Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: Azhev on January 07, 2008, 05:46:23 AM
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I saw this kind of discussion on another board, so I thought I'd bring it here. There are many out in this great Intarweb of ours that are diehard fanfiction...er...fans. I know people who read the Harry Potter fanfiction as avidly as they do the actual books. I know that there are authors at there who hate having fanfiction about their works, while some seem to encourage it. I didn't see a thread about it, and I was curious as to what you people thought on the subject. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
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to quote the Hitchhiker's Guide, it's mostly harmless.
However, erotic furry star trek fanfiction that puts the author in as an ocelot or something as the captain of the Enterprise is quite evil.
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My sister writes fanfiction. I don't like to talk about it.
In general, I think fanfiction can be a good way for people to start writing, where they can use others' characters and worlds in order to figure out parts of the writing craft. But I worry about people who never move on to doing their own thing. It seems that they feel a level of safety in writing in someone else's world. I personally think they need to move on, but that's their choice.
As for reading fanfiction. . . . I read what my sister writes because I love her, but I couldn't care less about reading fanfiction in general.
What I want to know is why it is socially acceptable to write fanfiction with classics (such as that book from the pov of the March sisters' father). If a book is old, how is it suddenly more appropriate to write with those characters? Just because there is no one to sue you over it doesn't mean that fanfiction is suddenly a better idea. Blah.
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I tend to agree about the fanfiction, I have never really gotten into it. However there is one set that I have thought were pretty good. There is a website www.stillflying.net (http://www.stillflying.net) where they have basically continued to write episodes of Firefly. They have currently finished season one and also done a season two. However I guess you have to be a fan of Firefly in the first place to enjoy it. I have only read a few, but the ones I read were not too bad.
Mason
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Hm. Okay, I've read fanfiction in the past, but it's been a few years and I don't make a habit of it. That said, I generally don't mind it.
I agree with Sigyn. I think fanfiction is alright as a stepping board; it can be easier to practice the mechanics of writing without worrying about developing characters and settings. Also, you could consider that some places write their fanfiction of a particular series as online (usually forum, sometimes MUDs) roleplay. Where they may use the world, but create their own characters. I don't mind that either. [For example, I'm pretty sure Dragonmount.com has made a world based on an alternative reality of WoT, where people make new characters.]
However, people that go overboard or who just can't let go of a series... really, I don't even want to know about the existance of some of the disgusting erotica fanfiction that gets written. Bleh.
EDIT: By the way, I'm generally more in support of fanfiction writing being something you write on your own or use to get feedback on your writing skills, rather than something you deliberately write and showoff like a lot of people do on websites. It's a delicate line between respecting the author and trying to move in on their territory.
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well, the reason I say mostly harmless is this
the overwhelming majority of it, at least in my experience, is fantasy fulfillment and experiencing the world again/more. It's not about the writing, it's about being in a place you love. So if you're talking purely from the standpoint of a person wanting to become a professional writer, then yeah, it's best a starting point in most cases (more on that later).
But most people write Harry Potter fan fiction because they love Hogwarts and all the other hoo ha. They want more to it than the 7 books out there. So they make their own. How is this *any* different than roleplaying in Middle Earth or any other of a hundred other popular settings? Other than it's generally a solo activity and roleplaying is most often a group activity, I can't really find any other important difference.
The same goes for reading it. People read books about Rogue Squadron and the Jedi Academy because they want more Star Wars. Not because it's fantastic writing. Is this a bad thing? I don't really want to do it, but I read for interesting new stories and characters or perhaps some skillful turn of phrase or a thoughtful approach to something. Not everyone reads for that.
Now, I wonder where you consider the line between fanfiction and other literature is. Is Bride of Frankenstein fanfiction? Is Grendel (the story of Beowulf told from the monster's point of view)? What about Mists of Avalon? Are you saying I can't write a Robin Hood story without it being fanfiction? If so, does that mean it's bad just because it's fanfiction? Or is some fanfiction "ok" and other fanfiction not? If so, what distinguishes good from bad.
