Interesting blog, and interesting sort of mini-autobiography. In a way it was a little inspirational. What I really want to do one day is write a tie-in novel for a series I'm a fan of. I think it would be the ultimate pinnacle of writing fan-fiction. Outside of that, I never really considered writing my own original work, and until I tried it I didn't realize just how much more challenging that is. That being said, I learned from a podcast a while back that for people who break into the tie-in genre, normally have been previously published.

@delphic: Well that is what I mean, I think for someone to get the interest in writing, the worst thing that can happen is for anyone else to tell them that this idea is stupid or worthless (unless they are that rare breed of person that feeds off of negative criticism.) For this reason I somewhat disagree with the attitude that fan fic is writing with the training wheels on, because anyone setting out to write has the training wheels on in one sense or another, they write in truisms, or cliches, or simplifications. Those that don't are probably missing something else about their writing if they are technically so strong to begin with. I guess what I mean is that every writer starts at the bottom of a hill that is their work, but that each hill is unique to the writer.

I included that picture because I think that is how I want my new MC to look by the way.

Cool insight, razz

@the_poet: thanks :)

I do consider fan-fiction writing with training wheels on. Albeit, I also think it's the best way to start. It helps you create your own characters by understanding other character that have already been established. I try writing comic based fan-fics, but I'm not very good at it. Problem is, the characters have existed for so long as have so many adaptations and different writers, there's no true way to write them. I recently started writing a Darker than Black fan-fic. I know Darker than Black better than anyone, so it was easy to write and I consider it the best thing I've ever written.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you said you decided to write because John Carter had mistakes? The "if they can do it, I can do it" sort of thing? What usually gets me writing is when I read a really good book, or watch a good movie and decide that I can do that, or better. Obviously I can't right now though.

@awesam: I think in terms of the inspiration for writing in such cases it usually comes from one of two places. Either the "If they can do it, I can do it" mentality, or "I can fix that" mentality. I guess I tend more towards the latter, though I think I use both.

@razzatazz: I'm just too competitive, I guess. Interesting read. I'd give a more thought out response, but I'm on my phone.

@awesam: Sure, I was just sharing, if you feel like something more detailed later please do :)

@renchamp: The hardest thing to starting to write is the first word, and then the first sentence and then the first paragraph and then the first chapter and then the first finished story. After that if you aren't hooked then you aren't human.

Good words to live by. I liked this blog. Deep down I always criticize myself for not publishing another chapter quickly after I put up the previous ones. I understand that if I publish more often I can develop this skill faster but I can't stand the thought of messing up any of the stories that are close to my heart (which are usually the only stories I publish). I'll work out a rhythm eventually but for now I'm just trying to write about whatever ideas I think are worth exploring.

@dngn4774: I think the words come when they come, if that makes sense, the most perfect time to write is when it feels best.

Writing for say Batman or Spider-Man is still essentially writing with training wheels on, just on a bigger scene. This is the fan-fic section, not the original writing section...which would be a possible good addition to the site, where originality and new ideas not just Wolverine joins the JLA or another post-apoc world (not there is anything wrong with them at all, some are quite enjoyable since you get to do what YOU want with an established character)

@4donkeyjohnson: People still use this as an original fiction forum though.

@razzatazz: This is true, but would a whole new section of just original fiction not be a better place? I like seeing Batman being bitten by a radioactive spider but that is fan-fiction. A fiction section where Red Fox, a noir detective in a super powered world hunts down the killer of his mentor the Emerald Flamingo (I am making this up as I go) or stuff that sword & sorcery primepower53 has written oor the tales time_phantom has written, which are fiction pure and simple (there are others who have written original stuff, I just picked those because I remembered them)

Redesigning the site to accomodate that is a big ask, but it is something to consider. There's fan-fiction and then just pure fiction.

But then I also see people wanting seperate RPG forums for sci-fi or superhero or vampire-esque etc.

@4donkeyjohnson: Yeah, I'm still surprised they only have a fan-fiction board. It would make more sense to have a writing one, then have sub-forums for fan-fics, poetry, etc. Then again, this is a comic site. Point is to write fan-fiction based on comics.

Very nice write-up!

@awesam: @4donkeyjohnson: i think because comics is such a wide open medium, that really anything could be considered to be fan fiction of ccs. One of the first fan fics I wrote here was about a female superspy, and it wasn't really a fan fic, but she could easily be a Sharon Carter type.

@deranged_midget: thanks :)

@razzatazz: I'm sure this was meant for comic based fan-fics. Only reason people post other works of fiction is because no one actually cares.

@awesam: It might have been originally intended for that, but it has changed to be for just generally any fiction ;)

@razzatazz: @awesam: @4donkeyjohnson: Not long after I first got on CV, I asked someone on staff (don't remember who, sorry) why there wasn't a writers forum for original fiction, the same way artists have a forum to show off their wares. The basic answer was that there is a fan fic forum that gets used for original writing too, and that encouraging original writing is a logistical nightmare.

What that means is that it's a copyright horror story. If you put fan fic out there, you're accepting the possibility that someone may use your idea for that property, and there's no real way for you to get credit and/or reimbursed for it. Make no mistake: you are taking the SAME risk with your original fiction, when you post it online. You have no guarantee of copyright by posting online. You MAY have a defensible civil suit, if you can point to a date posted that's previous to the stolen work being published, but when you can edit your past posts, that's doubtful.

If there were protective, *enforceable* laws in place for new fiction, I could see a writers forum being added much easier. I don't recommend posting original fiction online. I can tell you from personal experience that ideas CAN and DO get stolen.

@cbishop: Figured. I never post any original stories online, obviously. Any old schmuck could steal it and make it less cheesy. Thanks for the info.

@awesam: @cbishop:

Oh yes absolutely, I don't even tell trusted friends my original story ideas, just because I am afraid of any number of things happening (like someone stealing their account or their computer.)

@razzatazz: All I can tell you is fanfic was my main goal, when I first got online in the mid-90's (I was a little late to the Internet revolution). I told a few different people the meat of my fanfic ideas, and saw three different ideas go to publication in DC Comics, plus an original idea get stolen off a writing website. (Although I must admit, they [not DC] tweaked my original idea so that it worked better, fixing some problems I was having with it.)

I later posted to a thread asking for ideas on the DC Comics forums (gone now) and gave one, saying freely, "Please use it. I don't mind." It was in print within a couple of months.

Comics are my first love, but make no mistake, they're a business. They have deadlines to meet, sales to fill, and they have to do it every month. If they can make your idea work, they'll take it.

@cbishop: right, I would say the same, unless a person is just writing for fun and wants to share with the world, best to keep the best original stories to themselves.

@cbishop: I see your point. It's a shame that people would stoop that low, but is a business first nowadays and a dwindling market where they fight for our attention amongst so many other sources of entertainment.

They need to make something like Dropbox where it is online for you to view but encypted...already it seems like too much hard work.

@jnr6lil: That is great! I think writers come from one of two motivations, either the "fix it" or "forge it" trains of thought. Both are perfectly fine as means of inspiration. I tend to go with the fix it version myself more often, though I do sometimes get inspired by something extremely well done.