posted
I didnt see any threads similar to this, so here goes.
This thread is basically a thread to talk about any fanfics you've written or read, and from what series / books / movie are they based on.
for instance, there are always those characters who arent explained all that well or only play a minor part in a story, but the reader thinks they are so interesting that they could have their own story.
i was thinking the dai-li from avatar could have their own story. im glad they ended up being a bigger part of the show. i havent read any fafics for avatar, but here could be a good palce for ppl to discuss any or post links to some of their own or favorites.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
OSC's opinion, I've heard, is dim on fanfics for improving one's writing. However, my two earliest pieces of writing were fanfic, I guess. GIJoe fan fiction. One was kinda generic, and the second, never finished (which is the subtitle of most of my stuff) was about Cobra Commander inventing time travel. Well, forgive me, but I was only in high school at the time! They were both sort of rambling, just for fun stories that I only showed one friend and my Dad.
Posts: 105 | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
I read fanfic based on a number of shows/books.
I don't usually talk about it on Hatrack for a few reasons.
OSC's opinion, mentioned above, is against them in general (and especially against those based on his writing -- although I have little interest in those anyway).
Most Hatrackers have a fairly negative view of fanfic, with the few who actually like it often embarrassed about that. (I'm not.)
I have other fora to discuss fanfic, with other people who enjoy it.
posted
icic. yeah i a bit hesitant to make the thread here, but i figured there is such a diverse group of ppl on hatrack that it would be a good place to start.
i looked around first and saw that a lot of ppl that do fanfics, do RP. i cant see myself ever getting into RPing.
i guess i was looking for a more... umm.. conservative group of ppl that liked fanfics, and thought of hatrack.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
I enjoy fanfiction, and I'm not embarrassed by it. However, I rarely mention it here because of OSC's dim view of it.
Mostly, I just read Harry Potter fanfic. I have trouble reading fanfic for any fandom where the original writer is better than the fanfic writers.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote:I have trouble reading fanfic for any fandom where the original writer is better than the fanfic writers.
Ideally, that would eliminate any fanfic based on books, I guess.
quote:i looked around first and saw that a lot of ppl that do fanfics, do RP. i cant see myself ever getting into RPing.
I would probably be into table top RPGing if I had more friends in the area. For people who dabble in writting or acting, I don't see any reason to disdain it a priori (other than perhaps the high level of wierdos it attracts.) But there are games in every genre ranging from heavy rules to few or none.
Posts: 105 | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
I have read some fanfic, usually not in fandoms that are based on books, though. Just feels redundant, though I have read some interesting Harry Potter fanfics that people rec'd to me, and found them fun.
I love Lord of the Rings, but don't read LOTR fanfic. Well, okay, once. A mother sent me this really rather lovely, nuanced Gimli pov short her daughter had written (I think it won some kind of fandom award) that was beautiful (it wasn't sexual, which a lot of fanfic is). But I don't seek it out-- too many teens trying to get jiggy with Legolas.
I started writing a Star Wars fanfic as a joke with a friend of mine, as kind of a warm-up exercise. We made a list of fanfiction tropes and set out to skewer them. I have almost 400 pages of that monster. It's been fun.
I think it DID help my writing in one major way. Since I do copyediting for pay, it's always been hard to just write without nit-picking as I go and getting discouraged. Having an idea to play with that I didn't really care about (and was not emotionally attached to) really helped me shut that critical voice up, you know?
This year I managed to finish over 50,000 words of a novel for NaNo without that inner voice that says "Crap! You write crap, this is crap..." getting in my way.
Now I'm bring out the inner editor, removing the shackles and duct tape, to let her go over it. Astonishingly enough, it seems bette rthan I expected on the read-through.
So, in summary:
~I have written fanfic for fun (though not in book fandoms) ~I am not as ashamed as I used to be ~It does seem to have helped me quite a bit. Maybe a big part of that is that I wrote in a fandom where I had not read any books. Not being a bookish fandom, I wasn't imitating any other writers. ~I have read some fanfic, but generally don't have the time anymore. I don't miss it.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I don't enjoy reading it, and I never write it.
I do write stories that I post on another forum, and have had requests for fanfic, but so far, I am not interested.
