Opinions on Fan Fiction

[NinjaMonkey]

Put it this way: I've never read any fan fiction that I would qualify as being good, and I doubt that I ever will.

[Camus The Dark Knight]

Fan fiction makes me cringe, but it's entertaining. I like to think of it like some of those old B movies.

[Frosty]

Depends... but I rarely stumble into them...

If it's badly written and not a crack fic; it's cringe-worthy...

If it's badly written because IT IS A CRACK FIC; well... Time to get some funny moments and take ideas for a ridiculous parody.

If it's good, then alright... I'll bother.

[Shoblongoo]

On 5/18/2017 at 3:11 AM, Fala said:

Uh, not if it doesn't make sense either character, setting or plot-wise.

...Try me. If you lawyer it hard enough anything can make sense.

Or alternatively you can take a facially nonsensical premise. And go so over-the-top with it as to elevate nonsense to an artform, then present the resulting work-product as a satire or parody piece. (i.e. South Park)

Edited May 19, 2017 by Shoblongoo

[Phoenix Wright]

firstly, my definition of fan fiction is when a fan takes a story and manipulates it to fit whatever their creative minds can think up. so professionally made spin-offs or non-cannon stories aren't fan fiction to me.

fan fiction has the potential to be engaging and creative, but is often not. i feel like the reason for this is simple: why limit yourself to the framework of another's vision of a universe when you can create your own? it's certainly a creative outlet, and people are free to do it, but i don't think it's...like...a "printable" or "publishable" form of writing. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Phoenix Wright

[eclipse]

3 hours ago, Phoenix Wright said:

firstly, my definition of fan fiction is when a fan takes a story and manipulates it to fit whatever their creative minds can think up. so professionally made spin-offs or non-cannon stories aren't fan fiction to me.

fan fiction has the potential to be engaging and creative, but is often not. i feel like the reason for this is simple: why limit yourself to the framework of another's vision of a universe when you can create your own? it's certainly a creative outlet, and people are free to do it, but i don't think it's...like...a "printable" or "publishable" form of writing. 

Much as I'd like the last bit to be true. . .it's not always the case.  See: Fifty Shades of WHY.

[Phoenix Wright]

i haven't read much ff, but i've read better than that! haha, that is something that shouldn't have been published.

[EricaofRenais]

I tend to not read fan fic because I have seen one too many of them making Saiyuki characters gay when the mangaka has said characters as as hetro or asexual.  As long as the fan fic doesn't change characters from how the original work has the character, then I don't have a problem with it.  Just if you use someone else's work as a starting point for your own stay true to how the characters are in the original. 

[Noma9]

I love fan fics, and I have read some genuinely well-written ones, and relish in the very poorly done ones. It's fun! But I am vehemently against fics being lightly altered to become publishable works. Like, 50 Shades is straight plagiarism of Twilight and no amount of name changes can hide that. It's not right, and I think it goes against the general spirit of fanwork. But really, outside of being a fun thing to do, it's also a pretty useful tool. Someone may want to write their own original work but have little writing practice, or get overwhelmed as they begin to craft their own world. Practicing with someone else's pre-established settings and rules can be a good place to start, and I see noting wrong with that. 

[Skynstein]

I don't get how 50 Shades of Grey is so much different from something like Scary Movie. Oh well...

I actually find it easier to create my own thing. People already troll you when you write your own original stuff, but when you do fan fiction, they troll you even harder if it's not to their taste.

[Noma9]

1 hour ago, Cerberus87 said:

 

I don't get how 50 Shades of Grey is so much different from something like Scary ovie. Oh well...

 

Scary Movie and its off-shoots are satirical amalgamations that poke fun at their respective genres, and riff off of particularly famous moments therein. 50 shades is nearly a 1 for 1 re-telling of another persons work. Like, there's barely enough time in the world to go over everything that is basically unchanged. The way people look, behave, their relationships, the things they say and even key phrases are all still there from the original work. 

