Anyone else here write fanfic?

[phouka]

In the geek hierarchy, writers of fan fiction fall just below amateur scifi/fantasy writers. Unless, of course, you happen to write erotic fanfic, or (Og forbid) write yourself into your fanfic, write yourself into erotic fanfic, or write yourself into erotic, furry, Star Trek fanfic.

I think fan fiction gets a bad rap. While much of it is painfully bad, so is much of any sort of writing. I consider fan fiction to be either an opportunity to write with training wheels (so to speak) or the fiction-writing equivalent of an English sonnet. And, I must admit, I write fan fiction.

Several things draw me towards fanfic. For one, there are characters out there that I adore and want to spend more time with. Or, there are characters out there that were abused by their writers (I'm looking at YOU, Joss), and deserve a little happy time. Sometimes, I have questions left over from a series or episode. Sometimes, I get an idea that I just can't explore in my own universe.

Mostly, I write Buffy fanfic, but I've also done a few short Star Wars pieces. More than a few of my stories are crossovers - combining one fictional world with another - because the main site I post to is specifically for crossovers. It is a place for me to sharpen my skills - tighten plots, find voice, develop a sense of place and social milieu. And, I'll admit, if you write and post a fanfic that is at all good, you get praised. It means a lot, especially when it's so hard to come by feedback for independent writing projects.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[LurkMeister]

I've never written what would today be considered fanfic. However, at one time I belonged to (and eventually ran) a group based on Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books. In order to avoid copyright issues, we developed a sort of alternate Pern; everyone developed their own characters and we wrote stories about them. I did find it good writing practice, with the added bonus of occasionally collaborating on stories with the other members.

[vison]

I confess that I wrote reams and reams of LOTR fanfic. No slash, no Mary Janes. It was fun and good writing practice. Taught me that I could sustain a long narrative. I wrote a novel about Elanor Gamgee (Sam and Rosie's daughter) in the form of a diary and I wrote a another novel about Legolas adventuring off to Far Harad and Khan and beyond. These stories were much enjoyed by the slavering fans who wanted "more" of LOTR. Nothing I wrote even remotely resembled anything Tolkien wrote, but it was pretty good, just the same.

I do not like slash, it makes me laff and laff. I do not like Mary Janes, they are just dumb.

An Irish friend of mine has written a very good long "alternate" LOTR in which Boromir took the Ring. But it soon went off into her own tale, featuring a renegade Elf and some other very well drawn characters. I 've tried to persuade her to take out all the LOTR references and turn it into a fantasy novel of her own, but she won't try. Shame, really, because it's pretty good.

Fanfic can be good exercise, I think. If you don't overdo and if you set out on your own pretty soon.

[SilverTygerGirl]

Yup. Lately it's Batman. I've done Thundercats, Silverhawks, Pokemon, and Digimon too.

And putting it down just cuz it's fanfic is ridiculous. There are tons of writers who got started writing fanfic. Writing is writing.

[Harlequin]

I did it exactly once, many years ago. A short story set in the Warhammer 40000 universe. I don't have it anymore but I suspect it sucked.

What's a Mary Jane?

[iampunha]

I've written, edited and judged fanfic for acceptance to a fanfic library.

[vison]

A Mary Jane is when the writer, generally a teenage girl, puts herself in the story as, say, Aragorn's long-lost little sister who naturally goes on the Quest and Legolas falls for her, or she's a village maiden who catches Boromir's eye, etc., and so on.

[Harlequin]

You don't mean Mary Sue?

[vison]

EEEEPS!!! Of course I do. Jeez, what a dork. See, I hate them so much I refused to remember the name.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[pepperlandgirl]

I started by writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic. That was back in...gah...2002. I literally would not have had any sort of writing career without fanfic. I learned so very much from that experience. I firmly believe every writer needs to write one million words of crap before they have something worth looking at--and I got all my million words out in fanfic. That's not to say that fanfic is nothing but a crap depository. Several of my favorite authors ever write only fanfic. I still get struck with the occasional inspiration and write, mainly Angel/Wesley. I met my writing partner in fandom--I remember finding her fic about in 2002 and falling in love with it and with her. I never expected that five years later, we'd be co-authors.

