A growing industry, fanfic has some very positive aspects to it. There are things you need to know about it...like "slash" means gay. I found that out the hard way lol. But for the most part, I find this a great place to practice your writing skills and meet people who enjoy the same movies or shows you do or did.
This started for me as a fun way to revisit favorites from the past. I enjoyed reading "extra" episodes or stories that took the characters past the end of the series. I learned to avoid slash fanfic and shall we say overly adult fanfic. I did discover that 99% percent of the writers of fanfic are up front about it being adult or slash which I found refreshing. I tried my hand at a few mainly because I wanted to see if I could do it. Fanfic is also critiqued by, well, fellow fans. So another source of both beta readers and editors.
The characters are already in place although fanfic readers will jump on you if you "assume" things like how the character looks or where they live or what relationships they have. It's an exciting challenge.
The rules for fanfic is you have to know what is canon. Basically it's what's scared to the show/movie. For example, it is canon that Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa are brother and sister. You cannot change that in fanfic. You can alter things a bit like having Luke and Leia meet when her adopted parents bring her to Tatooine for a conference and Luke's uncle helps to fix a problem with their ship. The biggest baddest argument you can start in a fanfic world is about what is regarded as canon lol. They will argue for weeks over it.
Fanfic can be immensely profitable as the expanded universe of Star Wars can attest. Fanfic can also spawn spin off characters. Sticking to Star Wars, there was a six-book set of stories about the Rogue Squadron pilots with Wedge Antilles, a very minor character in the famed original Star Wars.
Consider fanfic as a writing opportunity or a possible money making venture. Start by finding fanfic for your favorites. Just so you know I also follow and write fanfic for Here Come the Brides, and Starsky and Hutch. So go dive in!
" The biggest baddest argument you can start in a fanfic world is about what is regarded as canon lol. They will argue for weeks over it."
ReplyDeleteThat comment made me laugh so hard! Because I hear some of those arguments in my house. One daughter is a die hard fan of Gilmore Girls and another is a huge fan of Psych. This includes daily listening to podcasts by other fans, blog posts, facebook status', etc. I try to watch some of the shows just so I understand their inside jokes and the quotes. They can carry on entire conversations with quotes from their favorite episodes. LOL
I'm a huge fan of Psych myself.
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