Poll: FanFiction, your opinion

[AgentBJ09]

I've seen some really good fanfics that are based around the original cast. The Firefly continuation Forward (I continue to mention it for being perhaps the greatest fanfic ever, and perhaps even being better than the show it's based on, which is kinda like being more awesome than a guy who gives you a billion dollars) is a great example. The thing even contains little nods only fans will get, like Mal using a sledgehammer (Captain Hammer in Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog, which was created by Joss, who created Firefly, was played by Nathan Fillion, Mal's actor) and at one point Mal and Jayne use the aliases Buck and Dutch. The TvTropes page has an entire folder of shout outs, everything from Gears of War (rustlung, if you're wondering) to XKCD (one of the Summer Glau comics) to someone claiming River punched out all their blood (a TF2 reference).

EDIT: Someone did the math: It's about 600 book pages.

I've never been into space based sci-fi shows, live action or anime. I will make exceptions for series like Digimon, Kamen Rider, and Power Rangers however since they have science fiction elements that assist telling the story or setting the plot.

no. It will pollute my imagination. I can't have my perception of what i like cheapen by someone else. More or less i have my own fanfic in my head that i refuse to have corrupted by foreign sources.

edit: i think i misread you. If it is canon i can read it.

I think all well meaning fans have that same train of thought, yet if you think about it, most of the worst fanfiction comes from inexperienced writers handling characters that are established in the canon of series.

If you want to write fanfiction, go with an OC, or OC team, and maybe use established characters for a brief cameo.

 

[Rofl-Mayo]

It's just like anime. You must sift through a sea of shit before you find something worth reading.

That would be manga then. You can't read anime. It's watched. You can read subtitles, but that's not the same thing.

My bad, I forgot to edit my post.

 

[TheLastTatlFan]

Like with everything else, there's good fanfiction, bad fanfiction, and fanfiction that can't really be called good but still manages to be enjoyable.

Good fanfiction can be translated into an interesting question, like "What if Niles filled in for Frasier" or "How did the events of Ocarina of Time impact Link psychologically?" It makes for a good authorial exercise and, when done right, can be on the same level or more entertaining than the official work it's based on.

Bad fanfiction is a self-indulgent waste of time where whatever understanding of how the characters are is shoved aside for how the author wants them to be, usually focused around a stand-in for the author who the characters all adore, although rarely there's one psychotic exception who causes events besides fawning over the Mary-Sue to happen (usually attempts on Mary-Sue's life). Boning is often involved and a fifth-grader's understanding of human endurance, limits and anatomy is just as often displayed.

And the not-actually-good stuff that's still kinda fun is essentially when an author indulges their fantasies while still showing restraint.

And then there's smut, which is another can of worms entirely.

 

[Adamc-mh]

The only Fan fiction I've encountered was one written by a kid at my school he wrote about two wolves (I think based on a children's cartoon) having sex described graphically *shudders. So yeah I don't think highly of it.

 

[chowderface]

Well, what are you a fan of?

The Muppet Show and TNG come to mind, actually. Kingdom Hearts to a somewhat lesser degree. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Doug TenNapel. A lot of things.

It's perhaps telling, though, that those two fanfictions I mentioned liking, I didn't find them by seeking out fanfiction, I was browsing through TV Tropes and stumbled upon mentions of them in the tropes.

 

[Ailia]

I hate it and stay away from it. My friend who reads it in her spare time passes me what she thinks I'll like, but I hardly ever read them...

Give it a chance. Just tell me what you're a fan of.

Maybe I was a little too harsh and hasty in my original post... My actual hate is reserved for the PwP fics (though I have read a few amusing ones way back when). I just hate the bother of wading through miles and miles of crap to find the good fics and it's tainted my view of the medium in general.
I adore fics for obscure series, i.e. The Doctrine of Labyrinths. When a fanfic writer can capture the characters, it feels like an extension of the original books and I enjoy those immensly and devolve into fangirlish happiness.
If you're willing to pass me good fics, I promise I'll read them, not matter the series
Again, sorry if I came off too strong in ym last post, I was tired and harried and that always makes me mean.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Weirdly enough, I just did an oral report on fanfiction last night. Here's a brief summary of my points.

Most of it sucks, nobody's denying this. Sturgeon's Law in full effect here. The overwhelming majority of it is written by young, inexperienced writers with no enforced quality control, and boy does it show. No editing, horrible grammar, spelling and punctuation is rampant, and that's not getting into the stilted dialogue and awkward narration.

And then there's the wish-fulfillment. This is the medium that named the Mary-Sue. Not to mention all the porn. Ugh, the porn. Okay, I'll admit that there's at least two that are actually really good (Misfiled Dreams and Evangelion RE-TAKE come to mind).

Still, given the very nature of the medium, it's a great way for aspiring writers to hone their skills before tackling their own stuff. Many published writers started off writing fanfics, and some of them still do.

