I've been polishing my writing in English by working on a fan fiction for nearly two years. With time I realized I've put so much of my own creativity in this story it's hardly a fan fic. I've really taken only the initial setting and expanded from there.
Lately I've been flirting with the idea of taking this story from its initial setting that I borrowed and rewrite it in a way that makes it an original story. It was a very prototypical fantasy setting. I can replace just about everything with my own creation.
What do you think? Should I do it?
Posted by andersonmcdonald (Member # 8641) on :
Absolutely! Go for it. Fan-fic is fun, but why waste all that time and effort on something not completely your own? Unless you've been commisioned by the franchise to write in that universe. And really, what book doesn't share similarities with other works? And, while your making the changes you might come up with all sorts of possibilities that make it uniquely your own.
Posted by babooher (Member # 8617) on :
I almost always feel that my work is based on something I've read. The connection might only be in my head, but I recognize that I'm influenced by others' writings.
Make your writing yours. Don't worry that it started as fan fic. Just make sure that the changes you make are big enough that someone doesn't end up saying your writing is just a poor man's Star Trek or whatever.
Posted by JenniferHicks (Member # 8201) on :
I disagree that writing fan fiction is a waste of time, but maybe I have to believe that because it's all I wrote for several years. Through fanfic, I learned a lot about how to handle pacing, structure, dialogue, scene-setting, etc. without worrying about creating worlds and characters at the same time. It was an excellent training ground. Plus I had a heck of a good time writing it.
As for the main question, I considered at one time taking the plots of a couple of my fanfics and transforming them into original works, but I decided against it. I already wrote those stories, said what I wanted to say with them, and had no wish to go down the same road twice. But if you want to do it, go for it. Just make sure you change it enough that no one says, "Hey, that sounds like (insert source material here)."
[This message has been edited by JenniferHicks (edited April 18, 2010).]
Posted by andersonmcdonald (Member # 8641) on :
Good point, Jennifer. I, too honed what meager skills I have on the fan-fic stone. I probably did learn quite a bit in the process. So, no, fan-fic isn't a waste of time. I guess my point was that if he believed in his work, really believed he could make it his own, why waste it on something he could never publish?
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Oh I'd totally do it. The only hazard I foresee is someone who has read the fan fiction might think you plagiarized it. (You know, if they forget who wrote it or if you used a different name.) My only story that I can consider remotely published was fan-fic. (It was a contest put on by the author.)
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I enjoyed my turn at Internet Fan Fiction, but never came up with anything I wanted to turn into straight fiction once I'd'a-written it out as fanfic. But if you think you can, I'd say go for it, give it a try. (I know of a couple of things published in SF that were modified from "Star Trek" stories.)
Posted by sholar (Member # 3280) on :
I didn't even think of it as writing, but I probably did fan fiction. When I was RPGing, I would write up the adventures (except I added a lot more character motivation and filler between battles to make it more interesting). Though I don't think I would convert any of those stories (well, there was one that would make a cool comic. But the amount of research I would have to do to make it work as a legit story (travel through time- spent large amounts of time in like ten different time periods) would be prohibitive.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
Go for it. We all learned the same way or close to, reading or watching and telling our story based upon on that. And there is the old saying, There is no new story, just a different way to tell it.
Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :
quote:I disagree that writing fan fiction is a waste of time, but maybe I have to believe that because it's all I wrote for several years. Through fanfic, I learned a lot about how to handle pacing, structure, dialogue, scene-setting, etc. without worrying about creating worlds and characters at the same time. It was an excellent training ground. Plus I had a heck of a good time writing it.
My point exactly. My story is more of a spin off than a fan fiction but like I said it's a very prototypical fantasy setting: werewolves, vampires, necromancers, the works.
The only problem is that I've been putting this story on an internet site. Two sites even but I've only came to 3/8 of the plot. I can personally delete the story from one of them and I can probably ask the moderators of the other to take it down for me.
What do the US laws say about publishing a story that has been partially visible on the net temporarily?
If I publish this, should I declare it was inspired by XYZ?
[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited April 19, 2010).]
Posted by sholar (Member # 3280) on :
I am declaring my story as inspired by Journey to the West. However, a story that has been in written form since the 1500s and before that in folk tale had very different copywrite issues than one that is more recent. Honestly, I would hold off on publically mentioning its inspiration for fear of being sued, but that wold be an issue to discuss with an agent once you got one.
Regarding the internet publication, I am pretty sure that Nathan Bradsford has addressed similar questions and his answer is if you can take it down, its all good. I would assume that you will be making pretty significant changes as well with regards to the portions that were published. Change the title to be certain (don't want people googling and coming up with it) but otherwise, in my non-professional opinion, you should be fine.
My story is more of a spin off than a fan fiction but like I said it's a very prototypical fantasy setting: werewolves, vampires, necromancers, the works.