I have discovered fanfiction back in 2010 when I was interested in crossovers and self insert stories. I remember reading Mike Wongs Star Trek Conquest which is a Star Trek/Star Wars crossover that was really good. When did you get into fanfiction?
What do you think of Fanfiction?
- Thread starter Civ001
- Start date
I first heard of fanfiction when I read the book Star Trek Lives! and found out that ever since the late 1960s, people have been publishing Star Trek fanfic. It's taken me a very long time to collect some of these stories, but thanks to mail order in the '80s and '90s and eBay years later, my collection has grown considerably. And this doesn't take into account the tens of thousands of stories available online - and that's just Star Trek.
I'm also into Highlander fanfic, Robin of Sherwood fanfic, Xena fanfic, Sliders fanfic, and have written a fair amount of fanfiction based on The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.
One of my ongoing projects is a crossover story that combines Sliders and The Handmaid's Tale.
I'm also into Highlander fanfic, Robin of Sherwood fanfic, Xena fanfic, Sliders fanfic, and have written a fair amount of fanfiction based on The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.
One of my ongoing projects is a crossover story that combines Sliders and The Handmaid's Tale.
Sturgeon's Law: "90% of everything is <solid organic human waste>." Theodore Sturgeon wrote science fiction, and also TV scripts - including one of Star Trek's best episodes, "Amok Time."
cybrxkhan
Asian Xwedodah
I think this is a fair and just assessment of fanfiction. Given that fanfiction tends to lend itself to lack of quality control, as well as an easy way for writers to do what they want (be it expressing their opinion on something, such as why x character is so hot, or their preferred social/political/whatever beliefs), I do agree that I'd too be tempted to raise that number.
I've barely dabbled in fanfiction, but I've done it, enough that I can pick up on the typical traits and cliches of fanfic by instinct. In a way, because of how unfiltered it can be compared to other mediums, it's interesting approaching it from a humanities/social science angle - for instance, how Western fanfic writers approach, say, Japanese characters and unwittingly interpret them through Western lens. Stuff like that.
For the past few days, to stave off my boredom, I've been going through classical mythology fanfic. It's a bit weird for me, but then again fanfic is kind of weird for me to begin with. Other than the Hades x Persephone ship which is pretty much 80-90% of the fanfic I've seen, there is a lot of potential for crack ships in classical mythology I was previously, blissfully unaware of.
That said, as my friend told me while I told him about all this, mythology is sort of like collaborative fanfic to begin with, so it's nice to see people continuing the tradition in way, reinterpreting old stories for a modern era.
Chukchi Husky
Lone Wolf
I recently thought about writing Alien fan fiction. After watching the four films I thought of a way to further explore the concept of the Alien.
I've once been told about fan fiction from someone who took creative writing at university. What he said was that all fan fiction is terrible, as if the writers were any good, they would be paid for their work instead of just putting it on the internet for free.
I've once been told about fan fiction from someone who took creative writing at university. What he said was that all fan fiction is terrible, as if the writers were any good, they would be paid for their work instead of just putting it on the internet for free.
That's BS.
Yes, a lot of fanfiction is terrible, and every fanfic writer has written some awful stuff - I did, and unless the person I gave the story to still has it, there are no other copies in existence. Thank goodness, because it truly was crap. But that was 35 years ago, and my writing has improved a lot since then and I've learned that writing romance is not one of my strengths.
Ask any Original Series Star Trek fan who has read and liked the earlier Pocket Books novels to name their favorite authors, and I guarantee Diane Duane's name will be on the list. Ms. Duane has been a professional author for many years now, and she got her start in the fanzines of the early 1970s.
Quick, who's one of the premier female fantasy authors? Answer: Mercedes Lackey. She got her start in fanfiction, and has been a pro author for many years.
The thing is, fanfiction is a great training ground. If your writing is awful, people will not be shy about saying so. And the reason some of these fanfic authors aren't getting paid is simply due to copyright rules and other legal issues. You cannot profit from fanfic because you are writing in someone else's universe, and some authors have stomped on people who don't respect that fact.
Yes, a lot of fanfiction is terrible, and every fanfic writer has written some awful stuff - I did, and unless the person I gave the story to still has it, there are no other copies in existence. Thank goodness, because it truly was crap. But that was 35 years ago, and my writing has improved a lot since then and I've learned that writing romance is not one of my strengths.
Ask any Original Series Star Trek fan who has read and liked the earlier Pocket Books novels to name their favorite authors, and I guarantee Diane Duane's name will be on the list. Ms. Duane has been a professional author for many years now, and she got her start in the fanzines of the early 1970s.
Quick, who's one of the premier female fantasy authors? Answer: Mercedes Lackey. She got her start in fanfiction, and has been a pro author for many years.
The thing is, fanfiction is a great training ground. If your writing is awful, people will not be shy about saying so. And the reason some of these fanfic authors aren't getting paid is simply due to copyright rules and other legal issues. You cannot profit from fanfic because you are writing in someone else's universe, and some authors have stomped on people who don't respect that fact.
Evie
Pronounced like Eevee
I used to write fanfiction, and I read fanfiction, and for a while I was the head moderator of the fanfiction section of a major fansite...
