Subject: Glad it wasn't just me...
Author:
Posted on: 2009-06-06 21:15:00 UTC
I always had the most difficult time coming up with great original ideas as well; the plethora of plot bunny trouble that others complain about was definitely not a problem of mine, despite my vivid imagination. The fact that I was always making up stories about my favourite stories worried me... up until the point where I started reading fanfiction.
Hello lovely people.
Owing to the small and fancy nature of my high school, my graduation ceremony (yesterday! I finally have my diploma!) included a brief blurb read aloud by the Head of School regarding each graduating senior. Mine was almost entirely to do with my writing which, if predictable, was nonetheless gratifying. I have since been meditating on how the great distance I have come throughout my eighteen years. One of my only kindergarten memories involves the intense jealousy I felt towards my friend, who had won some little award or other for her short story. I did not understand why I couldn't write. Really, writing was a closed book to me up until the age of twelve, despite my love of books themselves.
I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this, so I’ll get to the point. The idea that I too could write only really took hold after I began to read fanfiction. Some of it was very bad, some was very good, and all was anonymously critiqued. Naturally, my first attempts at writing my own stories regarding my favorite books were awful. However, with time and practice comes improvement, and my own improvement was rapid, urged along by a solid stream of encouragement, flames, and helpful critiques.
The story goes on of course, but I would be curious to hear some of your responses to this question: What role does/has fanfiction played in your life? For me, it ignited a fierce passion that I've come to rely on immensely; how has it affected you?
- MB
In my case, I was writing before I discovered fanfiction. For me, it was initially a way to bond with the small corners of fandom in which I found myself--first for the game "Creatures," and then more significantly for "Farscape." My first Farscape fic was also the first story of any significant length that I actually managed to finish. It's not great, but I did it, and I'll forever know that I can.
Furthermore, that fic led directly to joining the PPC thanks to one of the helpful people on the Friends and Defenders of Pilot message board, who pointed out in the kindest possible way that my original character in the fic was probably a Mary-Sue. Not knowing the stigma attached to the name, I readily agreed that yes, that was probably right. Later, I discovered Fanfiction.net, which led to OFUM, which led to the PPC. And I've been here since.
I still have one fanfic that I feel I ought to finish, even though it's been years since I started, but overall, as I've sporked, I've drifted away from fanfic and tried to apply my skills to my own work. I have a nice little collection of vignettes now, and a full-scale fantasy world in the making.
Fanfiction and the sporking of it also made me realize that I'm better than most people at spelling and grammar. I've worked on becoming very good at it in the hope of turning it into an editing career. That way, theoretically, I'll be able to make a living, because I know I won't be able to do it writing. I just don't have the consistency for it.
One downside of getting heavily involved with the art and craft of good writing is that it has made me realize some of my favorite writers as a young person are actually not that great. The board has also confirmed that I will never be able to love any fantasy work as much as I love "The Lord of the Rings," which for me embodies technical perfection as well as masterly world-building and story-telling. On the other hand, the PPC message board is responsible for introducing me to some of my new favorite authors, particularly Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, who have taught me that it is still possible to be original and to be damn good at it. They give me hope.
On that note, I think I've talked more than enough. ^_^; Kudos and hugs if you actually bothered to read the whole post.
~Neshomeh
and hugs, of course...
Being new to all this, I'm not really sure what to say. I can appreciate all that you guys are doing for writing, and I really enjoy reading all of it, but I'm not much of a writer myself, as I was sad to discover. I have tried, and failed, and will probably continue to try on occasion. I read like a fiend, but the fact remains that I am not original or creative in a literary sense.
That being said, I really REALLY admire everyone who can, even if it skinks horribly and is filled with Mary-Sue's and impossible plot holes, (fill it with a raccoon, Neshomeh!) and the author can't 'speel to sav they're live'.
This is not to say that I am for brain-melting paradoxes and 'waterfalls of hair'. However, I am for learning, and I'm glad that there are people (and other beings) out here like you, protecting what deserves it and helping what doesn't.
Maybe I'll keep writing, maybe I'll finish that fanfic for Neshomeh someday (Yes, yes, I'm on it. As soon as I finish the journal...) Until then, Go-Go Power Fiction!
Love and Insanity,
Gryphongirl
Similarly, the PPC is responsible for introducing me to Terry Pratchett (my obsession with Neil Gaiman is simply a result of my comic book geekiness)... and draining my bank account as I desperately purchased every book he has ever written :P
"One downside of getting heavily involved with the art and craft of good writing is that it has made me realize some of my favorite writers as a young person are actually not that great."
I found this to be an interesting point, as I probably tend to revere those childhood authors more than they deserve... CS Lewis, Beverly Cleary, and AA Milne are a few that come to mind. Which writers were you specifically referring to?
Is Anne McCaffrey. It's hard to explain, because I'm a big Pern fan, but there are things about her writing that really bug me, especially her more recent work (and don't even get me started on her son). Her Acorna series especially turned into one big Suefest, and I couldn't keep reading the books. I partly blame her change of co-authors for that, but still. I liked "The Rowan" and I've read all the books in the Talent/Tower and Hive series, but the more I think about it, the more a lot of the main characters look like Sues and Stus to me. I never liked the Crystal Singer books because they were all about how special the main character was.
I can't think of any other specific authors that I loved as a child, but Diane Duane and Brian Jacques also come to mind. With Duane, it's the same sort of thing as McCaffrey: her ideas are fantastic, but her execution could be improved. As for Jacques, he created a great world, but by the time I started reading his books (middle school), I was old enough to notice pretty quickly that he recycled the same plot in almost every book, and I lost interest.
