Active writers/readers?

[Dejablue]

I'm just curious. I know this forum is slow but I'm still curious if anyone in here is an active fanfic writer or reader. If so, what kind of stories do you like. Do you prefer a specific kind of story that is hard to find?

And on the flip side what kind of fanfiction do you hate or just strongly dislike?

[IMJ]

I used to play EIC to a fairly well read fanzine. When compiling the PDF for each new issue my most hated task was reading whatever fan fiction was submitted for that month as opposed to the news/market/ or opinion articles.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Dejablue

I'm just curious. I know this forum is slow but I'm still curious if anyone in here is an active fanfic writer or reader. If so, what kind of stories do you like. Do you prefer a specific kind of story that is hard to find?

I like 'shipping fics a lot, even ones for crack pairings, provided the story makes sense and the pair are believable. I also prefer slice of life one-shots. I write the majority of my stories like that.

And on the flip side what kind of fanfiction do you hate or just strongly dislike?

I thoroughly dislike fanfics which are just direct steals of existing movies and television shows, only with many random tv characters infesting it and contributing nothing with their lines.

[newfan]

I'm not huge on reading them but have read where I have had a particular interest in something or characters and there is no more to see or read officially.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Originally Posted by newfan

But have read where I have had a particular interest in something or characters and there is no more to see or read officially.

I wonder what series of fanfics you could be referring to?

Anyways, I don't read a huge variety of fanfictions but when I do end up reading a fanfiction, I choose something very long and read it all the way to get the best experience.

Surprisingly, I've never been into reading tmnt fanfictions despite writing some. Pokemon is my go to franchise for fanfiction (Mostly shipping fics), and fanfics of animated Disney films to a lesser extent.

I like shipping fics (as long as not explicit), suspense/thriller, backstories to characters, alternate universe what ifs, action/adventure and sometimes funny stuff.

I don't like explicit fanfics, fanfics which have characters acting hugely out of character without justification, having ridiculous superpowers out of nowhere and fanfics with too many OCs that overshadow established characters while often having extremely cringey dialogue.

I also write, but its only a handful of fanfictions which I think about obsessively when it comes to every last plot detail.

I enjoy having a regular audience for my fanfictions who post their reviews/comments for every new chapter.

[Dejablue]

I can read almost anything except comedy. Because a lot of fanfic authors aren't nearly as funny as they think they are.

I do have some problems with explicit fics but they aren't worth mentioning. For the most part I'm indifferent to sex in fanfiction but so many of them are very poorly written that its not worth it. So most of the time i'll see it coming, skim it or skip it entirely.

I like long fics but they run a super high risk of the author giving up (or dying) so the fic never gets finished. And if the story was good that is heart breaking.

edit: Have to add that I'm on the fence when it comes to angst. Angst is fine in a bigger story with a bigger scheme but I hate stories where characters are sad the entire time. Exceptions being short one-shots.

[Dejablue]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

I thoroughly dislike fanfics which are just direct steals of existing movies and television shows, only with many random tv characters infesting it and contributing nothing with their lines.

Oh boy. Are Songfics still a thing? Anyone remember those. I hate them.

[Leo656]

It's fine in theory. Like anything else, a ton of it is bad based on what little I've seen but some are really good. People can do what they wanna do.

I've written a couple of things, but only a very, very small and privileged circle of people have seen any. It's mostly just stuff to amuse my wife and I. Although that doesn't mean I don't approach it with my sincerest best effort, as I do with all things. It's just not "written to be read" specifically. Although some people have seen parts and they're okay with it.

I don't generally read much of it. I'm a stickler for proper composition and stuff and a lot of fic writers apparently are not that. Seeing lots of errors and stuff gets aggravating. I like to at least pretend that what I'm reading was written by someone at a semi-professional level.

Severe out-of-character stuff is always grating but there can be in-story reasons for it, too, so it depends on the context. Lots of ideas sound awful but it's really all in the execution. Generally, I just can't read anything that's badly-written.