I don't think that, necessarily, one need ever stop writing fanfiction. Kevin J. Anderson told me over snacks once that he found writing Star Wars books just as rewarding as writing original fiction. Does doing it professionally make it no longer fan fiction? If so, wouldn't writing fanfiction prepare you for writing series like that professionally? If you enjoy it, and can get paid for it, I don't see what's wrong with it. Certainly it doesn't challenge you in *starting* a new set of characters. But every Star Wars book I've read (admittedly, only one other than the old Daly ones) had new characters in new places not previously explored in the Star Wars universe. That right there is doing what any writer does, just starting at another place. And they have the additional challenge of continuity, and being intimate with the setting. If something comes up, they can't just change it, they have to write around it. That requires its own kind of skill and talent.
So, yeah. I don't really like fanfiction myself, but mostly because almost every bit of it I've ever read has been written by amateurs who don't care about skill. I personally don't care to explore more of the Harry Potter world, so that alone isn't enough for me. It is for other people. Is that any less nerdy than arguing whether Logan's claws could pierce Steve Roger's shield? Is it any less productive than playing a 4 hour board game? Is it any more mind damaging than clicking on goobers for night after night while playing WoW? or watching hour upon hour of your favorite TV series? I find that premise hard to accept.
So no, fanfiction is not Evil. It's not inherently bad. Be careful to distinguish your opinion and why you read from an objective assessment of the virtues of fanfiction, because the last three opinions seem to me to be entirely focussed on evaluating it for the poster's own purposes, but pronounce judgement as if it were objective. I don't think there's a problem with posting why you don't find fanfiction worthy of your attention, but that doesn't mean fanfiction isn't worthy of *anyone's* attention.
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I apologize if I sounded like I was trying to be objective. When it comes to fanfiction, I know I can't be objective, and that goes back to my sister again. My sister is an amazing writer. I love reading her writing, but I hate that she rarely comes out of fanfiction to write her own world and then never finishes anything (I have my own problems with finishing works, but I have managed it on occasion). And she does crossovers. I understand that she enjoys it, and if I were a nicer sister I'd be more supportive, but I hate it that because she focuses on fanfiction, she will never get anything of her own finished so that she could try to get it published. Rant finished.
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but maybe she isn't looking to get published. You should be happy because she's doing what makes her happy.
or maybe someone will notice her fanfiction and ask her to write in that series.
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I don't understand author's who don't allow fan fiction (not just that they are against it, but they enforce their viewpoint with legal means).
Such as GRRM. He's pretty famous (I believe) for standing against fan fiction of his works. I don't understand that viewpoint. Doesn't it just mean that people love your series even more and (as has been said above) want to experience it more?
What does the author lose by allowing or (daresay) supporting it? I know JKR has read a lot of the fan fiction of her work.
GRRM was discussing it somewhere and said that he thinks it hinders an authors development by letting them use characters and worlds that already exist, rather than going through lengths to develop their own.
Now, that may seem like a sound argument, but I find it utter BS. If someone is new to writing, let them have a start. People learn better doing baby steps. Maybe they aren't interested in being published, and just want to do it as a hobby, what harm does it do letting them save some time by writing about your world? My guess is that if a study was done they would find that writing fan fiction helps people instead of hindering them. First, it's easier to write since a lot of the ground work is done, but it still leaves plenty of room for creativity. You can still develop characters and plot lines. In addition, most fan fiction is read by other people. IMO a starting writer will have much better motivation to finish something if they know it will be read by someone. I'm sure they also get a lot more feedback about fan fiction than they would about something else they wrote.
I know there are some authors here, would any of you be against fan fiction?
Also, speaking of BS, how does Brandon feel? ;D
I should end by saying take this all with a large grain of salt, since my experience with writing is zero. The only things I've written since I've left school are forum posts, emails, checks and code. Though, I have thought about trying out some MB fan fiction just to see what the whole 'creative writing' thing is all about.