...and yeah, what others side. 90% of it is crap, like 90% of everything else. The crap is more visible because it has less safeguards to keep it from rising to the top, but the good stuff is just as much there as it is in anything else.
The notion that "If they were any good they'd be paid for it" shows a lot of things all at once: a ludicrously skewed vision of the publishing industry, a lack of perception of what make fanfiction interesting to write (you write fanfiction because you enjoy a setting or characters, and you want to share your ideas about what should happen in that setting or with those characters with other people, not for money), and, oh, yeah, a great deal of jealousy from creative writers who can't get any attention for their "artistic" writing toward fanficcers who actually have a shot at some internet recognition if they're any good at it.
...and yeah, what others side. 90% of it is crap, like 90% of everything else. The crap is more visible because it has less safeguards to keep it from rising to the top, but the good stuff is just as much there as it is in anything else.
The notion that "If they were any good they'd be paid for it" shows a lot of things all at once: a ludicrously skewed vision of the publishing industry, a lack of perception of what make fanfiction interesting to write (you write fanfiction because you enjoy a setting or characters, and you want to share your ideas about what should happen in that setting or with those characters with other people, not for money), and, oh, yeah, a great deal of jealousy from creative writers who can't get any attention for their "artistic" writing toward fanficcers who actually have a shot at some internet recognition if they're any good at it.
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
I don't support fanfiction. I believe if you are going to express yourself you should do so in your own creations for maximum creative freedom and worth.
So you also don't support professional tie-in novels, short stories, or comics? After all, those authors should just write their own stuff, right?
I haven't read a lot of pro Star Trek novels in recent years, as I'm having too much fun with the fanfic on various sites.
Anyone here familiar with Buster's Uncle (posts in the SMAC forum)? His sister does illustrations for the online version of the Valjiir Continuum, an ongoing series of stories that's been around in print form and online for ~30 years. Someone I knew in RL used to write for them. I used to correspond with the Valjiir authors back in the '80s, and I'm now back in contact with them. It's been wonderful to renew old acquaintances and talk about the stories, both old and new.
There's nothing wrong with using fanfic to explore aspects of a show, movie, or book that the creators chose not to explore. As long as the fanfic author doesn't cross into willful copyright infringement and keeps it respectful, there's no harm done. Nobody wants a repeat of the infamous incident where one of the most-anticipated Darkover novels never got written because Marion Zimmer Bradley and a fan got into a legal fight over a fanfic sent to her that happened to be set in the same timeframe as the novel she was writing.
Evie
Pronounced like Eevee
A fundamental element of expressing yourself is the ability (indeed the right) to chose what to express yourself about. Expressing yourself about someone else's creation and what it inspires in you is no less a form of self-expression than expressing yourself about your own creation.
Expressing yourself about your own creation may allow for greater creativity, but creativity is not essential to self-expression.
I just found my notes for an old story I intended to do for NaNoWriMo... a crossover between Star Trek: Voyager and Trading Spaces (a reality show about home decorating).
Combine the Voyager crew marooned in a 20th-century TV show, a bunch of wacky interior designers stuck on a 24th-century starship, and Q sitting back to watch the ensuing chaos, this is one story I plan to have fun with!
Combine the Voyager crew marooned in a 20th-century TV show, a bunch of wacky interior designers stuck on a 24th-century starship, and Q sitting back to watch the ensuing chaos, this is one story I plan to have fun with!
Thorvald of Lym
A Little Sketchy
Busted in one word: Luminosity
If you love Twilight, read it.
If you loathe Twilight, read it.
If you've never heard of Twilight, read it, then pretend Stephenie Meyer doesn't exist.
And for posterity's sake...
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
Fanfiction to me is lazy creative writing. You're not exploring your own characters, unless you change enough about the setting, plot, and characters to make them a unique experience, and if you do that just rename things and make your own novel. Like the person who wrote the 600,000 word My Little Pony - Fallout crossover. Why would you waste so much time on that?
Maybe the writer had fun doing it? 
Timsup2nothin
Deity
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2013
- Messages
- 46,737
For the ultimate simplistic answer...why not?
I wrote a fanfic that was of similar scale. It taught me the habit of writing every day, since I 'published' every day and had a troop of loyalists who would complain if I didn't. My own self discipline never did that for me.
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
You're not teaching yourself how to form characters, plots, and settings of your own. You're wasting your time and effort doing sloppy, lazy work in someone else's creation. It's like taking apple pie from the grocer, putting powdered sugar on it, and calling it your own home recipe. You'll never learn to bake an apple pie that way. You'll just feel like you have.
How do you know? Have you read the previous poster's story? What fanfic have you read that you feel free to tar everyone with a pretty broad, intolerant brush?
At least fanfic writers who post their stories are willing to open themselves up to public scrutiny. Where can we read your NaNoWriMo stories? Are they professionally published yet?
Luckymoose
The World is Mine
You can read plenty of my work in the NES forum. And no, they aren't professionally published yet. I know what it means to not be ready, so I work harder and do more. Don't assume you know me. Where is your writing?
