Forum - View topicChicks On Anime - Fan Fiction (Part 1)
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
enurtsol
 Posts: 14757 |
|
|||||||
|
I've known some fanfickers who'd become published authors later....
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Ai no Kareshi
 Posts: 561 Location: South Africa |
|
|||||||
Maybe they are. If it's something they enjoy doing, I don't see the harm, of course, outside of it being a time consuming hobby (playing computer games can be seen as a waste of time as well, if you're talking about art). I'll admit that it does take some artistic skill to copy something someone else came up with (be it a setting, character or outfit), but in the end, a copy is but a copy, and that's what I see as wonderful talent wasted. That is to say, if there was any talent to begin with – with all the self-inserts and pairing material out there, one begins to wonder. Also, from what I've seen of the fan fiction community, a lot of fanfics actually aspire to be something completely different from the original material anyway (even though the author herself may fail to realize this). Sometimes people tend to take characters so far from their original settings (and often personalities) that they would have been much better off creating their own characters. The fact is that they keep limiting themselves by refusing to stray from their favourite characters, pairings, etc. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Cait
 Posts: 503 |
|
|||||||
You make an interesting argument, but even if people are "limiting" themselves, it's really their choice to make. Many fan fiction authors are children, as in, still in school. Aside from the rare child prodigy that gets lucky, none of these writers are ever going to "make it" as professional writers at this age. Whether they ever "go pro" as adults remains to be seen, and even though they may be good at writing fan fiction, it does not mean that they are going to be "good enough" at creating their own works to justify making it a career. A career as a creative writer is very hard, and it is not the only path to becoming associated with the written word. There is a whole wide range of employment opportunities, such as editors, columnists, etc etc. in the publishing industry. Look at Natalie Baan herself. She's worked in editing for manga publishers. She obviously has employment that she can support herself on. She doesn't need to support herself on her hobby. As for other fan fiction authors who are already adults in the working world, fan fiction authoring is just as much a hobby as anything else, as you say. Being in a bowling league doesn't mean you need to become a professional bowler. It just means that you need to be dedicated enough to bowling to participate in an amateur league, probably just for fun or for a desire to see how well you can compete among your peers. It does not mean you are hindering your talents by "holding yourself back." I'm a carpenter, for example. I am very good at it and I enjoy doing it enough to do it professionally. I also enjoy writing and beta reading fan fiction, however, I do not enjoy writing enough to want to do it for a living, nor do I feel I should be expected to. As long as you are not deluding yourself about the nature of your work (ie, going so far as to try to "claim" a fan fiction work, however originally created, is somehow so original that it is no longer fan fiction), I don't see the problem in having it as a hobby and only a hobby. It's not like some of these websites I have seen lately where they want you to pay to read what is essentially a fan fic (check out some of those banner ads on AFF, et al, sometime). Not only is that wasted talent as a writer, but it is a clear violation of intellectual property rights and an insult to the original creator of those works. Fan fiction is for fun, it's for "fans," let's keep it that way. EDIT: Forum code is such a pain! Last edited by Cait on Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:55 am; edited 2 times in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Ai no Kareshi
Posts: 561 Location: South Africa |
|
|||||||
|
Cait, I think the two of us are basically in agreement here. If people want to do these things for fun, then let them. I feel that it is important for those who are serious about their writing, though, to expand their horizons.
P.S. You may want to fix those quotes. 
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Cait
Posts: 503 |
|
|||||||
Forum code seems to be a little glitchy, because I know I typed everything right. I basically went back in there (and after mistakenly "quoting myself" with a new reply I had to delete to fix it the first time) undid the quotes and had to redo them before the fix would take effect (twice...). Anyway, I'm sorry that my reply seems to imply I disagree with you. I was mostly using my post as an opportunity to respond to some other comments on this thread and was obviously too lazy to quote them as well, and too much in a hurry to get to work that I was not clear enough in my meaning towards you. I apologize. EDIT: Though in addition, I would agree if a person does want to be a serious writer they do need to consider expanding their horizons from fan fiction. However, fan fiction can also be used as a vehicle for a young or inexperienced writer to do just that. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
mirax
Posts: 24 |
|
|||||||
|
I have absolutely nothing productive to add to this thread this time, as someone who neither writes nor reads fanfiction.
However:
Rule #34. 4chan was on it the second this was posted, I'm sure. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
konkonsn
 Posts: 172 Location: Illinois |
|
|||||||
Which Brawny? The old woodcutter or the new guy that looks like some college football player in flannel? I'd imagine positions would changed based on your pick...unless you do the yaoi height thing, in which case, is there even a way to find out how tall they are? |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Soul Tsukino
 Posts: 68 Location: Maine |
|
|||||||
I met CJ Henderson at the last Portcon, and talked with him about my aspriations for publishing something. Despite my intial fears about being looked down on by him, he was actually really cool about it. He also mentioned to me his first big work he put together for himself was actually set in the Marvel universe so he knew what I was coming from. Food for thought. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
konkonsn
Posts: 172 Location: Illinois |
|
|||||||
Right, I forgot about that. You can get paid for writing fanfiction. What do you call all the Star Wars, Star Trek, Andromeda books? Or the new authors that come into Marvel and DC? Batman has umpteen canon series (not to mention all the uncanon but legally published comics), few written by his original creators. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Wooga
 Posts: 916 Location: Tucson |
|
|||||||
|
well, this discussion has brought up some nice memories.
I wrote an Alien Nine fanfiction 2 years ago here I can't believe its been so long. Maybe i should try it again just for fun. However, whenever I am writing I want the story to be original but also contain the aspects that made me like the series in the first place. which is why I rarely post anything 
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1817 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
|
|||||||
Works for hire. Most of the writers aren't fans of the series they work on. Admittedly the early original Star Trek tie-ins were written by fanfic writers, but they were preceded by a series of TV episode novelizations by James Blish. "Pro fanfic" isn't the norm. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Olliff
 Posts: 550 |
|
|||||||
|
Fan fiction has never appealed to me, but for the most part I believe it is harmless. Those with low tolerance levels for bad fiction, unoriginal or unthinkable things should probably stay away. Remember, you can never unread something. You may forget about it, but once you have read it you go never go back. I will never think about Brawny and Mr. Clean the same way again.
I also agree that being pro-fanfic is not the norm. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
|
|||||||
|
I used to write fan fiction about 5 or 6 years ago. My first fan fics were Digimon fan fics, but that is even something I will rarely admit that I have done before.
I used to write lots and lots of Gundam fan fics. I wouldn't base mine around the shows, but mainly the conflicts with new characters and mobile suits that I though up of. They were actually pretty decent but I needed more character development. Mine were clean for the most part as I kept romance and relationships to just enough that oh well they are dating, but I usually kept the violence fairly high. I would say it would be Fist of the North Star high, but I would put it around Zeta Gundam level of violence. I don't write fan fics any more since I just don't really feel like writing them and I'm not belonging to a site that is specifically for a certain show or franchise any more. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
enurtsol
Posts: 14757 |
|
|||||||
Well, I was more referring to ex-fanfickers who later became published authors using their own original stories. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Soul Tsukino
Posts: 68 Location: Maine |
|
|||||||
So was I. CJ never published that work as far as I know but it was his first big story undertaking. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group