Also, there is still some amazing stuff out there. Someone already mentioned Forward, and there's also Timberium Wars by the same author. TV Tropes keeps several lists of fanfics that are actually great reads, so it's a good place to go if you don't feel like sloshing through all the crap to find the good stuff.

 

[hardlymotivated]

It's mostly a bunch of unimaginative, poorly-written Mary Sue nonsense, but there are a couple of diamonds in the rough.

 

[TheRocketeer]

About the worst insult I can give to a sequel is that it resembled fanfiction.

For example, every direct sequel Square ever made.

 

[Laser Priest]

Most of it's utter shit, especially when the writers try to use the characters from the actual story in the fiction. Some fanfics are made of original characters in an established universe, and those actually have some gems.

 

[Inkidu]

Fan-fiction is inherently bad for two reasons:

A.) It is a copy of an original work to some degree.

B.) It requires a level of pretentiousness that most young preteens and teenagers have but usually outgrow. When it doesn't... we... you know. To write fan-fiction. Unless you're doing it for kicks an giggles, but if your serious about it you have to be telling yourself at least on a subconscious level, "I'm better than the original author."

 

[Gamer_152]

I feel like it's something that has a lot of potential but I haven't found any fan-fiction yet that I didn't really dislike, that is, save for Half-Life: Full Life Consequences.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

In the the words of the Immortal(untested theory)Yahtzee "you have to dig through the miles of crap to find the few gems.

 

[digitelanimefan]

Man, this topic always manages to piss me off...and not for the reason you might think.

The general reaction I keep seeing-everywhere really, not just here-is that fanfiction sucks, and shouldn't exist, because much of it is poorly written.
I don't know about you, but I sucked when I first started writing. And not everyone has access to someone in their life who is a good enough writer or editor to help them out. They may be too embarrassed to ask a teacher, or just don't have or know any who they trust.

But nearly everyone has access to the internet, and a word processor. And most kids have at least one series, book, or media they enjoy. So hey, they hear about this thing called fanfiction, and decide they want to give writing a shot.

Are they good? Hell no. No one is when they start writing. But fanfiction provides an excellent way for them to have an incentive to practice writing-a skill that god knows everybody needs more of-and a way to receive feedback on it. I always find it really neat when I find a piece of well-written fanfiction, and go back through the writer's works to find that they have improved dramatically since they started. Its rather like finding a neat webcomic, and finding that the art has made a huge improvement.

The attitude that because something is not being done well it shouldn't be done at all is incredibly holier-than-thou, and really irritates me. Don't get me wrong: There are "writers" out there who think they are hot stuff, and in reality are mediocre at best. And there are definitely fanfic writers who take their work and writing far too seriously. But most writers-crappy or not-are writing fanfiction because they enjoy it.

Really, that's just it. Fanfiction is mostly about fun, and enjoying yourself. If you enjoy writing it, why shouldn't you? If you enjoy reading it, why shouldn't you? If you don't, why shouldn't you? Its all preferential-just don't try to push your preference on other people.

Holy crap, this got kinda ranty. Shutting up now.

 

[digitelanimefan]

Man, this topic always manages to piss me off...and not for the reason you might think.

The general reaction I keep seeing-everywhere really, not just here-is that fanfiction sucks, and shouldn't exist, because much of it is poorly written.
I don't know about you, but I sucked when I first started writing. And not everyone has access to someone in their life who is a good enough writer or editor to help them out. They may be too embarrassed to ask a teacher, or just don't have or know any who they trust.

But nearly everyone has access to the internet, and a word processor. And most kids have at least one series, book, or media they enjoy. So hey, they hear about this thing called fanfiction, and decide they want to give writing a shot.

Are they good? Hell no. No one is when they start writing. But fanfiction provides an excellent way for them to have an incentive to practice writing-a skill that god knows everybody needs more of-and a way to receive feedback on it. I always find it really neat when I find a piece of well-written fanfiction, and go back through the writer's works to find that they have improved dramatically since they started. Its rather like finding a neat webcomic, and finding that the art has made a huge improvement.

The attitude that because something is not being done well it shouldn't be done at all is incredibly holier-than-thou, and really irritates me. Don't get me wrong: There are "writers" out there who think they are hot stuff, and in reality are mediocre at best. And there are definitely fanfic writers who take their work and writing far too seriously. But most writers-crappy or not-are writing fanfiction because they enjoy it.

Really, that's just it. Fanfiction is mostly about fun, and enjoying yourself. If you enjoy writing it, why shouldn't you? If you enjoy reading it, why shouldn't you? If you don't, why shouldn't you? Its all preferential-just don't try to push your preference on other people.

Holy crap, this got kinda ranty. Shutting up now.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

I do enjoy reading the occasional fanfic. It can be great fun to see some alternative takes on established characters and settings. Not to mention grammar and spelling.