I would always encourage people to start dabbling with fanfic. It's a wonderfully creative way to practice writing, as well as find a real community of writers and readers for support. Writing good fanfic is just as difficult as writing original stuff, in my experience. Strong writing, plot development, and characterization is necessary whether you are writing original stuff or fanfic.

[CrashMyBicycle]

I wrote two or three fanfics based on the manga "Fake" by Sanami Matoh, which is about two police detectives who fall in love with one another. It's an interesting story and it has some very interesting secondary characters who don't get as much attention, but get enough so you know what they're like, so they're really ripe to be fanficced about.

[maggenpye]

I used to. No slash, it seemed more silly than erotic. No Mary Sue beyond my own adolescence.

I can only echo previous posters. It was writing with the training wheels on - no back story, no character descriptions, no milieu - just find a plot and move it forward.

I did take a fair bit of care to keep the characters as written - I hated reading something and thinking 'but they wouldn't do that!' To use a modern example, Snape finding his kinder gentler side or Yoda speaking perfect English.

My own characters have become more interesting to me, that's all that's really changed. The stories I want to tell don't fit in other people's worlds anymore.

Hell of a training ground though, I encourage my kid to write her own Doctor Who adventures.

[PapSett]

I used to writre LOTR fanfic but have moved away from it. I don't know if my writing now could be considered fanfic; some of my main charactrers are based on real celebrities, but that's where the resemblance ends, they are in entirely different lifestyles (if that makes a lick 'o sense...)

It just helps ME to be writing about someone I can see solidly in my mind, someone that I like and admire. The names are different, for the most part, tho in one book I kept the first names of 2 of them.

I see nothing wrong with fanfic either, it is great practice, and whatever makes you WANT to write has to be a good thing.

[iampunha]

I did take a fair bit of care to keep the characters as written - I hated reading something and thinking 'but they wouldn't do that!' To use a modern example, Snape finding his kinder gentler side or Yoda speaking perfect English.

Not only wouldn't they do that, it would castrate the characters.

Seriously. A nice Snape is about as interesting as a painting of a glass of milk. (It's either a garbage painting or it looks like a glass of milk, in which case you're looking at a glass of milk you don't get to drink.)

I think the worst thing I ever read in fanfic was a character who was shot in the shoulder with an arrow and later in that same episode was swimming in saltwater.

On purpose.

Granted, he was trying to escape, but ... swimming. Open wound. Salt. Cold.

::headdesk::

[phouka]

Yep, there is some baaaaaad fanfic out there. I figure Sturgeon's Law (90% of everything is crap) should be applied twice to fanfic, so that 99% of everything is crap. But that remaining 1% is golden.

And I have to admit, as much as I enjoy writing and reading my own fanfic, and my brother's, there's very, very little out there otherwise that I'll spend my time on.

Currently, my fanfic is way to get the writing juices going again. It's been a year and a half of writer's block, and when the words started coming again, I didn't care at all that they were Buffy, as opposed to my original stuff. I was just glad to see them again.

[sistercoyote]

I have not recently written fanfic. But then, I'm the worst type of fanficcer in the world - I write RPS (bandfic).

[phouka]

Bandfic? What, like fanfic about popular music groups? I'd never actually heard of that. How very interesting.

[sistercoyote]

Yep, although the group in question isn't so very popular anymore.

[maggenpye]

I used to writre LOTR fanfic but have moved away from it. I don't know if my writing now could be considered fanfic; some of my main charactrers are based on real celebrities, but that's where the resemblance ends, they are in entirely different lifestyles (if that makes a lick 'o sense...)

It just helps ME to be writing about someone I can see solidly in my mind, someone that I like and admire. The names are different, for the most part, tho in one book I kept the first names of 2 of them.

I see nothing wrong with fanfic either, it is great practice, and whatever makes you WANT to write has to be a good thing.

