Rule of Engagement 3.1
Back in 2002, I decided to take a much more serious approach to my writing and the pursuit of publication than I had to date. I then began searching for a way to convey this change of status to others in a manner that was both concise and wouldn’t misrepresent the true extent of my skills and achievements.
In short, I wanted to know if it was okay to start calling myself a “writer”.
(Continued from Part 1, Part 2 – The Good, Part 3 – The Bad, and Part 4 – The Ugly)
Conclusion
Love it or hate it, fan fiction is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
(Continued from Part 1, Part 2 – The Good, and Part 3 – The Bad)
The Ugly
Look at how young they were back then.
So, let’s talk about sex, shall we. No discussion of fan fiction is complete without it.
(Continued from Part 1 and Part 2 – The Good)
The Bad
We all know that feeling (and, no, the Enterprise smells just fine).
I began this examination of fan fiction in response to two online articles I stumbled across on the subject on the same day: one from Time and the other found here at Flavorwire.com. I felt inclined to throw in a bit of support for fan fiction given that I started out in my youth as a fanfic writer – something I believe has helped me develop into the writer of original fiction that I am today.
In my first two posts, I reminisced about fun times spent writing in fandoms with friends, and also looked more closely at why writing fanfic can be educational for developing writers, yet why one shouldn’t assume that all fanfic writers are developing writers.
My goal for this series of posts, however, in the same vein as both of the aforementioned online articles, is to be balanced. So, having already covered the good of fan fiction, we now come to the bad.
(Continued from Part 1)
The Good
I was in grade 11 when I took my first, much-loved, creative writing class. Except, I don’t actually believe that was my first class. I think writing fan fiction gave me a far earlier education in writing craft.
I truly do believe this, for writing fanfic offered me ready-made access to what is often the most difficult part of a story to devise from scratch.
Characters.
Introduction – Fanfic and Me
There is a saying I’ve heard, generally among those much more believing in grand Universal plans than me, that if you cross paths with the same stranger three times in a single day than you were meant to meet that person.
I haven’t met any dashing strangers of late. But one day last week, I did three times come across a topic I don’t generally have much to do with: that of fan fiction (fanfic for short), that is, fan-written stories that star the characters and settings of copyrighted creative works.
Continued from Part 1 and Part 2:
In late 2004, I had a revelation about the 900-page fantasy novel I’d been working on the past three years – the following two thoughts, in the following order: “I don’t think I achieved good integration of all the characters’ individual plots” and “This novel is getting to be awfully long”.
My first novel was a mess.
Continued from Part 1:
In early 2002, a professional editor of a fantasy magazine told me my writing was good. I would have married the guy if I could.
No nuptials were forthcoming. However with that compliment ringing in my mind, along with the one from my writing teacher back in 1996, plus a growing dissatisfaction with writing short fiction, I felt braced up enough to try my hand at writing a full-length novel.
Janna G. Noelle 