Poll: FanFiction, your opinion

[Adrian Madhog]

The scourge of humanity. The simple fact that they exist is a danger to society. Fans shouldn't be writing stories about their favourite things, they'll be blinded by their own irrationality and create godawful stories revolving their most beloved non-existing gay couples having hardcore sex... with ponies.
Fanfictions can't be good, by their own definition, even if there ARE good ones, they WILL never be good... because they are, and will always be, a devious product of an uncreative mind with just too much free time.................................... speaking of which, read my own "My Little Pony" X "God of War" crossover!

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6977001/1/My_Little_God_of_War

Yay, I'm an hypocrite!

 

[Custard_Angel]

Fan Fiction contributes nothing to anyone or anything, but its a hobby that helps some people pass the time, so whatever I guess.

 

[Shavon513]

Some fanfic is awesome. Others.... let's just be nice and say, NO.

 

[FFHAuthor]

Some stories are excellent, some stories are good, some stories are bad, some stories make me lose my faith in humanity...and some stories make me contemplate new and interesting ways to torture people to death. All depends on the writer, the concept, and what they're working with. I've read a lot, and written some myself...but you gotta work it on a story by story basis.

 

[LiquidGrape]

In spite of the popular knee-jerk reaction to the notion of fan fiction (which, granted, sometimes feels warranted), I think there is a fair bit of good fan fiction out there.
I would especially direct you to the work of Mondo47 concerning Jack from Mass Effect 2.

If possible, I would have her write for Mass Effect 3. She has a level of insight to that character which you'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
I sure as hell don't trust Mac Walters and his cohorts. The original writer for Jack has jumped ship already, and after hearing Derek "lol art director" Watts talk about softening Jack up for the upcoming game, I'm seriously worried as to how she'll be portrayed.

 

[Inkidu]

What delusion of grandeur invades the minds of some fanfiction writers to think that they know better than the original author?

Look up the Iceberg Theory of fiction (Hemingway). If you think you know better than the original author you're wrong.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

As a fanfic writer myself (*hold's up flame shield*) it all depends how you write it actually.

For those who have been on the gears of war fannon, an author named LobodiabloWolf did an amazing Gears fanfiction that is a great example of those written right.

Though, for those who have heard of the Harry Potter fanfiction.....that 'one' I will not mention....Yeah, that is a great example of the bad ones.

I find myself in the middle. I've read my old stuff and cringed, yet the new stuff I write now is actually pretty well critiqued and I am lucky to have that skill.

 

[internetzealot1]

I'm sure that some of them good. But logic would dictate that you'd have to suffer through an unbelievable amount of shit to get to it.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

As a fanfiction writer myself (albeit one who wants to improve her work), I say there are really good fanfics.. then there are the bad ones you should either steer clear of... or just make fun of.

 

[emeraldrafael]

If I plagiarize on my midterm essay, but put on the beginning of it "Oh hey profffessror I like 2tatlly plagerized:, none of this work is mine lolololol r&r!" I don't think the professor is going to appreciate my lack of original work simply because I admitted my intellectual theft.

You do this when you source a material though citations.

 

[Jaeriko]

Hmmm, you think fanfiction is stupid and poorly written?

Please see http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality for a rebuttal.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

As a fanfiction writer myself (albeit one who wants to improve her work), I say there are really good fanfics.. then there are the bad ones you should either steer clear of... or just make fun of.

Amen. Us fanfiction writers unite! xD

 

[Nazulu]

Most of the time they're over exaggerated to the point it's stupid or just made to suit a particular fetish, from what I've seen. However, I have seen good fan fiction but I don't really go looking for it.

 

[Zay-el]

snip

Wow...someone's low on anti-rage. Fanfiction CAN be good, if done right. It can be entertaining, just as much as the particular fandom can be. Some authors/developers/etc actually love to see fan content. Also, do you hate fan art as well then? In your words, that'd basically count as theft as well.

I like the IDEA of fanfictions, because it helps one train to be better at writing in general. You can craft any kind of story you want, but you can still make a ton of errors. Fanfics can help you deal with annyoing issues like making sure something doesn't have plotholes, staying in character and the likes. It's also a very good practice in improving your writing skills in general, or in my case, improving my English. Sure, 90% is crap, but that remaining 10% is worth gold.

snip

Kudos to you and I agree whole-heartedly. Stuff like RE-TAKE prove that fan writing CAN be done extremely well. I actually liked it far more than the original ending(s).

 

[Shadu]

Fanfiction is something that should be approached with caution. I have written some in the past, and I'd like to believe it was decent (not great, but decent, and a lot of the people who read it seemed to think so too), and I have read a bit as well, and some was good, and some was horrible.

I like seeing what others would do with the fandom. At the same time, I hate it when people force romance into a story that really doesn't need it, especially when it's a pairing that makes no sense whatsoever. And what I really hate is when someone shoehorns their own character in. Unfortunately, most of the fanfiction out on the net do this, and that is why I have basically stopped reading it all together.

However, I do feel that writing fanfiction is a good gateway for people. If someone starts writing fanfiction, they are more likely to branch out and start writing with their own characters and writing with their own ideas. Fanfiction allows people to forget about the worries of creating characters and a universe and just focus on the mechanics of writing as well as story telling.

For those who don't want to read this long post, here's the bottomline:
-Fanfiction can be good, but people put stuff that shouldn't be there in and make it bad.
-Fanfiction can help people break into writing.

 

[chowderface]

The thing that bugs me about the rest of fanfiction is that it's bad, but not bad enough to qualify as hilarious. This category only includes one that I've ever found; a crossover between Dragon Ball Z and (wait for it) The Diary Of Anne Frank. Goku gets magicked into WWII Germany, saves Anne Frank, then does battle with Hitler, who goes Super Saiyan.

I kinda want to see that in the "DBZ abridged" format. Would be beyond epic.

Oh, it was wacky, son. Did I mention Goku and Anne totes fall ass-over-teakettle in love? Because they totes fall ass-over-teakettle in love.

 

[maturin]

Fan fiction is sort of an unfortunate phenomenon. Even if it's good, it's still shameful and can never be read by any real non-internet person. And I've had the authors compliment my fan fiction.

 

[Canned Spam]

Vile, disgusting tripe that need to purged from existence.