wow I just read what you posted here, and I'll go to read the whole rant later.
one question raises for that person: Why they even read Fanfics if they hate them so much? the back button and the "X" at the far upper-right of their browser is their if they don't like it.
also knowing from personal observation that: my fav characters are being my muses so i can write. I tried few years back to write my own stuff but I never finished that story.
so it is not so easy to write your own stuff even if you are a fan fiction writer already.
it is sad that someone ranting like that, I have said it countless of times already but I guess I am in a fandom that it has really high quality writers, and 80% are not crap but actually wonderful works .
>Anyway, if someone loves a story enough to want to write about it, isn't it a compliment of sorts?
:)
A couple of gems from the thread:
"Are you insinuating that a person can't be gay, badass, and sensitive all at the same time?"
"Yes, actually."
Wut.
"It really is a pity to see good talent go to waste on these bad ones."
As a rule, if they have talent, they ain't writing badfics.
Fanfiction, to me, is a self-imposed challenge, like writing something with a wordcount of precisely 1,500, or an epic exclusively in iambic pentameter. Not only do you have to write an interesting, engaging, and original story, but you have to do it in a way that adheres to the framework of one or more fictional universes. The stranger and more specific the concept, the more difficult it is. Given these additional pitfalls, it is unsurprising that the good-to-bad ratio is even more skewed than for most self-published work... though that makes the rare good stuff all the sweeter.
Oh, and is it just me, or are the avatars on that site somewhat... unsettling?
>>5Those avatars are unsettling.
Haven't read all of it, but what irates me is that most of them think that the writers of fanfiction are teens and think it's fun to put two guys together in a relationship. It's to bad I can't comment on some of those comments.
>>8 Hey, it's not like you managed it all the time. ;)
Dante, on the other hand...
>>8 Uhm, who you call kiddo? Sorry but it's something I disagree with. I'm on lot of LJ comms and yahoogroups and know for a fact that those who are on those groups are not fanfic pairing happy teens.
>>11 41 old enough for you to stop calling me kiddo, kiddo?
>>12 When you're over 440 years old, you call everyone 'kiddo'.
Except Dante.
@advamp- Y'know, kiddo, when ya get mad about bein' called a kiddo, ya prove that you're a kiddo. So I have only this to say:
IF YOU WANNA BATTLE, THEN I'LL TAKE IT TO THE STREET, WHERE THERE'S NO RULES. TAKE OFF THE GLOVES, REF, PLEASE STEP DOWN; I'M GONNA PROVE MY SKILLZ SO GET DOWN!
Uh-huh, uh-huh...
... And this is why I was opposed to the new Stratford distillery.
Ooh yeah, doodoodoodoodoodoodoodoo, baby, baby, d-doodoodoodoodoodoodoodoo!
Ooh yeah, d-doodoodoodoodoodoodoodoo, baby, baby, d-doodoodoodoodoodoo!
Uh-huh, uh-huh...
@advamp-
A younger kiddo I have never seen,
And thus I write my words across your screen-
A smaller kiddo there has never been!
Nyaha.
Another tries to emulate my style,
But fails, forgetting all the while-
Iambic pentameter is the key,
To successfully impersonate me.
Rhyming helps.
>>20 :adds beatbox:
when it comes down to anti-fanfic and pro-fanfic I always find myself on the anti-fanfic side. even now when I hear someone say fan fiction I automatically think of 13 year old girls writing shit yaoi fics, I know I know it's a bad stereotype. I've read around loads of different kinds of fanfics and while some are just awesome, the majority of fan fiction is shit, it's sad but it's true
>>23 Dan le Sac & Scroobius Pip probably did it already
>>26 That's an issue with the writers, though, rather than with fanfic as a whole.
It's often best not to judge a medium by the mainstream - look at Western perceptions of anime, for a start. That said, there's a whooole lot of dreck out there - at least anime has barriers to entry.
Iambic pentameter is not hard;
In fact, only a truly failing bard
Could mess it up repeatedly, my friend-
And so I ask that your 'poem' doth end!