The few things I've written are "books" and probably only of interest to myself and my wife so I doubt they'll ever be out there for anyone, or if they were very few would likely read it because they are sooooo looooong. The very first one was actually posted online back around 2004 and got some heat, but I recently re-read it and good Lord, I'd need to do a complete Page-One rewrite on the entire thing before I'd ever let anyone look at it again. The skeleton's alright but the entire execution does not hold up as I'd envisioned. And I'unno if I care enough to do that.

But yeah, I'unno, I dabble. I always roll my eyes when people dismiss "fanfic writers" in some derogatory terms. Like, it's a hobby, people do stuff. People don't get all uppity when "unlicensed" people draw or paint pictures or do music or whatever, but if you write stories in your free time and aren't a published author you're some kinda wacko. I never got why some people act like that, it's weird. Sure, a lot of it is crummy, just by sheer volume, but so what? I got news for some folks, their kids' drawings on the fridge ain't such great shakes, either. "Glass houses" and all'a that jazz. Let people do what they want.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Dejablue

Are Songfics still a thing? Anyone remember those. I hate them.

Those are a bit of an 'old shame' for me...that's how I initially broke into fanfic writing, it was all parody lyrics of peak 2003 Eminem Show tracks

[Dejablue]

Some people think drawing is easier than writing. (It can be for some it depends on the individual) while others think writing may not necessarily be harder, it's an obsessive hobby which they assume takes much longer to create.

The most common fanfiction stereotype is its written by sex starved women who want their two favorite straight male characters to bury their bones inside each other, or their self-insert, or both. Writing fanfic is seen as a protracted practice in forcing characters to behave ooc for perverse reasons. Not to mention the phenomenon of Mary Sues.

Fanart is exactly the same and by now surely outnumbers fanfiction in that regard. The key difference being unless you are looking for porn, most fanart you'll see is clean safe for work stuff. You can scroll through hundreds of cool pics in minutes. With fanfiction that's not possible so fanfiction feels slow and weird, intimate even. Plus you don't really know what you're in for unless you actually read the thing.

[Leo656]

Well, isn't that how "Twilight" became a thing? Some horny housewife had too much free time, and now we all suffer? Or was that 50 Shades? Both? I get it mixed up. But yeah, I mean, it's tough to argue with the stereotypes, sometimes, given that so many of them exist for perfectly proven and valid reasons.

It's still unfortunate that everyone has to get painted with the same brush, though. Some stuff is perfectly fine, not everyone is trying to masturbate in public. Although some people definitely are.

Hmm... writing or drawing... that's something I never even considered thinking about. They're so different I couldn't even begin to compare difficulty.

I think I'm maybe better at writing, but have drawn more things that I'd show people than I have written things that I'd show people. Which I guess makes very little sense. But that's about as well as I could put it.

[PizzaPower1985]

I am an active writer and reader of Fan-fiction...

I have been writing Fan-fics since 2007. MY FAN-FIC ALWAYS TRIES TO REMAIN FAITHFUL TO CHARACTERS. I PRETEND I'M WRITING COMIC BOOKS. I DO NOT USE CHARACTERS FOR MY OWN STUPID FANTASIES. I USE THEM AS THEY ARE USED IN COMICS/TV/CARTOONS/RADIO SHOWS/FILM ETC.

I've written 107 stories but have published FAR LESS. Superheroes and Crime-fighters are my bag.

My profile is here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1223129...HT-of-the-MOON

[Leo656]

Rock on, brother.

My more action-heavy stuff was VERY comic book-inspired. I was obsessively reading comics at that time (2000-2005) and was really into making each Chapter read like a single issue, with the appropriate cliffhanger breaks and such. A lot of the fight scenes were inspired by various action movies, pro wrestling and other stuff. For one elaborate fight scene I was trying to crack, I stayed up for 24 hours drinking coffee and watching the original Batman and Spider-Man movies on a loop as I was writing it, trying to really study the acrobatics and choreography and figure out what I could do with it.

I don't know jack sh*t about martial arts, so I "cheat" by having situations quickly devolve into "street fight" scenarios where technique doesn't mean anything. I work in as much as I can to keep it "authentic", but anyone's just as apt to hit a Uranage suplex on somebody as they are to do a jumping split-kick or whatever, in my stuff (although that's kinda like Judo, anyways, kinda, or at least inspired by ). I'd rather write to what I know than overreach and have it come off as blatantly fake. Don't know martial arts, have been in many fights. I do what I can with it.