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The main reason many authors are against, though more just refuse to read it or allow it on official sites/forums, is for their legal protection.
They're worried that if you write some fan fiction then they write another book and there are similarities and all the sudden the fan is suing because of those similarities and the authors could loose a decent chunk of change (even if they win, lawyer fees are expensive). It has happened before so most feel it's better to be safe then sorry.
As for Brandon's views:
I also provide an exemption for fanfics, provided that--again--you do not attach them to this work or imply they are my work at all. In addition, by writing a fanfic with these characters, using this magic, or that is related to this work in any way, you waive all rights to that work. (In other words, you can't write a WARBREAKER fanfic, then sue me for compensation if I happen to write something similar in the world in a sequel to the book. I'm not going to steal your ideas, but I've got to write something like this just in case. It's every author's nightmare to get sued for writing in their own worlds, and is one of the reasons so many of them are so afraid of fanfiction.)
I'm not sure what his policy is on you posting fanfic here, but my policy is don't--even if it's not for one of Brandon's stories. TWG is a separate entity from Brandon and frankly we don't want to get pulled into anything legal. I'll delete any links or stories and lock any thread talking about one they wrote. Even with safe harbor possibly protecting us we don't want to deal with it.
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Like I said, I really have no opinion of fanfiction one way or another. But I can definately see an author's viewpoint on the whole thing. I sure for one would not want to get sued, whether or not I am in the right. Besides, if I have ideas, I would at least like to get credit for them and make them original.
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The main reason many authors are against, though more just refuse to read it or allow it on official sites/forums, is for their legal protection.
They're worried that if you write some fan fiction then they write another book and there are similarities and all the sudden the fan is suing because of those similarities and the authors could loose a decent chunk of change (even if they win, lawyer fees are expensive). It has happened before so most feel it's better to be safe then sorry.
As for Brandon's views:
I also provide an exemption for fanfics, provided that--again--you do not attach them to this work or imply they are my work at all. In addition, by writing a fanfic with these characters, using this magic, or that is related to this work in any way, you waive all rights to that work. (In other words, you can't write a WARBREAKER fanfic, then sue me for compensation if I happen to write something similar in the world in a sequel to the book. I'm not going to steal your ideas, but I've got to write something like this just in case. It's every author's nightmare to get sued for writing in their own worlds, and is one of the reasons so many of them are so afraid of fanfiction.)
I'm not sure what his policy is on you posting fanfic here, but my policy is don't--even if it's not for one of Brandon's stories. TWG is a separate entity from Brandon and frankly we don't want to get pulled into anything legal. I'll delete any links or stories and lock any thread talking about one they wrote. Even with safe harbor possibly protecting us we don't want to deal with it.
Thanks for the insight. I tend to always ignore the legal side of things, I guess because I think it shouldn't be such an issue (Side note: Did you know that American companies spent more fighting legal battles last year than they did on R&D?).
I was pretty sure Brandon's stance would be something along those lines (he did release Warbreaker after all) but wasn't sure on the details. I really do enjoy Brandon's work to the point where I feel like I need some way to express it and give him something in return. I just don't have talent for much in terms of art or writing. It's too bad I can't write some fan fiction in C# or Java.
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hrm. I have a very different stance than Sprig. I don't think this forum is the place to post fanfic, but links to it I don't have a problem with. Sounds like we need a staff meeting to decide the issue.
Actually, does it matter? Does anyone here write fanfic? (no links until this is decided, but a simple yes or no would be helpful)
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I dislike fanfiction very much, but I do admit that it can sometimes be a good starting point for a writer. I dabbled in WoT Roleplaying/Fanfics back in High School (gave that up a long time ago as it ceased to do anything for me) so I know a bit about the kind of community that can grow up around fanfic and certain worlds. I think fanfic in an online roleplaying manner is less annoying to me than the other kind because you have to create a character in the world from scratch, in fact we never used ANY of the actual book characters just the world. I eventually started creating my own worlds and stories and now I'm working on my own novels.
