[Fanfic] Why Do You Write Fan Fiction?

[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?

[Roland]

Fan fiction for me avoids long intro's and back-stories for your characters and allows you to get to your main story quicker. Most of time your audience knows your characters. Would would your fan character do scenario makes for some interesting writing.

[Guitar_Raph]

Here comes my confession.

I started writing fanfics back in the late 90's. Whenever I sent ideas in to tv series, they write back saying that due to union rules, unsolicited material can't be accepted (though Speilberg broke that rule when he glanced at a girl's idea for Tiny Toons & was actually made into an episode).

When I first saw fanfics on the internet, they were mostly sex scenes & raunchiness.

My first fanfic was a MMPR fanfic. I got disgusted over a talent show episode, I did it myself. I keep most of my stories short or divided into parts

Other fanfics I've done includes The Lawrence Brothers, Step By Step, Batman Beyond, 90210, Complete Savages, Drake & Josh, Hey Dude, Quintuplets & of course TMNT. I also do game show ideas (IE; Hermey the Elf on Jeopardy!), so not every fanfic is a musical. I also had original ideas including Rebel Boy & Captain Drumbeat. Rebel Boy no longer exists

The only rules I have for writing, use (BLEEP) for swear words & of coursse, no religion or politics!

[plastroncafe]

Because worlds I enjoy have aspects to them that I do not, and with fanfiction I can change them.
Because characters I enjoy have aspects to that that aren't always addressed, and with fanfiction I can address them.
Because it's a way to interact with a section of the fandom that is often marginalized.
Because it's fun, and I enjoy it.

[Unworthy tinker]

Because, sometimes people have an idea for a franchise and don't have another way to execute it. That's why I do it anyway. Plus it's easier to post (FF.net, etc).

I also do it so that when I do my own thing, hopefully I'd be a little well known, so that someone might like my fics, and hopefully that'll give the new thing a little nudge. The overall nudge to do so was my boyfriend though. He encouraged me, and here I am. Got a few friends who like it, and its a combo of not wanting to let anyone down, fun, and I dunno, just the interaction with everyone.

I probably sound like a crazy person.

[ZariusTwo]

Practise for whenever you want to eventually step up and do original work or if you ever get a job in movies/television/comics and will eventually get to write for licensed properties, aka fanfiction that you can get paid for.

[SophieDem]

Because I am not creative enough at times to create a whole new world. Writer's block.

Also, I don't have to make up new characters because I already love the current ones. Honestly, making characters is a battle for me. I stumbled upon so many bad protagonists during reading fanfictions and it's awful. Mary Sues, shallow personalities, out-of-characters etc. Still, I have a hard time with already existing characters in stories.

I sometimes create different scenarios in my head and in order not to forget them, I scribble my ideas on the paper in a structural way. Also, I like to express myself though words.

I am a huge critic with my stories. It seems like I never make them right. I often delete whole pages but I write on every kind of layer. My laptop, literature excersise book, workbook, you name it. And I write for myself. I don't publish my stories.

[Blossombrooks]

I do both but I've got to be honest, fanfiction is way more fun. They aren't your characters but you know them so well writing their personalities is easy, sure the plot is still hard but I'm not having to think how it will affect a character of my own that is still establishing their persona. I know I'm a bit guilty of Mary Sueing but eh, if I cared I wouldn't post it and my own work is miles away from my fanfic world.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Thanks for the answers, everyone! I really appreciate the insight.

Had to shelve my current novel halfway through, and was debating what to do next... fan fic or original fic?

[MikeandRaph87]

I have always been sort of a writer. I am also best in research and innovation, not original research or creating original fiction. That is just my creative ability. I have written many college papers in college and grad school analyzing the likes of John Lennon, Walt Disney, and Adolf Hitler and twice exceptional learners not to mention successfully arguing Why The Treaty of Versailles Is The Main Cause of WWII. As for fan-fiction, during the time frame of 1998-2002, I was a pre-teen and never grew out of the 1987 cartoon that quietly went off air when I was 10. I wanted to see something like seasons 7 and or 8 and only had 50 some episodes to watch. That being said I took a melded season 7 & 8 tone, added in tight continuity and more characterization plus guest starts popping up more and interacting with each other and did about fifty scripts. Years later I edited it to make explanations for why the sky turned red, making Krakus a connection to Burne Thompson to bring April make into the Channel Six News fold, connecting Casey Jones's origin with Big Louie,etc.

