Poll: What is the artistic status of fanfiction?

[Soviet Heavy]

The problem comes from brash generalization. "All Fanfiction is either gay romance slash fic or an Author Insert Character in a high school setting." isn't that far off from people who claim "All American Cartoons are made for little kids and aren't worthy of a sophisticated animation fan's time." or "All anime is either Porn or Sailor Moon."

Like anything else, Sturgeon's Law applies.

 

[Averant]

After reading "Cupcakes" I find Pinkie Pie to be my new favorite pony, it all makes complete sense to me now

Also I really love the time and effort people put in to animating it, therefore fanfiction is an art in my humble opinion.

<youtube=mP7qgHWrHNA>

...lovely mind that person has. Just lovely.

OT:Honestly, all the fanfiction that hear about which is so horrible, it isn't fanfiction. It's fanservice fiction. Sex of all types galore. Furthermore, all of these fanservice fictions take place in wildly impossible scenarios, so much that they're not really part of that story anymore. Like taking a DnD campaign into outerspace.

THAT is fanfiction. GOOD fanfiction deserves a different name, I think. you've got fanservice for the fans, why not have authorservice for the people who MADE the damn cannon. Because that's what the good fanfic does, it stays true to the story. It IS the story, but taken farther (in a good way). It shows the author that they made relatable characters with realistic personalities.

Let the fans have their fanfic. Let the rest of us have authorfic, or creafic, or something.

My own fanfic, when I write it, will be in sequel style. I really never can stand it when a story ends...

 

[Custard_Angel]

I would argue that authors such as Peter Chimaera (DIGIMON SAVEZ THE WROLD!!1111, QuarterLife: Halfway to Destruction, Doom etc.) and Tara Gillesbie (My Immortal) are what makes the fanfiction community in any way worthwhile.

As appallingly bad as they are, they shine through as being truly remarkable.

The rest of the community is just a wash of who-gives-a-shitiness.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

In context, fanfiction is like regular writing, except that the universe, characters, mechanics, and style are already created and generally don't need to be explained (but better fanfictions still do explain). The story (should be) original, (should be) interesting, (should be) exciting, or (should be) emotionally gripping -- it's just that it's in a world that you've seen before.

So, yes, it can be as much art as regular books.

 

[Lilani]

Nope it's plagarism.

I've never understood fan-fiction. Certainly a game/movie/book can inspire you to tell your own tale. But, why in god's name would you steal their characters/setting? It's not really art because they have not created anything.

I think of fanfiction as writing practice. As an art student, I do a lot of copying and borrowing from other artists. It's common practice to sketch, photograph, and recreate the works of other artists for learning purposes. By copying their work, you become more intimate with the subtleties of their style, and it becomes much clearer to see what the work does and why it works. You gain more knowledge regarding different styles and techniques that way. Of course you must give credit where credit is due, but it's not stealing. It's all a part of the creative and learning process.

And I see fanfiction the same way. With fanfiction, the characters, their personalities, and the setting are already there for the author. With those set in stone, they can more easily focus on getting practice with things like plot, style, and craft without having to worry about coming up with an entirely new set of characters and situation every time. Just like it's easier to learn to draw when you have something to reference, it's easier to learn to write with some sort of prompt or jumping-off point.

 

[lovest harding]

Limited.
There is the ability to take a premade world and create something interesting in it.
But taking someone else's characters or plot (whether altering them or not) won't get anyone anywhere artistically, in my opinion.

As someone who writes, I just don't see the draw of using someone else's characters. When I create a character or event, it's like a tiny thread tied to me. Taking someone else's character/event feels like ripping that thread from them and attempting to attach it to myself. It's an uneasy, guilt-ridden thing that just bothers the hell out of me.

That's what it is to me, anyway.

On a side note, I very much like how fanfiction works in the U.S. right now. Where legally it's gray, but a lot of authors don't have a huge issue with it and those that do can simply tell websites not to host that content and they won't.

 

[HeatproofShAdOw]

Eh, fan fiction. After that other thread about the worst fan fiction, and me deciding to read agony in pink, my immortal, cupcakes and sweet apple massacre in one sitting, that entire thing can go fuck itself. Not art, plagiarism.

(I know, I know, like 0.1% of all fan fiction is like that, but most of it sucks anyway).

 

[Chefodeath]

It's art.

Anything can be art, it just depends on how good you personally think it is.

If it makes me cry, want to hug someone, take a step back and think, it's art.

