Why Hate On FanFiction For Stereotypical Reasons? - Comments

I think it's lame to write off great fanfics tbh but hey some people just don't like it and that's on them. I enjoy both Original work and fanfics....also a lot of people don't read original work on here unless someone popular mentioned it and then it gets a following but normally I don't see original work getting paid attention to as fics.

I don't know man, sometimes writing fics are fun even sometimes hard to come up with ideas but they are still fun none the less.

@ CriticizeTheLullaby
That's the exact part I don't understand, though. When you have a story where the person could be replaced with an oc, why not just do that? If it's really good, there's a chance it could even get publish, which as far as I know is extremely rare with fan-fiction, almost unheard of.

I know you said you do it to improve your writing but that confuses me, too. Why cant you practice writing with original characters? How is it any different in that way if you're doing it to get better? And just because you use it as a way to improve, doesn't mean it's not good enough for publishing, already. You may well be very talented already! But you cut your chances down marginally just with that fanfiction stigma. (I know it sucks, but that's just how it is, it seems. I don't necessarily like the inequality either...)

I hope this doesn't sound rude or anything. I genuinely don't understand. :/

@ addesin
I respect that people think differently, but it's not really controlling a person you don't know. Some of the story lines could easily be edited to put fictional characters in their place.

I write it, because I enjoy it, though I would be extremely embarrassed if one of those band members found it, and because I want to improve my writing before I write a completely fictional story although it doesn't help much that no one really gives me feedback.

And to be honest I don't think my stories are all that great even if I'm told by a few people that they are. I'm just trying improve my writing with something I thoroughly enjoy and can't live without -music.

@ PoeticMess.
I completely agree with you.

With fan-fiction you need to come up with a somewhat original plot and original characters (The main female and her family/friends, etc...) and then, in my case, attempt to make it sound good.

Like I told addesin I write fan-fiction to attempt to improve my writing, as if it matters with barely any feedback.

And also like I told her some fan-fictions could be edited to put completely fictional characters in her.

@ synthian.
I'm often ashamed to admit this too, but eventually I'll move onto original when I feel I'm good enough. :)

For me, writing fan-fiction is about being able to write about people I idolize and because I like to write. But over the years I've realized that trying to match what I write with the character's personality is a challenge. I have to challenge myself to make the story seem realistic, and that's one aspect that I really like about it. It's not about getting my meet my favorite band (already done that in real life) and it's not about writing about them sleeping with people (my stories hardly contain sex). It's honestly about combining two things I really care about - music and writing. And like I said, it's still challenging.

I think people have a stigma about fan-fiction that it's not as hard to write as original fiction or that it's much crappier, well, to be honest, I don't think that's true. I think that they're both equally hard.

Some people might say that original fiction is harder because you have to create a rounded character instead of relying on what people already know about the person, but I say that in order to write a good fan-fiction story that you have to write realistically and make your take of the true-life person believable, or people (like me) aren't going to be interested in it.
Both are hard, there's not doubt about it. And there are terrible stories in both categories and great stories in both categories.

And as for addesin saying that it creeps her out because of the fact that people are "taking control" of a real-life person, well, the authors really aren't. I understand what she's saying, but the characters - based on real people - are just manifestations based on what we want the real-life people to actually be like. They're characters.

But to sum it all up, I write fan-fiction because it's fun and some aspects are challenging. I won't read a story if it's terrible, fan-fic or original.

I'm gonna be the blacksheep here and just say I'm one of those assholes who cant get into fanfiction.

Now, let me admit that, when I was on mibba back in 2006 (oh, yeah, I was there... it was bad... >.<), I wrote fanfiction. Yes, yes I did. I tried an MCR-vampire fanfiction that made it about two chapters in before I got bored and realized a) it had been done before, far too many times and b) it wasn't really going anywhere anyway. Basically, it was an excuse for me get my oc to a) meet my favorite band b) flirt/date/kiss members of my favorite band c) get to be a vampire, which I was obsessed with at the time. It was just bleh. So that didn't last long.

Then I tried an A7X story in early 2007. This one was... better, I guess. I had improved by this point. But, I didn't give a shit about following the member's of the band's basic character traits except for Jimmy because, really, he was who the story was about. Again, another excuse for an oc to meet the band, become a part of the gang, and sleep with one of band members. It was pretty shitty.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know not every fanfiction is like this. But every one I seem to try and read is and it get's really old after a while. And when I find the one that isn't that same pointless, cliche story, I just have 0 motivation to read it. I actually found a really interesting sounding 1D fanfic about spies or something and it seemed really cool but... I just couldn't make myself read it. I've just had too many bad experiences with fanfic. It just turns me off. I know you want to tell me "just give it another chance; read my fanfic," and I want to, I really do, because I know some great ones are out there. But I seriously just can't make myself sit down and read it. My brain just goes "ICKY!"