Only if I wanted to emulate a writer's style, as an exercise, would I consider it. I have been considering doing a Holmes/Watson story, but I probably won't do it.
posted
tbh, im thinking of writing my first fanfic. which is what kinda sparked this thread. i thought it would be good practice, since i really havent written much now that i dont need any more literature classes for my major.
and i fall in the would be emarassed category. i would prolly classify myself as a "closet dork." i like reading and computer and video game stuff, but not many of my friends do. so i dont really have too many ppl to relate with when it comes to books ive read, games ive played, or technical computer stuff.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Slightly off topic, but I thought I would say that Avatar is a cool show. We make sure to watch it with our kids, and we all like it.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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wtf? olivet... i think im confusing u with someone else. who is the woman that is with ben.. over in mistead? for the longest time i thought that was u...
is there an olivia on here as well?
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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quote:Slightly off topic, but I thought I would say that Avatar is a cool show. We make sure to watch it with our kids, and we all like it.
That is what I have been saying all along! I just bought the complete Season One package. It is getting darker but still kid appropriate. That gives Avatar room to really explore the characters and morality.
Off topic: One of the things that always bothered me about kid cartoons as a child was how...patronizing?...stupid?...how they underestimate how much kids "get."
With Avatar, no matter how silly and fun it is, you really care about the characters, even the bad guys. It has had really good plot development.
Plus the fighting scenes are super cool.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
krynn-- I am the Olivia. The one with two boys (ages nine and seven, now). Ophelia is the screen name for Ben's wife, that you also met.
I think most writer-types probably either had ideas or actually wrote fanfic when they were kids. Based on TV shows, or whatever. My sister once wrote a script for an episode of one of her favorite shows (it was either Starsky and Hutch or the Hardy Boys), or sort of re-visiting storylines from stories they enjoyed. I think it's pretty natural.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
What a great opening line. "I am the Olivia!" I can just see you on a mountain, holding your staff forward as you declare it to the skies and oncoming armies...
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I mention this everytime this subject comes up. I have a list of what I consider to be the best novel length Harry Potter fanfics out there (that I've read) if anyone is interested in it.
I'm also always on the lookout for more good novel length Harry Potter fanfic, if anyone has any recs. I prefer gen or het, but if the writing is good enough I'll read slash. I just don't generally feel like investing time into a romance novel (which most fanfics are) without at least identifying with one of the characters.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Gen means that the story doesn't focus on a relationship. Het stands for heterosexual and means the story focuses on a heterosexual relationship.
By far most fanfiction is slash, which means the story focuses on a homosexual relationship between two men.
Homosexual relationships between two women can either be called slash or femmeslash.
In my experience (in the Harry Potter fandom) the popularity of these types of stories are as follows, from most popular to least:
Slash Het Femmeslash Gen
With a massive gap between slash and het.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
ic. i never knew that. i guess the type i was talking about was gen. im suprised that u would place it so far down on the list. sigh, if thats true its yet another deterrent from the world of fanfic.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Chris, do you have any links to your firefly fanfic (FlanFlic?). I've looked but I didn't see it...of course I was incredibly lazy about looking too so that could be part of it... I did read your first one about Nathan suddenly being the Verse, have you done more?
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Krynn, a lot of fanfic is written by horny tweeners (of all ages ) and thus romantic or sexual storylines abound.
This is also why most people assume fanfiction is universally terrible, though it isn't. The good stuff gets spread around by word of mouth (thanks blackwolve), but if you go hunting your chances of stumbling onto something great are slim.
There is goos fanfic out there, but it is buried under mounds of gay vampire elves. That's just the way it seems to be. The good thing is that fanfic writers generally post the type of fanfic, characters involved and some idea about the nature of the story in headers. So the stuff you know you won't like is easy to avoid.
Oh, and I take back not reading LOTR fanfic-- I read and enjoyed the Very Secret Diaries (a parody, but still fan-written).
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
icic. ok well i think i might try to write one over the winter break, see if i like it or not. also olivet, im moving into my apartment this friday out in kennesaw and was wondering if any hatrack ppl from before would like to do lunch or anything. this is an open invitation to u or anyone u know from last time i came. posting it here cuz i dont feel like making a thread just for my arrival to kennesaw.
thx for all the info on fanfics ppl. i had no idear about all umm, stuff that goes along with it. i will be attempting a gen type.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
I'm volunterring at my son's school Friday afternoon, but I'm sure we could work out a group lunch or something.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Blacwolve, have you read Cassandra Claire's fiction? She did the Very Secret Diaries for LOTR, and wrote some great Harry Potter fanfiction.
