Fan Fiction - your opinion?

[Output]

I'm a big fan of fan fiction - mostly Harry Potter, but there are occasions where I wander off to read other subjects.

My question is however, what everyone else here thinks about fan fiction in general?

Personally I find that there are many talented writers out there, and as a result I have read many enjoyable stories. However as expected, there can be plenty of bad ones too - not just from spelling/grammar mistakes (though they can of course be an issue), but there are many that haven't thought in depth about how characters would act in certain situations - it of course being particularly annoying when the characters just instantly accept everything without question, or worse: are so out of character that the only thing connecting them to the subject it's written on is the character's name that's being used.

I also have to admit to being annoyed when I see a 'songfic' since in most cases all it is is a song's lyrics pasted onto the page, and a passing mention that the character is singing it or something.

As I said though, there are still some truly fantastic writers out there though (I think some even go on to write their own non-fanfiction books).

I can easily lose hours reading fan fiction

[father smurf]

Some writing is good - some is complete pants.

If it's done well, then it can be sometimes as good (occasionally better) then the base material.

And of course - cross-overs are something fanfic can do that "official" material would have a lot of problems with.

[0iD]

My reading material these days is 75% fact, 20% philosophical which is somewhere in between, and 5% fiction. Used to be an avid SciFi reader in my late teens tho.

[kalniel]

I have almost universally found it pants I'm afraid. Not a fan.

[Saracen]

I rather agree with kalniel. Sure, there's some wheat out there, but there's a VERY high chaff-to-wheat ratio. To be honest, I'd rather buy books. At least then you've got something that's been through a process that weeds out the obvious chaff. It's no guarantee you'll like the work itself, but there's a pretty good chance that it's at least been well-written.

Of course, you can miss out on some real gems that way, too. After all, there've been some very successful writers that had a tremendous job getting published and succeeded eventually either through luck or robust persistence. And that suggests that some very good writers never do get published, and probably a fair few that don't even try.

My problem is limited time. At least with published books, I don't waste too much of my limited reading time with pure chaff.

[MSIC]

I'm a big Star Trek fan (despite all the very, very much rubbish that has also come out), and about once a year there is a compendium publication of fan fiction which has been through a vetting, editing process and becomes a 'best of' really.
The series is called 'Strange New Worlds' and to be fair, alot of the better ones have not alot to do with Star Trek, they are simply good sci-fi.

[TheAnimus]

some are so bad, the're good:
http://www.godawful.net/

[0iD]

Last fiction I really enjoyed was when Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting came out.
After I got over the grammar, (helped sharing a house with a Glasweegie), it was a good book. But on the whole I just prefer non fiction.

[Mike Fishcake]

The thought of Fan Fiction fills my brain with fear.

*shudder*

[mycarsavw]

When it gets this good (link) nothing can stop it. Check the others too.

Half Life: Full Life Consequences for those who've seen it already.

[Behemoth]

Have to say that through my late teens and early twenties I really enjoyed writing my own, I still do now. I did have most of it published on my website, but have taken it down because it needs alot of tweaks. I need to find me a proof reader really. I used to have someone do that for me, but sadly I lost contact with her.

[Dareos]

its 'kin awful.

Its also plagiarism at its lowest point. You tend to end up with fanboi's developing characters in ways that the original author never intended and thats from the halfway decent stuff, not the bloody morons that cannot spell, have no knowledge of grammar and overuse certain words again and again and again and a....you get the point...

Example on a professional published scale :

The Dragonlance Chronicles - Weiss and Hickman write rather well, create a world based around a circle of friends and epicness happens on a grand scale, gods are killed, world reaches the brink of collapse and dragons bite people lots.

Fan Fiction : TSR pay lots of people for puerile trash noone should ever want to read, destroy characters, send some to the moon, general silliness and gnashing of teeth commence. TSR cash in...

Now, I read the dragonlance stuff when i was 14 or so, not saying its the greatest stuff out there by any manner of means, but fun when you are that age, thankfully no published fan fiction has been written about the authors work that i now care about

[Output]

Thanks for satisfying my simple curiosity, some fair points (both positive and negative) raised by all.

Overall, as with many things - it's down to personal preference

[jamin]

If I'm honest I wouldn't turn my back on a Fan Fiction writer, I like to be ready to defend myself from a leg humping if they get carried away thinking about Jack O'Neil's triumphant return to SG1. I can relate to someone expressing their creative side by writing fiction, but Cpt. Janeway was really a man so no more Holodeck/Lingerie stories please!

Seriously, there are some very talented writers out there and some dreadful ones! Bit hit and miss really.