[Skynstein]

13 minutes ago, Noma9 said:

Scary Movie and its off-shoots are satirical amalgamations that poke fun at their respective genres, and riff off of particularly famous moments therein. 50 shades is nearly a 1 for 1 re-telling of another persons work. Like, there's barely enough time in the world to go over everything that is basically unchanged. The way people look, behave, their relationships, the things they say and even key phrases are all still there from the original work. 

I see. Well, I haven't read the book (I've read a bit of Twilight), though I've watched some bits of the film. IMO there's still some merit in it, though obviously not enough to warrant the attention it got.

However, as a man, it's quite difficult for me to understand all the fuss, although there were some things in the film that I liked.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Cerberus87

[Into Oblivion]

13 hours ago, Cerberus87 said:

I actually find it easier to create my own thing. People already troll you when you write your own original stuff, but when you do fan fiction, they troll you even harder if it's not to their taste.

They troll me just for the heck of it, it seems. I know I've got one little punk who enjoys letting me have it, and I suspect it's because one of my pieces wound up getting a little more exposure last year.

I have the same opinion of 50 Shades as has been expressed, that it shouldn't have been published and that it's a complete piece of trash. Having said that, I was rather impressed when I read about its origins in the paper. I've considered trying to adapt some of my short pieces into a collection of short stories. But it'll never happen, and I'm okay with it.

I'm still a little torn over it myself, my opinion on it. I love the writing process, tedious as it is, and I do enjoy taking characters even if they're not mine, and exploring scenarios that actually are mine. But in the grand scheme of things, I know this is all completely pointless. It was one thing when it was practice for bigger and better things, but now that it's just for its own sake, it just doesn't mean what it used to.

[Pixelman]

It's bad when it's bad (i.e. most of the time), and it's good when it's good

I will grant fanfiction this though: it's the only medium where I've either a) teared up (Wayward Son), or b) cried (though this could be attributed more to how the reader was acting out the story rather than the actual story itself).

[Railgun]

Oh boy, I have a pretty hefty opinion on it.

It can be fun to use for creative purposes, as I'll admit I write some myself. However, there are just a lot of terrible fanfics out there that have lowered my expectations regarding quality. So I rarely read fanfiction nowadays. 

Sturgeon's Law just completely bleeds though fanfiction. 

[Into Oblivion]

Seeing as I'm going into exile, can someone please lock or delete this, please? I prefer deletion, as I'd rather wipe all traces of me away.

[Zangetsu]

I personally think fanfic can be incredibly fun. I've never publishing any of mine (mostly because my grammar sucks & conjure them in my mind) but I can think very inspiring. It can be either something like 50 shades (the embodiment of everything unfair in life) or DBZ Abridged (incredible example of what group of men with passion can do).

[Rapier]

Without repeating what everyone already said (yeah I agree that fanfics are valid but bad yadda yadda), I have some issues with fanfiction in particular:

- Because the author is writing about an established universe, I expect that they can write the established characters as closely to what they were in the original work as possible. Any changes to the characters must be justified through elements that I can believe would change that character originally. Queen of Sorrow, the fanfic where Lucia dies and Elincia starts falling the Moral Event Horizon slowly, is a perfect example of how to do it right, although the grittier theme might set some people off.

- When OCs start taking too much spotlight to themselves and challenging already established characters for their spots. I mean, if you want to create a character in any universe, that's fine. I actually prefer it that way because you don't run the risk of doing what I said above and it gives more freedom for creative development. The problem comes when said character matches or outshines the show's already established main characters or protagonist on importance. Think of Dragon Ball Xenoverse in fanfiction form, where your Original Character Do Not Steal(TM) curbstomps the God of Destruction, Buu, Cell and is more than a match for Goku and Vegeta.

[Jotari]

Adaptations are a legitimate form of writing, that's all fanfiction is after all (albeit usually of lower quality as its mostly amateur writers). Then you also have long running series like Doctor Who or any Marvel/DC comic. It's still a preestablished setting created by another writer even if you are writing for the company that produces it.

