Poll: Fanfiction writing and reading

[Nickompoop]

I do not read fan fiction, and I only write fan fiction when there's a certain event in a story that I really, really wanted to happen. For example, I'm working on a Mass Effect 2 fan fiction right now about what would happen if you kicked Miranda off the Normandy.

I don't read fan fiction because it seems like the vast majority of fan fiction is about some funky romance between characters or between a character and the author (usually the author self-inserts in the guise of "original character"). Also, about half the fan fiction writers can't really write. Thankfully, the bad writers only really write the slash fiction and the romance stories I mentioned before, so it's quite easy to avoid them.

 

[That_Sneaky_Camper]

I tried writing fanfiction a few years back when I was a teenager, but high school got in the way of me being able to consistently update so I gave up on it after a while. If I were to start writing again I would need to make a long term plan for how I want my story (or stories) to develop and eventually finish, and this would require a lot of free time. Though the 3 main things you need to focus on when writing, and I wished I had known this when I tried writing fan-fiction, are time management, (very important that you spend the right amount of time working on it, regardless of whether you are on a vacation or not) a lot of imagination, and of course a lot of preparation. That will produce quality writing worth reading.

Anyway I am more of a fan-fiction reader than a writer. I am deeply fascinated by the content of some people's imagination, it is amazing how much fanfiction can not only give you a new perspective on a story you like but actually enhance the story. I read fanfiction for that potential, if I don't find it then I give up on the story.

 

[peduncle]

read Harry Potter when i was young, naruto after that, teen titans and Final Fantasy at some point, stopped for a LONG time, and just started reading MLP:FiM recently. Hearts da ponies.

 

[votemarvel]

I enjoy writing fanfic for the same reason I enjoy playing games or watching a TV show. It lets me immerse myself for a little while in someone else's sandbox.

Reading fanfic is also something I enjoying doing, really for the same reason I enjoy What If? and Elseworlds stories in the comics. They let me see familiar characters in situations they would never be allowed to do in the main canon.

You also get sites that follow an event in the comics and run with it. For example I read a site which launched at the end of the Marvel Comics 'Civil War' storyline. At this site the event just hasn't been forgotten to allow the next event to take over but they are really running with what would happen if the 50 States Initiative really had taken off.

Here are three of the fanfic sites I read the most often. There is good and bad at all of them but I find the quality overwhelms the dross. http://marvel.omegacen.com/

http://m2k.omegacen.com/

http://www.carnaj.com/JLU2001/main.htm

 

[Qtoy]

You missed "I would write it, but I feel silly and think no one would read it" option in your poll

This, seriously, you nailed it on the head with that one.

On to the topic, I tend to have an aversion towards it, considering Sturgeon's Law and previous experiences. That said, I read fanfiction once in a blue moon, in fact the only fanfic I have that much interest in is ongoing.

So yeah, I read 'em and as quoted, I would write them but... no.

 

[Stammer]

The only fan-fiction I've ever liked has been the Mass Effect comic series.

Most of it is just so poorly written. And by that reasoning I refuse to write my own-- because I know there's like no chance in hell it's going to be any good.

 

[FFHAuthor]

I write a fair bit of Fan Fiction myself. Working on a Mass Effect AH at the moment, but I've also done cross-overs and one shots in my past...and the infamous self-insertion fic, but I think that's an urge just about every FF writer has had and wanted to act on.

I look at Fan Fiction as being the easiest thing to write, the hardest thing to write well. I've read good FF and bad FF, and people seem to forget that FF gives you tools that you don't have in original fiction. A lot of people overlook that aspect and fall into the traps of making something ENTIRELY canon to the story or ENTIRELY alien to the setting. A new character or a new situation going through the same plot, or a plot that's different with the same characters. People don't look at it as a tool to point out our increase the weight or poignancy of the alterations you're doing.

It's simply looked at as being a poor man's writing style, the characters are done, the plot is set, and the universe is written, go for what you want, you don't need to do development or back-story or anything, it's all fleshed out.

I'm writing a Mass Effect AH Fan Fic at the moment that I started doing because I wanted to point out the poor writing that was done on the part of Bioware, satirize and call attention to the 'flowery' portrayal of species, or the 'mustache twirling villain' aspects of others, even mock the Asari 'cliche space-babe' that the writers created. Fan Fiction can give you the satisfaction of having fans look at what's already been created and think about it in a different way, admittedly, it's something I have rarely ever seen done by writers...but it's powerful when done properly.

