FAN-FICTION
I’m not too familiar with fan-fiction or exactly how it works. I see it mentioned a lot and hear about authors who have become famous from pieces they wrote that started out as fan-fiction.
In today’s post (for the letter f) I’m asking if any of my readers can explain to me exactly what it is and how one participates. Does the fan fiction always spin-off of famous published work? Is it a writing exercise?
When my sister finished reading The Twilight Saga she was worried about Jacob. She wished there was a follow up book about Jacob and Renessme. She wanted there to be one so bad that she was thinking about writing it for her own benefit. Would this be considered fan fiction?
I know as an author I should know more about this trending topic but unfortunately I don’t.
Have you ever engaged in fan-fiction? What sites do you visit when looking for fan-fiction?
What are your opinions?
Writing Like Crazy 
There isn’t a simple answer to what is fanfiction. The simplest way that I can describe it is taking another authors characters and using them to create your own stories. Fanfiction can be published. Pride, Prejudice and Zombies is one example. The author takes the same story, same characters and adds their own spin to it.
On the internet, fanfiction can come in variety of forms. There are self-insert stories (Where the author or the author’s character finds themselves inside the world of the book), romance fiction (creating romantic pairs/situations that may not have been in the original), and my favorite, Role Playing Games where people can pick up a character and use them in a large textbased game where they write them in various situations.
Fanfiction is a way of continuing the story, especially if you weren’t fond of the ending or if a beloved character doesn’t get the page time you would like. It is also an exercise in character development, helping you to stay true to a characterization and figure out exactly how a certain character would respond in a given situation.
I love fanfiction, but that doesn’t mean I love all fanfiction. It’s a vast ocean and some is definitely better than others. The best way to enter into the world is to pick a book/movie/television series that you are fairly passionate about and search blogs/tumblr/dreamwidth for communities.
Cath, thank u so much for your detailed explanation. I understand so much better now.
I am thinking that would be fan-ficiton. 50 Shades is supposed to have started as Twilight fan fiction also. It can be a way to tell the stories you want to tell about the characaters you love. There are a lot of sStar Trek facfic. As long as it involves the world/characters it could be just about anything I think.
Story Treasury
This is a very interesting question. I have wondered this myself from time to time. What I don’t understand is how it doesn’t go against the original author’s copyright to use the same characters, etc. Thanks for this post, it made me think.
I have never written fan fiction personally, but have many friends who do. The scenario you described is considered fan fiction and a reason many people do go into it in the first place. I know as a teen, I used to day dream about my characters and add myself in it or think about what they might do in certain situations, but I never wrote it down. I only write original stories, but I know MANY people who write fan fiction or started writing because of fan fiction. It’s something I don’t fully understand as well.
I’ve never written fan fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed learning more though.
Connie
A to Z buddy
Peanut Butter and Whine
I always thought of fan-fiction as things like Star Trek or Star Wars where writers take the established characters and go with new adventures. I know nothing so could be completely wrong. 🙂