fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3342 ]

[ SECRET POST #3342 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3342 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 081 secrets from Secret Submission Post #478.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - random meme ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
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04. http://i.imgur.com/LYA9Vsv.png

This doesn't bother me in fic but it does in original media. Like I can't tell you how many times I thought a show had an interesting concept or potential that it never lived up to.

I know sometimes people recommend fic for my problem, but to me fic doesn't "fix" things because I'll still really only recognize the canon.

You can always hope for those properties to be remade or rebooted. Or something new with a similar premise to come out. That seems not uncommon in mainstream media.

idk, whenever a ship is big enough, I always find that there's at least one specific kind of fic that's a bit of a trend and nobody really knows who started it or why it's so popular with that particular ship. So I don't think writing fanfic inspired by other fic is bad. You could always mention that it was inspired by other fic. I can't imagine anyone objecting to it - but I guess the reaction could depend on the fandom. If it's a really mainstream fandom, unless the fic that inspired it is really popular, probably no one will notice.

yeah, this. whenever one fic gets popular its tropes and ideas got reused within the same shipping community, sometimes to the degree of headcanons.

I've seen people get accused of writing in that author's "universe" when using similar tropes to the popular type...

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-28 04:19 (UTC) - Expand

Yeah, the others can't use the idea thing bothers me too. You'd think people wouldn't care about others re-using a plot point or concept given that setting. history, and characters are already being borrowed, but people do.

It's especially annoying when the concept wasn't very original and is something that could easily occur to more than one person independently. And yet they get jumped on for "copying". It's a whole mess.

This is one of my fears, because I usually have a bunch of awesome ideas, but for the most part, only a handful gets written. And of the fics that get written, I worry the execution is shit.

But I'm all for anybody taking the same idea and writing a much better story. I wouldn't even look upon it as plagiarism, just as long as the intent is to make a better story and not just retell the original.

I sort of get this. It can be disappointing when an idea doesn't live up to its full potential, whether that be the source material or a fanfic.

On the one hand, I really do understand this and there have been a couple of fics that I would have loved to rewrite or see rewritten by someone else, especially ones that were awesome up to a point and then went off the rails. On the other hand, though, the few times I have seen it happen, mostly with multiple responses to things like kink meme prompts, I've always felt sort of bad for the author who did less well and then had to watch the other, better story get so much more response :(

Weird. In all of my fandoms people reuse the same plots all the time and no one ever gets accused of stealing ideas.

If you think you can do a better job, try to do a better job. Nobody's going to mind (I've certainly had *worse* authors write stories clearly inspired by mine, it would be cool to see a better author try some time)...although personally I would like some goddamn *credit* for the original idea. Tell people who came up with the idea and what intrigued you about it when you write your own version. That way, it feels polite and collaborative rather than an attempt to one up the original author.

Anyway, just call it a "remix" or something.

In a fandom that has a dirth of beta readers, I'd be pretty pissed off if someone asked me if they could rewrite one of my stories. I *want* to get better, and god knows I want to do my stories justice, but there's no way for me improve anymore. Self-betaing can only push you so far.

Goddamnit.

Ordinarily I wouldn't do this but the context about beta readers made it too hard to resist...

* dearth

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-27 23:25 (UTC) - Expand

There isn't enough THIS in the world for this.

I don't understand why it doesn't go both ways. A cool concept that is well-written spawns a host of imitators, but no one will touch a cool concept that is badly-written with a ten foot pole. Fear of offending the original author? Or is that concept simply tainted by how bad the original piece was?

I dunno, OP. If I felt like I could do a much better job with an idea, I'd just do it. I'd expand it and add my own details and make it my own. But then I think it's silly to act like ideas are sacred. ALL stories, original or fanfic are made up of ideas someone else has had before. No matter how awesome an idea a fic writer has, it's highly unlikely to be an original one.

I think it's the implication that your interpretation would automatically be better. Although there are a few authors in my fandom that I would love to see write a version of one of my stories, they are few and far between. Most of the authors in my fandom are as bad as or worse than me.

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(Anonymous) - 2016-02-28 04:21 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2016-02-28 07:33 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2016-02-28 08:02 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2016-02-28 14:51 (UTC) - Expand

I think you should try tackling one you like to see if you can write it better - but make sure it's different enough to not be basically a better-beta'd copy, and don't mention the other fic or link to it or anything. So many ideas get reused and copied and inspire other things that I don't think it's bad to say "hey, that's not a bad idea, I think I'll try writing a thing that goes like this..." just don't basically beta someone else's fic and publish it and I think you'll be fine.

I feel you on wanting to see cool concepts written better - same goes for original work too.

Honestly, this is why some stuff I'd love to write doesn't get written. I'm afraid that I wouldn't do the idea justice.

Good ideas are half the battle so in a few years after some practice they could make for an amazing writer.

And I think a lot of fanfic writers would love to see someone else's version of their idea. Some fandom's are brimming with a bunch of similar fics. But if it really bothers you maybe just ask permission. "Hey I love your idea and really wanted to try writing my own version, would you mind?"

Nah. Good ideas are 10% of the battle, and that's a generous estimate. Turning those good ideas into actual writing is way, way more than 50% of the effort you'll need to put into it.

I know the feeling, OP.

Honestly, there's one very popular writer in my fandom who is popular because she has great, creative ideas that have either not been, or rarely been, seen in a big, old fandom.

But her execution is pure trainwreck.

Many people like it that way, but admittedly I have fits and starts on my own versions. Will they ever see the light of day? Maybe. But I was just so disappointed reading the originals, I had to do something.

(My fandom also has that "this person did this idea, DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING REMOTELY LIKE IT OR YOU'RE COPYING, OMG!!1!!!!" Argh.)

Just do it. Just go and re-write what you want.

You could ask the author if it would be cool if you also wrote a story based on whatever idea. Except I know that if I asked and they said no, then I wouldn't do it but I'd be sort of pissed of at that writer. Because they were already borrowing someone else's idea and I very much doubt they asked for permission.

I think writing your own version and acknowledging where you got the idea is fine (this was inspired by such-and-such fic or this is based on an ide by such-and-such writer), but that's just me.

Re: Well.

(Anonymous) - 2016-02-28 04:23 (UTC) - Expand

I fucking hate when fic writers get all pretentious about an idea, particularly when it's a trope they're playing with and someone happens to write something with the same trope and it turns out similarly. I have seen SO MANY people get trashed for "stealing ideas" when it's really just playing with a trope.

Guess what!!! You didn't invent it!! And there's realistically only so many ways it can go!!

sorry, rant, I see it happen too much and it's so stupid. But yes, it is disappointing when an idea's execution doesn't hold up to the premise. It's okay to be disappointed!

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