 

[iLazy]

I read it and use it to practice writing.

But I mostly hang around the kink memes...heheheh dirty. Surprisingly, 75% of the stuff on the kink meme is a 100X better then stuff found on fanfiction net

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I read it every once in a while from what people suggest. Most of it I find is pure shite.

The only exception I'm making to that rule is Fallout Equestria. It has several flaws, but I can easily see the author, Kkat, being a successful author in the future.

 

[Twad]

I read fanfic. The vast, vast majority is crap (full of sues, bad cliches and bad grammar), the few others left are either decent or pure gold, and some are even better than the "source" material.

My main source for reccomendations is TVtropes, and lurking random forums here and there. Occasionally an interesting fic pop up.

 

[Kristina.K.]

I write more often than I read. Though I've bothered to make few of my stories public.
My friend got me started, she introduced me to fanfiction.net -mainly to expose me to her own writing. Suffice to say, her writing was like a majority of writers' on that site. Littered with misspellings, improper punctuation, and bad style.

I think a lot of fan fiction writers have a lot of great ideas, though they don't bother to spend time editing and structuring their writing so that it is at least readable. They often try a weak and half-assed script format. I cannot read those very often.

I find that writing fan fiction has been a good release and an escape from my own writer's blocks. On top of that, it is more fun to challenge yourself by playing around with previously established characters and settings. If you force yourself to consider how certain characters would react in certain situations, it can help to develop your own characters.

I find a lot of fan fic writers project unsuitable traits onto characters to further their own fantasies. Which is fine, it is just less enjoyable for readers who are looking for substance.

 

[Ace2401]

Until recently, I have pretty much completely ignored fanfiction, until I discovered a certain new TV series featuring a cast of multi-colored equines. In other words, confound those ponies, they drive me to fanfic. I've found quite a few surprisingly really good stories on Equestria Daily. I have even been compelled to start writing fanfiction myself and have found it pretty fun, despite the fact that I've always hated writing for school. I've received plenty of positive feedback for my work so far as well, so I guess it turns out the writing courses I took (and aced, to toot my own horn) in college were of some use after all, lol.

 

[Skoosh]

Snip

Yes, I was being derogatory, you were not mistaken there. We were talking about fanfiction in general, and as you admitted, the vast majority of it is bad, even in comparison to other forms of storytelling.

Calling fanfiction amateurish wasn't meant to be radical, it's quite obvious. It doesn't change the fact though. Fanfiction is almost interchangeable with amateur, and for me, amateur is bad. I don't want to see the crappy new band doing covers in their garage. Not worth my time. I'd rather wait until they come up with their own songs and learn how to play some. I don't want the rough draft, hand me the finished copy. I'll support new bands and new authors, but not until they actually get past these beginning baby-steps and learn their trade. They have to stand out a bit first, then I'll follow.

So with fanfiction, it's simply not worth treading through piles of crap for 1 story that is mediocre and a bit of potential. Refine it on your own, then give me something to read. Now this would be different if it was something a friend or family member wrote, but just going out and seeking it online? No. That doesn't need to be out there, go practice in your garage. I don't want to hear some dude learning his fifth chord on the guitar, let me hear him when he can actually play.

As a concept, I don't hate fanfiction, but in practice, I don't like it. So I just don't bother with it. But let's say it's a training ground like you said, does it yield results? From what I've seen, not really. Might get you past some beginning stages, but by no means will make a good author, let alone a great one.

Oh, and as for the whole Herman Melville thing, I don't really care. I have no respect for the author, doesn't really change my opinion on anything. And where your inspiration comes from matters. It's one thing to tell a true story, or base it on an event. Someone didn't create that, it's free to use, but using someone else's fictional world and characters is plagiarism and intellectual theft, not inspiration. And I'm not talking about legally here, obviously. Intellectually though, I don't support it. There are plenty of amateur writing communities to hone your skills with, you don't have to resort to copying what someone else created.

It makes me think of tracing and recoloring and calling it your own, but you don't learn from it. From what I've heard from professional authors and artists, copying and tracing doesn't help, you need to learn to create. Copy a method or technique, not a finished product.

So then, Mr. Furbyz, I give you a wall of text in return for the wall you got me, haha.

