Fanfiction is like writing with training wheels. I think a lot of writers, especially very young ones, begin to create stories by poorly adding their own original characters, plot twists, or settings onto pre-existing tales. It's a messy start into the writing world but no writers are perfect without learning as they go and practicing. So they use fanfiction as a way to develop what they have, improving their skills and over time you see the difference because they are maturing.
Besides, when I first started writing fanfiction, the thought of writing my own original stories never crossed my mind. I honesty didn't care about going into that area when I was young. I wanted something that was fun and that I enjoyed a lot. Something that didn't feel like an school assignment or whatnot.
What led me into the fanfiction world was reading. I read a lot of my favorite stuff, anime, manga, video games, movies and so on. I found it enjoyable and that's what peaked my interest at trying my own hand at writing fanfiction. If it wasn't for fanfiction I wouldn't be a decent writer that I am now, hell, I would have NOT even started my own novel or be this interested in writing.
That's why I think positive of fanfiction. I know there's a lot of bad fanfiction and bad writers out there, that give the fanfiction world a bad reputation -- hence why people have such negative opinions of it, but like everything in life there's always going to be a down side to it.
I just hope that people don't dislike or hate something without real reasons and not just because, or for petty reasons. Plus, I hope people understand that not everyone is the same. That they all aren't in the same age group when it comes to writing fanfiction, that their maturity differs from each one and that some of them aren't even interested in crafting their own story.
To them, it's for fun and they aren't looking for anything to gain and they don't think they are wasting their time by doing it. I rather they be reading and writing fanfiction when they refuse to pick up a book or write their own story. It keeps their mind active and if they like it a lot they'll start growing out of it and expanding onto other areas like writing their own original stories and getting it published.
I've seen a lot of that happen. They started out as kids that love to read fanfiction then they started to write it. Over time they started learning, maturing their writing skills and maturing their creative mind, which then led them to try writing their own story. Once they reached that point they pretty much kept getting better and move on from fanfiction, though sometimes for fun and practice/boredom they write fanfiction to keep their mind and skills sharp.
I actually know a couple of fanfiction writers like that. They've written their own novels and are getting it published if they haven't already. So like I said before, I see fanfiction in a positive way when it comes to entering the writing world.
 DamnBlackHeart · Fri May 27, 2011 @ 05:33am · 0 Comments |