When I lean more into dramatic stories with less action, it's a bit of a different format. I kinda struggle with ending chapters with such stories as scenes just sort of bleed into each other without much clear delineation. I'unno, it's a process.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I personally find drawing much, much harder. I don't do it much at all anymore, except for my kids. They like my silly little cartoons and squiggles.

And yes, 50 Shades of Gray was originally erotic Twilight fan fiction. Because THAT $hit can get published, but real writers go unknown and unpublished.

[Leo656]

I thought that was it!

I don't draw as much as I used to, but not because I don't want to. It's just time-consuming and at some point I branched out into writing and even painting more often.

I tend to draw in phases, also, as far as subject matter. Like for a while I'll do comic book stuff, then go through a "real life portrait" style phase, and then an erotica phase. That last one lasted a long time, because I needed a serious challenge after getting bored with the other stuff. But that's a big reason why it's not out there for anyone to see.

My wife tells me I'm awesome, though. Other people do too but she's the only one who's seen my entire portfolio.

I think writing is maybe easier because technically "Anyone can do it," I don't mean they can do it well but literally anyone can put words on paper, the rest is simply refinement. Some people can master the craft, and some can't, but almost anyone can put a few sentences together and form a narrative. Drawing requires a keen eye for detail that not everyone even has, kind of like how not everyone has an ear for music or what have you. It's especially difficult if you try and draw realism. If you aim more "abstract" or stylized, you have more freedom, but drawing for realism is very hard. I think I'm okay at comic book stuff but I've never been completely happy with my real-life portrait stuff.

So like, maybe writing is easier, at least conceptually. Just about anyone can put words into some kind of coherent narrative, but not anyone has the ability to draw anything more competent than a stick figure. You can teach and refine either skill, but I think the basics of writing come easier than the basics of drawing.

My 8th grade year I got to go to a special Arts school for most of the day a couple'a times a week as part of some program. Pretty neat! They had kids there for all different arts but I was there for Visual Arts. But there was some fun cross-over, like one time they had us sit in with the dance kids and try to sketch them in motion as they did ballet, just to get used to practicing figures in dynamic motion and all that. Good times!

In High School I got more into writing, though; I took Drawing and Painting I and II the first two years, but my home life was a wreck and I couldn't concentrate on that stuff as much as I wanted. So I got more involved with reading and writing, so since there was no third-level Drawing and Painting courses anyway, I took stuff like Creative Writing and Journalism as electives to finish up the last couple years. Turned out to be some of the best stuff I ever got involved with, I use the stuff I learned in those classes every single day.

I also studied Criminal Justice, Video Technology, Communications Tech, Materials and Methods (high-level Shop class with an emphasis on design theory), and Transportation Tech, along with some basic data entry stuff. I know I come off as a complete lunatic sometimes, but ya boy's actually quite a learned and well-read fellow. Knowledge Is Power, B!

[Musashi]

I've written some (see below), all set in the 90s movies continuity, first between II and III, then after III. Still planning to add more, but not that much free time at the moment. In practice, not as serious as the first one, but stops short of the silliest excesses of II and III.

To answer the question at the start of the thread, they're pretty much what I wanted to read and couldn't really find, so I wrote them.

[Dejablue]

Originally Posted by Musashi

I've written some (see below), all set in the 90s movies continuity, first between II and III, then after III. Still planning to add more, but not that much free time at the moment. In practice, not as serious as the first one, but stops short of the silliest excesses of II and III.

To answer the question at the start of the thread, they're pretty much what I wanted to read and couldn't really find, so I wrote them.

Cool af. If anyone currently writing is brave enough you can also link whatever you are currently working on to get some eyes on it.

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by Dejablue

Cool af. If anyone currently writing is brave enough you can also link whatever you are currently working on to get some eyes on it.

Thanks. Sorry about the delayed reply. I've put a couple of extracts from my work in the fanfic update thread.