get the characters and situations right--and even point out facets of the story that no one else noticed--than there are fanfiction writers who just do whatever they want, regardless of characterization or faithfulness to the original work.

Furthermore, there are a metric tonne of fanfiction writers out there who also create their own original worlds and develop them into full-length novels or even a series. Cassandra Claire did this, and no matter how you feel about City of Bones and it's sequels, she started with "The Very Secret Diaries of the Fellowship of the Ring" (which I found HILARIOUS when I was sixteen) and is now supporting herself with her original fantasy novels.

I wrote my first fanfic when I was twelve. It was a crossover between The X-Files and Men In Black, and I used it for an assignment (huzzah for homeschooling!). After that came some Animorphs stories, and around the same time I discovered that other people were doing this on the Internet and there was a name for it.

Then my Star Wars phase happened, and I took my first step into an even larger world. I've been writing fanfiction in that universe for a dozen years or so now, and when the Star Wars Expanded Universe went in some truly reprehensible directions, alternate universe stories (my own and others' work) were the only things that got me through. This is a really important aspect of fanfic--when a work you love does something you don't love, you can deal with it by writing or reading alternatives. I've read countless Star Wars fanfiction with better characterization and internal logic than most of the licensed, published novels. I've read magnificent AUs that made me ache for a parallel world where R.A. Salvatore didn't kill off Chewbacca. Most importantly, I have read only a handful of fanfiction stories that could be considered worse than the prequels. Canon may be concrete, but that doesn't mean it's good. And on that note:

Steerpike said:
If George Lucas hires you to write a Star Wars novel and tell you "here are the characters, the plot outline, and everything that is going to happen, and I want you to follow it" is that Star Wars fanfiction? I don't think it is, personally.

I know you were just giving an example, but George Lucas doesn't consider anything that happened in the novels after Episode VI to be canon, just so you know. Sue Rostoni, Executive Editor of Lucas Books, handled continuity from Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy up until her retirement last summer. Lucas scorned the books, all the way to the bank.

Now back to the subject at hand. Throughout my illustrious fanfiction career, I've also been writing original stories, both in academic settings and for my own enjoyment. My activity in fanfic writer communities has put me in touch with marvelous beta readers for my original work, as well. When I didn't have an original idea to work on, I kept my skills sharp with fanfiction. It has been far and away the most valuable writing tool in my arsenal.

What really gets me is the number of Scribes who say they'd be offended/angry/hurt if readers wrote stories about their work. Whether or not you want to read it, fanfiction is a sign of popularity--not only are a bunch of people reading your stuff, but the enjoy it so much that they want to add to the world you've created. To respond to that by saying, "Nuh-uh, these are my characters and you have to leave them alone!" is downright histrionic, not to mention unrealistic and potentially alienating to your readers. Fanfiction is fair use.

I would be overjoyed if Camlann is someday popular enough to warrant a dedicated category on An Archive of Our Own or fanfiction.net. I would be fascinated to see how people interpret the characters and events. I hope it happens someday, because I know how powerful it can be to connect so deeply with a story and to share your interpretations with others who feel as strongly about it as you do. I believe everyone should have the right to do it and feel proud of what they wrote, without fear of being derided by writers who have never tried it.

And in an Alanis Morissette-style twist of irony, I used all my writing time for today to compose this reply. :eek:
 
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Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
What really gets me is the number of Scribes who say they'd be offended/angry/hurt if readers wrote stories about their work. Whether or not you want to read it, fanfiction is a sign of popularity--not only are a bunch of people reading your stuff, but the enjoy it so much that they want to add to the world you've created. To respond to that by saying, "Nuh-uh, these are my characters and you have to leave them alone!" is downright histrionic, not to mention unrealistic and potentially alienating to your readers. Fanfiction is fair use.

To address the last sentence first - fanfiction may be Fair Use. It is not necessarily Fair Use. Fair Use is highly fact-specific and depends on a number of factors. You also may have Trademark considerations if you're publishing, and Fair Use won't help you there.

As to why authors get mad about it...I think a lot of artists, both writers and otherwise, feel a very strong sense of "ownership" in their creations. Many times this sense of ownership extends well beyond what they are legally entitled to control. It is nevertheless there. Probably more of an emotional attachment than one based in reason.
 

saellys

Inkling
As to why authors get mad about it...I think a lot of artists, both writers and otherwise, feel a very strong sense of "ownership" in their creations. Many times this sense of ownership extends well beyond what they are legally entitled to control. It is nevertheless there. Probably more of an emotional attachment than one based in reason.

Fair enough. The fact remains that if you write a great story and set it loose into the world, it's going to end up being bigger than yourself. Resistance, as they say, is futile.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
Fair enough. The fact remains that if you write a great story and set it loose into the world, it's going to end up being bigger than yourself. Resistance, as they say, is futile.

Yep. There's not much sense expending time and emotional energy on it, in my view.
 
I've read magnificent AUs that made me ache for a parallel world where R.A. Salvatore didn't kill off Chewbacca. Most importantly, I have read only a handful of fanfiction stories that could be considered worse than the prequels. Canon may be concrete, but that doesn't mean it's good. And on that note:

SPOILER ALERT! :eek:
 
So I've already stated my stance on fanfiction (I think it's fine), but I think we can all agree that what happened to Marion Zimmer Bradley is NOT fine (whether she was a moron for reading fanfiction of her works or not).

Here's the fanlore wiki article: Marion Zimmer Bradley Fanfiction Controversy - Fanlore

It's, mostly, much ado about nothing, really. Maybe it was bigger when it was actually happening? But the gist is that Bradley read a fanfiction work, liked some of the ideas in it, offered the author money and a special dedication, and the author wanted to be considered a co-author for the novel Bradley was writing instead.

Regardless of the veracity of what came after, lawyers did end up getting involved and Bradley's next novel was nixed. It's enough to wean me off reading fanfiction of my own works (if they ever get good enough to have fanfiction written...)

For a summary of the legal issues, there's this wikipedia page: Legal issues with fan fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

jtom

New Member
I wrote fan fiction for years. It taught me how to write. If someone wrote fan fiction of my work, I'd feel honored to be able to help others hone their writing skills so long as they're not going to rub out the serial numbers and take their fan fic work and try to publish it as their own.
 
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