Edited July 5, 2017 by Jotari

[IfIHadToPickADude]

Personally, I generally don't like fanfiction where it changes the characters in the story. If the people who read it and write is believe that it is gospel and that the actual canon story is nothing but a not on the side of the road, then they're crazy. I honestly don't understand these people. I've read a few fanfiction with canon characters and they were okay, but nothing to write home about. I do know there are gems out there but I haven't found them yet. Even still, I am utterly confused as to why they believe it is the truth but hey, who cares anyway?

 However, fanfiction which uses OCs (good ones, not the crappy overused ones) I can mostly get behind. I'll admit that I'm trying to write one right now, although it's for RWBY not Fire Emblem, so that might be affecting my opinion. Anyway, unless your characters are the pure embodiment of absolute shit, I'm fine with it. Again, don't treat it like it is the Bible.

What I'm trying to say here is: I'm fine with fanfiction as long as people who write and read it don't treat it as more canon than the actual story.

[Dismissed]

The only fanfiction writer I recognize here is great at writing.

A few years ago, my writing was crap, and I was stupid. Now, I've improved over the years, now aiming for 2k words per chapter. However, I don't have much time to update. I published so many concepts that I soon took down, I felt the quality wasn't good enough. Right now, I have three stories. One is a oneshot where Eliwood dies and Ninian lives. The second is an old concept I revived by adding Pokémon in the mix. The third, I won't say it. (Also, DO NOT check them out. My writing sucks.)

Only a few of my favorite authors are still active. I'll name a few "dead" authors. Ilex the Elder willingly stopped at 40 stories back during the dawn of Pokémon Generation III. BladeOfThePoet hasn't updated for two years, and Mekon for three.

On the other side, ChangelingRin has two big stories running, both I consider top quality. COOKIECHEESEMAN writes amazing one-shots, and he's currently writing a Roy/Idoun fanfic. He handles OCs pretty well, and fleshes out their personalities. Unfortunately, he told me he's going to stop writing once he finishes said Roy/Idoun story. Meanwhile, alexa005 (we're from the same country) writes comedy. While hilarious, there are a lot of grammatical errors littered around due to English being her second language.

On OCs, I try to give them weaknesses, such as being depressed, insane, or both. Here's a tip, don't have them being omnipotent and extremely likeable. Also, NEVER READ FANFICTION ON WATTPAD. SCRATCH THAT, DON'T DO WATTPAD, AT ALL.

There are three principles of writing I consider before I like a story. First, capitalization, grammar, and punctuation. It's easy to tell that beginners use this. Second, length. Some stories are too short while others drag on and on. Third, spacing. Huge chunks of texts are a big no.

[Gebby]

Generalizations aside, it's real writing, I guess, you've still gotta put in some work.

HOWEVER!

At least 50% of fanfiction authors are 14-year-old girls who just really, really want Sonic and Link to engage in really awkward and badly written sexual acts or put them in otherwise nonsensical situations in which they retain zero of their actual character.

To be fair, these are entertaining in their own right, maybe not for their intended purpose, but they're fun to laugh at, and if you're someone who enjoys writing that, more power to you.

[Shoblongoo]

It's wierd because I started writing FE fan fiction in high school and my last update to one of my stories was...May of 2017, i think??? So for me my fanfic account has become more than a creative outlet or an expression of my love for the fandom--it's a living archive of how my writing style has developed and matured over the years from a dumb high school kid (my early stuff was very obviously the product of a juvenile mind) to where it's at today. Which is a neat little thing to have. 

[Ceratisa_Winters]

Generally I feel it's used for self-fulfillment fantasies which becomes more apparent the more you read into a story. I have read a few good ones though. But I haven't actually read any fanfiction in years. 

[VestalRinea]

For filling in plot holes, crossovers and fanservice. Yesyesyes, I approve ?