FanFiction vs. Professional Writing

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danhimself

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#1  Edited By danhimself

A lot of people on here like to insult books that they don't like by saying that the writer is just "writing fanfiction". I don't get it. To me that should be exactly what professional writers should be doing. A writer should absolutely be a fan of the characters he's writing and if they aren't then what's the point? I also feel that this is an insult to the many amazing fanfiction writers I've seen here on Comic Vine and on other sites. So I have to ask what's the point of this insult? What are you getting at?

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McHotcakes

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Well generally fan fiction is something that anybody can write. And while it is true that there is good fan fiction, a lot of it just isn't very good. No one is taking the time to edit, proof read, or question the story and make sure it makes sense. A lot of fan fiction is written by people with little idea on how to actually write story and is generally motivated by "Wouldn't it so cool if this thing happened, even if it made no sense for it to happen?"

Again I don't want to over generalize as there are good fan fic writers out there, just the vast majority, at least that I have read butchers the source material soundly.

Long story short, fan fiction is generally seen as amateur writing and people getting paid to write stories should not overamp a character they like just because they like them. They should write what comes naturally given the character and scenario they are working with.

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Dabee

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#3  Edited By Dabee

Well generally fan fiction is something that anybody can write. And while it is true that there is good fan fiction, a lot of it just isn't very good. No one is taking the time to edit, proof read, or question the story and make sure it makes sense. A lot of fan fiction is written by people with little idea on how to actually write story and is generally motivated by "Wouldn't it so cool if this thing happened, even if it made no sense for it to happen?"

Again I don't want to over generalize as there are good fan fic writers out there, just the vast majority, at least that I have read butchers the source material soundly.

Long story short, fan fiction is generally seen as amateur writing and people getting paid to write stories should not overamp a character they like just because they like them. They should write what comes naturally given the character and scenario they are working with.

This. Another important point, though, is that while some fan fiction may be written very well, it's often also featuring other properties outside of the company. (i.e. A spidey fanfic with Batman) That, or they are weird erotic fanfics. So yeah. (But not generalizing)

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batkevin74

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#4  Edited By batkevin74

A lot of people on here like to insult books that they don't like by saying that the writer is just "writing fanfiction". I don't get it. To me that should be exactly what professional writers should be doing. A writer should absolutely be a fan of the characters he's writing and if they aren't then what's the point? I also feel that this is an insult to the many amazing fanfiction writers I've seen here on Comic Vine and on other sites. So I have to ask what's the point of this insult? What are you getting at?

You should check out CV's own fan-fiction section, there's a lot of gold in them thar hills, stuff that at times should be in comics and we await the pipedream of being plucked to stardom :)

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Any writer who's not the original writer is writing fan fiction.

And no, a good writer doesn't have to like the character (s)he's writing.

BB

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@danhimself said:

A lot of people on here like to insult books that they don't like by saying that the writer is just "writing fanfiction". I don't get it. To me that should be exactly what professional writers should be doing. A writer should absolutely be a fan of the characters he's writing and if they aren't then what's the point? I also feel that this is an insult to the many amazing fanfiction writers I've seen here on Comic Vine and on other sites. So I have to ask what's the point of this insult? What are you getting at?

You should check out CV's own fan-fiction section, there's a lot of gold in them thar hills, stuff that at times should be in comics and we await the pipedream of being plucked to stardom :)

Definitely agree with this!!!

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JediXMan

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#7  Edited By JediXMan  Moderator

It's not always a good thing for the writer to be a fan. If they are, there is usually a lot of pointless fanservice that does nothing for the story or the characters (similar to most fan fiction).

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@jedixman said:

It's not always a good thing for the writer to be a fan. If they are, there is usually a lot of pointless fanservice that does nothing for the story or the characters (similar to most fan fiction).

I agree with this, especially if said writer is a huge fan of one character and they end up making the character stronger than what's really necessary.