I enjoy a good story, regardless of whether it's a standalone novel, short story, or fanfiction. Unfortunately, a lot of fan-fiction out there is horribly written. I've actually found that the collections of Star Trek fanfiction sold as the Strange New Worlds books have quite a few gems. Other than that, it seems that the best way to find good stuff is on the recommendations of other people.
On another note, I recently read something in Wired that definitely weirded me out. Apparently people are writing Mythbusters fanfiction. About the real people on the show. Right.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Slightly off topic, but I thought I would say that Avatar is a cool show. We make sure to watch it with our kids, and we all like it.
That is what I have been saying all along! I just bought the complete Season One package. It is getting darker but still kid appropriate. That gives Avatar room to really explore the characters and morality.
Off topic: One of the things that always bothered me about kid cartoons as a child was how...patronizing?...stupid?...how they underestimate how much kids "get."
With Avatar, no matter how silly and fun it is, you really care about the characters, even the bad guys. It has had really good plot development.
Plus the fighting scenes are super cool.
Avatar is the best show on Nick since Hey Arnold! Seriously.
posted
This is just to tell Olivet and Chris that I am reading the thread, but I'll play nice. . Pretty nice...
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I still like Cassandra Claire's HP stories, although not as much as before I read how much of it, lines and scenes, were taken directly from other sources. Love the Diaries, and I can't wait to see what her upcoming original fiction will be like.
I've only completed the one Firefly story; started writing the second and got sucked into Secon Life instead. It's still there, hovering in my brain, and it'll be out eventually.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I really enjoyed the first Firefly story you wrote Chris, I hope your second one settles in your brain soon so we can all enjoy it Posts: 1918 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
krynn, I thought I should mention that Ben and Ophelia (her screen name here) are leaving town today, so lunch is out as far as they are concerned. Most of us are slammed until after the holidays, but keep in touch and we'll have some fun.
Also, a quick google search revealed what appear to be some Avatar fanfiction communities. They usually give descriptors of the content they cater to, so it should be easy to cull out the dross. (Those with the headings ZukoxKatara probably cater to romantic stories about Zuko and Katara, for example, but there would be separate warnings, like PG or R for content.) I cannot personally vouch for any of it, mind you.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
good find. while those fanfictions are prolly all written by ppl younger than me... it would be nice to see a Tom Clancy-ish fanfic of the Dai Li and what all goes on at Lake Laogai.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Yeah. I figured the lists might help you locate an audience, but prolly wouldn't be much inspiration.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I'm liking the Avatar-love. I'd seen a few episodes and found it interesting so I got Season 1 and decided to watch it in order while I take paper-writing breaks.
I love it! It makes my inner-child and adult sides both very happy.
As for fanfic, I'm your typical Harry Potter slasher. If you want a real laugh, I'll kindly reveal that I got started by N Sync fanfiction (ah, to be young again.)
I've only written shorts for some friends and I don't get as much time to read as I used to. Either that or I've read all the classics and its hard to find good new stuff. Usually I'll just watch the LJs/blogs of authors I like and try out anything they recommend.
EDIT: I want to recommend Dr. Henry Jenkins. I listened to an interview with him on HP Slashcast (podcast) and he had some great things to say aboutthe value of fandom and fanfic writiers. He's got a book out, forgetting the title, but I've read some excerpts and will be picking it up for myself soon.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Shanna- Would you mind sharing some of those classics with me? I'm afraid that despite the several years I've participated in the fandom, I've never really been part of the community or known things like what the classic stories were.
My email is blacwolve@gmail.com
Edit: Joldo- I know Mistful as Maya, and you're right, she is really good. She's one of the authors I meant when I said I'd read slash if it were well enough written.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
wow, when i first made this thread it seemed like so many ppl were anti-fanfic and said even OSC was against it. i think its kinda cool that more and more ppl are bringing this thread back up and talking about different fanfics.
and yes... avatar is a kids show, but i cant stop watching it. =)
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
i think HP would be a very easy storyline for fanfics. u want a certain something to happen, and poof, u can make a spell for that. i dont think ill dabble with any HP tho. im just reading my first HP book. starting with thte 5th book, since the first 4 are movies already.
Posts: 813 | Registered: Nov 1999
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That's just the way it seems to be. The good thing is that fanfic writers generally post the type of fanfic, characters involved and some idea about the nature of the story in headers. So the stuff you know you won't like is easy to avoid.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
. Pretty nice...