I don't think that counts as fanfic, if you're just using somesone's physical characteristics for a visual frame. Even the best writers do that. More than once I've picked where they're using someone they know and disguised them by writing the opposite of their actual description, but later in the action, the 'short blonde' bloke looms over someone, dark hair brushed aside. Heh. One of my characters is my niece physically, with an old school chum's hair and a made up personality.

[Baldwin]

I think the worst thing I ever read in fanfic was a character who was shot in the shoulder with an arrow and later in that same episode was swimming in saltwater.

On purpose.

Granted, he was trying to escape, but ... swimming. Open wound. Salt. Cold.

::headdesk::

What exactly is the problem with that? Seawater has about the same salinity as blood; if you're going to have water get in a deep wound, it's probably better if it's saltwater. It stings in a superficial cut because of all the nerve endings.

On the other hand, the character would be damned lucky to get an arrow in the shoulder and not be too crippled to swim. I'd have to read the passage to gauge the level and variety of badness involved.

Although I don't know if the term "fanfic" was around in 1976, I did a little of it in the midst of a novel. Star Trek, specifically (that was when there'd only been the one show, and although there'd been talk of a movie, nobody knew if it would happen). I was 15 then; wouldn't consider it now, unless I was being paid to write an episode or series book, and I don't really want to do that either. I don't want to work in somebody else's fictional world instead of creating my own.

However --

It just helps ME to be writing about someone I can see solidly in my mind, someone that I like and admire. The names are different, for the most part, tho in one book I kept the first names of 2 of them.

I see nothing wrong with fanfic either, it is great practice, and whatever makes you WANT to write has to be a good thing.

Whatever works for you is what you should do.

[pepperlandgirl]

Although I don't know if the term "fanfic" was around in 1976, I did a little of it in the midst of a novel. Star Trek, specifically (that was when there'd only been the one show, and although there'd been talk of a movie, nobody knew if it would happen).

Around? Hell, when and where do you think "slash" fic was invented? Modern day fandom owes a lot to Star Trek and the fanzines that circled through conventions since the 70s featuring fanfic (especially Kirk/Spock. Hence the term 'slash'.)

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

Yep, although the group in question isn't so very popular anymore.

Ohmigod, internet friend, now I'm going to spend the rest of the night trying to figure out what band it could possibly be.

Earth Wind Fire? J. Geils Band? The Tommy Dorsey Ochestra!?

[Baldwin]

Although I don't know if the term "fanfic" was around in 1976, I did a little of it in the midst of a novel. Star Trek, specifically (that was when there'd only been the one show, and although there'd been talk of a movie, nobody knew if it would happen).

Around? Hell, when and where do you think "slash" fic was invented? Modern day fandom owes a lot to Star Trek and the fanzines that circled through conventions since the 70s featuring fanfic (especially Kirk/Spock. Hence the term 'slash'.)

Yes, fan fiction was around in sf fandom, and had been since before Star Trek; I just don't recall the abbreviated jargon "fanfic". However, in a world where a trufan pubs his ish while believing FIAWOL, it's reasonable to assume it was being used. (Myself, I felt FIJAGH.)

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

Yes, I have written/do write fanfic. And since one of my goals for this year is owning my hobbies (no shame!), I will even link you people to what I have written.

Writing journal -- 30 Rock, 10th Kingdom
Rosaline, At Rest -- Yuletide 2008; Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet; Rosaline; there are typos as a result of it being written in procrastination nation

[sub:3n87md23]I'd really like to read what you guys have written, but if you all think there should be another thread for that, I'd be happy to start one.[/sub:3n87md23]

Unfortunately, it's been a rough winter for my family (people in and out of the hospital), so writing of any sort has taken second place to laundry and chores. And people really want me to post the next parts, but I don't have time/mojo to get them reader-ready. I'm sorry, 30 Rock fans!

