What is fan fiction?

[Worgen]

So fan fiction seems to be one of the most maligned types of fan created content. But what exactly is fan fiction? and when does fan fiction become normal fiction?

I mean is it regular fiction if its published? Cause it seems like allot of fiction out there could be classified as fan fiction, it seems like there are hundreds of Star Wars books out there but I doubt Lucas wrote any of them. Then there is something like Fallout Equestria that should be easily considered fan fiction but its been published.

Anyway, the question is what is fan fiction and why is it fan fiction.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Terrible is what it is.

I imagine, as a rule, fan fiction is something that usually wouldn't be considered good enough to be published.

Sturgeon's Law has never applied to anything more than it has to fan fiction ¬_¬

 

[DementedSheep]

Fan fiction is fiction that is written using an existing IP that does not belong to the writer and is not canon.The word has negative connotations but not all fan fiction is bad (though a lot of it is). It has nothing to do with quality.

It being published does not necessarily make it not fan fiction. The witcher games for instance are still fan fiction too me. I think the author of the books has said while it's good fan fiction they aren?t canon.
However if the IP holder acknowledges and accepts a piece of fan fiction as canon I would no longer consider it fan fiction even if it's a different writer since it's inside the normal continuity.

 

[Worgen]

Terrible is what it is.

I imagine, as a rule, fan fiction is something that usually wouldn't be considered good enough to be published.

Sturgeon's Law has never applied to anything more than it has to fan fiction ¬_¬

I'm not convinced of that, it implied that twilight is inherently better than any fan fiction since it's published.

 

[Dags90]

I'm guessing fan death [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death] would count as fan fiction because it involves fans and is soundly fictional.

So yeah, I'm going with fan death.

 

[thesilentman]

So fan fiction seems to be one of the most maligned types of fan created content. But what exactly is fan fiction? and when does fan fiction become normal fiction?

I mean is it regular fiction if its published? Cause it seems like allot of fiction out there could be classified as fan fiction, it seems like there are hundreds of Star Wars books out there but I doubt Lucas wrote any of them. Then there is something like Fallout Equestria that should be easily considered fan fiction but its been published.

Anyway, the question is what is fan fiction and why is it fan fiction.

Fan fiction has a bad rep of having really bad writing and such. The thing is, some of them are VERY well written and depending on the fandom (ex. Bleach; cause I'm unoriginal), better than the source material. Fan fiction is a way to appreciate the author's work that was created that varies greatly in quality.

 

[Vault101]

http://www.cracked.com/article_19084_5-reasons-pop-culture-run-by-fan-fiction.html

back in the day when the original sherlock holmes was finished (and he died) aparently the fans were none to happy..so they took to their type writers and continued the adventures and some were aparently good.

Fan fiction implies amtuerish works which are poorly written and only exist to serve some (often bizare) wish fulsillment fantasy

so for example I wouldn't consider the spin off comics from mass effect "fan fiction" (though they are cannon/official)

it doesnt always have to be bad though

Terrible is what it is.
I imagine, as a rule, fan fiction is something that usually wouldn't be considered good enough to be published.

what if it IS good enough but you couldnt publish it because of the whole copyright thing? its still fanfic isn't it?

 

[Judgment90]

fanfiction.net

You will never find a worse hive of scum and villainy on the internet.


But in all seriousness, there are some good fanfics, you just need to dig through the miles of shit.

 

[YingDerpington]

I believe that they are stories that teenage girls write about fans... wait...
In all seriousness, most of it is pure drivel that should not exist (I'M LOOKING AT YOU FIFTY SHADES OF GREY!). But if you spend enough time looking you might find one or two that don't make you want to wish you never existed, or in some cases ask if you're the only person that uses proper grammar, punctuation etc.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Fan fiction is just stories people write about an existing fiction.

Now, everyone hates it because ANYBODY can write some bullshit and put it online. There is actually some good stuff out there if you can get past all the bullshit.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

So fan fiction seems to be one of the most maligned types of fan created content. But what exactly is fan fiction? and when does fan fiction become normal fiction?

I mean is it regular fiction if its published? Cause it seems like allot of fiction out there could be classified as fan fiction, it seems like there are hundreds of Star Wars books out there but I doubt Lucas wrote any of them. Then there is something like Fallout Equestria that should be easily considered fan fiction but its been published.

Anyway, the question is what is fan fiction and why is it fan fiction.