[PangolinFeets]

For a lot of reasons already brought up. I just enjoy thinking about the characters I like and often I feel as though aspects of their character that I enjoy aren't explored as in-depth as I would like.

Then again, I'm the kind of person who writes fanfic just to get ideas out of my head. I would never ever post my mortifying self-indulgent trash for others to read. And I don't even write romantic/sexual FF. ._.;;;

[CyberCubed]

I don't write fanfiction, at least not since I was a teenager. Always thought fanfics are for teens or young adults with too much time on their hands, and then you outgrow it when you become an adult.

If you're still writing you might as well do it professionally.

[GoldMutant]

Fan Fiction to me is mostly a solid way to commence a writing career. By utilizing the sources we immerse ourselves in (ex: Same As It Never Was) we either do it to relax to pop a joke or attempt to go even further beyond. Though it goes without saying some fan fiction can be atrocious depending on the subject matter.

School might provide me a glimmer of hope for increasing my capabilities, as older work I did in elementary school was strictly utilize whatever show was on my mind. Needless to say, I sucked at writing back then. If the Writer's Corner is an indication though, the difference is major. Often, I mostly like to rewrite an episode in my mind before describing it; my reasoning is if the episode isn't how we believed it was going to be, we can rewrite for our little universe interpretation.

Either way, Fan Fiction strictly can be for fun, but subjective. Use it for growing as a writer like a countdown artist on Youtube or becoming a critic, you might be surprised what might occur.

[Prowler]

Who has never written a story or two about his favorite fictional characters? It's not like it was something invented out of the blue 20 years ago and got named fanfiction.

We're never 100% happy with our favorite franchises, and always like to imagine certain things happening, so obviously fanfiction is a way to materialize those thoughts. Now, obviously fanfiction isn't high quality literature, since most of the people who write fics tend to be teenagers without any writing skills.

I personally think fanction is a good way for aspiring authors to start off. To become a writer you should read and write a lot. Gotta start somewhere, don't ya think?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Who has never written a story or two about his favorite fictional characters? It's not like it was something invented out of the blue 20 years ago and got named fanfiction.

We're never 100% happy with our favorite franchises, and always like to imagine certain things happening, so obviously fanfiction is a way to materialize those thoughts. Now, obviously fanfiction isn't high quality literature, since most of the people who write fics tend to be teenagers without any writing skills.

I personally think fanction is a good way for aspiring authors to start off. To become a writer you should read and write a lot. Gotta start somewhere, don't ya think?

Originally Posted by GoldMutant

Fan Fiction to me is mostly a solid way to commence a writing career. By utilizing the sources we immerse ourselves in (ex: Same As It Never Was) we either do it to relax to pop a joke or attempt to go even further beyond. Though it goes without saying some fan fiction can be atrocious depending on the subject matter.

School might provide me a glimmer of hope for increasing my capabilities, as older work I did in elementary school was strictly utilize whatever show was on my mind. Needless to say, I sucked at writing back then. If the Writer's Corner is an indication though, the difference is major. Often, I mostly like to rewrite an episode in my mind before describing it; my reasoning is if the episode isn't how we believed it was going to be, we can rewrite for our little universe interpretation.

Either way, Fan Fiction strictly can be for fun, but subjective. Use it for growing as a writer like a countdown artist on Youtube or becoming a critic, you might be surprised what might occur.

That's how I personally view it, but I get why others don't agree. Even if you're extremely skilled with what you write, if it's not original or you're not paid for it, I feel like most people aren't going to take you seriously as a writer.

[IndigoErth]

Largely, the little bit of writing I'd done in the past was original stuff. Can't say anything was ever finished though.

