SOMEBODEH COMMENT ON MA FANFICTION

No.

OANST hates fanfiction.

Only chaos can ensue if he posts here.
Also Nexy, that stupid rabbit party song is stuck in my head. Vengeance shall be mine!

I feel even less inclined to comment now...

A lot of us write for about two people's enjoyment. I do... Sometimes anyway...

Ench, if your fanfic is any sort of decent, they will comment.
Posting a blog about it just seems pathetic and desperate. It's like standing on a table during a book-signing with a megaphone shouting "Hey! HEY! OVER HERE! I made a story! Please read it! PRETTY PLEASE!"

I want you to succeed in your plight, but this is gunna turn people off of it. Watch yourself in the future

I'll do us all a favor, and not succumb to my base instincts. In the future, DO NOT INVITE MY OPINION OF YOUR FANFICS.

CUNTS ALL OF YOU

i'll read it in a moment.

OANST, what's your opinion of my fanfiction?

I don't read fanfictions. This is because I have no interest in the inane blitherings of people who don't have enough creativity to discover their own world, populate it with characters whom they have taken the time to flesh out with ambitions, dreams, and failures. Your fanfiction could be the finest written fanfiction ever made and it would still have less literary value than a caveman writing "Caca" on a cave wall in his own feces.

(sigh)

Yes, well. I did warn him.

Would you rather read some of my other writings? I haven't really written in a while, so it's a bit old and shabby, but at least I created the world. Two worlds, actually.

One's for comic fantasy, the other for ... well, I try and make it a little bit funny - sorta serious, but with funny bits.

I haven't written too much solid story of either, but I know the plot of the second and I've got a lot of characters, random scribblings and paragraphs from the first.

I think I'm probably going to decline on reading either.

When you finish a story that's yours, and you want people to read it, I'll read it. I won't give you any feedback, or advice, but I'll read it. You see, I'm not a literary critic or a college professor. I am neither qualified, nor inclined to tell you how to write better. Unless it's to tell you to not write fucking fanfiction because it is stupid, and a waste of all of our time.

To be clear, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, or insult you. I get that there are quite a few people here who like to write fanfics. I am however, quite serious in my portrayal of the subject. You won't learn anything of value from writing in someone else's world. You aren't doing yourselves any favors. In fact, it is detrimental to you if you wish to write real work in the future. Learning to write in someone else's style is a difficult thing to unlearn. You need to keep writing your shit stories, and eventually your own outlook, and style will emerge. And yes, your stories are shit. Everyone's stories are shit when they're 16. My stories were shit when I was 16. Just keep getting better.

Oanst, what about novels with largely derivative settings like Wicked? Or did you not care for that either, if you've read it?

I have read it. If done correctly, these type of novels can be quite clever. It has to be done with iconic work, though. Work that is so firmly planted in the minds of it's audience that the disparities are immediately clear, and able to challenge the reader's preconceptions about characters in a way that has social implications. If this is not accomplished, then it is merely fanfiction.

This is how I feel toward your fanfic.

I entirely disagree. Writing a story based on a computer game, there is no 'writing style' to copy. You're not basing your writing in someone else's style; you've developing your own style in a pre-created universe.
Even if you're write about copying the 'writing style' of a visual medium, if you write fanfics on a variety of sources, you're developing your skills from a variety of starting points and your own style will emerge.

For me, fanfiction was a doorway into creative writing; when I was ten years old I would never have had the attention span to create an entire universe to write about. But writing based on Oddworld let me develop skills in writing, in style and in character development that have led me to being able to now create an original universe. A lot of fanfics are pants, but that's because they are effectively practice for the real thing. As you say, anything you write aged 16 is gonna be rubbish. But, for example, it's the athletes who started messing about with a ball when they were 10 who do the best when they're 20. Fanfiction is just the messing about that is practice for the 'big time'. I don't believe it is derivative (unless you're the sort of fanfic writer who writes porn from the age of 11).

EDIT: Nevermind.

I, too, disagree with your position OANST (unfortunate since I really wanna be on your good side) for the same reasons Splat already mentioned. Fanfiction is just another way of honing your writing skills, it's not as if the authors write them with the intent of selling them to a publicist.