Seriously, poetry's something ya play games with. S'not difficult, dude. Ain't ya got no sense of rhythm?
Thou darest chastise Sir William Shakespeare?! Fie! May a thousand plagues ravage thee, foolish, pitiful creature! Draw thy rusted sword, if thou darest, and fight, we shall- to the death!
Or, y'know, peace out an' let Shakespeare shake his thang. Ya go an post a thread on, get this, a site for FANFIC writers, an' then ask what they think of, wait for it... arguments against fanfic! C'mon, dudette, ain't rocket science. So peace out, chill, and be happy that you've had the chance to meet Shakespeare. Fo' real, yo.
I'd have to disagree with the sterytype. Of what I've seen, there are a lot of good fanfics, that only use the fandom as a base for the authors ideas. Yea, there are bad fics out there, but most that I've read have good qualities to them.
I've read fanfics that are better written than published original work. Not to mention, if you really want to write, it's easier to get a fanfic out there and get critique on it than getting original work published.
Also, fanfiction is just fun. It's my way of letting myself ingore all the stuff I dislike about my fandoms- it helps me sleep at night. lol
It's a massive grey area largely unexplored by the law. In a nutshell, it's kosher until the original author says so (and only ten have), and the fact that it's non-profit gives it veeery limited protection under 'fair use' - as in, the sort of protection that vanishes if stared at too closely.
If you do attempt to gain profit from it, though, expect an army of lawyers piling up on your doorstep.
It anything, there have only been a select few authors that have gone "no no no." but other than that, I'd say it's about as legal as fanart doujinshi. Practically the same concept when you look at it.
@Moonphase-
Most people are, though, sad as that may be;
They care not for culture, or things witty.
Well, when you compare fanfiction to Twilight...really, which one is the better quality?
I think there is a simple solution to all this debate. The people who hate the horny 13 year girls can maybe stop reading their stories and bi***ing about it, and maybe if they put in a little work then they might find the gems that really make up the quality of ff.net.
So about 70% of the stuff stuck up is some kind of romance/slash/yaoi/lemon or whatever...that still means there's 30% of stories out there just waiting to be read! I admit, I've wrote slash and some stories that are cringe worthy, but then I hit the magical age of 14 and now I'm supposedly a lot more mature. At least I think my stories are better quality anyway...
I'd say what I've read, there are a lot of things to just skip over, a good number of enjoyable fics, and a few that are just incredible.
I just had fun reading through a lot of that thread.
"Are you saying that a guy can't be badass, gay and sensitive"
"Yes, actually."
My hope of any coherent response as to why they hated fics went down the drain with their shallowminded-ness.
Also "An excuse to put themselves into a fic." We actually have a separate genre for this called "Self-insertion" do we not?
They really need to do their research before they go blowing their half-assed opinion out there.
I strongly disagree. It is true that there are copious horrible fan fics out there, but it is a generalization to call them all bad. In fact, some of them are so good that they could be a real alternate story of the franchise. I admit that good stories are hard to find, but he who seeks, also finds.
an essay from someone who says we should all write fanfic...
There are some really good fanfics out there, and some really bad ones - you can't tar them all with the same brush. If you find a lemon/lime/ect. then you can always skip over it and find some good stuff, because it is out there if you look for it.
I myself do enjoy a good banana...
>>46 I really agree with that article. Fanfiction gives me a world and characters to start with which I can build a story around. I don't have to come up with everything about the characters, I already have that for me. I've learned a lot writing fanfiction, and before long plan to start writing original fiction too.
>>48 Iaculus the lemon term comes from the pornographic old anime "Cream Lemon" that's why Lemon stays for fic with sexual content.
>>46 great essay :) It's good to see someone else values the craft of writing than writing abstract plots as a way to ego-trip. Most reviews in fanfiction hardly comment on the quality of writing but are more on how the reviewers love the story. That's good and all, but it doesn't help much with improving your writing technique.
>>53
I think there is an art to critiquing though. A lot of people reading are only after a good story and so only think to give praise in the storyline; its automatic. Some others think they are given criticism, when they are in fact only flaming.
