Poll: Fan Fiction and tie-in fiction: are you a writer, reader or dismisser?

[Fraught]

Two of the above. Reader and dismisser. I have read some in my life, but I generally aren't really fond of them.

I like to create my own characters, my own world and its set of rules, cultures and rules of physics, not be constricted by another pre-made universe. And I just don't like adding something to a universe, 'ts all. I like creating my own.

 

[MajorKris]

I enjoy reading fanfiction. I have tried writing in the past but my busy schedule and writer's block tended to drown it out. When I did write though, it was nice to get critic for if I ever decide to do writing more professionally.

 

[reg42]

Dismisser. If I want to read something, I'll go to the professionals.

I'm not saying it's all bad, but a lot of it is pretty crap and unedited. I'd rather not wade through all the bad stuff on the off chance of finding something good to read.

 

[awsome117]

I have written a few Halo fanfics. The best one, I'm told anyway, is the one I never finished

It's always the way. I'd say though, if you've been told it's good, keep going with it! I regret loosing motivation with fics that I've started and never finished.

It's been awhile, two years ago really and last chapter too. I'm just too lazy to finish it.

Ah right. Well, you never know, the mood might take you again.

Maybe I guess time will tell.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

I haven't written fanfiction since I was ten (Pokemon & Ed, Edd, and Eddie, anyone? Ugh), but I have written original stories and posted them online before. As for reading fanfiction, I'm rather indifferent. I've seen some terrible ones, and I've seen some alright ones. I'm sure there's some good ones out there, but I haven't seen any first-hand.

 

[Jark212]

I read the extremely saucy ones, and write ones that will never see the light of day... EVER...

 

[DarkPanda XIII]

I've written and read on Fanfiction.net, but really it's sad to find very good cartoons and tv shows and even games and books normally get a fanbase that's....a little too odd for regular folks.

Funny part is that I've written with two aliases, The first, named DarkPaladin did a few ridiculous stories for Starcraft, while the other an anime and tv show that I will not name here, though out of my aliases, that is the one that got more popular.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

While I have not written any fanfiction nor read much of it, I am considering involving myself with fanfiction. Vanessa Cohen's article on the Escapist convinced me that writing fan fiction can be a good way to develop your writing skills for writing regular fiction and I would like to try it myself.

 

[Ophiuchus]

I guess I'm a dismisser, but fair play to you if that's your thing - to each his own, etc.

That said, I'd never rule it out completely. I like to dabble in writing all sorts of things, so it's entirely possible there'll be something at some point which could be classed as fanfic. Just, it won't be the sort of "and then these two characters fall madly in love just because I want them to, despite going directly against established canon" like my old housemate used to write (clue: she's a fan of NCIS, as am I, but I'm pretty sure I don't remember Gibbs and DiNozzo getting it on in the series).

 

[AmbrMerlinus]

I write Legend of Drizzt fanfic. It's a very lonely world.

 

[Vuljatar]

Formerly a dismisser, now a writer.

After creating a particularly awesome character for a pen-and-paper Star Wars RPG campaign, I realized that it would be a shame to let him go to waste, so now I'm writing his backstory in novel format.

 

[Lieju]

I read it.

I've also written some, although mostly in comic format.

 

[LornMind]

Hrrm. Well, I read and write.

I read...egh, anything that happens to draw my interest. I've written stuff on Naruto (pretty much just straight comedy). It's not bad in my eyes, because it's pretty much harmless stuff.

The other thing I'm "writing" (I'm swamped with work) is a total reimagining of the Battle Network universe, filling it with gore, guns and wars and character re-writes.

-shrug- Do TF2 GMod comics cout too?

 

[Riobux]

Technically, I'm all three. I read, I write, but I dismiss fan-fiction altogether.

 

[Lost Cause]

(Hopeless) Writer and reader

 

[Dr. Crawver]

writer and reader

 

[GundamSentinel]

I read tie-ins, but fan-fiction is mostly crap so I tend to stay away from that. There's a friend of mine who often lets me proofread his fanfiction, and that's the only stuff I've found that was good and fun to read.

 

[theamazingbean]

To some degree, all fiction is fan fiction. People are indelibly stained by their surroundings, and that will inevitably come through in any thing they produce. If you have ever seen Star Wars, any lovable rogue character you make will be part Han Solo. Whether you call the character Han Solo, Schman Schmolo doesn't matter that much. So to me, the difference between fiction and fan fiction is rather nebulous.

That being said, if you take the source material and present in a new way (Anno Dracula, Shinji and Warhammer 40k), or produce some new twist on the work (Thirteenth Night), it is more likely that I will enjoy your said. Fan fiction that wallows in the original text is likely to bore me. Fan Fiction that uses the name of the original solely for marketing purposes (2009 Star Trek) is likely to earn my undying hatred.

 

[Mstrswrd]

I am a reader and former writer of fanfiction. I actually have a fic open in the tab next to this one. However, it took me about 20 minutes of sifting through absolute crap to find it.

I'll never deny that most fics are badly written, or written with the purpose of including a Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu, etc, however, there are gems among them. You just have to find them.

The reason I don't write anymore is because 3 times I wrote a very large amount fo several fics, and each time my something happened, forcing my computer to do a full reinstall, so I stopped.