posted
My turn! A few years back I was part of a private fanfic club of Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels, sanctioned with limitations by the author herself. I had a blast. Did I expect my material to be published and make money off it it? Of course not. Did I have lots and lots of fun developing my truly original charaters within the scope of her realm? Yes. Did I learn huge amounts about the craft of writing? YES. I think facfic is a fabulous way to develop writing skills when you are not yet confident enough to go totally original on your own. Like training wheels for the aspiring writer. And I don't think you need to be a teen to enjoy the learning process.
Also, I am an online gamer who used to play Everquest. I went to a fan faire and guess who I met who was, at the time, in discussion with Sony on developing Everquest facfic novels? R.A. Salvatore. So fanfic is not a wasteful literary venture. It can be profitable, if you know the right people. Ask any of the authors who wrote tons of fanfic for D&D, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. I'd like to have their royalty checks.
[This message has been edited by Whitney (edited June 25, 2006).]
posted
Er...there is a difference between fan fiction and writing for an Intellectual Property. It's slim to the outside eye, I'll grant, but fairly significant. (We'll leave aside the paycheck.) When writing for an IP there's a bible that one has to adhere to, which not only covers character history, but style and length as well. There's also often a pre-set plot or story idea which the author must follow, even if they don't want to do so.
Fanfiction, on the other hand, uses the characters and the world but can do anything with them.
posted
Or, to be more accurate, is not constrained by issues of permission, since they don't usually have permission in the first place.
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posted
I'd say fanfic (or the corner of it I patrolled) was definitely not inhibited by lack of permission---but everybody I ran across was pretty firm about not making money off it. (There was some talk about compiling an anthology, but, as far as I know, it never got to the "let's approach the creators" stage.)
I think I'd be reluctant to tackle an "official" fanfic, if there were too many restrictions about how I would go about it. I've heard complaints (second-hand) from "Star Trek" writers about how their work has been restricted.
Naturally, I've had a few ideas for "Star Trek" work---it'd be hard not to. But at the time I was most likely to write one, I was less likely to because I wanted to work my own universe---and when I was likely to write something like that, I was intensely interested in another TV show.
(I don't know if I should mention this, but one guy who hung out in the same end of the fanfic pool as me, also sold "Star Trek" stories and got published in one of their anthologies.)
posted
The thing is, it's not like the concepts of several competing interstellar cultures which all have similar but slightly divergent technologies and racial mixtures are property of Paramount.
Did you know that Bujold started out writing fan-fic?...for herself and her girl friends. Then she decided to get serious, create her own milieu (without some of the egregious shortcomings of the Trekverse), and transpose some of her better stories into a setting that she actually could claim as her own intellectual property.
There's nothing wrong with writing fan-fic for fun (nor is there anything writing for an intellectual property, though that is a completely different animal, as MR has pointed out). But as long as your stories are fan-fic, you have no chance of getting them taken seriously as your stories. When you want to find out if it has potential on its own merits, you've got to present it on its own merits. It's that simple.
posted
I am fairly new to this site. I read this topic almost all the way through. I found it so intriguing becuase writing fanfic is exactly how I realized how much I love to write. It's also shown me that in the year that I have been posting stories, that I have a very nice base of loyal readers who really like my work and follow it through every story I've done.
I've also revealed my thoughts on my profile on that site as to wishing to become a real published writer some day and I was so thrilled to get so much feedback saying that they would read all my work.
I'm not sure who it was who said something about for those who feel like they do, those who write fanfic arent real writers and dont take it seriously. I object completely. I take it very seriously. Through writing my fanfic I have become a better writer and have since branched off and start on my own stories with my own characters. Fanfic is a great way for shy people to get their start in writing. It gives them that boost they need to get 'concrit' back and learn from others as well as read others and give their input as well.
Personally, I think fanfic writing was a great start for me. I dont regret it at all. I've made a lot of loyal readers, a lot of great friends who not only share my interest but also can give me pointers as well as listen to ideas. It's also given me the confidence to realize this is something I can do.
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