Fan-fiction - Why?

[gmw]

With the advent of the Internet it seems that fan-fiction has really taken off. I am someone that has always avoided it*. I don't have any really good reasons, I've never tried it (reading or writing), it's just never appealed. In general I read by author; with some exceptions, I find that if I really like a book by an author there is a very good chance I will like other books by that author. The idea of picking up the same world or story-line by a different author does not seem apposite, if I am going to experiment with a new author I prefer to start with something totally new.

Anyway, I've noticed on these forums there are a few people that write fan-fiction and a few threads looking to read it, so it seems an appropriate place to ask some questions:

Writers: Why do you write fan-fiction? If you are going to put the effort into writing why spend it something that is not entirely your own?

Readers: What makes you go looking for fan-fiction? Is it just the desperation we all feel when the main book/series is over and we want more ... or is there something else? Do you find much of it to be satisfying? Does it matter to you whether the fan-fiction author is able to emulate the style of the original author(s)?

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* The closest I have come to fan-fiction would probably be reading "The Willows in Winter" by William Horwood†, and soon will I read "And Another Thing..." by Eoin Colfer - but in each of these cases these are authors I already like (very much) from other books.

† While "The Willows in Winter" was well done, it was - in my opinion - still not up to what Kenneth Grahame created.

[wyndslash]

i used to read and love fanfiction. i also used to write fanfiction in my early teens. But I eventually grew tired of it (seeing as fanfiction is never really "true") and grew to love original characters and eventually created my own. at least for me, it was just a phase, and I suppose I learned to handle other people's characters before I matured enough to have some of my own. I didn't really care much for the quality of fanfiction, as long as it employed proper grammar as much as possible.

[HarryT]

I can understand why people like fan-fiction, but my limited experience of it is that most of it is terribly amateurish.

[charmian]

Some people do look for "more of the same." However, many people look for "what never happened" in the story. In other words, they're looking for "what ifs." IME, the majority of fanfiction centers around the characters, and the most popular genre of fanfiction is romantic in nature.

[0utis]

I don't write fanfiction, but I can understand why people write it. The world-building and the characterization are already done; writers can concentrate on the story-telling - so much easier for beginners. They can explore the 'what ifs' and write about secondary characters that the author has neglected but who have captured the imagination of the fan-base. And of course, keep on living in a world they love. It's a good training, not so different to writing an original story and realizing in the end that you have been plagiarizing your favorite author all along.

Then, there are the communities. I wish fanfiction had been around when I was a teenager. I love that there are young people out there who write, post it on the internet and other people from around the world write their opinions on it, help the writer to improve or just gosh about it. I remember how alone I felt when I was a teenager and liked writing, no one else I knew shared my interest or wanted to read my stories and eventually, I stopped writing

[Belfaborac]

As far as reading it goes, I guess some people really, really, REALLY fall in love with characters, worlds and whatnot and simply don't want it to end. Fair enough of course, but the few fan fiction stories I've sampled have left a lot to be desired and I personally wouldn't want to "pollute" a great reading experience by continuing onto inferior material.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i used to read and love fanfiction. i also used to write fanfiction in my early teens. But I eventually grew tired of it (seeing as fanfiction is never really "true") and grew to love original characters and eventually created my own. at least for me, it was just a phase, and I suppose I learned to handle other people's characters before I matured enough to have some of my own. I didn't really care much for the quality of fanfiction, as long as it employed proper grammar as much as possible.

Well said . It seems like a natural progression path for youngsters developing their talents, and I don't see what is wrong with it.

[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 characters, 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.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

As far as reading it goes, I guess some people really, really, REALLY fall in love with characters, worlds and whatnot and simply don't want it to end. Fair enough of course, but the few fan fiction stories I've sampled have left a lot to be desired and I personally wouldn't want to "pollute" a great reading experience by continuing onto inferior material.