I also think that in a universe as vast and diverse as Oddworld, one can get away with writing their own lore in the same setting. There is so much in Oddworld we have not yet discovered, and I think it's pretty elitist to shun a story that may take place there simply because it hasn't come from an official source. This reminds me of a conversation we had a while back about how you wouldn't see an Oddworld film unless it was made by Lorne himself. That's pretty stupid, in my opinion. The degree of Lorne's involvement is irrelevant, he owns the rights to Oddworld and wouldn't just let any schmuck make a film about his baby without his blessing. In that way I feel the work is still his, even if he wasn't part of the creative process.

Look at the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Great film, and Hunter Thompson had little to no involvement. He came on set once in a while, but that's about it.
Am I comparing the fanfiction authors of OWF to geniuses like Terry Gilliam? Hell no. But my point is that if you have enough vision and creative energy, I see no problem in lending it to someone else's world.

Besides, as far as I was aware, Lorne actually encourages fanart and fanfics. Not all authors hate fanfic writers.

I'd feel pretty bad if some chap went around discouraging people from making fanart or writing stories about my universe... I do intend on making one anyway I have stuff planned for it and all that. Splat would know what I'm talking about.

But yea... I think Splat is a nice example of why fanfics are good. He's turned into a really good writer, and I'm sure he'll be able to make some nice creations in the future that doesn't have anything to do with Oddworld Fanfics are just fun things to do, and saying that people do it only because they don't have the creativity to do something themselves is like being in denial. Because writing a fanfic does not immediately make one unable to write something else, and it doesn't make their previous work 'disappear'. It's illogical and judgmental thinking IMO.

Well I have been writing since I was seven. My first story was pretty good:

"once upon a time in a forrest there lived a dragon"

I think that was it. My stories gradually got more and more - well, storylike.

You say all sixteen-year-old's stories are shit; not so. Christopher Paolini started writing Eragon at fifteen, and finished it at seventeen. Now, true, it technically is crap, but that doesn't stop it being extremely popular.

I don't think my stories are crap. Looking back on stories I wrote when I was ten, they're crap. Twelve, they're crap. Even when I was twelve I thought my 10-year-old stories were crap. When I was fourteen I thought my 12-year-old stories were crap. But now I'm 16, and I don't think my fourteen-year-old stories are crap: just not quite as good as my 16-year-old ones.

Anyway, I'ma keep going with this fanfiction, but I do appreciate your opinion. And once it's over (which may take a while) I'm going to stoppit and work on a novel I've been writing for five years (which has gradually changed from a book about monsters called War of the Races to some kind of soup with bits of fantasy, comedy, satire, crime and romance floating about in it.

I think a quick glance over fanfiction.net tells us that 99% of fanfiction is written by talentless turds. Splat's is good though.

Also, I think literary value shouldn't even enter in a discussion about fanfiction, it's just a little exercise in imagination and improving your writing skills. I despise writers who try to 'fix' things, and I have no time for shippers but I dare say that all of us wonder 'What happens next?/Before?' at the end of a story, what's the harm in putting down your thoughts on paper?

love that response.

i'm not saying anything. you know my stance on FanFics, and i do like them to be pretty decent otherwise i'm not gonna read them, as i wont feel inclined to. but i know i'm not going to shift OANST's view or rid the stereotype that all of them are pretty shitty, but personally, i think there are some fucking great ones. the best ones i've read though are by authors long gone, as in 2002 time.

I'm going to respond to Splat. Style does not mean 'writing style' only. When you write in a world that already exists, you are adopting their rules as your own. All stories have rules, as all worlds have rules. If you were to write a story where literally anything could happen, you would be a horrible writer. You have to know what can, or cannot be done within the context of the world you created.

Why do you think that the vast majority of the fantasy novels written in the past fifty years are so similar to Tolkien? It's because their author's became too enamored with the rules of his world, and couldn't break free from them.