I find its either people who read a lot in general, or more often, English students (sixth form or higher), are the only ones that criticise, and that's because they are trained to do so.
to b honest, if i didn't like fanfiction I wouldn't be here. Horray cheery :)
to b honest, if i didn't like fanfiction I wouldn't be here. Horray cheery :)
It might sound self centred, but my favourite has to be my own. Before now I've just written it as it has come into my head, but this time I planned it all carefully. Might is Right, by OllyB123 on fanfiction.net, in the Spore section. It's only in it's infancy but it will grow before long. I'm just so proud of my lil Spore baby XD
This is a forum for fanfic writers, so, may I ask why people are attacking it? There are websites (Such as fictionpress.net) that suffer from the same flaws as fanfiction, but there are very good pieces too. Generally, companies and authors ignore it until it generates a profit. Then they have just cause to get involved I think
Fanfiction is good cause you don't have to start from scratch and in many ways it adds a lot to the story it's based on. Of course it's bad too sometimes because you can't 'publish' it or anything unless you change lots of things. There IS a lot of fanfiction out there that makes you say 'Is this a story?...' or 'This is impossible!'. Of course it all depends on whether you want it to be some kind of alternate version of the story or a pre/sequel or you just want to use some facts to start something completely different... Parody is okay but I don't like reading it, I prefer the real stuff. But even events that would, in the series/film/book, be impossible can be quite interesting!Then there's the question if you want to write an ENTIRE story or just some 'thoughts' or a scene.. Fanfiction does offer opportunity to write just a scene or a short story without having to feel like the whole thing's imcomplete and ppl don't appreciate it.
Greetz: Wraith Fan -xXx-
To the converted you all preach. Pointless endeavour is pointless. Le sigh.
I think of Fanfiction as training. My motto is why would you bother complaining about something so much if it has nothing to do with you or anything to do with you in the first place
I actually wrote a fanfiction about bad fanfictions...as contradictory as that may seem. It's titled 'Fanfiction Massacre', but you really won't get most of the plot killings if you aren't at least familiar with Inuyasha...
I try to always say something nice about all the fanfictions I read, and only give criticism that I think people can actually use to improve their writing.
I've found most people who insult fanfiction actually don't know sqaut about it.
I've found most people who insult fanfiction actually don't know sqaut about it.
>>65 True
I see fanfiction more as recycling the original idea while adding your own flavor to it. =P
>>67 - I also found it ironic that they brought up HP fanfiction. Rowling completly supports fanfiction.
I actually found out that one famous author started by writing fanfics, something along the lines of writing herself interviewing various characters from her favorite books.
The is also such a thing as published fanfics. For example, we have a bunch of sequels of old classics that are no longer in the copyright domain. However, the sequels are still fanfic, even though people don't outright call them that.
I also read a book complied in memorium for J.R. Tolkien. Mostly it was inspired work, fan art and fan poetry. However, there was one fanfic which had the Hobbits asking if one of the evil characters stole the pickles from the pickle barrel.
For me writing and reading fanfiction is a way to improve and gain insperation for future books and art since I want to be a computer artist/author.Another reason I write fanfics is because I heard this qoute one time.It went somthing like this "you write what you desperatly want to read" it means what it says,so I write what I desperatly want to read.That to me is the point of most fanfics.Others that I've read like a "NO to prop 8"(you can look it up)and "rape hurts" are made to make a point.
>>69 - I like having both of what you say in there, a balance between the two. Particularly since some of the second you can mention are way too preachy and take all the fun out of it... but then so do published works that do the same thing.
For me, I just write to (f)uck with people. If they truely like and want more, I just don't to make them -
Well I believe that FanFiction is a good site that let's novice (or advanced) writers have experience and practise writing. It's also a good site for people to get advice on how they can make their writing stronger. I dislike it when people go on Fanfiction just for the heck of it. Most stories have a purpose. And the fact that the stories are based on other stories just makes it fun and easier for the writer and the reviewer.