[Fanfic] Why Do You Write Fan Fiction?

[Jephael]

I used to love writing fan fiction, especially my Jephaelverse where I made myself the epicenter of my own reality in which the Ninja Turtles of the original cartoon (circa 1992) came to our world. I always made it a point not to Mary-Sue any one character in particular, but after writing the story where the TMNT meet the Teen Titans, I grew rather fond of this father-daughter relationship I started between Master Splinter and Raven, and more and more I kinda made her into this really important aspect in the ongoing plot.

[shuriken]

The fanfic that I've done is merely an expansion and or adaptation of the source material. More homage than anything else.
The older i get though, the more I write my own stuff, mainly short stories.

[myconius]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Why do you invest so much creativity and time in characters and settings you can't rightfully call your own, instead of creating new characters, settings, and worlds?

Please note, I'm not belittling or insulting your works or your status; nor am I setting myself apart from you other writers, as I've done quite a bit of it myself in the past. But I genuinely want to know why some of you seem to exclusively write only fan fiction instead of original fiction. Or is this just a misconception on my part?

this is actually a great question, and there are a great number of reasons for creating fan fiction and fan art.

-the first one i can see is for no other reason but a great love of the characters, and wanting to express appreciation of them.

-another reason is having great love for the characters and feeling that they are not being used up to their potential. and attempting to create the story that you'd been hoping to see happen already.

-if you create fan fiction or art based on a popular character, it will draw fans of that series that might not have given your original creations a second look otherwise.
this is very noticeable when i post a drawing of a popular character vs posting a drawing of someone that people are't familiar with.

-and of corse there's always the depraved fictions written by people who just want to see their favorite characters get it on with one another!!!

though i'm not sure if that last one really qualifies as fan fiction????

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Why do you invest so much creativity and time in characters and settings you can't rightfully call your own, instead of creating new characters, settings, and worlds?

Because its fun.

[newfan]

This is bumped from some time back, I'll add to it anyway
I'd say (as others have said from the quick glancing I just did) to get more of something you love/have a great interest in, either just for yourself or to share with others who share also that interest.
Obviously when people do this instead of creating their own story/characters they realise that it just serves that purpose, depends what you want out of it. It could also serve as inspiration for those starting to write maybe before they try their own thing.

[EddieNES]

I just enjoy the turtles lore and have fun writing about them.

I’ve always had a story in my head and finally just sat down one day and finally typed it out.

[Utrommaniac]

Originally Posted by myconius

this is actually a great question, and there are a great number of reasons for creating fan fiction and fan art.

-the first one i can see is for no other reason but a great love of the characters, and wanting to express appreciation of them.

-another reason is having great love for the characters and feeling that they are not being used up to their potential. and attempting to create the story that you'd been hoping to see happen already.

-if you create fan fiction or art based on a popular character, it will draw fans of that series that might not have given your original creations a second look otherwise.
this is very noticeable when i post a drawing of a popular character vs posting a drawing of someone that people are't familiar with.

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

Because its fun.

Pretty much. Also, when I have my own thoughts and theories go off the rails, it's easier to get it down than be have a paragraph of "what if it was this instead of this"

Originally Posted by myconius

-and of corse there's always the depraved fictions written by people who just want to see their favorite characters get it on with one another!!!

though i'm not sure if that last one really qualifies as fan fiction????

[IndigoErth]

I still never got around to filling in the gaps... Haven't written anything in quite a while though. Between other distractions, esp work, and I guess for the time being I pretty much wrote the things that I wanted to.

What might perhaps involve the Turtles... I admit it's pretty much all shameless fun self insert kind of stuff - to a point. She's mostly a different me (not in a Mary Sue way!) living a different, better life. Most of it is just slice of life stuff that would probably bore most people, and I'll probably always be too shy to share anyway. lol

[Musashi]

Because I enjoy it, is the first thing that springs to mind, but then I picture myself raging incoherently at the computer because I keep typoing, or because the plot has a hole that I just can't plug or sufficiently distract from, and... Maybe it's not that. I do mostly enjoy it, but have kept going at times when it's far from enjoyable.

They say you write what you want to see or read, so maybe it's that. There's not a great deal, surprisingly, of fan fiction on the big three sites that's actually recognisably the thing that it's based on*, that is, something that if necessary could slot comfortably into the canon of that thing, and Turtles is no exception. Some hold that that's the whole point, but I prefer Turtles stories that are mostly about the turtles themselves or at least the canon characters, and have a story and a plot with stakes to it, whether epic or personal, and peril and jokes - often next to each other. Like, in the case of my stuff, the Turtles movies - the 20th century ones, not Platinum Dunes.

*Maybe it's not so much that it isn't there, as it's just really difficult to find.

Also, I'll be doing my own original stuff, and writing fanfiction has been a good way of building the necessary skills. I know George RR Martin, and possibly others, has said it's a terrible way of doing that, but I'm daring to disagree... I think writing for established and familiar characters, characterising them and getting their speech patterns just right, is a good exercise, and not much different from writing for TV shows you haven't created, you know, like he once did... Also, if your story is of any substantial length, you'll be creating lots of original characters along the way.

[The Great Saiyaman]

My first exposure to fanfics came with the MTV show Daria of which I still am a big fan.

I started writing Daria fan fics in the late nineties when the show was airing, then expanded that by doing fan comics, first in the show's actual style but later switching to my own Anime influenced style.

I did a lot of what they call "Dariarotica" and actually did long comics which you can classify as fanfics in comic form which got me a name as a premier artist in that segment of the genre but later distanced myself from that because there's only so much you can do with that.


Instead I started to shift the focus more on the canon humor of the show and started doing Garfield-style comics which had situations which could have come straight out of the show.


I re-discovered TMNT when a few years ago I was involved in an accident which destroyed my shoulder and while I recovered I started watching the 2012 series and my creative juices started working, and drawing as it turns out was a good way to train my arm again. So as to put my toe in the water I did a comic called "Bat versus Bat" in which I tried to get the feel and the humor of the series right. I did so in the same technicolor style I did my Daria Comics with.

It was fun to do but it didn't have the grid I really wanted it to have.

In the meantime I had discovered the Mirage series and inspired by that, I actually changed my style and went for black and white, using Indian ink as my main medium.


More recently I started reading those Marvel comics that Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman both admitted to having read and being influenced by and going back to the comics I myself used to read as a kid and incorporating that into my fan comics as well.

That torn up Karai here is a direct nod to the eighties "Ghosts" story line of the X-men comics drawn by John Romita Jr. In which Wolverine and Rogue''s suits are completely torn up during the main fight against Nimrod. Also the blast with which her outfit got so torn up is also directly influenced by Romita's awesome work.
https://lowbrowcomics.files.wordpres...en-209-014.jpg

So why do I do fanfics in comic form?

Because it's fun and if I get in that "What if THAT happened?" mood, I can actually depict it too.

[Utrommaniac]

It is now at this time that I realize...

It's easier than a fancomic (even though the comic has things I want to display visually...)

[The Great Saiyaman]

Originally Posted by Utrommaniac

It is now at this time that I realize...

It's easier than a fancomic (even though the comic has things I want to display visually...)

Trust me, just getting things on paper is NOT easy.

[Utrommaniac]

I've attempted it recently with another story, but then trying to get it together digitally just felt exhausting...especially since I'd have to have a spaceship involved eventually.