fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2368 ]

[ SECRET POST #2368 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2368 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 020 secrets from Secret Submission Post #337.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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03. http://i.imgur.com/nFWk3uU.png

Because getting published is a pain in the ass and takes luck, connections, and/or immunity to rejection, that's why.

All of this. If you're in it more for the joy of sharing your story more than trying to pay the bills with writing, working towards pro-publishing might not be worth the hassle.

Also, some people just want to write fanfic, yo.

Correction: Getting published by other people takes that, especially the immunity to rejection. I'll fully cop that it's a pain in the ass, though, especially if you're writing novels. Even writing short fiction, I spend a good chunk of every week hunting markets. And boy do I have stories to tell about the industry.

But self-pubbing doesn't have near the stigma it used to. Five years ago, it was the Kiss of Death, and now most people are going "eh, why not?"

That being said, I wrote fanfic for years before breaking out of it and starting to write my own stories--and it was simply for lack of plots I couldn't slide fandom characters into. All I was getting was ideas for fanfic, not original fic. So it may just be a matter of that.

I still won't touch anything self-published with a ten-foot pole and I think a lot of people feel the same way.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2013-06-27 23:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2013-06-28 02:19 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2013-06-28 06:24 (UTC) - Expand

I don't think it's horrible of you to think they're good enough to be published authors.

...Maybe they flat out just don't want to.

But due to the phrasing of your secret, I figure you probably know people have a lot of reasons for not getting into publishing original work professionally. I don't think it's a bad thing that you think some people are good enough for that--you're basically saying 'I really like the things you write, and if I could I would pay you to read something original of yours.' Which is a huge compliment! As long as you don't phrase it like fanfic is 'kiddy stuff' or 'immature' or anything, it's fine.

They might be. Remember, a lot of authors now are getting started doing fanfic.

Those people who wrote an obscure little paperback or ebook and managed to get published might still be working on this stuff.

They might just not want to turn something fun into a job. Hobbies can be wonderful, but sometimes when you turn them into work, they stop being fun to do. I love to write. I've written a lot. I'm a good writer, but I have zero interest in being professionally published because then I'd have to deal with deadlines and editors who want me to take out a character or completely change a point of view or rewrite half a dozen scenes. I already have a very creative career that I adore. Writing is something I do to relax, not something that I want to turn into a chore, and there are plenty of very talented fanfic writers who feel the same way.

hear hear! This is/was my sentiment and yes, people have told me "why don't you write original."

However it is becoming a 'was' because I'm beginning to wonder if I can hold down a regular job with the migraines I endure (suffer, whathaveyou) with a boss who is not my father. *sighs* And yes, I did go to school to have a very creative career... where writing would have been wonderful to keep as a hobby.

This is how I feel about a lot of things.

Because you have an automatic audience. Original fic, not so much.

And you can get away with a lot more in fanfiction. You want to throw in a cracky subplot? Why not! Gay alien tentacle porn? Sure! You can write what you want to write instead of what you think a publisher will think will sell. Of course, you could do that with original fic too, but then we're back to the audience thing.

[Picture of the night sky.]

I know this is horrible of me, but whenever I read a really good space opera Alternate Universe fic I can't help thinking "WHY IS THIS PERSON WRITING FANFICTION WHEN THEY COULD BE A PROFESSIONAL SCIENCE FICTION AUTHOR?!"

That's not horrible, it's just unrealistic. Terrible writers get published and great writers don't. Sometimes the tables turn, but not often.

Please tell me where these amazing space opera AUs are. They are relevant to my interests.

the only thing I can think of is Force Over Distance (a Stargate Universe fic). it's probably not everyone's cuppa but it is very very grand and very scifi

I'll second that. Force Over Distance is awesome and deals with forced mental bonds and a character who is slowly losing his mind to a ship and another character who sort of hates him but still doesn't want that to happen. Along the way there are aliens and attacks and politics and the slow dissolution of reality from one character's POV, and a couple of old Stargate tropes thrown in for good measure (Time Loop), and it's all very awesome.

The author, CleanWhiteRoom, is on FF.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2905845/CleanWhiteRoom

It's not an AU, but takes place in space and has some fantastic worldbuilding (anarchist society! That kinda works!): Freeport by Maldoror (Gundam Wing, but I read it with no knowledge of the canon and I loved it)
http://maldoror-gw.livejournal.com/85849.html

I read an XM:FC one yesterday that was brilliant though more space fairytale than space opera. The payoff at the end, when you realise how all the mythology fits together, is amazing.
A Curious Carriage of Crystal and Cold (http://archiveofourown.org/works/294647/chapters/471394)

Well if it's any consolation, a lot of them are filing off the serial numbers now so

I think writing fanfiction is more fun than writing original fiction. I think having the ability to transform shared narratives is pretty remarkable. I like that you can create without boundaries or worrying about whether it's too weird or being afraid that it's imperfect or editing to make it more or less explicit or less gay or whiter. You don't have to worry about perfection, and any rejection you receive isn't a paycheck, it's just an encouragement to work harder. I like that it's collaborative- I can bounce my work off of however many people that I want, share excerpts pre-publishing, and write for myself and my friends, who push for perfection if I ask them to, but don't expect it.

You don't have to make a plot, you can just let characters that are already made sit and think about stuff because readers are interested in that, that's not what they're getting from the original source. You can write things that are weird and pretentious and obscure and the next day write vanilla porn for the LCD.

Idk fanfiction to me is just more fun to create than original fiction. More than anything, it's less lonely.

Maybe they are a professional writer and writing fanfic is something they do for funsies.

People write fanfic for a lot of reasons.

^This! I know a pro writer who also writes one of my favorite fics. They're not exclusive genres.

I write both. Mostly original lately. I once did a space opera story for a Big Bang for a fandom I used to be in, and I was all like, "Wait, shouldn't this be original? But it's too late, AUGH!" But in the end, I'm really happy it was as fanfic. It was one of my last hurrahs in that fandom, and I loved writing the characters in that universe (not sure how I could've changed them enough to make it original, even if the setting was), and I got to leave in all the stuff I liked that was a little extra mushy. :D I wondered if I'd made a mistake not to put all that time and energy and stuff into my original work, but in the end, I was happy with it, and I don't regret that, even if I do regret a lot in that fandom. <3

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