So, my take on fanfic. I think it does get a bad rap a lot of the time. Sure, there are the very weird mpreg Harry/LeatherPants!Draco fics and stories where 12-year-old girls refuse to use standard written English as they make themselves into Inuyasha's bitchy and yet inexplicably lovable soulmate, but there is also stuff that is just plain good writing that happens to take place in someone else's fictional world. And honestly? When Neil Gaiman can write "The Problem of Susan" and that is somehow not Narnia fanfiction, I smell a double standard. Original fiction is not always all that original -- there are thousand of published works that use fairy tales as source material very strongly, and they're basically fairy tale fanfic. How are any of those stories that reclaim the roles of the various heroines any different from fanfic that reimagines a character? I struggle with the idea that being published lends legitimacy to a written work, seeing as some very bad things have been published.

I do think that different fandoms have different cultures and approaches to their fanfiction, and those fandoms may be intensely divided even among themselves. As someone who is not immersed in Harry Potter fandom (and not even that deeply immersed in any of the fandoms I "belong" to), it seems to me that there's an "anything goes" approach to fanfiction, but if the HP drama-rama is any indication, that is very much the wrong idea.

I agree with pepperlandgirl that fanfiction provides an opportunity to get all the crap out of your system before tackling your own original works. I'm struggling to remember something I'd read previously about fanfiction providing a safe environment for a beginning writer to explore their talents, but that's all I can remember about it. Something about a pre-existing story providing a framework to hang your story on? Like a coat rack or cutting out a dress pattern? The fabric's already there, you just need to lay the pattern out.

Um, anyway, I do think that fandom provides excellent opportunities for beginning writers to receive constructive criticism and praise for their early works. There's this bizarre tendency for people to sneer at people who are trying to write novels or short stories or whatever -- so puzzling to me. Fandom can lead to some very positive interaction between reader and writer, and that is very encouraging.

[pepperlandgirl]

You can read some of my work at Yuletide. There are several stories because I've been participating every year. For those who don't know, it's an annual multi-fandom "Secret Santa" exchange that keeps growing bigger and bigger. People offer to write for certain fandoms, and then receive story requests and write one 1000 word story (I tend to write more than 1 though, if I'm feeling inspired). It's a lot of fun--and MsPurlMcKnittington, I'm impressed you tackled Shakespeare! I occasionally am tempted to offer to write for a fandom like that, but then I chicken out and offer things like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

Anyway, the quality of Yuletide is typically very high, and I would recommend it to anybody who's looking for good fic.

[iampunha]

Massive hijack:

Original fiction is not always all that original -- there are thousand of published works that use fairy tales as source material very strongly, and they're basically fairy tale fanfic. How are any of those stories that reclaim the roles of the various heroines any different from fanfic that reimagines a character? I struggle with the idea that being published lends legitimacy to a written work, seeing as some very bad things have been published.

Masterpieces -- parts of the canon that entire state college English departments would rise up and protest if they were removed -- are heavily sourced from previous materials.

Next time you read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida (if you ever read that one), bear in mind that while you're reading Shakespeare's words, you're reading someone else's plot.

http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/romeo.html
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/amleth.html

(My fanfic is long since lost to the sands of time and defunct Internet sites.)

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

t's a lot of fun--and MsPurlMcKnittington, I'm impressed you tackled Shakespeare! I occasionally am tempted to offer to write for a fandom like that, but then I chicken out and offer things like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

Ha! I don't watch anime or read manga, so I had to scan the list of fandoms to see what I could offer, and it came down to like Mad Men, 30 Rock, Jane Austen and Shakespeare. And then there are those crazy people who offer EVERYTHING. I sort of boggle at the person who feels flexible enough to offer everything from LOLcats to Gormenghast.

Anyway, the quality of Yuletide is typically very high, and I would recommend it to anybody who's looking for good fic.

It totally is. If you think that fanfiction is nothing but 14-year-old girls writing themselves as Harry Potter's most perfectest love interest, then Yuletide will disprove you. I got this story about fairy tales meta-style this year, and it is very good, very lovely writing. Read it; tell the author she is wonderful, because she is.