There has never been a "great" author who began by writing fanfiction, and there never will be. Fanfic writers lack the creativity to make anything that is worth reading. Ever. All they do is pilfer, and steal, never offering up anything honest, relevant, or good.

Of course, you are going to disagree. You write fanfics. I hope you will stop, and become a real writer, but that is up to you.

Oh, and the "it's just practice" argument is bullshit, and you all know it. You take it seriously, and therein lies the problem.

Whether one writes fanfiction or not, it's impossible to be 100% original. One will always get inspiration from something they've experienced in their life.
That could be playing a fascinating game, a life changing experience or simply an imagination that exaggerates all these things.
I really don't think writing fanfic is the one dooming thing that will prevent someone from being a good writer. I think it's really impossible, because people constantly evolve. Writing fanfic doesn't put a sudden stop on one's learning ability and imagination. Some people only become good writers late in life, while others had talent from when they were young.
Maybe having fanfic on their record may seem like a stain, but it doesn't mean it's impossible for them to improve and cut their ties with that world.
Just like it isn't impossible for a criminal to cut their ties with crime. Ok maybe it's a bad example, but it's the closest metaphor I can come up with <.< ...

Besides, I think fanfiction as it is today is a rather new concept. It's so easy to make these days, and even easier to share with the Internet and all.
Of course like in all branches of art, for some fanfiction is a bad thing because they become stuck with that style. The same way that some artists only make Anime drawings and think they are super great artists because of that. Some stay like this forever, and others 'wake up' and improve. But being able to draw Anime isn't a bad thing either. It's a fun thing to do for them, but nothing serious will ever come out of Anime unless they actually want to work for an Anime company(but even then, they need extensive anatomy skills and knowledge amongst other things).

So I guess I can sort of see what you mean. But I still think your opinion is a bit exaggerated.

Writing fanfiction is not the cause of their being talentless. This is where you seem to be misunderstanding me. Writing fanfiction is merely a symptom of them being talentless.

You don't have cancer because you are dying. You are dying because you have cancer.

I'm whipping out the Ursula Le Guin quote again. Ursula Le Guin is one of the most well respected authors in the world, and is certainly one of the greatest living American authors. This is what she has to say on the subject:

"I am absolutely opposed to it & have never given anyone permission to do so. It is lovely to "share worlds" if your imagination works that way, but mine doesn't; to me, it's not sharing but an invasion, literally — strangers coming in and taking over the country I live in, my heartland."

Yes... But Lorne Lanning has in fact given permission to it. There have been plenty of MOM's who got there because of fanart. I'm not so sure about fanfiction, but if I remember correctly, there was a fanfiction section too.

As I said before, not all authors are opposed to fanfiction. Besides, Lorne Lanning isn't really an author. He's a game creator.

If someone tells me not to use their art and work for anything, then I wont of course, because I don't like invading. If it's encouraged though, then I don't see why people shouldn't do it.

To prove this to be true, you will have to talk and read all the works of every single person who has ever written fanfiction.
Why is it any different to gain inspiration from a source, than to write fanfiction? It's essentially the same, and basically everything has an inspiration source from something.

I mean honestly... Do you think Splat could never be a great writer? I think he has a great amount of potential.

The buck doesn't end with the author though, it starts with the reader.

EDIT: And lets try not to take individual examples of people here please? It distorts the argument.

So...who didn't make up their own stories within the universe of something they loved when they were younger?

Besides, Oddworld is a great place to do fanfiction because it's so large and mysterious. My own fanfic was set on a completely different continent because I didn't want to interfere with the quintology series. If they could do it with SW, why couldn't I? I liked the themes and style of Oddworld, so I took my own approach to it. And at that time, I was already making original universes of my own, though I'm sure they were all very derivative. As you said, anything written at 16 will be shit, and that's the time for it to be shit. Every writer, every artist, has their own thing to bring into the world and how they get to that point is their own choosing. And to discourage what works for some people to do that or simply what thy enjoy is pretty dickish IMO. I'm not saying I'm an artist, but every new style has been the result of a newer generation's interpetation of the old style. Do I think fanfiction could hold up as serious writing? No, but like everyone said, it has its benefits.