# Your views on fan fiction



## kobuzero (May 10, 2012)

Hey there guys.

I was wondering what your views on fan fiction are? Do you find it nerdy? Good practice?
I ask because I myself and working on my first ever fan fiction, and I want to show it to my friends, but I'm a little bit scared of being made fun of for it.


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## Evan of Phrygia (May 10, 2012)

I think of it the way I think of anything;

Enjoyable when good, annoying when bad, godawful when fangirls


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## Ariosto (May 10, 2012)

The only thing I ask of it is the same I generally ask of a book:
-Well-written and gripping.
-Self-sufficient.
-Coherent (with the added requirement of keeping believeable within the canon's rules).
-Enjoyable treatment of the characters (connects with the above point as well).

It can also be good practice for working on your writing and plotting: you already have the rules of your narration, now work with them and make a good, well-told argument. Understanding these rules also teaches how to set your own, and you may even take some inspiration from the philosophy behind them. That's basically it.


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## Kaamos (May 10, 2012)

It's weird.

I mean I can sort of understand if you like a show or movie or something you want to write stories about it, but I don't know why it just seems silly to me. It's probably the reason why I ignore "fanon" and other stuff like that.


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## Deo (May 10, 2012)

Well, I seem to be lucky enough to find myself in fandoms that the majority of writers are college age or older, so the majority of fanfiction is decent. However, I don't read decent fanfiction, I only read the best reviewed fanfiction or fanfics that win writing awards. Take for instance the X-Files fandom. It was a largely older women and the writing was superb, and after 10 years of being on the web, only the best of the best fanfiction has survived in X-Philes archives. However, that being said reading X-Files fanfiction will ruin you from most other fanfiction forever. One of my favorites was a 200,000 word beast that had a riveting plot, story archs, espionage, drama, and plot twists. It was clever, exceedingly well written, and later I found out made by an author with several novels published under their belt.


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## sunandshadow (May 10, 2012)

I love reading fanfiction and it can be fun, fulfilling, and even therapeutic to write, although I don't think it's particularly good practice for writing original stuff.


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## Shouden (May 11, 2012)

I believe...fan fiction is...a BITCH to write. Because, to write good fan fiction, you have to do your research into the world so you can make sure the characters don't break their personalities. I've written a couple bits of fan fiction and I now know NEVER write a Marvel Fan Fic 'cause that universe is all sorts of messed up. However, it can fun to insert one's characters into a universe or create new characters within a universe. I can't really complain since I've written some myself, so...


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## DarrylWolf (May 11, 2012)

It can be fun, especially when it's like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGmdcfvA0e4

How exactly do you "constipate" a camera? And you spell it "masturbate"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Tx5xzYNhE&feature=relmfu

"Man-carrot" and "massive throbbing gigglestick"- it's impossible to keep a straight face while reading that. But it's unintentionally a much better read than its source material.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfG0rZwPWtA&list=PL3EDE16B3B9D1EB6A&index=6&feature=plpp_video

I'll never think of Metroid the same way again. But I'll have to go and say "Hello and slip dippin' cop flopclippin slip ditch fizzo sliz" to my friends at some point in life.


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## Landown (May 11, 2012)

I'd say I find it odd,but if done right it can be amazing. When I was a missionary my companions mother was on Oprah for a Twilight fan fiction.It depends on the work put in to it.


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## Kaspar Avaan (May 11, 2012)

I can't say I have strong feelings for fanfiction either way, because, even though I'm highly selective about the fanfiction I read and consider a majority of it to be pointless, I have come across a few diamonds in the rough that were surprisingly well-written and a pleasure to read. These have been away from the large fanfiction websites, though; the fandoms are at their worst on those.

As a rule, I won't read and enjoy something that makes romance the main feature, and I won't read any pairings unless they're well-supported and realistic -- not 'this is my OTP because one of them winked one time'. Perhaps it's because I have a terrible, burning hatred of romance novels, or just because I find it annoying that most erotic fanfictions are written by twelve-year-olds who don't have a clear idea of what they're writing about. And I just avoid AU fictions altogether. Those aren't even proper fanfictions most of the time because of the sheer difference to the source material. 'OMG, what if Sherlock Holmes and John Watson were American teenage girls going to Hogwarts?' It isn't _Sherlock Holmes_, then, is it?

