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I am constantly writing. I write in many different genres ranging from plays to screenplays to short stories to my first novel that I just began (I thought I had good enough ideas for novels in the past but they always turned out to be short stories). So yeah, I know a little bit about the work involved in writing. And I can and will tell you now that the measure of good work is not in how hard it was to write. What makes work good is three things: style, relevance, and honesty. A fanfic may have the first but it will be completely lacking in the following criteria. I'm sorry if my brutal honesty disturbs you but 99 percent of working authors agree with me. At least the ones that are good do. Fanfiction is a waste of yours and your readers time. It is an exercise in futility. Some of you may be shaking your heads and saying "but gee you prick, it's good practice". Wrong. Completely wrong. If all you are practicing is mediocrity and plagiarism then that's all you are ever going to write.
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Well just because someone continues someone else's story doesn't mean the story itself can't be a good addition to the original. I do however agree with you that you can't call yourself a 'professional' writer if all you write is fanfics because it does, in same areas, leave out the writers own creativity. Every single fanfic writer I know, however, always deeply respects the original story and always credits everyone involved in the original story, which for me is the difference between a tribute and plagiarism. I've had one person using certain settings from one of my stories and never even mentioning me, that kinda ticked me off at the time but not a whole lot (unless he was gonna make millions off of it, then I'd sue his ass
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Anyway, at least your saying your stuff from an experienced standpoint, which already is a lot better then mindless jabbering which I at first suspected you off, sorry for that. Still I disagree with the "Fanfiction is a waste of yours and your readers time." statement for the sole reason that you can't decide what one wants to do with his or her time. A lot of people like to write or read fanfics, dispite it's quality. It might be your opinion, but don't try to publish it as a fact.
Havoc