The biggest problem I have with fanfiction (ok there are several) is that it becomes (more often than not) a vehicle for disturbing wish fulfilment. It tends to focus on romantic interludes, and (as had been mentioned) erotic and furry, etc. I know, I know.... Not all fanfics do that, but there is a LARGE quantity that do.
Another major problem is that of the legal ramifications for the author himself.
The final issue I have seen is the wild obsession that some people have with these fanfic stories. People just get sucked in to writing (usually sub par) (usually romantic) fanfics of a certain story and then ....they ...just ....never... move ....on.
It is a great springboard for budding authors when it is tackled in a literary manner and not for wishfulfillment, when grammar and composition matter more than who is snogging whom.
Happily as much drivvel that gets written this way, there are a very few gems that come out.
So while I dispise 99% of fanfiction, I don't see a need to ban it, just treat it like Brandon has done. You may write it but the characters still belong to the author and the fanfic person may not sue said author. Let the teens write their drivvel I say. I just won't read it. :)
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Oh, I hate fanfiction.
The authors butcher the stories and characters so much. It sickens me.
Blegh.
I had this person who I knew who did nothing but write fanfiction about gay anime characters.
She had a bunch of comp books filled with the stupid stories and they were horrible.
And she did nothing but go on and on about how great she was and how she was going to be a great author!
She didn't have enough creativity to even branch out from the personalities and storylines of the animes she was copying, just changing the names of everything/one
Not to mention that I also hate any type of anime or manga.
Don't even get me started on the fact that the manga section is right next to the sci-fi/fantasy section at ANY bookstore you go to.
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a very small percentage of fanfiction is actually very good and offers additional insight and perspective on characters and give fans of a series a bit more of their favourite characters especially if a series feels a bit cut short.
the fact that most people write poorly is more a statistic than justification for saying the making of fanfiction is inherently evil. In my experience the best fanfiction is done by mature minded individuals who create stories to the best of their own ability while still having a great degree of respect for the owners and creators and the characters themselves. These type of authors who do write some brilliantly insightful takes on stories and characters tend to do so mostly to express potential depths to characters, relationships or whatever which would never have been able to slot into the series often.
The type of nice, mature fanfic writers I'm taling about while extraodinarily rare would be far more likely to beg and plead for the type of stuff they were writing to be included in the series.
Frankly though, anyone who would actually try and sue the author just horrifies me to no end. My take on things is unless people would be heartfeltingly (is that a word?) willing to give their stories as suggestions to the author than they just shouldn't write it or post it in the first place.
Actually, most fanfic writers just shouldn't post their work in public forum, but that's purely because most fanfics tend to be exceedinly poorly written by gushing thirteenyear olds who have no ability to be able to analyse their own work.
But fanfiction isn't evil, just plagued by some stupid people like every other thing in the world - it's one of those population bell-curve things. -_^
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I'm not exactly sure how I feel about fanfiction. On one hand, the overwhelming majority of it is terrible. Poorly written, poorly thought out, completely unreadable junk.
On the other hand, every now and then, a good story gets written.
But the existence of fanfiction tells me something: Either the people reading/writing it absolutely love the world and characters, and can't part with them, so they read/write more adventures, or that the author didn't do his or her job and bring real closure to the series. If people feel like the ending of a story "left them hanging", I think it's natural that they should seek satisfying closure.
So I think I can understand the why, but most of the times the result is quite poor. In concept, I can support the idea. In actual practice... I would think, more often than not, it is a poor idea.
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I don't really care for fan fiction, so I don't read it. So I don't understand why people get so hot and bothered about it. Their not being forced to read it, either.