Your definition is far to broad. My dog dieing makes me want to cry, my girlfriend laughing makes me want to hug someone, terrorist attacks make me want to step back and think. Are these art?

 

[regalphantom]

Hypothetically speaking, it can be. For example, there are quite a few books, movie series, and TV shows that were not written by the original author that are arguably art, and one could argue that that is a form of fan-fiction (although I would be hesitant to call it that). A clear example is the new Dr. Who series, particularly the episode 'Blink'. If you could call it art, then I guess fan fiction can be art. However, if I had to guess, I'd say probably 90% of fan-fiction is either a metaphorical or literal wank-fest on the part of the authors.

Aside from 'mainstream fan-fiction', the other candidate for fan fiction that is most likely to produce 'art' is closer to a spin-off, taking a minor character and building a story for him/her, or even just ditching all the existing characters and starting an entirely new story with entirely new characters in the same setting.

However, I stand by my golden rule. If it's fan-fic, it's probably the result of somebody wanking. If it is actually good, it's the exception.

 

[JaceArveduin]

Some of it's good, some of it I won't touch with a ten foot pole. I'm going with the "It can go either way" option.

 

[Blow_Pop]

MOST fanfic I can't stand. I have read some good ones relating to Harry Potter but they are few and hard to come by. I have a friend who in a sense is writing a fanfic. It is kind of set in a Firefly-esque type of universe but it isn't really firefly.....if that makes sense. I'm a big fan of his but I may be biased since one of my OCs is in it. Personally though, most fanfic is terrible. There are a few gems though. Now if only the authors would learn how to spell correctly so it isn't such an eyesore.

 

[Richardplex]

After reading "Cupcakes" I find Pinkie Pie to be my new favorite pony, it all makes complete sense to me now

Also I really love the time and effort people put in to animating it, therefore fanfiction is an art in my humble opinion.

<youtube=mP7qgHWrHNA>

...lovely mind that person has. Just lovely.

OT:Honestly, all the fanfiction that hear about which is so horrible, it isn't fanfiction. It's fanservice fiction. Sex of all types galore. Furthermore, all of these fanservice fictions take place in wildly impossible scenarios, so much that they're not really part of that story anymore. Like taking a DnD campaign into outerspace.

THAT is fanfiction. GOOD fanfiction deserves a different name, I think. you've got fanservice for the fans, why not have authorservice for the people who MADE the damn cannon. Because that's what the good fanfic does, it stays true to the story. It IS the story, but taken farther (in a good way). It shows the author that they made relatable characters with realistic personalities.

Let the fans have their fanfic. Let the rest of us have authorfic, or creafic, or something.

My own fanfic, when I write it, will be in sequel style. I really never can stand it when a story ends...

You've never watched the show, have you?

<youtube=8BUVxjr6TRU>

So, that's the origin of at least 2 escapists' avatars...

 

[Vault101]

personally if Im actually going to put effort into somthing i want it to be my own..shitty or otherwise

 

[Erttheking]

After reading "Cupcakes" I find Pinkie Pie to be my new favorite pony, it all makes complete sense to me now

Also I really love the time and effort people put in to animating it, therefore fanfiction is an art in my humble opinion.

<youtube=mP7qgHWrHNA>

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

 

[Switchblade 327]

All possible types of fanfiction:
a) A group of people are playing (insert game here), when all of a sudden they are sucked in to the world they're playing and must fight for the survival of both!
b) Character X is emo.
c) Character X has gay love for Character Y.
d) Character X is the long forgotted relative of some godlike figure that has absolutely no place in canon subject.

Granted, there are actually a few well written, original stories, but they are few and far between.

What about the ones that are genuinely interesting expansions on the original plotlines featuring only original characters meant to fill minor roles as the focus is actually on the main characters who are carefully kept in-character and goddamn I feel like I've typed the word "characters" a dozen fucking times already but whatever.

 

[ConstantErasing]

I would say it CAN be but I haven't seen it yet.

 

[GodEmperor47]

It can have artistic qualities, as the writing could be good. Nice imagery, etc. Heck it might even be better than the original, though I've never come across such a phenomenon. But the bottom line: art must involve some originality, and basing your work entirely on someone else's work, removing much of the creative process in favor of a fantasy version of something you like, isn't art. In fact it's downright lazy. Many writers I know (I hold a BFA in creative writing) started with fanfiction as it gives easy practice with dialogue and scenes without the brain crunch of coming up with the characters and relationships. But that's all it is, practice for the real deal.