[sub:d2vx9vna]Dear HP Fandom,

I will now stop ripping on your fanfiction. I know you are not all writing Mary Sues.[/sub:d2vx9vna]

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

Masterpieces -- parts of the canon that entire state college English departments would rise up and protest if they were removed -- are heavily sourced from previous materials.

Totally true. I believe that fiction writing is cumulative rather than primary. Every writer is building on the writers that came before them. People assimilate language every time they read something or engage in conversation.

Next time you read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida (if you ever read that one), bear in mind that while you're reading Shakespeare's words, you're reading someone else's plot.

I know, iampunha. I was an English major, and therefore have been thoroughly exposed to Shakespeare's inability to craft an original plot.

"Suddenly, there were pirates!" is the 16th-century equivalent of the NaNoWriMo ninja meme, I'm pretty much convinced.

[maggenpye]

I've always thought Shakespeare would be writing movies if he were alive today, with car chases, lots of car chases.

And there have been some great points made abut his source material and Gaiman and fairy tales.

You're all right, there are some great fanfic writers out there. The genre is broader than my interpretation of it. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that I've moved on from the group of people I was in when I wrote fanfic. I prefer my own worlds and characters, but I admit to 'borrowing' characters and themes where they'll fit.

[RobuSensei]

I've taken a stab at fanfic; mainly anime, mostly Ah! My Goddess! or Ranma 1/2. Although I haven't been very prolific as of late, I still want to finish the one long multi-part story I started several years ago.

I belong to a mailing list called the FFML. Up until a couple of years ago, this list was mainly for anime and manga related fanfic only, but the list owners saw fit to expand the list's focus after usage fell in the wake of sites like fanfiction.net opening up.

There was your usual wide variation in quality on stuff posted to the list...but you also got a lot of advice and critiques, quickly. I like to think that my writing improved drastically from the advice I got there.

You would also run into some pretty amazing egos on that list. One guy sticks in my mind in particular...he was writing several epic Ranma fanfics. Interesting plots, but this guy had over-written, bloated prose down to a science.

At one point, he used the phrase, "the soldiers ran on, limbering their weapons." When people started pointing out his mistake, at first he denied that "limbering" was wrong. Then, people started posting etymologies. He finally threw up his hands and removed the phrase altogether, rather than admitting his error.

He also did a lot of research in the eating and digestive practices of the panda, then wrote an entire chapter of Genma hiding in a zoo just so he could include it all. When it was suggested that this was unnecessary filler, his response was that he was so impressed that Rumiko Takahashi did all that same research in order to choose the panda as Genma's alternative form...despite there being no evidence of it. (My own assumption on Takahashi's train of thought: "old fat martial artist changing into panda = funny")

And then one time he spent an entire chapter inserting a French bicycle maker into Nerima, Japan, just to be able to make an Enterprise-D joke.

Despite all this, I was still interested in seeing how (if?) he was going to end his stories...but he quit the list in high dudgeon, and as far as I can tell by internet searches, never continued.

Now the list traffic has slowed to a trickle... Oh well.

tl; dr: Yes, I do, or I used to...you can see my stuff (if you want) at the anime link on my website.

[iampunha]

I know, iampunha. I was an English major, and therefore have been thoroughly exposed to Shakespeare's inability to craft an original plot.

Yes, but how many people here do you think knew that? You and I both know why people went to see Shakespeare's performances rather than just buy the paper copies, but if folks here don't know that and we don't tell them, they'll have to wait for the next opportunity. And why wait?

Maggen, given that Shakespeare's primary concern was making money, my Shakespeare professor said he'd basically be doing movies with lots of tits and explosions. Or movies with neither. Whatever sold best. And he'd want stakes in the production company.

[sistercoyote]

Yep, although the group in question isn't so very popular anymore.

Ohmigod, internet friend, now I'm going to spend the rest of the night trying to figure out what band it could possibly be.

Earth Wind Fire? J. Geils Band? The Tommy Dorsey Ochestra!?