I like the huge works that may as well be novels. My current favourite is a particular _Team Fortress 2_ 'what if' scenario involving zombies. It has the only romance I think I've ever enjoyed in a fanfiction, and the characterisation was absolutely spot-on. It didn't play up the romance into something big, and it made it much easier to read and enjoy as a horror.


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## Ozriel (May 11, 2012)

Indifferent I guess on the matter. 
There are some that are good, and others that are so terrible that all of the red markers on this earth would not fix it.


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## Ad Hoc (May 11, 2012)

Ozriel said:


> others that are so terrible that all of the red markers on this earth would not fix it.


Same goes for original writing, though. It's just not as easy to run into. 


Not much of a writer, but as a reader, I think fanfiction can be pretty fun. Some of it is terrible but that goes for every kind of writing. My last boyfriend was a hobbyist writer who tended to get very frustrated and depressed with his writing, but he could pull himself out of those slumps by writing fanfiction short stories. That was nice to see. 

In one instance I saw a piece of fanfiction that was actually better than its source material. It managed to make the characters _more_ engaging and relatable, and was for the most part well-written.


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## DarrylWolf (May 11, 2012)

But what do people think of really bad fanfiction that develops somewhat of a cult following? Think of bad movies like "The Room" or "RHPS" and tell me if the same thing that makes them popular isn't also what makes "Metroid High School" or "My Immortal" or "Twila, the Girl Who Was in Luv With a Vampire" popular.


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## Kaspar Avaan (May 11, 2012)

DarrylWolf said:


> But what do people think of really bad fanfiction that develops somewhat of a cult following? Think of bad movies like "The Room" or "RHPS" and tell me if the same thing that makes them popular isn't also what makes "Metroid High School" or "My Immortal" or "Twila, the Girl Who Was in Luv With a Vampire" popular.



I think it's amazing. Things like _Half-Life: Full-Life Consequences_ still make me laugh because I know people who write like that.


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## Mxpklx (May 11, 2012)

I honestly find it annoying, but as a writer of Stargate fan fic, I can't be one to judge.


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## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 11, 2012)

DarrylWolf said:


> But what do people think of really bad fanfiction that develops somewhat of a cult following? Think of bad movies like "The Room" or "RHPS" and tell me if the same thing that makes them popular isn't also what makes "Metroid High School" or "My Immortal" or "Twila, the Girl Who Was in Luv With a Vampire" popular.



Two words: ComicsNix.

To quote the great Rob Bricken: "Obviously, ComicsNix is almost certainly a troll, writing these insane fan fics for kicks. But when he can still turn a phrase like 'Diana got grave, now she have to sleep feeling like a pork chop' I just don't care. His stories need to be read anyways."
​His fanfiction is horribly depraved, but it is gut-bustingly hilarious.

I read Fanfiction Friday on Topless Robot every week. You might like it if you aren't too squeamish.


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## thoughtmaster (May 13, 2012)

I find fanfiction entertaining because I enjoy finding information of the universe that is featured in the game, book or movie. One reason I find fanfiction interesting is that it gives me an opportunity to show off the research of the universe the fanfiction writer used. Another reason I enjoy fanfiction is that if good, it alcan come to rival the origional.


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## Mullerornis (May 26, 2012)

Fanfiction is good, either as practise for writing, or to troll fans of a work.


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## KigRatel (May 26, 2012)

I love fan fiction; I've always liked the idea of taking an established universe and expanding upon it, adding in twists and turns the original developers didn't think of. I mostly do it in my head because I can never be bothered to write it down, but I like seeing other people do it. When I read it, I judge it like i'd judge any other piece of literature, the whole fanfiction aspect doesn't come into the judgement.


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## Zenia (May 26, 2012)

I love reading fanfiction. Provided the person can write well.


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## RayO_ElGatubelo (May 26, 2012)

Zenia said:


> I love reading fanfiction. Provided the person can write well.



I'm the opposite. I love a good fan fiction trainwreck. Especially the ones that make my face melt like Ernst Toht.


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## Zenia (May 27, 2012)

RayO_ElGatubelo said:


> I'm the opposite. I love a good fan fiction trainwreck. Especially the ones that make my face melt like Ernst Toht.


