Fanfiction: Good or Bad??

[Devor]

I don't like fanfiction. It's lazy, unimaginative, and ludicrously self-indulgent.

Sometimes "lazy" has value. I won't defend the other two, but not every piece of writing you ever write needs to be a masterpiece. That's why I don't consider writing in shared worlds like D&D, Warhammer and Warcraft to really be in the same boat as other fanfiction, especially when those stories are encouraged by the makers of those worlds.

 

[Ireth]

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." Yeah, you can go to karaoke and sing brilliantly, but at the end of the day, you're still singing someone else's song.

Well, not all of us are lyricists or composers, so if we want to sing, all we've got to go on are other people's songs.

 

[Sheilawisz]

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.

However, I disapprove when people write novel-length fanfics putting on them their greatest dedication and effort... and then they are proud of what they have created.

I believe that anyone who is serious about writing (I mean, dedicating loads of your energy, discipline, time and love) needs to create his/her own stories, characters and, in the case of Fantasy literature, worlds...

Writing fanfics can also be fun even if you have your own stuff: I write fanfics sometimes just for kicks, and when I have a really fun idea for a fic, I can enjoy it a lot =)

 

[Devora]

I get the feeling that the same people that decry Fanfiction writing/writers would dispise Hobby writing/writers.

 

[Amanita]

I've written fanfiction and I'm not ashamed.
One of the gread advantages of writing fanfiction for a larger fandom is the fact, that a large number of people will be interested in reading it and commenting on it. It's perfectly possible to improve things such as word choice, description, writing about feelings etc. while writing fanfiction and those are the things pointed out most of the time here on the Showcase as well. Fanfiction also offers the chance to get used to highly negative criticism with a more healthier distance than you might have if your own work is concerned.
Depending on what you write, there may be quite a large amount of freedom to create something yourself available.
In my opinion, writing fanfiction is not much more lazy, uncreative etc. than writing an "original" fantasy story where stock elves and dwarves who have stock characteristics and live in a standard setting fight against Evil. The only difference is the fact that some people actually make money with the latter.
Concerning the opinion that those people are "wasting their talent", why does it bother you? These forums are full about posts on how extremely hard it is to publish a story (in the form the author wanted) and actually make money with it. So if someone considers such success unlikely, why should he bother and might never show his writing to anyone if he can have an audience writing fanfiction?
I don't think my original stuff will ever meet much of an audience but I'm doing it because I like it best at the moment. Might be a "waste of talent" too if anything like that exists within me, but writing something I don't care about would be as well.

As you can guess, I wouldn't mind fanfiction about my own stories if it should ever come to this. Some things would surely bother me if I found out, but at least in case of Harry Potter where I've been following this, the vast majority of people did write stories with respect for the original even though you could find plenty of crap as well of course. Inspiring other people's inspiration is my biggest goal with my writing and I'd be glad if I achieved this.
In case of authors who explicitly disapprove of fanfiction, writing it should be taboo of course.

 

[Burst]

I am against fan fiction... Why write it when you could come up with something of your own? I think it's offensive really, but that's my opinion.

 

[CupofJoe]

I would guess that most of the writers of FanFic do not consider themselves to be authors and writers in the same way that most MythicScibes do. FanFic writers have seen a film, read a book and wondered what happened next, what happened before...

If any writer can inspire that kind of engagement with their readership then I think they should be grateful and proud.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I have no problem with fan fiction, and have read a little of it, mostly Trek of course. My view is that some of it's good some of it not so good. But that's no different to any other writing.

Now is it lazy? I'm not sure it is. For some people it might be a quick way to avoid the hassle of world building. But against that I think you have to consider that a lot of fan fiction is written largely because people fall in love with the world, and that's a huge compliment to a writer.

What I do wonder about is that some people might write fan fiction as a sort of step up. Say writing a book with Star Trek in the title, gives you a sales boost and a leg up as a writer. But I don't know how you'd seperate those people from the ones who write it simply because they love the world.

As an author if someone wanted to do a fan fic of some of my books I think I'd be quite chuffed.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Penpilot]

I don't see a problem with fanfic. It can be a good exercise in working with a pre-existing world. It won't get you practice in creating your own though.

I think some authors have a problem with it is because what if a fan writes a fanfic with idea X in it and then the author writes a story with out ever having seen the fanfic that also contains X. Now the fan may think the writer ripped them off and could look toward suing.

Lastly, I heard a story where some Stargate fanfic writers were so good that they got asked to do officially licensed novels in that universe and are now making a living doing it. So there is a market for fanfic.