But I see what some people are talking about from a writers aspect. It's a good start, just like how copying another artist's work is good when you're just getting started, but at some point if they want to write more seriously, their going to have to break away from that. If they never drop the crutches they're never going to be able to walk right. But If they don't want to write seriously that's totally up to them.
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I think that most of it is junk but harmless. I have written some but I never let anyone else read it. I have friends that are always asking me to read theirs. I usually give in but rarely find it interesting. That is partly because they choose books and subjects that I am not really interested in. There have been a few rare exceptions though that I told the writer that what the person wrote was actually interesting and I recommended that they send it to the author to give him ideas.
I think that it is silly for these ff writers to sue the original authors though. They should be happy that they might have given the author an idea that he was able to use.
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Uhmm, fanfiction writers should never send their ideas to the actual writers. Wise writers will never use ideas that their fans send them (unless those fans are alpha readers the writer has selected to give feedback on his or her stuff before it gets published).
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In my opinion it really depends. There's a stark contrast between a good continuation and a Fan Fiction. Sometimes others authors can expand the universe of a story in meaningful and interesting ways. Though if you guys are referring to the strict abuse of already existing literature and the changing of already existing story elements in order to write out what you think would have been cool happening, then I would say it does more harm than good.
Uhmm, fanfiction writers should never send their ideas to the actual writers. Wise writers will never use ideas that their fans send them (unless those fans are alpha readers the writer has selected to give feedback on his or her stuff before it gets published).
I don't know about that. I see nothing wrong with getting inspired by the idea of another. Not to the point of plagiarism or anything, but to like and idea and considering it is not always a bad move, though I do agree that it can be under certain circumstances...
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Evil. Definitely. It's amazing how some people can completely screw up a good story with such ease. I'm envious.
And reading that crap that they spawn out is just painful.
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Well speaking as someone who actually writes fan-fiction, I can say I'm certainly getting a kick out of reading all these replies. :)
Usually the bulk of fan-fiction I do is for projects that either didn't get enough story in (i.e. the show got canceled after a short time, i.e. 1 season) or simply a desire on my part to explore different facets of the story. I love secondary characters almost as much as main characters, so I often focus a lot of fan-fiction around these less popular characters. And yes, it is all just for my own amusement.
That's my problem, I have no real illusions of being an actual published writer. Fan fictions, that only I read for my own amusement and love for the body of work, are the only outlet I have into acting on my love of literature.
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Nothin' wrong with writing fanfiction. Just, if you're gonna put in the time…at least make it good. (Which I'm sure yours is, so no offense.)
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I have read myself some fanfiction. Particularly the stuff based on Disney's Gargoyles where the fan community (with input from the actual creative team) wrote further seasons of the show and wrote a few spinoff series as well. All of which were originally planned by the creators before the series got canceled. I have also read some of the transformers Beast Wars fan fiction. I was a huge fan of that series when it was on and it was nice to see some fans making an effort to write more stories to bring some of the toys into the canon.
I like fanfiction as a way to extend a series, particularly when it is done well. My big problem is that just like with books you have no way of knowing which authors are good without reading them first and whereas in RL the less talented authors don't get published, or at least not for long, fan fics just keep getting written by anyone with a keyboard.
The thing you need to be careful of with fan fiction is when it gets into the erotica area, which to my mind tends to be creepy. I don't really understand what would drive someone to write that stuff but as long as it is clearly labeled so I can avoid it more power to them.
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What's erotica?
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What's erotica?
You don't want to know....
I wish I didn't know...
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It's stories whose central focus is sex.
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You don't want to know....
I wish I didn't know...
lol that kind of statement just encourages him to go out and Google it...not exactly a great idea :P
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You know, Loud_G, Reaves's got a point. Good thing I wasn't home much before checking this ;D. Thanks for saving my childhood, Ookla 8).
Oh. That stuff.
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heh, sorry. Not my intention. :D
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Hehe I know. That would've been…interesting.
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Right, better to just say it than prompt him to google it.
