Fanfic rant
Fanfiction is of my hobbies, but a lot of my friends don't seem to get it. The most common opinion is, "Why would you want to read something about a game or TV show? That's weird. Why can't you just read a book? The people who post those online stories aren't even real authors." Or, if I'm planning on writing one, "Don't you have any of your own ideas? Why borrow someone else's?"
To me, fanfiction is just a different writing style, one that's not entirely different from, say, a biography. When writing a biography, you have to deal with established facts, pre-existing people (characters)
and real places. Fanfiction deals with the biographies of fictional characters. Of course, the fanfic writer is allowed to invent details and embellish characters pretty much any way he chooses, unlike real biographies or even "historical" fiction.
But fanfiction is still based on an established universe, which in some ways makes it more difficult than original fiction. When the major locations, characters, and past events are decided for you, you have to get inventive in order to make your story fresh and interesting within the limits of the world you're writing about. (There is some fanfiction that falls into the class of "Alternate Universe", but even then, the characters physical traits and personality is pretty much the same).
As for things like TV shows, movies, or video games not being valid starting points for stories, I ask, "What do you watch a show or movie for if not the story?" Unless the only value is in the big names and special effects, there's no reason why a story on film should have less worth than one in print. With games, the story is usually one of the main reasons I buy one (most of the games I like are RPG or action-adventure as opposed to fighters or strategy).
There are tons of stories out there waiting to be written that most likely will never be in any book. Some of the stories I've read are good enough to be in a book, but the authors write these for fun instead of money. This means they don't have to write only what the publishing companies expect to make a profit on, so their writing is allowed to be more off-beat or quirky.
Fanfiction is a way for writers to develop skills like creativity, research techniques, critical thinking about the plot and the hidden meanings, all while writing about something they love. And if the author is into their writing, the reader is more likely to be interested as well.
To me, fanfiction is just a different writing style, one that's not entirely different from, say, a biography. When writing a biography, you have to deal with established facts, pre-existing people (characters)
and real places. Fanfiction deals with the biographies of fictional characters. Of course, the fanfic writer is allowed to invent details and embellish characters pretty much any way he chooses, unlike real biographies or even "historical" fiction.
But fanfiction is still based on an established universe, which in some ways makes it more difficult than original fiction. When the major locations, characters, and past events are decided for you, you have to get inventive in order to make your story fresh and interesting within the limits of the world you're writing about. (There is some fanfiction that falls into the class of "Alternate Universe", but even then, the characters physical traits and personality is pretty much the same).
As for things like TV shows, movies, or video games not being valid starting points for stories, I ask, "What do you watch a show or movie for if not the story?" Unless the only value is in the big names and special effects, there's no reason why a story on film should have less worth than one in print. With games, the story is usually one of the main reasons I buy one (most of the games I like are RPG or action-adventure as opposed to fighters or strategy).
There are tons of stories out there waiting to be written that most likely will never be in any book. Some of the stories I've read are good enough to be in a book, but the authors write these for fun instead of money. This means they don't have to write only what the publishing companies expect to make a profit on, so their writing is allowed to be more off-beat or quirky.
Fanfiction is a way for writers to develop skills like creativity, research techniques, critical thinking about the plot and the hidden meanings, all while writing about something they love. And if the author is into their writing, the reader is more likely to be interested as well.