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#9  Edited By RustyRoy

Well generally fan fiction is something that anybody can write. And while it is true that there is good fan fiction, a lot of it just isn't very good. No one is taking the time to edit, proof read, or question the story and make sure it makes sense. A lot of fan fiction is written by people with little idea on how to actually write story and is generally motivated by "Wouldn't it so cool if this thing happened, even if it made no sense for it to happen?"

Again I don't want to over generalize as there are good fan fic writers out there, just the vast majority, at least that I have read butchers the source material soundly.

Long story short, fan fiction is generally seen as amateur writing and people getting paid to write stories should not overamp a character they like just because they like them. They should write what comes naturally given the character and scenario they are working with.

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Any writer who's not the original writer is writing fan fiction.

And no, a good writer doesn't have to like the character (s)he's writing.

BB


I disagree; I think paid professional writers who write characters/properties that they didn't originate are just work-for-hire writers on licensed properties. To me, the distinction between fanfiction and professional published work is that the former is not being asked by the owner of the IP to write that story (the "fan" part being the impetus for writing it, since it's not their job) and the latter is (regardless of whether or not they're a fan of the character, they're writing the book because they've been contracted to do so by the owner/publisher of that character).

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@missj said:

I disagree; I think paid professional writers who write characters/properties that they didn't originate are just work-for-hire writers on licensed properties. To me, the distinction between fanfiction and professional published work is that the former is not being asked by the owner of the IP to write that story (the "fan" part being the impetus for writing it, since it's not their job) and the latter is (regardless of whether or not they're a fan of the character, they're writing the book because they've been contracted to do so by the owner/publisher of that character).

Yes, yes. But I meant in the sense that the original creator and writer did the definite take on the property and everything else after it is "fan fiction". :p

BB

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MissJ

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@billy_batson: I still think they're different. I'd call the new creator's take on someone else's IP "derivative" perhaps, but not "fanfiction." If they're authorized and paid, not fanfic.

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MissJ

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@billy_batson: And, further, the originators of characters aren't always the "definitive" names associated with them. Bob Kane created Batman, but if you ask people who the "definitive" Batman writer is, you'll hear a mix of Miller, O'Neill, etc, etc.

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z3ro180

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#14  Edited By z3ro180

You know this can be applied to dan slott. He is fan and he is writing spiderman

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@z3ro180: No!!! Why did you have to go there, why?!?! :P

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Rabbitearsblog

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I think the difference between fan fiction and professional writing is that with professional writing, you are getting paid to write the stories and with fan fiction, you're not getting paid to write the stories. Also, people tend to associate fan fiction with writers who write their favorite characters so strong and powerful, when the story doesn't really need it and I can see how that can be insulting to anyone who loves to write fan fictions (I personally write a lot of fan fictions, but I also get annoyed whenever a professional writer writes a character so strong and can do no wrong when that's not really necessary for the character).

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Taow

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#17  Edited By Taow

odeorainessay writer said:

I appreciate writing tips for fanfiction authors that allow them to outstand. It's intriguing to take a character and extrapolate that into a full story. Particularly in the event that s/he takes a gander at the world through an unexpected focal point in comparison to the principle cast. On the understanding side, the world and characters are commonly recognizable and there's a decent possibility for the readers to notice that.

Fanfictioners may be professional writers as well. And I think not many can differentiate the two stories written by a fan fiction author and by an expert novelist. There's a good point in saying that fanfiction may be even harder, because readers will definitely notice what you've missed in the details.

One more aspect to think about: Is Fan Fiction Plagiarism or Inspiration? - opinion by Kenya Mitchell

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If you're not paid, and not official then you're a fanfic-er. There are good and great fanfics out there and there are some that surpass the original source, sad thing is most of it had been demonized as weird-erotic-gay stuff or just Mary Sue/Gary Stu type of things.

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#19  Edited By socajunkie  Moderator

The fan-fiction of Tyrion beating the Mountain was a great read and pretty funny too.

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I read Mistborn trilogy Era 1,and there was a lot of times that felt like a fanfiction

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Fan-fiction and fan-made works can be good depending on what it has and what its about, tbh.

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#23  Edited By killbilly  Moderator

I've read some fanfictions better than actual published works. Granted those are few and far between.