Though with the internet, it's hard to "save" anyone's "childhood." Pretending certain things don't exist isn't going to work.
When I was in fifth grade, I was on the computer all the time. If the World Wide Web had existed back then, especially in the form it has today, I would have been exposed to way more stuff at an earlier age than I was.
Parenting my daughter as she grows up is going to be interesting.
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Yeah, there's so much horrible stuff on the Internet now. And the thing is, you can't not let your kids have Internet access–they need it for school–but how do you limit what they find? You can use things like ModerateSafesearch, but that is pretty easy to turn off. And as I have found in my own experiences, kids (that includes me) will always find ways around restrictions. Especially with computers.
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The only thing to do is to teach them correct principles, and hope that they govern themselves.
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Yeah, I guess that's true. Although sometimes even that doesn't work….
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I agree it's the only practical option. There are no shortcuts.
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My husband and I are expecting our first in May, and let me tell you, I'm far more worried about our child's future values and choices than about the pain of childbirth.
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Right, better to just say it than prompt him to google it.
Though with the internet, it's hard to "save" anyone's "childhood." Pretending certain things don't exist isn't going to work.
When I was in fifth grade, I was on the computer all the time. If the World Wide Web had existed back then, especially in the form it has today, I would have been exposed to way more stuff at an earlier age than I was.
Parenting my daughter as she grows up is going to be interesting.
Honestly, I have to agree with this. I'm glad the web in it's current form didn't exist when i was a kid. Not that I have anything against the internet in it's current incarnation, it's just that my childhood would have been so....different. Along with all the childhood memory killings that exist now.
Also, just as a side note, @shaggy, and I don't mean this as an insult or anything, but i noticed you seem quite mature for your age :P
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Actually, I would take that as a compliment. Thank you (as long as you're not being sarcastic!).
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Actually, I would take that as a compliment. Thank you (as long as you're not being sarcastic!).
Nope, I meant it. I find sarcasm to be a bad thing on the internet, since it can cause confusion, as text doesnt really convey sarcasm well, unless you make it VERY obvious :P
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Good point. I'll have to keep that in mind. 8)
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I know, old thread, but I just wanted to put my two cents in on the original question.
I usually don't have a problem with fanfic. What I hate about it is when someone comes along and takes a pre-created story and characters and starts to bring back to life dead characters, changing the themes, and heavily altering the personalities. That's what makes fanfic, good fanfic, hard. In a given story a character is supposed to go through character development. It's almost impossible to do this without changing the pre-created characters to the point of being unrecognizable to the original. (The biggest reason I’m chiming in on this is because my favorite book series of all time had a very unpopular ending and kids—yes, it is a children’s book, but not Harry Potter—everywhere started making fanfic with the only casualty in the entire series coming back to life--Note: the story's theme was "war and how it changes people". Stupid kids.)
I also don’t think this helps writers in the long run. Learning how to create life-like and likable characters is probably the biggest part of writing, IMO, and fanfic isn’t doing that when you're just recycling old characters. I write speculative fiction, and in it you have to learn to world build, that is another thing that you can’t go wholesale on with a fanfic.
Yes, it is fun (I’m assuming, I’ve never written any), and it may be good practices with learning how to plot and use dialog, but it’s not going to improve one’s writing like original fiction can.
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Hmm, This is Interesting.
I belive fanfic plays a vital role in the individual-progress for aspiring writers. It is deffinately something to be encourraged. If someone decides to write a sidestory of someones Saga, They should be proud and encourraged!
You never know If this can lead to something.. Better, taste is just a prefferance.
Prohibition is blasphemy.
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Prohibition is blasphemy.
Muahaha I just saw The Untouchables. But how is that blasphemy??
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I'm very this or that when it comes to Fanfics. If the author does a good job of preserving the world in which the story takes place and creates a plausible story within that realm, then I like it. If they go and make their own knew set of rules and change a ton of stuff then it annoys me to all levels of hell.