I think to utterly deride it all is narrow minded. Some people aren't interested in writing their own characters. They want to write about character X and their adventures and share their stories with no expectation of publication. I don't necessarily see the harm in it.

 

[Weaver]

Hi,

I have no problem with fan fiction, and have read a little of it, mostly Trek of course. My view is that some of it's good some of it not so good. But that's no different to any other writing.

Now is it lazy? I'm not sure it is. For some people it might be a quick way to avoid the hassle of world building. But against that I think you have to consider that a lot of fan fiction is written largely because people fall in love with the world, and that's a huge compliment to a writer.

What I do wonder about is that some people might write fan fiction as a sort of step up. Say writing a book with Star Trek in the title, gives you a sales boost and a leg up as a writer. But I don't know how you'd seperate those people from the ones who write it simply because they love the world.

As an author if someone wanted to do a fan fic of some of my books I think I'd be quite chuffed.

Cheers, Greg.

It is not a compliment to the writer if he/she expresses a desire not to have their work used in fan fiction and then a fan goes and does it anyway. (Looking at you, John Gregory Betancourt. Doesn't matter if you had permission from the publisher - it's still an act of vandalism.) Ignoring the wishes of an author whose work one admires would be an insult, actually.

You seem to be equating work-for-hire stories set in a copyrighted/trademarked setting (Star Trek) with actual fan fiction. Star Trek (or Star Wars, or Warhammer 40K, or whatever) novels are written with the express permission of the owner of the copyright. (The owner of Warhammer 40K, for example, must step on anyone who writes in their setting without permission, due to the way copyright laws work in Britain.) Yes, one hopes that the people who write these work-for-hire novels are fans of whatever setting they're writing in (and show a little respect for the original works), but they're not the same as fans writing stories for their own amusement, and neither is like a so-called fan who goes out and metaphorically mutilates a setting in public because they want to express their dislike of classic Star Trek by writing a story in which Doc McCoy gets eaten by a giant squid and everyone else thinks it's funny... (I made that example up. The real examples are much, much worse, but not something that can be mentioned on a forum that tries to be PG.)

 

[Zero Angel]

I didn't feel like reading through the 3 pages of results currently--sorry!

I do enjoy fanfiction, although I haven't written any since 2nd grade. I do have a couple of fanfics planned in the pipeline. Namely, my version of the King Arthur mythos (the whole shebang, not just using some elements or even transporting them elsewhere).

I think I enjoy fanfiction because I think most people stink at writing and I can do it better. If someone else has already done it better, then it saves me the effort (unless I can do it still better ).

I'm exaggerating slightly, but I rarely consume any sort of fiction and go, "That is the absolute best way they could have told this story."

Instead, I generally go, "I would have done X instead of Y," or "I would have presented it this way so that we could see that about the character and situation," or "They really dropped the ball here. It had a lot of potential that they did not live up to."

Still, I don't have time to waste on other people's characters, so I rarely write anything myself beyond thinking of it in my head.

Also, I think it is important to think of any sort of adaptation as a form of fanfiction--whether that is movie versions, television shows or what.

For instance, the Lord of the Rings movies are clearly different from the books. This is Peter Jackson's fanfiction on LotR.

That's how I see it anyway.

Oh, one other benefit of fanfiction: when the story ends too soon. Now, this rarely happens for successful series (in those cases, the story usually gets dragged out!), but for series or movies or books that end with so much left unsaid--fanfiction is one way to revisit these universes without having to revisit the original stories.

 

[psychotick]

Hi Weaver,

Bones got eaten by a giant squid? I'd actually pay to read that! (And I can just hear Spok going 'fascinating' as he watches!)

No I agree, if an author specifically says no to fan fiction then it wouldn't be right at all. But not all Trek novels are work for hire as you put it. Many are, as the franchise owners try to expand their readership base etc. But many are actual trekkies simply writing their books in the Star Trek universe. In fact there are multiple competitions etc among trekkies to write those very books. And yes they do have to get permission from the franchise owners to publish their works due to copyright issues etc. The key feature as I recall is that the work whatever it is, has to comply with the bible as it's called. In some cases their work is actually adding to the bible, I think the klingon academy or whatever it's calling itself, is a case in point, and some of their ideas ended up in Enterprise.

For Star Trek at least fan fic is part of a living, vibrant outpouring of love for the creation.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[MystiqueRain]

Yeah...not going to read through the last few pages out of pure laziness.

I would be pretty interested and rather happy if someone made a fanfiction out of my work. Firstly, it shows that someone is reading whatever I'm writing. And secondly, I'd like to see their take on it - what they like or dislike about my work. Fanfiction allows for non-canon situations to happen and I think that's very intriguing.

