Quote:
Originally Posted by Carriebear
As a 33 year old writer of fanfiction, I'm not what one would call a "youngster." I agree that there's always the question "Why won't you write original stuff?" but I'd also say that there's a common misconception that fanfiction is "easier" to write. While there is a stability in writing about characters that have already been created, in a world that's already been established, the readers of fanfiction are rabidly invested in this world, in the creators, and most readers worth their salt won't accept a poorly-written, horridly characterized fanfiction story. I strive to treat a fanfiction story as if I were writing for that show (I stay mostly within a certain t.v. show that I love and enjoy) and keep the characterizations, emotions, and settings true. Those of us who write fanfiction write it to introduce situations or plots for the characters we love, knowing that it would probably not occur in the show/movie/book, etc. I know many brilliant writers of fanfiction who have written novel-length stories, stories that were just as engaging, as true, as real as original novels. It's also worth noting, I think, that if you've ever picked up a Star Wars/Star Trek/CSI/etc. novel, you've read fanfiction, at least in my opinion.
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Some very good and interesting thoughts in amongst this, in particular I can see that getting things right for dedicated fans could be difficult. I really hadn't thought about the TV/movie series side of this question. I've seen the various Dr Who books coming out (now that it is popular again), and I had forgotten the various books-written-from-or-for-the-show that I have on my shelf (a "Blake's 7" episode by Trevor Hoyle (a gift I think) and "Total Recall" by Piers Anthony (I used to read quite a lot of his) - but no, I don't buy books of Star Trek etc., it's not something I've ever really considered).
I guess I see quite a distinction between television/movie characters and the world I create in my head when reading books. I've learned to forgive movies their shortfalls, I understand that there are limitations to what they can achieve. For example I think the
Lord of the Rings movies did a wonderful job, but they'll never replace the books in my mind. I did read the Silmarillion but have never been tempted by the stuff that's come out since. One of the interesting things about the LotR movies is that I think they benefited greatly from the large array of fan art that had been done over the years, I think it allowed them to create visuals very much in keeping with what had become accepted as the "standard" among fans of the book.