Fanfiction - Can it be considered "legitimate" storytelling?

I ask because I know of the existence of “sanctioned” writers, even if I do not necessarily know their backgrounds in writing before becoming sanctioned.

I am also bringing up this subject as a quick search revealed about four previous threads ranging back to around 2001 and up to sometime in 2006. I didn’t feel like bumping one of them up from at least two or more years back. Fanfiction appears to be more prevalent online these days and that perhaps it’s getting a better rap than in previous years of almost automatic disdain.

I did read those other threads and do agree with the notion that the fanfiction I write is truly practice for works of fiction that go beyond the confines of the fan-based story. I have watched my quality get better over the years due to striving for better plot and characterization of the existing “show”. In my case, it’s pure fantasy writing as I have delved into fanfiction for the old show I Dream of Jeannie. Perhaps not the most “liberal” subject for some on DU, still, there is much to explore with the realm of Djinn (genies), magic and their role in the world of humans.

One other aspect to my writing I began back in the summer of 2005 was the addition of Spirit into the same genre. At that point I felt my writing quality take off, even for some older stories I went back to and re-wrote. One of those was inspired by the fanfic and includes elements of IDoJ without being fanfiction per se. It also put me into the weird position of “where do I post this?” It isn’t fanfiction, so fanfiction.net is right out. I did post it to fictionpress.com, yet even there it seems out of place. I will add links at the end here if y’all want to look them over. The IDoJ fanfic story is pretty long, but even a perusal of the first chapter would be appreciated. Although the IDoJ story doesn’t really get into spiritual subject matter, I have been writing sequel stories to the Djinnified story and that subject does come up, if only much later.

So, that’s a little history behind my writing ability. I am not trained in it, never having a class in creative writing, relying on what I remember of college English classes (perhaps even that old Technical Report Writing class :P) and my observations of both the world around me and how others write.

Does all this seem somewhat familiar for those of you that do take fanfiction writing seriously? Other than sanctioned writers, I’m assuming the publishing world still has mostly disdain for fanfiction. I really haven’t looked into that end of it very thoroughly.

Here are the two stories I rewrote, with a prequel I whipped up for the Djinnified story, again to a “challenge” from another board. I hope we can get this discussion going again as I do feel like it’s a good stepping off point if not another means of getting noticed, eventually :D

Genie of the Lamp
Djinnified!
PreDjinnified!

or this is another genre most don't care about any longer...

Then again, I do realize this forum doesn't get the traffic it once did, per those aforementioned threads from years back.

Anything we can do to promote this forum some more? I doubt I'm the only one wanting to see more attention to (their) posts. ;)

but I guess it's just not in favor anymore.

I still enjoy this forum and will read and comment to the other threads. Just a little disappointed this sunk like a post about kudzu in the Lounge ;)

Fan Fiction suffers from a few major strikes against it (all of these are generalizations, of course):

1. It is seldom authorized by the actual owners or creators of the characters, and it therefore can seem uncomfortably close to outright theft. Granted, this is only a problem for characters under copyright, so if you're drawing from something in the public domain (e.g., Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), you're fine. Heck, even for proprietary material, the fact of copyright ownership doesn't mean that a given work of fiction is necessarily good or bad, but it will most definitely cause problems if you're seeking formal publication.

2. The genre is by definition derivative, and as such it is perceived (rightly or wrongly) as a kind of cheating, since much of the author's work is done for her before she puts pen to page: the mechanics of Federation politics are already worked out; Buffy is already established as a hunter; Capt. Nelson has already found the bottle. However, this is only a problem if point 1 is a problem. Countless authors have written licensed derivative novels in the Star Wars and Star Trek universes, but they've been authorized to do so, so their work is seldom considered fan fiction.

3. Since fan fiction proliferates hugely on the internet, a great body of truly horrendous work is out there, whereas in other--more accepted--genres, the process of review and publication tends to weed out the really bad stuff. As such, unreadable fan fiction is disproportionately represented, giving the false impression that the genre as a whole is garbage. Of course, every format has good and bad examples, but fan fiction to date has enjoyed few celebrated successes, and this further skews the general impression of fan fiction.

4. It's non-canonical. If you write the story in which Harry's quidditch prowess helps the Detroit Lions win the next Superbowl, well, your readership will be limited to people who are willing to suspend both their general disbelief and also their knowledge of the true source material.

Those are just off the top of my head. I can tell you this, though--I've had quite a few excellent college courses in fiction writing, and every single professor forbade fan fiction outright. IMO this means that, whatever the possible strengths of the format, it's still far from accepted as serious literature.