None of the above. Duran Duran (which, btw, if you check my icons over on LJ you'd see).

That said, I did recently meet one of the horn players for Earth, Wind & Fire. Which was a bit odd for both of us, I think.

[maggenpye]

Maggen, given that Shakespeare's primary concern was making money, my Shakespeare professor said he'd basically be doing movies with lots of tits and explosions. Or movies with neither. Whatever sold best. And he'd want stakes in the production company.

Even as a high school drop out, I'd come to the same conclusion. He wrote stuff that would appeal to the masses. Bums on Seats. Good on him too, no-one's doing film adaptations of the meta-poets' work.

[iampunha]

Even as a high school drop out, I'd come to the same conclusion. He wrote stuff that would appeal to the masses. Bums on Seats. Good on him too, no-one's doing film adaptations of the meta-poets' work.

Bums on seats, bums standing up, bums doing anything but remembering they were hungry (go to a play or buy a portion of ale? Same cost).

But watching Titus Andronicus will pretty well cure you of hunger.

[sistercoyote]

Sadly, Titus has never affected my ability to eat.

I haven't ever thought of writing Shakespeare fanfic, but thanks to Quantum Fetish Mechanics, it's now out there. Somewhere.

[ivan astikov]

I'd heard the term before, but prior to this thread, I'd never read any 'fanfic'.

Therefore, I have to thank the OP for giving me the incentive to come across this.

Dexter's Bad Day.

The funniest thing I've read this year!

[MsPurlMcKnittington]

Yes, but how many people here do you think knew that? You and I both know why people went to see Shakespeare's performances rather than just buy the paper copies, but if folks here don't know that and we don't tell them, they'll have to wait for the next opportunity. And why wait?

Ha! OK, I see your point.

And Titus has also never made me not want to eat, but it has moved me to laughter. Turning the girl into a tree after raping her and cutting off all her communication bits is pretty heinous, but I saw a live production of it once, and got the giggles when that scene came around. Something about the girl standing on a pedestal, sticks tied to her arms, which she was waving around while moaning. I just could not control it. They tuuuuuuurned meeee into a treeeeeeeeeeeee . . . .

None of the above. Duran Duran (which, btw, if you check my icons over on LJ you'd see).

That said, I did recently meet one of the horn players for Earth, Wind & Fire. Which was a bit odd for both of us, I think.

Rats! You expected me to do research? Unfair, S. Coyote. Unfair.

I would be totally impressed if someone wrote Tommy Dorsey Orchestra RPF, though. That would take a level of dedication and knowledge that I don't think most people have. Glenn Miller Orchestra? Pedestrian, after that Jimmy Stewart movie. But Tommy Dorsey? Hmm. Unique.

I could not even tell you what any of the horn players from EW&F looked like. Was it odd because you recognized him?

[maggenpye]

I would be totally impressed if someone wrote Tommy Dorsey Orchestra RPF, though. That would take a level of dedication and knowledge that I don't think most people have. Glenn Miller Orchestra? Pedestrian, after that Jimmy Stewart movie. But Tommy Dorsey? Hmm. Unique.

My dad reckons Tommy Dorsey wasn't a patch on Lester Lanin - not even in Wiki, now that's unique!

[iampunha]

They tuuuuuuurned meeee into a treeeeeeeeeeeee . . . .

Did she get better?

[phouka]

It took her a while, but she turned over a new leaf.

[sistercoyote]

I would be totally impressed if someone wrote Tommy Dorsey Orchestra RPF, though. That would take a level of dedication and knowledge that I don't think most people have. Glenn Miller Orchestra? Pedestrian, after that Jimmy Stewart movie. But Tommy Dorsey? Hmm. Unique.

I could not even tell you what any of the horn players from EW&F looked like. Was it odd because you recognized him?

No, it was odd because it was a completely out-of-context meeting at the Las Vegas airport, where he had just deplaned from the plane I was getting on.

As far as the Dorsey comment - you do realize that now, because of Quantum Fetish Mechanics you've caused it to come into being, right?