Does fanfiction improve your writing?

[Cith]

That posted essay is massively outdated. The world of fanfiction in 1988 is not even vaguely comparable to today's world, and there are plenty of fanfic authors who've gone on to become reasonably big deals. Heck, even back then there were people who went from fanfic to pro, but since fanfic was less well distributed it was much harder for the average person to notice!

He didn't say if you write fanfic you won't go on to become a big deal, he said it's easy to become addicted to fanfiction (which is true) and if you look at the big names in fandom (Fan Hugo) most of these people aren't big names pros. He went on to say that this was because they spent too much time writing fanfiction Furthermore, when was the last time Tucker or Carr or Panshin actually wrote professional fiction? I haven't read Panshin; Carr and Tucker wrote really top-rate fiction--but very little of it. Maybe, if they hadn't been so involved with fandom, they'd have found the time to write more.

He pointed out quite early in the essay that This is not to say that there haven't been fanzine writers who went on to fame and fortune as pros, because there have been a good many such. This was not, however, because they learned their art writing fan fiction--on the contrary, they only succeeded because they didn't let fan fiction hold them back!

Yes the essay is dated, but I think there's some very good advice in there for budding authors. Especially regarding where to get good feedback, because I've been reading fanfiction for 13 years or so and the quality of feedback was, is, and will probably remain abysmal. I didn't know if the thread starter was eyeing a serious career or not but I decided to post it just to be safe. It's useful info.

[papillon]

Yes, and I addressed and agreed with the matter of spending too much time on fan works later in my reply, if you noticed.

But with the specifics of that article... The idea of having your time taken up by being interviewed for fanzines or being asked by editors to provide content is completely foreign to people writing in this day and age. How many people here have any idea what a fanzine even is? I'm old enough to remember having the option to send a SASE to someone to get them to print out and mail you the fanfic that they were very proud to have had listed in a directory, I doubt most people here can say the same or even comprehend just how different the fan world was back then.

(For that matter, I know who Lawrence Watt-Evans is and own a book by him, but I have no idea how uncommon that is on this forum either. )

There are some valid points being made but the specifics and the context are foreign, and I'm enough of a pedant to feel the need to argue, or at least to point out that fandom doesn't work quite the same way in 2014 as it did pre-1990.

[Zootower]

Any practice is good practice. The real question in the practical use of fan-fiction is, with any writing application:

a) the reasons behind writing it
and
b) the overall utility of the criticism that comments through commentary.

I dabbled in a bit of Naruto fan-fiction back in the day (haven't we all?) when I was actively watching the series. I approached my writing with the sincere belief that the storytelling of the series had decayed to a point where only fan-fiction would be able satiate the appetites of its fans. I wrote, or at least, tried to write with the intent of putting forward the total sum of my writing ability to each piece. Good storytelling was my singular concern, and I spent an almost absurd time proofreading, obsessing over presentation. Success varied, and I left a couple of unfinished multi-chapter projects dangling because of it. The reception I got was positive, certainly, but I don't think any of the commentary I got really honed or aided my overall writing quality.

Before tearing down my FF account, I remember seeing some of my content appropriated on Tumblr. This is, again, before Tumblr was really a "thing" in the way it is now. The reception was a lot more varied. Apparently my writing had gained some pretty vehement supporters and detractors. But again, none of it was commentary that forwarded craft. Responses like "I liked it" or "I hated it" are worse to me than no response at all. It's a big tease, really, because it's not descriptive of what they actually liked, or didn't like. Or felt apathetic about, even.

To avoid further ranting, it's all in what you intend on getting out of it. If you're going, to use an old track-and-field term, "balls-out", then by all means, it'll only help. If it's with the intent of gaining a fandom or community around your works, which is something I saw quite a bit (going back 4-5 years ago, of course), then it's really just masturbatory.

[Cafechan]

A lot of the differences between original fiction and fan fiction have been brought up, but I will say, it's significantly more difficult to garner an active audience for original fiction, so fan fiction absolutely has the benefit of a built-in audience. Which... when you're young and just starting out and all you really want is affirmative feedback, is extremely enticing.

I've read and written fan fiction passionately for as long as I can remember. It's got a rep for all being crummy smut, but there are some extremely gifted, dedicated fan fiction writers—some whom I'd even argue are on or above the level of published novelists out there—so it's really just a matter of digging deep and using discretion.

Growing up, I had very little interest in doing written stories about my own characters (I preferred comics for them), so fan fiction really encouraged me to write, and I believe I'm a much better writer for it.

Tl;dr: fan fiction is good and great and should be encouraged, but of course, writing original stuff is great too if you have the inspiration (and, optional: an audience) for it. What's important is that you're writing. Practice, practice, practice!

(Also, I really believe the best writers are avid readers. Read a ton of stuff by people better than you. You'll start to develop an ear for good writing.)

Also also, re: zine conversation: I know a handful of zine writers who actually went on to become published writers because of their zine work. So... eh!

[Lesleigh63]

I've done fanfic and original fic. The fanfic was for the Dr Who Project and was published by the group and the one of my original fics was published in a lit magazine. I sent both types of writing through a writing/crit group (I think this is where you learn something). Also with the publications I got feedback from the editors. So, I think you need to be in the pattern of draft - feedback from a critique/writing group - redraft.

[infel]

I kind of believe that it does, but only till a point. Writing fanfiction is good for beginners because it helps them focus on their writing skills, and not having to create their own characters. Also, though the writer didn't make them, it helps them practice adding more to the characters. But like I said, it's only to a point. I don't believe it can help you develop your owns worlds, and characters. It really is for beginners, but it's fun to do and can be enjoyable

[Midnighticequeen]

I think fan-fiction is harmless and it can help you become a better writer. I started writing only through fan-fiction so I know what fun it can be. One negative aspect about it could be that the characters, plot, and story is already decided for you, but with fan-fiction you can turn it around however you want. Lots of writers change the world that they writing completely, or alter characters by putting them in different situations. What comes out can be significantly different from the original writers, so I guess a fan-fiction is only as limited as where the writer wants to take it. .

It can be a bit of trap though if the writers mindset isn't geared to making original stories. Some people only want to write fan-fiction, so whether they move to original stories doesn't matter. I only wrote because I wanted to write fan-fiction. I had no desire to write my own stories, but slowly things switched around until I only want to write my own stories most of the time. I never would have started writing original content without first spending years writing fan-fiction, but my journey isn't everyone's journey.