I should disclaim at this point that I have never written any fan fiction. I haven't read much of it, either, but that's mostly because of point 3 above. But I do take it seriously, at least insofar as I recognize that people are making a sincere and serious to contribute something to well known characters and settings. So in that regard I think that the genre has a lot to offer, even if formal publication isn't likely.


However, fan fiction can be tremendously useful in honing your craft, because it allows you to work on specific aspects of your writing while sort of coasting on others. For instance, if you find that your descriptions tend to be weak, then you may benefit from writing a story with characters that are already established. That way, you can focus on improving your descriptions without also trying to create believable characters.


I'd have replied sooner, but I hate to say that I totally missed your thread the first time around. Sorry about that!

That was a very reasoned response :)

I am aware of the strikes against fan fiction and why it's not considered legitimate "literature", but what about as a type of genre-fiction? I've read that "Reader's Manifesto" posted around here somewhere and agreed with the writer's complaints about the current state of affairs in the literary world. Not that I have attempted to read any of what passes for literature these days, but can see why it would turn many off while the juries snub the "good read" books.

You covered much of what I was getting at, in that other than possibly selling a story to Sony Entertainment (for the kind of story I would likely write) I write this for fun. However, I have enough self-respect of my work that I would never think of posting any rough-draft like almost all the fan fiction I have tried to read. Even among those fans that I know personally, they still don't have a problem posting something rife with errors. I got trounced when I tried to point that kind of thing out, and all said to a T that "they were only writing it for fun." Okay, but make it readable or you lose your audience. I get the impression that they simply don't have the patience to do an edit, use a beta-reader and edit again. Too much trouble. Gotta post now! ;) If they could twit, sorry "tweet", their story to a site like ff.net, they probably would. I can only imagine how much worse that would be! lol

I understand about the story being non-canonical. I do stick exactly to the source material. I am trying to emulate what might have happened given the circumstances I create. And though the characters are already there, written before me, you do have to know the characters well enough to make them believable and enjoyable to the masses that expect only the original episodes.

I have considered taking a continuing education class on fiction or creative writing, whatever is available. I've had my fill of college/university and I do consider fan fiction to be a stepping stone to better writing. I have seen my quality improve over the years as I took more chances with characters and writing methods. I figure I'll write something that isn't fan fiction and then go back to it during "blocks" to keep in practice, or someone will ask me to write the fan fiction for the screen ;)

When is fan fiction not fan fiction?

In other words, when does the writing transcend the genre? I may be oversimplifying, but IMO the fanfic that gets all the disdain is from writers who use it as a wish-fulfillment fantasy. In other words, they write a story where the two leads who are suffering from UST get together. Or, worse, they write a story solely to place themselves in the action. (I fondly recall one of the ground rules of Dr. Who fanfic--this was years ago, before the recent incarnation of the Doctor, back when he was, for lack of a better word, sexless: "Do NOT write a story in which you are the sidekick and you 'get' the Doctor!")

On the other hand, there's sincere fanfic that stays true to the spirit of the characters and is written to bring a new dimension to the world created by the originators.

Personally, I don't consider myself a writer of fanfic; however, back when both shows were big, I did write an episode of The X-Files and an ep of Northern Exposure, mainly because I felt at home in both universes and had some storytelling urge to try my hand at creating a new adventure for the characters. (They both turned out rather well, I thought. I'm kind of proud of them.)

I have seen that type of fanfic all too often as well, and pretty well skip right over it. That and the "crossover" stories. Sometimes shows on the same network would do crossover episodes, though I usually found them just as "meh" as many of these fanfic crossovers. Then there are the crossovers that do so with shows not on the same network nor the same universe. I understand being passionate about your favorite shows, but keep them separate; they're more enjoyable that way :)

My fanfic is like your second point: original-character-driven in situations that could have happened in the shows. I'm still trying to know the characters, even with five years' worth of episodes. Really, that's still just scratching the surface of who they are. I enjoy exploring these characters and perhaps bringing out characteristics and knowledge only implied or hinted at in previous episodes.

I feel my stories have turned our rather well, too and am proud of them like you :)

I write the fanfic first for me and then to please the fans. That has sometimes proved difficult as I get the impression many are expecting the "junk" and I refuse to write that way. I also refuse to write in teleplay format, a form you will find for most fan fiction out there. I don't visualize my story like I'm directing a play or a TV-show, and I still don't understand the appeal of that format. I'd like to rant and rave to them about it, to point out it's a tool for the director and the actors, not something the viewer is ever meant to read just to follow the action. It just leaves out so much, leaving me wanting a rewrite instead of wanting to know more about what happens next.