Never really did 'fan fiction' much up until a few years ago when I started writing a bit of a backstory for a couple game characters of mine, if that vaguely counts for stemming from an MMO. Entirely for own personal enjoyment. (Because really, who cares about my characters other than me. lol) What I've dabbled with a little at this point of characters others would actually be familiar with, it's really only ever just come from some thought that turned up in my head that I liked enough to write it down and expanded on. So, it's just bits and pieces here and there, again largely just for personal enjoyment. Don't know if I'd ever get around to sharing anything... may be too shy to share, and also depends if any of those pieces ever get the blanks filled in between; there's intention for some of it to, but will it really... *shrug*

Honestly though, when I get some idea, I think the biggest draw really is that it's simply a fine way to mentally spend the evening with some of your favorite fictional people.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Largely, the little bit of writing I'd done in the past was original stuff. Can't say anything was ever finished though.

Never really did 'fan fiction' much up until a few years ago when I started writing a bit of a backstory for a couple game characters of mine, if that vaguely counts for stemming from an MMO. Entirely for own personal enjoyment. (Because really, who cares about my characters other than me. lol) What I've dabbled with a little at this point of characters others would actually be familiar with, it's really only ever just come from some thought that turned up in my head that I liked enough to write it down and expanded on. So, it's just bits and pieces here and there, again largely just for personal enjoyment. Don't know if I'd ever get around to sharing anything... may be too shy to share, and also depends if any of those pieces ever get the blanks filled in between; there's intention for some of it to, but will it really... *shrug*

Honestly though, when I get some idea, I think the biggest draw really is that it's simply a fine way to mentally spend the evening with some of your favorite fictional people.

I've written a few stories before with original characters created by me, but I never got an opportunity to share them with anyone. I basically just wrote them because I was bored and left them either unfinished or somewhere lying around.

[PangolinFeets]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Largely, the little bit of writing I'd done in the past was original stuff. Can't say anything was ever finished though.

Never really did 'fan fiction' much up until a few years ago when I started writing a bit of a backstory for a couple game characters of mine, if that vaguely counts for stemming from an MMO. Entirely for own personal enjoyment. (Because really, who cares about my characters other than me. lol) What I've dabbled with a little at this point of characters others would actually be familiar with, it's really only ever just come from some thought that turned up in my head that I liked enough to write it down and expanded on. So, it's just bits and pieces here and there, again largely just for personal enjoyment. Don't know if I'd ever get around to sharing anything... may be too shy to share, and also depends if any of those pieces ever get the blanks filled in between; there's intention for some of it to, but will it really... *shrug*

Honestly though, when I get some idea, I think the biggest draw really is that it's simply a fine way to mentally spend the evening with some of your favorite fictional people.

Same. I only started writing fanfiction pretty recently compared to how long I've actually been writing stories.

[Powder]

The only thing close to fan-fiction I've done in recent years was adapting a journal entry into an IDW turtleverse fan-comic from Leo's perspective. http://imgur.com/a/uGK4g

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Originally Posted by Blossombrooks

I do both but I've got to be honest, fanfiction is way more fun. They aren't your characters but you know them so well writing their personalities is easy, sure the plot is still hard but I'm not having to think how it will affect a character of my own that is still establishing their persona. I know I'm a bit guilty of Mary Sueing but eh, if I cared I wouldn't post it and my own work is miles away from my fanfic world.

I've also done both. I enjoy both equally, but there's something about playing in a shared-world sandbox that's very exciting. I love being able to share my vision and takes on familiar characters, and as a long-time gamer, working in a larger universe that others have also contributed tobis very appealling. Ultimately, I do it for love of the characters and love of my craft.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I don't write fanfiction, at least not since I was a teenager. Always thought fanfics are for teens or young adults with too much time on their hands, and then you outgrow it when you become an adult.

If you're still writing you might as well do it professionally.

That's a very narriw view of it, though, and you would be surprised how many fic-writers are actually older adults in their late twenties to early forties. Bored housewives, men with desk jobs who need a creative outlet, and many others write fics, and not all of them do it with any intention of ever getting paid. Some just do it to share their enjoyment of a favorite franchise with others.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Who has never written a story or two about his favorite fictional characters? It's not like it was something invented out of the blue 20 years ago and got named fanfiction.

We're never 100% happy with our favorite franchises, and always like to imagine certain things happening, so obviously fanfiction is a way to materialize those thoughts. Now, obviously fanfiction isn't high quality literature, since most of the people who write fics tend to be teenagers without any writing skills.

I personally think fanction is a good way for aspiring authors to start off. To become a writer you should read and write a lot. Gotta start somewhere, don't ya think?

Yup. Basically this.