Trainwrecks are good as well. I have a YouTube channel for them: My Immortal 

I just prefer good ones. XDD


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## Namba (May 27, 2012)

I prefer fanfiction for the fanfiction stories about a fanfiction autobiography recording the events encountered by a fanfiction character made for said fanfictions.


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## FlynnCoyote (May 27, 2012)

I like a good fanfic. I used to write them myself but moved away from them in favour of original work. It gives far more freedom to write in.


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## Cain (May 27, 2012)

I like fanfiction, provided it's well written.
And as you can see from my avatar, I'm a brony, and a large part of our fandom revolves around fanfictions. I'm currently in the process of writing one myself, so I don't have any qualms with fanfiction, even the saucier ones, provided they're decently written.


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## Palantean Writer (May 27, 2012)

I started out by writing fanfiction and I find it good practice. You're working with existing characters so you know what characterisation you need to create (a snarky character, certain speech habits, that kind of thing) so it's almost like tracing over an image. It gives you opportunity to hone your mimicry skills, which is useful to remember even when you're writing original stuff. There's nothing new under the sun, so anything you write will be a lot like_ something_ already existing. 

Because you're writing fanfiction, other people will know what you're trying to get at, so getting feedback isn't too difficult. That said, I always found it harder to get a good, long review for fanfiction than I did for original.

It's also a good time, when you're writing fanfiction, to get over the classic novice writing hazards: Mary Sues/Gary Stus, writing all characters more or less the same, crushes on/hatred for characters, lacking empathy for characters who aren't much like you, etc.

In short, fanfiction-writing is a good thing. The bike stabilizers of the writing world


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## Carnie (May 27, 2012)

I can't think of any type of writing that's inherently _bad. _
Terrible fanfics are usually funnier than terrible examples of other writing, though. I see them as practice myself, and I've considered writing one before.


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## Bladespark (Jun 5, 2012)

Currently I find that writing fanfiction feels like banging my head against a wall.  To get somebody interested in reading my original fic, I just have to have a good pitch.  With the fanfic, if they're not into the fandom they'll ignore it no matter how good  it is.  So when you're writing for a fandom that's not currently hugely popular, it's a bit frustrating.  And yet I keep having great ideas for obscure fandoms.  (Currently my muse wants me to start on a Legend of Zelda/Dune mashup, of all things.  The overlap between those two fandoms is not large, I suspect.  I'm putting it off because while it would be awesome, it would probably never get read by anybody.) 

That said I do have fun writing the stuff.   And it's not even like I'm using it for "bike stabilizers" I only just started doing fanfic recently, I used to be 100% original.  It's more like taking a vacation, it's not anything I could ever take seriously anyway, so I can have fun with it and not take it seriously.


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## SladinForever (Jun 5, 2012)

Being a fan fic writer for 7 years now, I say go for it! When I first started out, I was bad. And I mean WAY bad--who isn't when doing something new?-- It has always been great practice for me and I keep improving more and more--I read through a chapter almost ten times, pretty much making tons of edits as I go-- I'm not against non-canon fan fics--since I too write non-canon fan fics, lol--but they have to make sense for me to enjoy it. I sometimes wonder where some people get certain pairings from fandoms. They are so random sometimes XD I'm not against making odd pairings, but for my tastes, I try sticking with pairings that make SENSE to me--canon or not--

Don't worry about people that may make fun of you for writing a fan fic. If you're a fan of it and you enjoy it, then forget them. They are not worth your time  Good luck on your story!


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## arctobear (Jun 5, 2012)

I don't write it, I'm more of a reader, but I enjoy reading them occasionally for stuff that I'm into, especially if there are gaps in the story as there were in my beloved Teddy Ruxpin.  They stopped the series because of funding, but there was still so much that could have been done with it, so it's fun when I can find TR fanfics.  That's really the only one I actively look for.  The bad thing about fanfiction is that it's probably better if you're somewhat familiar with the fandom.  I think I'd be kind of confused if I started reading a fanfic without having any clue what happened before with the original story.


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## Renafan (Jun 20, 2012)

Fanfiction is a wonderful tool to continue the story that you are sorry to see end and for others to enjoy.  The great thing about fanfiction is that with enough practice, it can be very good.  I started out horrible but managed to write a few decent stories way back when.   It just takes practice really.   If you REALLY get into it, the words just come out.


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