As a self declaring geek I openly admit a love for many a “geeky” thing. I am really more of a Star Wars than Star Trek sort of guy, but I don’t limit myself to either. I enjoy comic books of the super hero and the dramatic varieties though I lean towards the super heroes. I used to play Dungeons and Dragons (I would still be playing but my move to North Carolina and my rather tricky schedule have made a return rather difficult) and Battletech (same as with D&D, but I do occasionally play a little online through megamek). I like Firefly, Battlestar Gallactica, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Stargate, Dr Who and any number of other television shows and movies.
So why am I sharing this? Well because I wanted to talk a bit about Fan Fiction. For those of you who don’t know what it is, Fan Fiction, or FanFic for short, is any story written by a fan of a given game, television show, book or movie that takes place in the fictional world of the given media. Sometime the popular characters/worlds/plots are directly referred to or involved in the FanFic, but often the FanFic does not. I like to think of FanFic as being an homage to the original, but it often gets a bad rap for some reason.
Personally I have considered writing Fan Fiction on occasion and I’ve even started a few pieces that are sitting, languishing in the “to be completed” folder on my thumb drive, but I’ve never been able to get myself to go all the way and finish that story and share it with other fans or even my friends and family. Lately I have been reconsidering the idea and contemplating the completion of a short piece just to say I have finished it.
How about you? Have you ever written some fan fiction? What was it based on? Do you enjoy reading it? What sort of source material do you think lends itself best to Fan Fiction?
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Gwen
I have written a story using the same premis as a TV show but with my characters, setting and storyline. Does this count as FANFIC? I have always been uncertain.
Eric Swett
Hmmm…I’m inclined to think that it wouldn’t be since you don’t reference anything from the source of the inspiration. Out of curiosity what was the TV Show?
Gwen
The Tribe- its a television show about child left to survive on their own after the adults were killed off by a virus. This has actually been a common book theme, movie theme and television show theme.
Eric Swett
Hmmm…I don’t know that I ever heard of it, but it is definitely a common theme. There was a series that ran briefly on SyFy called Jerremiah that I thought took the concept to a bit of an extreme. In that series all of the adults were killed by the virus, but none of the children (I believe only children under the age of 13 survived). The show takes place some twenty years later. It was pretty good if not under budgeted.
freelancer66r
Hey, thanks for the track back!
As you could tell, I’m a fan fic writer and have been for quite some time now (over 10 years). I’ve found that many writers go with fan fic just for the point of writing when real life gets in the way of their major book writing or they want to continue working on elements that can help.
I definitely have found that writing fan fic has helped in writing in genres I never had before. As a straight mystery writer, writing in fandoms has given me a better skill at action/adventure, sci-fi, and even romance. The downside is that I have found I’m not as descriptive as I used to be, as there really is no point when people know the characters, but it’s something I’m trying to work on.
Eric Swett
I never thought of that as one of the pitfalls, but I can totally see where it would be. Why describe what someone looks like when anyone reading it probably already knows the description and may argue with the description you give?
freelancer66r
Exactly. I usually find that describing a character that you already know seems pointless, BUT in a general writing aspect you should.
I think my big hindrance with fan fic are the writers that don’t bother to do the research. For instance, I’m in Star Trek The Next Gen fic right now and I’m just annoyed by the name misspellings or the locations of offices or even background information when all of that is easily accessible through the Internet.
I mean, I’m not saying that I know the ends and outs of Star Trek, because I don’t. I don’t know the ends and outs of a lot of the fan fic I write, however the reason it SEEMS that I do is because I’ve done the research and I think that’s what separates the good fic with the bad.
The worse part is that, there are some really bad fics out there that could be good if the author just did the research.
Eric Swett
Yeah I can see where the lack of research, especially for something as well established as star trek, could certainly tip the scales between good and bad fanfic especially for the people who enjoy the source material. The piece I’ve been working on has a lot of very empty space to work with, but the technical aspects can be a little daunting.
Aj b33m3R
Played a lot of D&D as a kid in NY myself. Salvatore’s Drizzt novels, along with Lord of the Flies are the only books I’ve ever read more than once! I’m still pissed off over the cancellation of Firefly.
I used to try and pen fan fiction, when I was younger and enamored with a BritCom called Red Dwarf. Even tried with the “Lost Tales of Captain James T. Kirk”. Never really got into it. My ego gets in the way. I guess deep down inside I want people reading my ideas and my fantasies. These days I just let those things that influenced and shaped me subtlety flow out and through my own ideas and fantasy.
Eric Swett
I can sympathize with the ego thing too, but my issues tend to circle around the fact that I’m such a big fan of whatever I’ve decided I want to do fanfic for that I’m rarely satisfied with the results. I know we are always our own worst critic (or we probably should be), but I have a hard time getting past that when it comes to my fan fiction. 🙂
Aj b33m3R
It’s a mental block. You respect the original work and its creators so much, to change it or modify it would be sacrilegious. So you write within the confines of it and therefore restrict your own abilities to it. You’re a nice guy so you temper your presumptuousness and ego out of respect for the writer(s) you admire.
Eric Swett
Wow. I think that falls under the category of one of the nicest things ever said about me. I’m filing that away for a rainy day.
That being said, I think you’re right about that. I really need to work on breaking that barrier down just the same. I need to see past the sacrilege and start paying homage instead.
Terry
To Eric Sweet:
I have contemplated the idea many times to write a little about games that I have played, or read on. Dragonlance was always my favorite to read and many a day, I wanted to take pen to paper and write some little story to show my appreciation of the world of Krynn. I also have been trying to learn more about Battletech, as that has become my new learning enjoyment.
I have learned Battletech mostly from CCG aspect and the nice website that has provided me so much information, http://www.sarna.net.
I have always feared that the writing for a story was not acceptable, or that to much would stand against a novice writer on a story in which they are a fan.
I thank you for your posting of this information, and in time I hope to learn maybe some more on what FanFic is and how a person may take the plunge. I have also played Eve Online and know that many fans write for that game.
Thanks,
Terry
Eric Swett
Terry,
I’m glad you liked the post. FanFic can be a bit scary to approach, but it is a whole lot of fun to write. If you want more information on battletech I suggest going to http://www.battletech.com. There is nothing quite like the source.
Terry
Eric,
More info is always appreciated gladly, and so much is out there for Battletech; however, the original source can not be beat.
I hope to read more and contribute to your blog.
Thanks again,
Terry