I think this is one of the things that I've always feared about fan-fiction, that it would somehow degrade or distort the wonderful experience of the original. I can sort of see the logic of it being a starting place for new writers, but I remain unconvinced that it is all that useful (it could be interesting to know what popular authors started their time writing fan-fiction) ... the fan-fiction communities that have grown on the Internet may come to change that I guess.

[amoroso]

See Cory Doctorow's essay In Praise of Fanfic.

[gmw]

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.

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.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

As far as reading it goes, I guess some people really, really, REALLY fall in love with characters, worlds and whatnot and simply don't want it to end. Fair enough of course, but the few fan fiction stories I've sampled have left a lot to be desired and I personally wouldn't want to "pollute" a great reading experience by continuing onto inferior material.

Thank you for calling what I do "pollution". I guess you can determine from my posts here that my writing is inferior and leaves a lot to be desired. Gee. Thanks.

There are several reasons for writing fanfic. One of them is, indeed, a training ground for inexperienced writers. Just like many artists start off duplicating famous paintings and copying painters' styles, it can be easier for writers to set stories in existing backgrounds, especially if they're doing any type of fantasy, SF, or historical writing, so the world-building is already done, and they can concentrate on the story. It's really no different in that sense than doing, say, Hemingway pastiches, except that one is usually somewhat less reluctant to share the results (which might not be a good thing). It's a way to learn, and to find your own voice.

Another reason is the "what if" aspect -- exploring the things that might have happened, or that happened offstage, or before or after the canon storyline. Take, say, Star Trek. You have a ship with hundreds of people on it, in a galaxy with uncounted billions, and out of necessity, the show follows only a small group of those people, and really shows the viewpoint of only a tiny handful. For a lot of people, we just have to wonder ... what was that red-shirt thinking as the monster ate his buddy? What was going on in Engineering that was summed up in "all okay now, Captain"? What happened on the Tholian ships? How did things work for someone else? All of those people have stories, and some of them call out to be told -- different ones for different writers, of course.

Still another is continuation. Like Carriebear, I write fanfic for TV shows. Canceled TV shows. Canceled TV shows whose stars are retired or dead. There will never be another episode of the shows I love, so if there are going to be any more stories about those characters and those places, they'll have to be fanfic. It may not be as good as the original but it's all we've got. And in some cases, given my fondness for corny TV shows from the 60s and 70s, the fanfic can be, and is, better than canon (someone with all the time they need and writing for love can write a heck of a lot better than someone being paid to turn out a 22-minute script in a couple of weeks). I've seen some very, very good stories written as fanfic.

And, really, what is fanfic? Take the Mission Impossible movies. In my opinion, they were not only fanfic, they were bad fanfic. They were fanfic because they weren't written by the original canon authors, but by other random people decades later. They had the legal right to do so, yes, unlike we more conventional fanfic writers who trample on copyrights and trademarks as a hobby, but that's really the only way in which their writing differed. Well, that and the fact that they showed absolutely no respect for the original, something which would attract harsh criticism in the more rigorous parts of the fanfic world. When you look at any of the cases in which Hollywood has dug up the moldering corpses of dead TV shows and made dubious movies out of them, I would argue that they, too, are fanfic, and wouldn't be accepted by good fanfic writers because of their differences from canon. And the novelizations ... ouch. Just because Joe Schmoe was paid to write a spin-off novel and some fanfic writer does it for free doesn't mean Joe's book is any more "correct", and given some of the novelizations I've seen (hey, I was desperate, and they were what was on the charity book table!) a lot of times it's bad, worse, or downright dismal. Writers of spin-offs are the people who are willing to write in someone else's world, fitting certain guidelines, and accept no rights to any of their creations -- how is that really different from fanfic, aside from them getting paid?