First off, Fallout Equestria is not officially published. It was released through a vanity publishing company. If the writer tried to make money off them, Bethesda would slam the hammer down. They'd be pulled from store shelves for copyright on the covers alone. Half of the books just use Bethesda concept art.

Second, George Lucas actually wrote the first published Star Wars novels. He wrote the novelization of A New Hope, as well as Splinter of the Mind's Eye, the first official expanded universe novel.

 

[DoPo]

I don't think it's that hard to work out:
fan fiction - fiction written by fan(s). Applies to material related to other works. And "fan" would be something like "non-official/professional". Or sometimes "fanboy/fangirl".

Yes, usually bears bad connotation but it is not all bad. A lot of it (especially the well known stuff. My Immortal [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6200297/1/My_Immortal], I'm looking at you) is bad, laughably so most of the times. But also some of the good works aren't really lauded as "fan fiction" or they can otherwise fly below the radar.

 

[Nouw]

Spoiler: Fan-fiction gets a lot of flak but people forget possibly the greatest fanfiction of all time, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Featuring characters such as Mina Harker from Dracula and Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I highly recommend the graphic novel, not the film. The film is good fun but not a very good adaptation of the graphic novel.

 

[the darknees abyss]

if you want know click this link at your own risk http://www.fanfiction.net/

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Terrible is what it is.

I imagine, as a rule, fan fiction is something that usually wouldn't be considered good enough to be published.

Sturgeon's Law has never applied to anything more than it has to fan fiction ¬_¬

I'm not convinced of that, it implied that twilight is inherently better than any fan fiction since it's published.

Hey, some shit leaks through the cracks from time to time

 

[WanderingFool]

fanfiction.net

You will never find a worse hive of scum and villainy on the internet.


But in all seriousness, there are some good fanfics, you just need to dig through the miles of shit.

This is true.

There was a few good ME ones I found (thanks to TVtropes) that I did enjoy. But generally, most fan fiction is crap. In fact, its not a matter of opinion for most, its a absolute fact that 90% of all fan fiction is crap.

And because of that, a lot of the good stuff gets skimmed over for it.

OP, if you want to find some food fan fiction, I would suggest going to TVTropes. Most of the people there have thankfully gone through all the shit and found the gems, so you dont have to...

 

[Alexias_Sandar]

fanfiction.net

You will never find a worse hive of scum and villainy on the internet.


But in all seriousness, there are some good fanfics, you just need to dig through the miles of shit.

Indeed. There's some good ones...even great ones. Just...make sure to bring your wading boots...and be careful of your settings. Usually it's wise to set things to a fairly high minimum word count and minimum chapter size, though that sometimes means you miss an occasional smaller piece that's well done. It...helps save you from the 700 word horrors by 9 year olds. And the song fics...the horrible, horrible song fics.

 

[YingDerpington]

I don't think it's that hard to work out:
fan fiction - fiction written by fan(s). Applies to material related to other works. And "fan" would be something like "non-official/professional". Or sometimes "fanboy/fangirl".

Yes, usually bears bad connotation but it is not all bad. A lot of it (especially the well known stuff. My Immortal [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6200297/1/My_Immortal], I'm looking at you) is bad, laughably so most of the times. But also some of the good works aren't really lauded as "fan fiction" or they can otherwise fly below the radar.

Wat... Just... WAT! I decided I had to see just how bad something had to be to top the list of bad for something lauded as usually bad... read the first chapter, now I feel like someone killed my pet fish in front of my eyes with a clothes peg... It was horrific.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

So fan fiction seems to be one of the most maligned types of fan created content. But what exactly is fan fiction? and when does fan fiction become normal fiction?

I mean is it regular fiction if its published? Cause it seems like allot of fiction out there could be classified as fan fiction, it seems like there are hundreds of Star Wars books out there but I doubt Lucas wrote any of them. Then there is something like Fallout Equestria that should be easily considered fan fiction but its been published.

Anyway, the question is what is fan fiction and why is it fan fiction.

Fan-fiction

A fictional work which is based off an existing work/s created by the fans of it (generally without the existing work/s owners consent) usually for the enjoyment of other fans familiar with the original.

If a fan-fiction is recognised and acknowledged by the creators/owners and or gets published (with edits removing copyrighted character etc) it becomes 'official' and can no longer be called fan-fiction.

(Note publishing of unmodified fan-fiction for general sale or any attempt to make money off media containing copyrighted material can be considered a breach of copyright and is discouraged.)

 

[waj9876]

Lancelot.

Seriously, Lancelot was part of a fan's fanfiction version of the King Arthur stuff. Happened a LONG time ago though.