 

[Anders Ämting]

What is your opinion on fanfiction?

Being an old fanfiction writer myself, I can't really object to it. I think it's a fairly harmless hobby for the most part.

How would you feel if your stories were used for someone's fanfic?

Flattered, I guess. Also, happy that I apparently have fans.

 

[StorytellerGrl]

As someone who wrote a fair amount of Star Trek fan fiction in middle and high school, I don't feel right in judging someone else for wanting to write fanfic, since I did it myself. I think there are good and bad points to it--both of which have been outlined in other comments. It can be great practice for a beginning writer; writing fanfic helped me to hone my storytelling abilities, without having to spend a lot of energy on world building or character building. However, I didn't stay with fanfic--I used as a jumping off point and a learning tool to help with my own stories that I was creating entirely myself.

If I ever had enough fans who were excited about enough about my work to start writing fanfiction, I would be flattered. I don't think I'd want to read most of it, though--partly because so much fanfic is, to be honest, poorly written drivel. And also, despite being flattered, I don't think I'd want to know about what other people were doing with my world and my characters. If a fan came to a book signing or something dressed up as one of my characters, I'd be appreciative and give them some kind words, but if they asked me to read their fanfic story, I'm sure I'd decline.

Keep the fanfic for your own personal enjoyment and writing practice, and then be inspired by it to go out and tell your own stories. More people will probably want to read that more, anyway.

 

[Anders Ämting]

So, question to everyone here who objects to fanfiction: Does your arguments also apply to other types of fanwork?

That is to say, are you of the opinion that people who make, for example, Harry Potter fanart should stick to drawing only original characters and motifs?

As someone who wrote a fair amount of Star Trek fan fiction in middle and high school, I don't feel right in judging someone else for wanting to write fanfic, since I did it myself. I think there are good and bad points to it--both of which have been outlined in other comments. It can be great practice for a beginning writer; writing fanfic helped me to hone my storytelling abilities, without having to spend a lot of energy on world building or character building. However, I didn't stay with fanfic--I used as a jumping off point and a learning tool to help with my own stories that I was creating entirely myself.

Most do. A thing to understand is that specializing in fanfiction is surprisingly difficult and requires you to have a rather specific skillset as a writer - you need to be very good at imitating other writers and know how to stay within the confines of the source material. Uou need to be able to see what makes that source material enjoyable in itself and exploit that. Most writers aren't very good at that - even really good fanfiction tends to drift towards the author's own personal style, often in a very noticable sort of way. Then you end up with fanfics that are technically excellent but have a completely different mood, style and theme compared to the original.

Basically, most writers want to do their own thing - especially skilled writers. Hence why highly skilled fanfiction writers are rare.

In fact, I would say that writing fanfiction is only good practice for writing original fiction to a certain degree. Once you reach a certain point in your development, it just becomes good practice for writing even more fanfiction. At least if you are doing it right.

That's why I find it funny when people complain that fanfic writers should write their own material instead - most fanfiction writers probably evolve into regular writers anyway. (That, or they give up on writing completely.)

Also, seems like this usually happens in the middle of some great magnum opus fanfic, which is why so many really good fanfics end up abandoned.

 

[FatCat]

I adhere to the saying that if the story is good, then it's good. Fanfic or no, if a writer has talent and spins a compelling tale then I really don't care where the work originated from. Although, the creative side of me cries out at this notion for the simple idea that as a writer I don't understand why you wouldn't simply create your own world. Personal preference only remains the same until it is changed, I try to keep an open mind.

 

[Zero Angel]

Also, seems like this usually happens in the middle of some great magnum opus fanfic, which is why so many really good fanfics end up abandoned.

I cannot describe how many times this has happened to fanfics I've read! I think that is probably why I stopped reading fanfics!

In fact, I recently looked up a fanfic that I hadn't read for ten+ years, and there was a FANFIC continuation of the fanfic!

Talk about the snake eating itself!

 

[Anders Ämting]

I cannot describe how many times this has happened to fanfics I've read! I think that is probably why I stopped reading fanfics!

Honestly, I'm guilty of this as well. Most of the fanfics I've written can vanish into oblivion of the ages for all I care, but there are a couple of really ambitious ones I deeply regret never finishing.

In fact, I recently looked up a fanfic that I hadn't read for ten+ years, and there was a FANFIC continuation of the fanfic!

Talk about the snake eating itself!

Ah yes. Fanfiction fanfiction.

Even I never went that far.

 

[Zero Angel]

Ah yes. Fanfiction fanfiction.

Even I never went that far.

And IT wasn't finished either!