I don't fault CS Lewis. His writing, at least in the Narnia books, is the result of the time he lived in and the fact that they were meant for young children, not that he didn't know what he was doing. He certainly did. I just happen to like his contemporary, Tolkien, better. {= )
~Neshomeh, who doesn't remember reading Beverly Cleary or AA Milne.
Ohhh, I do see what you mean. Seeing as I have a six year old sister, when I think "childhood authors" I tend to think of books associated with that age group (ie AA Milne, author of Winnie the Pooh, I'm sure you did read it once :P). I definitely experienced the something similar with Tamora Pierce's books - not quite so much her first few in the Song of the Lioness series, but some of her others. A strong female character isn't a bad thing by any means, but she tends to cross the borderline into boring and stereotypical, as I only realised later when I attempted to reread some of them.
I haven't read any recent McCaffrey, so I'll bear that in mind... I recall her fondly, so it's probably best that I don't taint those memories.
- MB -
despite never having read any EU novel ever. God, do we not want to go into what emerged (*shudders*). Then I got into Harry Potter badfic, hit a bout of plagiarism (*turns tomato red*) and then died on the Internet. Then I returned, deleted everything and all became good in the world as the plagiarism incident ironically made me better. If I'd never done it, I'd probably still be writing crap (though, I guess that depends on your POV) and I'd hate you all for mocking my stories. Yeesh. Sounds crazy written like that.
At least you learned something from it. Plagiarism is a dreadful, icky thing, and it's probably (definitely) for the best that you dealt with it via fanfiction, where the consequences were minimal. Or rather, minimal when compared with expulsion from school and such.
While most people here seem to have had the same problems I encountere when trying to write, there is a bit of a difference; they got better at it before joining the Board. Meh, I'll probably just try to deal with the irony of writing possible badfic while simultaneously condemning badfic here. If I end up writing something absolutely terrible, it's going to be donated to the PPC though.
First and foremost, the torrents of terrible spelling and grammar prompted me to start correcting things, which has turned into a nice little (very little) business.
Other than that; very similar to the others below. It gave me a chance to realise that I could write well without the need for a brilliant original idea (to date, I have never had one), it gives me great sources of humour, and it's a conduit by which I have met several lovely friends.
But also lovely people to argue inconsequential aspects of grammar with. Fun times.
It's also taught me that I get on really well New Zealanders.
Fanfiction, for me, was a way to really LEARN. I mean, I started when I was thirteen, and it's been a few years. For some reason, I lacked the ability to develop my own ideas. I mean, besides the fact that my writing wasn't all that good, I honestly could not come up with an original story setup that was actually good.
Then I found fanfiction.
Of course, it wasn't an instant thing. I still wasn't a great writer, and my first few stories either crashed into the ground or staggered and twitched for a while before dying. Through fanfiction, I didn't really NEED to come up with an original idea, because I could use other people's ideas to practice my writing style and my plot-developing skills. And I found that, as time went on, my writing improved, and I actually used fanfiction to create my own original plotline. The best part was the fact that complete strangers could take an objective view on my writing, and really tell me how well I was doing.
A particular point of significance was when I discovered that Happy Tree Friends had its own section on the Pit. I don't know why, but it must have unlocked something, and I immediately spewed forth a story that, in hindsight, could probably be much better, but it was still significantly more original than the others. It was also the first multi-chapter fanfic I actually finished. In fact, I think I've had the most success in the HTF fandom.
Currently, I'm writing my own original fantasy. The plot is basically a combination of characters, plot points, and ideas from my Happy Tree Friends fanfics, as well as some issues in the Real World. I'm pretty confident about it.
I always had the most difficult time coming up with great original ideas as well; the plethora of plot bunny trouble that others complain about was definitely not a problem of mine, despite my vivid imagination. The fact that I was always making up stories about my favourite stories worried me... up until the point where I started reading fanfiction.
It has definitely improved my writing. Mostly my approach to plotting and characterizations, combined with a healthy fear of ever writing something sporkable. It's also given me some confidence that I can write humor, thanks to the PPC.
It was also my doorway into the larger world of fandom: fanfic, icon-making, forum discussions, filk, conventions, the lot of it.
... but when I was a kid, all I could turn out was poetry. Appalling poetry, I must hasten to point out, but poetry nonetheless. And I sort of dropped the idea.
Fanfiction hit me like a ROCK at the age of seventeen, and I promptly turned out several mediocre-to-poor slashfics, and then the PPC, and then my actual writing declined in quantity as more and more of my time was spent sporking.
However, I credit sporking with teaching me what is and is not good writing practice, and showing me what I like and don't like as a reader, making it easy for me to make judgements on what and what not to write.
My long-term association with Pads started off in fandom, and now we both write and spork together. Fandom/fanfic is thus also responsible for providing me with one of my closest friends :D
That's a lovely benefit of the internet in general... the ability to make friends whom you otherwise never would have met. It's certainly aided me through many a tough time in the past few years!
Well, fanfiction's certainly improved my writing too. Case in point: never used to write anything; Trojie made me write fanfic with her; she always had to write the sex scenes; after four years she gave me a prompt that turned into porn; I realised I couldn't use the word "cock" in fiction; today I managed it for the first time. All through the beauty of fanfiction.
Congrats on the graduation wossname. What's the plan next?
Thank you, college is next! I've got a nice scholarship at a college in Florida, so I'll be living the tragic, difficult life of beach bumming and scuba diving (oh, and studying).
Sounds terribly traumatic. Good luck with it!