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[veiledndarkness]

I just want to know why some people look down their noses at fanfiction?

So, I'm less of a writer because I write fanfiction?

Comments

[revelininsanity.livejournal.com]

What? Didn't you know that it's not the creative process or the joy you take in your work? Clearly it's that you use your ORIGINAL characters and your OWN events! It doesn't matter that the characters are hackneyed and the events are based on real life, or another fiction event, it's your ability to get a copyright that counts. Oh, and you'd better be making money from your writing. Also, you have to write in this pretentious, POETIK style and wear the right clothes to your eventual Oprah interview.

[veiledndarkness.livejournal.com]

It started from this:

Enjoy this bullshit (http://community.livejournal.com/writers_guild/933675.html?thread=4067371)

Scroll down and the read the non-authors remarks about how fanfiction is the lowest of low when it comes to writing, about how it's (and I quote) The implication being that fanfic and fantasy are more low tier than fiction based on a videogame?
Fanfic is for sure. It's masturbatory. It's self-escape. And while both those things are wonderful, no one should ever try and fool themselves that fanfic has any deeper meaning than that.

I was on her side about the verbal bashings until I read that. Now I feel the urge to maim her.

[revelininsanity.livejournal.com]

She seems like she's just a kid, but out of curiosity, how is a story based on the Sims NOT fanfiction?

I've read fanfic that has made me laugh, cry, and that has changed my way of thinking. Is there masturbatory fan fic? Well, sure. But unless I mistake myself, there are whole sections in bookstores devoted to erotica and if that's not masturbatory, well, then I feel very badly for the authors of those stories.

In fact, in many ways most fanfiction, to my eyes, is better than "real writing", if only because fic writers write to please themselves and "real" writers write to please the critics.

[veiledndarkness.livejournal.com]

It annoys me because it degrades me as a writer. I do write my own characters, and I do write orginial fiction occasionally. I prefer fanfiction because I see it as a chance to explore characters that weren't given a chance to be fully fleshed out in the movie/tv.show, etc.

Like Dignam for example. He's more than just a brash asshole. Why does he act in that manner? Is he really just a prick? I doubt it. Every character had layers and as a writer, I love nothing more than to peel back the layers and examine someone like him closely, gauge his motions, listen to him speak and figure out what makes him tick.

So how is that masturbatory?

[revelininsanity.livejournal.com]

Well, see, writing to please one's self is masturbatory, I suppose.

Fan fic writing suffers from a stigma that, I think, if most of the critics actually sat down and read some of it, especially the good stuff, would very quickly die out.

I also think that, because so much fic is written by women, a lot of male writers feel threatened.

[veiledndarkness.livejournal.com]

Possibly. Personally, I think I have a better handle on male characters than female. I don't think like a typical girl, so I find it easier to 'slip' into a male character.

The problem lies with what the critics actually read when they do give fanfic a chance. They inevitably end up reading Mary-sue-ish crap, written by someone who wouldn't know a spellchecker if it jumped up and bitch slapped them.

That's the biggest problem. Overly cliched, horribly misspelled, grammatically painful to read, I could go on, but I'm sure the point's been made.

That girl pissed me off so much. Who the hell is she to put down fanfic? She says herself that she's not even a writer.

[revelininsanity.livejournal.com]

Well, unfortunately for us chicks, male characters tend to, by default(and most importantly, white, male characters) tend to be more developed and given more interesting(to me) quirks than female characters, and that's outside our own internalized sexism.

Generally they visit some place like FF.net or just throw "fan fiction" into a search engine. Generally they just read what pops up, not realising that, like all other forms of literature, you actually have to LOOK for the good stuff,

Well, if she isn't a writer, why was she looking looking for writing advice?

[zxully.livejournal.com]

It really pisses me off too, you know. I can't seem to get it.

I've always considered myself a writer - and I always wrote fanfiction (well, I started with stories, but fanfiction seem to be more fun and pleasure to write - it's not like they're easier to write, cause they're not) but I came across people who considered me as some sort of a lower form writer.

So I definitely understand your annoyance.

lovePEOPLEandCOWBOY

[(Anonymous)]

it's diffcult to explain in english so...

Personnellement, j'aime les fanfictions car l'univers d'un film, les liens entre certains personnages peuvent 'continuer' dans le temps. C'est comme admirer un paysage de différent point de vue.

Tu n'es pas moins qu'un écrivain. Tu n'es juste pas publiée et pas rémunérée. Le talent ne se définit pas aux nombres de livres vendus. Le talent, c'est quand des personnes apprécient et rendent hommage à ce que tu fais. Je pense que tu as un don d'écrivain. Et je pense que les gens qui aiment te lire le pense aussi.

[rome102.livejournal.com]

Hey, screw 'em. Its no big deal. I mean, just look at fanfiction.net or livejournal.com, there is several people loving fanfiction, so screw the people who dont, and lettem live their life. I love fanfiction, just so you know;)