Fan Fiction: Is it a problem?
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"And thusly I begin the tale;Da Orky Man said:
It begins, like many others,
At the beginning when it starts,
Then it continues on until
It finds its climax near the end,
Whereupon the events after
It has transpired are chronicled,
And it all comes to its end, or,
If you will, a new beginning."
This is one of the most awkwardly written things that I have ever read.
I don't know, seems pretty harmless, as long as it stays fan fiction, and doesn't turn into anything more (like, for instance, the Tales of Monkey Island 'sequels'). Because, if ff writers begin earning money, then it would kind of be a dick-move on their side, unless they've acquired the rights and everything. But even then it could be argued that it's still wrong and that they should leave the original stories as they are. I mean, there's nothing worse than seeing a beloved movie or game franchise being molested by a bunch of smug, self-centered idiots, who think themselves capable of creativity... Just saying.
If a person cares enough about something to write fanfiction, more power to them. I don't read fanfiction.
The problem with fanfiction is that it's all mixed in together, good and bad.
All fiction is not good. The Nostalgia Critic has been going for four years based on the concept that a lot of kids movies are crap, but if you asked most people they'd remember liking kids movies. This obviously isn't because of overwhelming quality, it's because the popular stuff is all pushed by big companies who know exactly what they're doing. For every Beauty and the Beast there are nine Titanic: the Legendary Journeys or Care Bears 3.
Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap. Most of the time you don't see it because of marketing schemes or popularity issues, but sites like fanfiction.net show the dirty side of creativity. Lots of people may be creative, but most of them are also rubbish.
Obligatory plug: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2151039/MelasZepheos
All fiction is not good. The Nostalgia Critic has been going for four years based on the concept that a lot of kids movies are crap, but if you asked most people they'd remember liking kids movies. This obviously isn't because of overwhelming quality, it's because the popular stuff is all pushed by big companies who know exactly what they're doing. For every Beauty and the Beast there are nine Titanic: the Legendary Journeys or Care Bears 3.
Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap. Most of the time you don't see it because of marketing schemes or popularity issues, but sites like fanfiction.net show the dirty side of creativity. Lots of people may be creative, but most of them are also rubbish.
Obligatory plug: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2151039/MelasZepheos
Always a pleasure to meet a fellow Eisenhorn fan. Dan Abnett is a fantastic writer, especially when you consider just how many novels and comics he has a hand in.OhJohnNo said:
As for fanfiction, I've read a fair bit and it mostly ranges from the pornographic to the comically awful. Only two have stuck with me as being really good. One was a solid back story for Sarevok from Baldurs Gate and one a based in the Fallout universe. Both were well written and entertaining.
FanFic is a mixed bag. Mostly just schlock, but there exists the occasional gem. Also, there exists the occasional "so bad, it's good" gem, for example:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/the-sage/fanfic-theatre/22486-cloud-mows-the-lawn
I too recommend it, but not for reading. It is best experienced as read by Bennett the Sage for Masterpiece FanFic Theatre:TizzytheTormentor said:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/the-sage/fanfic-theatre/22486-cloud-mows-the-lawn
I actually write my own fanfiction, mostly for Disgaea and other very choice works that could use some expanding upon their universes, and I'd like to say my works are generally (I've got my share of awful writing posted on the web, believe me) better than most of the rest, although on the other hand, I've also read a lot of fanfiction... I'd say about... 40% of it is generally what everyone says: awful, crudely written, plot that makes no sense, while the other 60% is at least competently put together and a genuinely good story altogether. And maybe I'm just lucky or something, but I've never read a fic that had a self-insert written into it (although I HAVE seen many Mary Sues/Gary Stu's, I've written my own in one unfortunate case)
I have no illusions of pursuing writing as a career, it's just something I do in my free time.
OT- I don't think fanfiction is any more a problem than say, amateur painting or any other non-professional work of art. If you don't like it, don't look at it.
I have no illusions of pursuing writing as a career, it's just something I do in my free time.
OT- I don't think fanfiction is any more a problem than say, amateur painting or any other non-professional work of art. If you don't like it, don't look at it.
some of it is horrible for example blatant self-insertion like Twilight
some of it is creepy as fuck like a dramatic reading I did with a few friends that included a yaoi scene between Sora and Riku WHO WERE 15 YEARS OLD that was just creepy...
some of it is hilariously bad like the stuff written by Johnney space boots (you can find his fics on the mech form of 4Chan sometimes) or HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (yes there is a fic with the name it involves groinsaws)
and some of it is pretty good one of my friends is a brony and he really likes Fallout Equestria.
might as well throw in a dramatic reading of HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
some of it is creepy as fuck like a dramatic reading I did with a few friends that included a yaoi scene between Sora and Riku WHO WERE 15 YEARS OLD that was just creepy...
some of it is hilariously bad like the stuff written by Johnney space boots (you can find his fics on the mech form of 4Chan sometimes) or HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (yes there is a fic with the name it involves groinsaws)
and some of it is pretty good one of my friends is a brony and he really likes Fallout Equestria.
might as well throw in a dramatic reading of HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
@OP: Fanfiction is great as a practice tool for future writing works. It allows one to build prototypes of characters they could use in their own original stories later (in the form of OCs) and provides an already-existing framework so that world building isn't quite as intensive. Fanfics are not problems.
Admittedly though, your friend is right that, 9 times out of 10, fanfics are going to suck because if a fanfic writer is good at world-building, characterization and all that, they'd be writing their own books instead of making fanfics.
Admittedly though, your friend is right that, 9 times out of 10, fanfics are going to suck because if a fanfic writer is good at world-building, characterization and all that, they'd be writing their own books instead of making fanfics.
I like fanfics. So long as they don't mess with the canon of the game or story they are based on. Which unfortunately, many of which do.
I even wrote a couple of fanfics for Valkyria Chronicles.
I even wrote a couple of fanfics for Valkyria Chronicles.
Holy shit. That actually does sound awesome. 0_oTree man said:
Fanfiction tends to bother me. As someone who works hard creating their own characters, plots,editing and countless rewrites, it seems easy and frankly lazy to just take established characters people have developed an affinity for. Though I just landed a literary agent and a chance to finally be published while fan fiction authors won't have that opportunity due to copyright issues. Well unless, they do star wars and video game adaptations, but I see the quality of those to just be slightly above fan fiction. I feel that fan fiction writers that can write well are wasting their talent.
Though oddly enough I like well done fan art.
Though oddly enough I like well done fan art.
I really hate fanfic just because it wastes more time on characters that have already been explored in the original works and people who do or consume fan fiction are just wasting time (and talent in some cases). I also think that its very offensive to the creator of the said work of media. And it completely ruins the universe of the said work.
Fanfiction can be really good, there are some very good writers on the internet who use this medium to explore new aspects of an established story. The problem is that for every good story, there are hundreds of bad ones that show no respect for the original work.
Calm down, man. Read Mass Effect: Interregnum, a perfect example of how to actually add depth and character to an existing character. Or alternatively Halo: The Enemy Of My Enemy, for an interesting story set in the Halo universe but not featuring any of its characters.templatetom said:
Nothing is absolute. Some people say that there are 9 bad fics for every good one - but the way I see it, there is one good fic for every 9 bad ones, and that's good enough, because you can just ignore/gain amusement from the bad ones while reading and enjoying the good ones.