I totally get what you're saying, about people having stereotypical reasons for disliking fanfic, though, and I know it's a little unfair, but honestly, it is kind of creepy to me. My reason is one of those same stereotypical reasons. I honestly find it just... scary to puppeteer a living person and make them do what you want to do in a story. Especially when romance and sex are involved. I would be so disturbed if I happened to be famous and read about someone's pretend world where I had sex with some person (occasionally a carbon copy of the author or the way they wish they were), especially if it was someone I know and am close friends with (like in the case of GerardxFrank slash...), or even worse, someone I'm related to (FredxGeorge is just the most disturbing thing I've ever heard of... Just saying)

Don't get me wrong, I love sex. I hardly ever write a story that doesn't feature sex. Not smut, mind you, but sex. It's not the sex that turns me off. It's the idea of an author taking control of a real life person and making them fall in love with some one they don't know and (possibly) sleep with them. I don't like the puppeteer-ing aspect of if. It freaks me out a little.

Sometimes, I realize while reading the description of a story, if this just had original characters, I'd be all over it, and then I feel bad. But I don't really think I'll be changing any time soon. I respect people's desire to write fanfiction, but it's just not my cup of tea. Just like some people don't red the slash I write or other people wouldn't read horror or some other genre. I don't feel I'm "hating" on fanfic by not reading it, just as people who don't particularly enjoy, say, fantasy stories aren't necessarily "hating" on the fantasy genre. That's just my two cents. I know it's a lot... I just figured I'd say it.

True that! People can be dicks.

Honestly, if people think this way then they're incredibly boring and unromantic. Even if you did write about yourself and a band member, so the fuck what? I hate these pretentious dickheads with superiority complexes that are constantly trying to ruin the fun of everyone that's not as ashamed to be themselves as they are.

I know... often I'm ashamed to say that I write fanfiction.

@ CriticizeTheLullaby
I understand. I can't read het. It's too weird.

@ dru's war paint.
Personally I don't like slash, not that I have anything against it, I'm just not interested in it. I went to look for an Oli Sykes story and I kid you not the ENTIRE first page was all slash stories. There's so many.

And a lot of people don't even write guy/girl fanfictions. When I see the list of reasons and they're all het related I'm like 'go read some slash and solve all your problems'.

OMG THIS MAKES ME WANT TO GO FIND THAT BLOG AGAIN BECAUSE I KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. I KNOW THE PERSON THAT THOUGHT IT WAS CREEPY FOR PEOPLE TO WRITE FAN FICTION AND I HAD THIS AMAZING PARAGRAPH THAT REALLY MADE THEM REALISE (OR SO I THOUGHT) WHY WE WRITE FAN FICTION.

I'll just sum up what I said last time but the reason we write fan fiction is because it's the fact that said famous band member/movie star/etc is the main character. Like I wouldn't want to read the plot unless it was about said band member/movie star/etc.

Omg rant

I don't thing Fanfiction is creepy at all. I write fanfictions of people that I admire and respect, that's why I put them in my stories. I also think it's a great way to excersise your talents as a writer, because it's like in contests where you're given a picture and you have to base a story all around that one picture.
And what's the big deal with sex? It's just part of the story. Some people just like writing about sex, it's a natural thing all humans have in common, why not? I love fanfiction, I feel like it's helping me become a better writer while being proud of things that I'm a fan of and getting to meet people that share the same interests as me; something I can't normally do in real life.

People say that writing fanfictions is easy, but I guess I have to disagree because you've got to actually keep the already made up characters in their character if that makes sense, hardly anyone likes reading fanfics with their favorite character - or idol - where he/she/they are out of character, unless it's like some AU type thing. And the whole thing about sex, pff original has TONS of sex, too, actually there's websites dedicated to original sex stories, I'm just saying.

FanFiction isn't for everyone, I just get my feathers ruffled when they use flaws that are found just as frequently in original fictions as in fanfiction. There's tons of cliche original fictions, especially in romance.

I think to each their own. Like, if someone hates fanfiction, go right ahead. But I absolutely hate when people group all fanfiction/fanfiction writers together, saying that they suck, that the writers aren't serious, that it's creepy, etc.

If you've read some bad fanfiction - fair enough. But it's not fair to group all of it together and make it all sound bad, especially since, like you said, there's some really great fanfiction writing out there.

I agree with all of this. I mean before I started writing my Genesis bandfiction, I thought it was a bit creepy in general to be writing about a celebrity or someone famous, but I never thought of bandfiction or real celebrity as bad in general, but now I really enjoy writing about Phil Collins and my favorite celebrities.

I totally agree with you on this. It bugs me that people write off FanFictions because they think they are all cliche or sexual. I'll admit that most of my FanFictions have sex in them, but if someone doesn't like reading about that, then they should just simply not read it. There's no need to bash or insult FanFictions as a whole.