Upgrading From Fan Fiction to Original Fiction

Last year I was also supposed to write some original fiction and participate in Nanowrimo. That didn’t happen. I think it’s partially because I was a fan fiction author and I found making the step from fan fiction writing to original writing so daunting.

 
The benefits of writing fan fiction

    1.    The inspiration can come to you immediately.

Lets face it, as fan fiction authors the first thoughts come when watching a movie, TV series or reading a book and going, ‘What if this happened?’ It’s easier for me to draw inspiration from there than other places to be honest.

    2.    Any from of writing practice is good.

You practice writing plots using description, action, grammar, voice and all the other devices used for telling stories. Something is better than nothing. 

    3.    There is more of a chance someone will read your fan fic online than your original fiction.

Personally, when I want to read a story online, it would be a fan fiction story. When it comes to original fiction I’m more inclined to read a book because there are more chances that it’s good, since it was good enough to be published. I would take a chance on fan fiction because I’m just obsessed with a series or the character and I just want to see them in more scenarios because I’m just addicted.

Fan fiction has the bonus of having already famous characters or settings that people know and love. People are more likely to take a chance on your work and read it for these reasons. I have also always found the fan fiction community at Fanfiction.Net is always very supportive and encouraging as a writer and I will always treasure the fan fiction community for that reason. I love getting reviews, which really help ones self-esteem and encourage you to keep going even through writer’s block.
 

The difficulties of moving on from fan fiction to your own fiction

My dream as a child was to grow up and become a famous author and actually getting published. So I’m trying to force myself away from writing fan fiction and writing my own things. But I’m actually struggling with writing original fiction now and I think I can identify why.

    1.    There are many shortcuts taken when writing fan fiction.

Half the work is already done for you: Someone else has already come up with a setting and created characters that people love. All you have to do is create a plot and play puppet master.

    1.2.  Lack of practice in creating your own characters and voice.

There an emphasis for canon characters to be in character. If canon characters act out of character, it is a major turn off for me. So, as an author you are stuck following a strict set of characteristics you haven’t created, which in a sense, isn’t much practice for you for character creation.

I find, that in a way, creating original characters can be somewhat discouraged to fan fiction writers. From my own tastes as a reader, I come to read fan fiction about characters from a TV show, cartoon, book or movie that I love. I don’t come for the OC’s, although if they happen to be good in a story that’s a bonus. I don’t read stories with OC’s because there’s a fair chance they are poorly written and I think some other readers are disinclined for the same reason. This is one of the reasons why I didn’t write OC’s in my fiction and partially why I’m struggling to write original characters now.

    1.3. Lack of practice in researching and world building.

The main genre I’m interested in is fantasy. Fantasy is hard when you’re trying to create your own universe. In fan fiction, the original writer has already stated the rules and regulations – you just have to follow the broad strokes. In original fiction you have to come up with the rules and stick to them.

Researching is easier with fan fiction. For fan fiction all you have to do is wiki it or obsessively watch/re-read the work you are writing fan fiction for. This is no chore but a labour of love for anyone obsessed enough with a series to write about it.

I’m currently trying to research the roots of magic to try and create my own universe, which is time-stakingly hard and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be done. I keep reading all these books and feeling I haven’t acquired enough knowledge yet, so I never get around to writing. Do you ever acquire enough knowledge? How long do other people spend researching before they write? I’ve been researching stuff since August last year. Or am I over-obsessively trying to plan it and I should start writing already?

    2.    You have to take the time to introduce characters and settings.

In fan fiction it would be pointless to re-introduce characters or the general universe they live in – people reading that fan fiction don’t need an introduction to them because all your readers already know who they are and repetition is pointless. However, in original fiction you need to introduce characters and settings to readers.

Anyway, these are my shortcomings and observations as a fan fiction author – they definitely don’t apply to all fan fiction writers and there are some wonderful fan fiction writers that come up with fantastic OCs, actually do research for their work and expand the established universe of canon wonderfully. Overall I do think my experience within the fan fiction community at Fanfiction.Net has been beneficial for reasons stated above. I will continue to read fan fiction because I still have the tendency to get obsessed with series and I still get a niggling where I want to write fan fiction but this year I’m hoping to actually write something original this year.