Fan Fiction: Is it all crap?

jill_valentine

(If a Mod wants to move this, I apologise)

I know it serves a function. I know that some of the best writers start out Fanficcing. I know its fun to play with characters. I know I'm guilty of writing some too.

But seriously...is all fanfiction crap? Not just the ever brain-hemorrhaging Song Fic, or nonsensical slash pairings or Mary-Sue riddled word torture. Have you ever read some and thought "Gee. That was just as good as the original. The writer clearly has a basic understanding of the characters and premise" I've spent hours at fanfiction.net, and it was soul-eating. I know its theraputic from a writers point of view, but from a readers point of view... have you ever read really good fan fiction? Does it exist? About anything?

Sarky

I don't like it. "Good" fanfiction would or should be nearly indistinguishable from the original author's style, as I see it, and that's just imitation with little originality. It's a few small steps from plagiarism, in my opinion. If someone wants to write, let them come up with their own ideas.

I can safely say that all the fanfic I have ever read has bee uniformly appalling drivel.

jill_valentine

You could view it as a way of exploring characters (or situations, or premises) further. The most popular subjects for fanfics are generally programmes/ books/ etc that lend themselves to further exploration of their interesting premises (Eg, The Matrix, Silent Hill) without necessarily reusing the same characters or plotlines.

The only fan fic I ever really liked was a Silent Hill one about a little girl who gets increasingly sinister notes in her school locker. It borrowed the world of the game, but none of the characters or situations. Something like that is arguably equally as valid as an official spin off. But the average fan fic is drivel. Painful drivel.

I'm some sort of fan fic masochist. I hate most of it, and yet I can't seem to stay away. WTF is wrong with me?

LoLth

I tend to avoid fan fiction like the plague it is. It is one thing to take a well developed world and introduce your own characters (though still doesnt really work out that well usually).. it is something else to try to develope a character that, lets face it, only the writer knows well enough to portray properly.

IMHO, Fan fiction, at least the ones that take themselves seriously, is not a form of praise for the author of the setting but a form of self glorifying "this is my take on the setting / character. Look how good I am! I must be right" whereas, in reality, I read it as "I cannot come up with an original idea to save my life so here's something someone else came up with twisted to suit my own ideal".

Note: I am not knocking the writer's ability to write or technical knowledge of a language. I just doubt their originality.

And its not just amateur writers that are guilty of this either. Brian Lumley's Cthulhu based dreamworld series (Titus Crowe et al) was, with the possible exception of "the burrowers beneath", a complete mockery of Lovecraft's work - and this comes from a person who found Lovecraft's dreamlands series to be possible the lowest quality of his portfolio.

neXus9

Originally posted by Sarky
I don't like it. "Good" fanfiction would or should be nearly indistinguishable from the original author's style, as I see it, and that's just imitation with little originality. It's a few small steps from plagiarism, in my opinion. If someone wants to write, let them come up with their own ideas.

I can safely say that all the fanfic I have ever read has bee uniformly appalling drivel.

It has the potential to be great in some areas, notably games like Halo where there's a lot to expand upon and not much is given away.

CuLT

It would be so easy for me to write fan fiction; which is essentially removing all the actual effort from writing.
The effort gives reward.

I could probably write a passable Culture novel (Iain M. Banks), he's got a fairly solid formula from what I can tell, but I steer clear whenever I see myself getting that lazy.

In my opinion, FanFiction is the lazy and essentially unimaginative way into writing.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

in my opinion, none of your opinions are important.

fan fiction is just like any other kind of writing, it can involve the same kind of talent and work as "creative" writing :roll: but it's something for a community. generally if you get a large group of fans together online, a few of them will churn out some fan-fic.. it's just an exercise and there are some good writers out there who (for whatever reason) have yet to develop their own world and story.

most of the fan-fic i've read is wheel of time related, and while some are pretty cringeworthyyy there are some ****ing fantastic stories and really good writing in a few author's work. i remember in the period between books 7 and 8, 10-15 people started writing an alternative book 8 themselves to pass the time.. chapter by chapter. it wasn't as long as a regular book, but iirc it was a good story and an interesting take on what *could* happen in the world of twot.

but yeah, it's not *real* writing..:o

Sarky

I just read what might be classed as fanfiction. A book by Jack Shea (I think) called The Colour Out Of Time. It's based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft and his original The Colour Out Of Space (And his whole Cthulhu Mythos world), 50 years after the original story.

