Fan-Fiction Rant

This is a little post I made for my blog (on which I may end up putting some of my fan-fics later on). Figured I might as well post the rant here as well. :D Blog can be found at http://stoicmaniac.squarespace.com

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So, I did say I'd be posting some short stories, and excerpts from longer stories. I will end up doing that shortly... but, first, I'd like to say a few things.

Now, I won't say I'm great. But a few people have read my stuff and they also mostly seem to really enjoy it, so I think I can say I'm decent. My work is exclusively fiction (because non-fiction is for ninnies), with a few fan-fics (yeah, I know, sue me).

I can hear it now -- "Fanfiction? Effin' fanfiction? What am I reading, is this a thirteen-year-old girl's blog? This is pathetic, I quit. In fact, I'm gonna go swallow a lubricated frisbee right this very second." (And if anyone gets that last reference I have an invisible cookie waiting for you.)

But hear me out! This is logic, good logic!

First, let's define fanfiction.

Fan fiction (alternatively referred to as fanfiction, fanfic, FF, or fic) is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator.

That's what Wikipedia has to say about fanfiction, among other things.

Now consider comics -- y'know, Batman, Wolverine, etc. If any person other than Bob Kane or Stan Lee writes those characters (which, obviously, lots of other people do), then it is, by definition, fan-fiction. It's just professional fan-fiction, as they're being paid and acknowledged as writers for those characters.

This also stretches outside comics. What's your favorite show? I can guarantee you that more people than the show's original creator have written for it. People get jobs writing for properties that technically don't belong to them, and as long as they get paid for it, they have perfectly legitimate careers. Hell, even movie franchises get different writers. Think the same guy writes James Bond with each passing film?

So then. An amateur writer of an original setting or character may receive a margin of respect, depending solely on the quality of their work. They are not getting paid, but since their projects take place in a world of their own devising, they can be considered respectable and possibly talented individuals.

However, an amateur writer of a project outside their own realm of creation will generally be ridiculed (don't feel bad, I was in this party as well until I saw the light). Even if they are talented in the fields of wordplay and storyline, they will be chastised because the object of their talent just so happens to be Optimus Prime (hehe). But, if a comic or TV show comes out with someone writing Optimus Prime and making money for it, they may very well be hailed as a genius if they are good enough.

So, them's just my ideas on the subject of fan-fiction... I understand why the prejudice came about, as a lot of fan-fiction is terrible -- the same way a lot of amateur original writing is terrible. So, if someday in the future I decide to post a few 'ficz of my own, you folks will be buttered up for the whole idea of it.

Provided this wasn't too long, and lost your attention.

The Public Domain is basically the best way to be paid to write fan fiction.

There's even a sight for public domain super heroes.

Just sayin'

@minigunman123: I don't think everyone hates fan-fic, I wrote it for something else and figured what I had to say could be of interesy here. XD

Having read a lot of fanfiction, I find myself drawn more towards stories that stay in character and I specifically like reading stories written by new authors because I find they need the most feedback and are more open to suggestions to better themselves.

I do appreciate new directions that are taken with popular characters but when its so way off --- and the environment is equally as unfamiliar, I usually encourage those authors to branch away from fanfiction and explore their ideas with original characters. Its fun getting to see the progress made by various writers as well.

A lot of pop culture is fanfiction. Only difference is that they're paid to produce it.

@andrewtheking said:

So true

[ and i am a horrible writer ]

You are merely unpracticed. Not "horrible".

@ekrolo said:

@andrewtheking: No im a horrible writer, not you.

No, you're not a horrible writer. I am. You're Thor fan fics are epics.

@TheCannon said:

@ekrolo said:

@andrewtheking: No im a horrible writer, not you.

No, you're not a horrible writer. I am. Your Thor fan fics are epics.

Fixed.

@Joygirl What'd you change?

@TheCannon: The second you're to your.

@Time_Phantom: Thanks very much. :D

This got me thinking along with talking to batkevin, do you think original or proper fan fic is more liked on this forum?

@X~X~X: Just type "DC Mayhem" into the search bar. :P Those are the good ones.