So to me it depends on the fanfic/author.
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Well whatever…but if the writing is crap then they should be imprisoned for life.
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I never understood Fan-fics. If you are a truly talented writer, do your own stuff. If you are hell-bent on writing in someone's already-created world, then do writing-for-hire jobs with Wizards of the Coast, Black Library, Star Wars/Trek, etc where you can actually get paid for it and get your name out there.
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I never understood Fan-fics. If you are a truly talented writer, do your own stuff. If you are hell-bent on writing in someone's already-created world, then do writing-for-hire jobs with Wizards of the Coast, Black Library, Star Wars/Trek, etc where you can actually get paid for it and get your name out there.
LOL. I didn't even think about it until you just said that. I really love a lot of the Star Wars books. In truth basically all of them are not more than well thought out fan fics.
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I never understood Fan-fics. If you are a truly talented writer, do your own stuff. If you are hell-bent on writing in someone's already-created world, then do writing-for-hire jobs with Wizards of the Coast, Black Library, Star Wars/Trek, etc where you can actually get paid for it and get your name out there.
LOL. I didn't even think about it until you just said that. I really love a lot of the Star Wars books. In truth basically all of them are not more than well thought out fan fics.
And you get PAID to do it. And you get a writing credit. Seriously, if you are gonna do it, do it in a professional way.
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Personally, I have no interest in fanfiction, either in reading or writing it. There's plenty to read that's already on the shelves (and has already passed QA, so to speak); and as a writer, I'd rather be getting stuff done.
Fanfiction as a "thing", however, I don't really see as good or bad; it's just something that's not for everybody.
I think it's an exaggeration to say that fanfic is "vital" or "essential" part of learning to write. (At least, I should hope so; I've never written any.) But I also think it's incorrect to say that it won't teach you how to write, or how to show characterization, or to world-build.
Sure, you may be using someone else's world or characters, but showing characterization and world building and stuff like that is about execution at least as much as it is about actual invention. (More, even, but that's an argument for another time.) You can still learn to show world-building and characterization while writing someone else's characters and someone else's world. And you can learn other valuable things, such as story construction and even just how to write prose.
So yeah, if one's doing it as a way to hone one's writing craft, I think it's a viable approach, even if it's not stuff you can publish.
And not all people who write fanfiction are doing it with that in mind. They're doing it because they enjoy writing, or enjoy the world, or both. They're not necessarily looking to get paid or published. And that's fine.
But yeah, if I were going to write fanfiction, I'd totally be trying to get on board with Wizards. XP
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I haven't read this whole thread since I posted on the first page, but here's what else I have to say about fan fiction:
I had "coffee" with Kevin J. Anderson once (he drank coffee, Brandon and I snacked on M&Ms), and I asked him what had been more fulfilling for him -- writing in persistent worlds like Star Wars or Dune, or writing his original material. He half dodged the question, but I had carefully crafted it to be nonjudgemental and not an issue of talent. The half of the answer that wasn't dodging basically said that he had enjoyed doing both.
Look, if you want to write professionally, I agree with bookstore guy. Either do original stuff or write for someone so you get paid.
But some people who write, just like some musicians, just do it as a hobby and never want to be pro. I say let 'em write what they want. they're only doing it to enjoy themselves.
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this reminds me of the time I was invited to a writing group where one of the people only wanted to write fan-fiction. said he only wanted to write in other people's worlds, but that he didn't think he wanted to get published. i didn't go to that writing group.
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I prefer to read the books that interest me and write my own stories. If I liked a book enough to write fanfic, I would probably just read it again. But that's me.
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Most fan fics that I've read are at least halfway decent.
But that's because the majority are crap in the first paragraph, and I think "I'm NOT going any further with this."
So, yes. Even though it's redundant, a select few fanfictions are good; the majority are drivel.
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Fan humor is good the rest is mucho baddo!!! (and i got that expression from a hispanic!)