 

[Furbyz]

Snip

Yes, I was being derogatory, you were not mistaken there. We were talking about fanfiction in general, and as you admitted, the vast majority of it is bad, even in comparison to other forms of storytelling.

Calling fanfiction amateurish wasn't meant to be radical, it's quite obvious. It doesn't change the fact though. Fanfiction is almost interchangeable with amateur, and for me, amateur is bad. I don't want to see the crappy new band doing covers in their garage. Not worth my time. I'd rather wait until they come up with their own songs and learn how to play some. I don't want the rough draft, hand me the finished copy. I'll support new bands and new authors, but not until they actually get past these beginning baby-steps and learn their trade. They have to stand out a bit first, then I'll follow.

So with fanfiction, it's simply not worth treading through piles of crap for 1 story that is mediocre and a bit of potential. Refine it on your own, then give me something to read. Now this would be different if it was something a friend or family member wrote, but just going out and seeking it online? No. That doesn't need to be out there, go practice in your garage. I don't want to hear some dude learning his fifth chord on the guitar, let me hear him when he can actually play.

As a concept, I don't hate fanfiction, but in practice, I don't like it. So I just don't bother with it. But let's say it's a training ground like you said, does it yield results? From what I've seen, not really. Might get you past some beginning stages, but by no means will make a good author, let alone a great one.

Oh, and as for the whole Herman Melville thing, I don't really care. I have no respect for the author, doesn't really change my opinion on anything. And where your inspiration comes from matters. It's one thing to tell a true story, or base it on an event. Someone didn't create that, it's free to use, but using someone else's fictional world and characters is plagiarism and intellectual theft, not inspiration. And I'm not talking about legally here, obviously. Intellectually though, I don't support it. There are plenty of amateur writing communities to hone your skills with, you don't have to resort to copying what someone else created.

It makes me think of tracing and recoloring and calling it your own, but you don't learn from it. From what I've heard from professional authors and artists, copying and tracing doesn't help, you need to learn to create. Copy a method or technique, not a finished product.

So then, Mr. Furbyz, I give you a wall of text in return for the wall you got me, haha.

All right, fair enough. I've been blessed(cursed?) with an overabundance of patience. Enough to decide I wanted to be an English teacher. And because of that, I'm just happy to see people writing for whatever reason. Clearly, you have high standards, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. I propose that we attempt to utilize a concept all but unheard of on the interwebz: agreeing to disagree.

Thank you for the nice wall of text. I think I'll try and make a fence out of it.

 

[WashingMachineofDoom]

I personally hate fan fiction. I have reasons that I for some reason can't form into words.

 

[Korten12]

I am writing a Halo fanfiction, though it does take place after Halo 3, I don't use any pre-created characters. So it's a side-story in the universe that doesn't have any barings on the game/books storyline so it doesn't have any canon issues that most Fanfictions I believe have.

 

[Skoosh]

All right, fair enough. I've been blessed(cursed?) with an overabundance of patience. Enough to decide I wanted to be an English teacher. And because of that, I'm just happy to see people writing for whatever reason. Clearly, you have high standards, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. I propose that we attempt to utilize a concept all but unheard of on the interwebz: agreeing to disagree.

Thank you for the nice wall of text. I think I'll try and make a fence out of it.

Yeah, I do have fairly high standards, mostly because there's already SO MUCH out there that's well worth reading, I don't want to waste my time treading through crap. You could go a lifetime and still not read everything worth reading out there, why bother with the amateurs? It's like digging through the mud for a fleck of silver when there's gold bars in your house.

But I'm repeating myself, so I'll follow your suggestion and agree to disagree. I'm also becoming a teacher, but a physics and math one, not English. The nice thing about science is you're either right or wrong, opinion doesn't come into play. Good luck with your career.

 

[Hipsy_Gypsy]

I don't tend to bother with it, full stop. I much prefer to write my own and read original (to a certain degree of course) novels. Though I am interested in the "Wicked" series but I'm definitely only going to treat it as a bit of a "fanfic" lest it spoil the stories it's based on.*

Snip

Looking WAY back and if you do your research just write[...]

Was that a pun? Sorrysorry; just raking about.


*As in, it isn't directly connected to Baum's work so there's no point in, for example, calling the Scarecrow 'Fiyero' (if I remember correctly) as if that were his actual name.


Ohohoh. Has anybody here read the "My Immortal" Harry Potter fanfic on FanFiction.net. Erm. Rather attempted to read it, even?


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