Yes, there is a lot of bad fanfic out there. There's a lot of utterly terrible fanfic. The current trend that all writing should be praised, and if you "don't like, don't read" isn't helping, to say the least. But is that really unique to fanfic? I refer you to Smashwords for "pro" (at least in the sense of being for sale) counter-examples. We've seen enough utter dreck, I would think, to know that the writing of dreck is not limited to those writing out of love; there are plenty who do it for money, too. The major fanfic archives have no formal filters. Anyone can write anything, and someone probably has. Yes, that can (and, to a painful extent, does) include bad romance written by teenage virgins. But again, that's not unique to fanfic. We're not that lucky. But, although the signal to noise ratio may be execrable, that's not to say there's no signal. I'd venture to guess there's a lot more good fanfic based on old TV shows (my personal area of interest) than there are good Hollywood movies based on the same, because frankly I haven't seen or heard of a single one of the latter.

I guess the bottom line to the question of why we write fanfic -- and not just teenage girls learning to write, but established pros under pen names, and published authors who are making a living at something else, and just about anyone else you can think of -- is simple: it's fun. It's fun to write, and it's fun to read.

Seriously ... haven't you ever wondered what the characters were doing when you weren't looking? Or what that guy who never even had a name in canon did after all the heroes were gone? Or what if ... or if only ... or if this goes on? If you have, then you've taken the first step to writing fanfic.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

[...] I guess the bottom line to the question of why we write fanfic [...] is simple: it's fun. It's fun to write, and it's fun to read. [...]

Thanks for your post. I can respect this, these days I read for fun more often than any other reason.

Seeing two people posting here with an interest in writing fan-fiction for TV series is also interesting to me ... and I wonder if this is where I should start if/when I decide to try reading some fan-fiction. In general I care less about TV shows than I do about books, so I am less likely to be offended or upset if I hit poor examples. Then again, I must say that I've rarely come away from a TV show with any lasting interest in the characters (things like Dr Who or Star Trek episodes generally don't bear too close a scrutiny), so this lack of interest may make me less receptive to good examples.

Its a strange sort of dilemma/contradiction: the things I care enough about to want more I am scared wont be good enough, and the others I don't really care enough about to bother looking. Hmmm... Maybe a comedy.

[cfrizz]

I am someone who survived for years on getting my reading fix through fan fiction. I long ran out of space for new books & I needed the money for more important things. But I also love & needed to read. My first favorite FF is Star Trek mostly Voyager stories. Currently I'm reading a lot of The Devil Wears Prada stories.

Some of it is awful, & some of it is terrific, you quickly learn to spot the good from the bad. Some of these writers have gone on to be published writers.

My first jump into FF was I was looking for stories featuring Janeway & Seven of Nine in action adventure stories. What I found was a writer by the name of Gina L Dartt who's Just Between Series of stories are the ones that everyone elses are measured.

Her stories are slash in nature which I wasn't looking for, but I decided to have an open mind and read the first story. It was absolutely TERRIFIC! She maintained the continuity of the ST universe & she maintained the characters continuity. But she took the characters & stories where the tv show obviously couldn't/will never take them.

Gina has written over 100 stories in the ST universe & has two published books and is considered one of the best writers for fan fiction. Another woman who started out with ST fan fiction and now has 7 published books to her name is Gun Brooke.

Just like with everything else I have come across some published authors who I have no idea how they have gotten published because the book that I read was so awful. But I have read many wonderful stories & they have become my favorite authors.

If you are willing to keep and open mind, and be willing to hunt for some stories or ask for good stories from other FF readers, you just might find many hours of entertainment in reading fan fiction. It is what kept me sane before I got my Sony reader. But make no mistake, I have converted some of my favorites & put them on my reader as well as the over 200 books that I have gotten since getting my reader.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I can understand why people like fan-fiction, but my limited experience of it is that most of it is terribly amateurish.

Yes. I found the same in the past when I tried to read some official, published Star Wars-related novels I had bought in a batch from Ebay. In the few I attempted to read, the writing and the stories are so awful I gave up on them and eventually years later tossed the whole box. If you want a taste of the awful fan-fiction quality of the official "expanded universe" material, just browse the Wookipedia.

But I've also found over the years that many, many people have a much lower bar for what they consider good writing than I do.