I found it to be a passable story. It could have been great, it really could, but I think the writer let it down. He fancied himself as a psychologist when talking about a trouble making jock type character, but the only impression I got from it was that he had been bullied by someone like that in school, and still had a grudge against any "popular" people. His psychobabble about power fetishes and alpha male tribal wossname went on for far too long, and was really out of place in what should have been a sci-fi(ish) horror short story.

Oh well. The quest for really good fanfic continues...

Shad0r

Any fan fiction I've ever read was drivel. It's just not possible to write characters the way the original author wrote them as the original author knows them. I'm not saying its useless imo as a tool to better one's writing abilities, just unoriginal. ANY writing is better than no writing though.

Personally I take the most enjoyment out of the creation of my characters and seeing what happens to them as I write. At the end of the day when you type 'THE END' at the bottom of your first draft of a piece of fiction, it should be accompanied with a sense of accomplishment and pride in what you've created. I feel that that would be massivly diminished if I just borrowed someone elses idea's and then tried to put my own storyline on them.

Tusky

Fan Fiction is pants.

Araniell

Originally posted by jill_valentine
I've spent hours at fanfiction.net, and it was soul-eating. I know its theraputic from a writers point of view, but from a readers point of view... have you ever read really good fan fiction? Does it exist? About anything?

See, that first sentence there is the reason you've found no good fanfic. FFN is a cesspool. I've read some really good fanfiction and a whole lot of crap. There are think pieces out there that can offer whole new insights into characters. But on FFN they get buried under the deluge of textual diarrhoea

Araniell

Originally posted by CuLT
It would be so easy for me to write fan fiction; which is essentially removing all the actual effort from writing.

Surely it requires some effort? It's a different style of writing, true but think about what's actually involved in writing fanfic. You must research, to ensure that your work is accurate. You have to look in an abstract and then specific way at characterisation. In order to write a character 'in character' you have to study the character. That means actively rather than passively viewing your source material.

Then there's genre to consider. In order for fanfic to ring true you have to pick your register very carefully. And plot has to be developped to make sense within a canon that already exists.

It may not be the most exhalted of art forms, as the ultimate end is always going to be just a shadow of the original work, but a well written fanfic requires a huge amount of effort and is a very valuable exercise in active reading and in studied writing. Those sort of mental tools can then be applied to making sure your original work isn't contrived, cliché or ridiculous without your even realising it.

CuLT

Originally posted by Araniell
Surely it requires some effort? It's a different style of writing, true but think about what's actually involved in writing fanfic. You must research, to ensure that your work is accurate. You have to look in an abstract and then specific way at characterisation. In order to write a character 'in character' you have to study the character. That means actively rather than passively viewing your source material.

If you're going to actually write fanfiction, you'll most likely know the original story inside-out, just because you enjoy it.

Then there's genre to consider. In order for fanfic to ring true you have to pick your register very carefully. And plot has to be developped to make sense within a canon that already exists.

Once again, the register should come fairly naturally to a fanfic writer if they have an ounce of talent or interest in the original work.

I'm believe that the genuine work as well as personal enjoyment that comes from writing is in the creation of a character or even an entire universe.

This is your own creation to unleash upon the world, that satisfaction cannot be achieved in writing FanFic.

jill_valentine

If I may necropost-

Having recently discovered the delights of Godawful.net, and after a year of seeking out decent fanfiction, I've come to the conclusion that the bad far outweighs the good.

I have read precisely two good fanfiction pieces, including the Silent Hill one mentioned above. The other was a BTVS one.

In the meantime, I've read a Silent Hill fic with Ashton Kutcher. Ashton god-damn Kutcher. I've read a BTVS one where Faith falls in love with Spike after he "romance rape"s her. I've read a Star Trek fic set against the Asian Tsunami. Not only have I lost my faith in fan fiction. I hereby renounce my faith in Homo Sapiens as a species.

TerrorFirmer

I've read a Star Trek fic set against the Asian Tsunami. Not only have I lost my faith in fan fiction. I hereby renounce my faith in Homo Sapiens as a species.

Seriously, there should be a fanficition site where submissions in every categories have to be reviewed before being posted. That way, we all win.

Scarinae

I think the best answer to the question is YES

I've never read good fan-fiction, but then again I tend to avoid it like the plague. I've come across a lot of Harry Potter ones strangely enough, I think a lot of those are written by teenagers