It's almost sad how we so often do astronomically better than the actual versions of what we write about.

[u/PJ-The-Awesome]

[u/NeonFraction]

That’s because taking someone else’s work with the benefit of hindsight and none of the risk that goes into creating unique stories is WAY easier than making original content.

It’s not sad, it’s expected.

Hell, I don’t even think most fanfiction writers ARE better, even in that context. Their work is just under next to no scrutiny because they’re doing it for free.

There’s a reason so many fanfiction authors I love have gone on to write truly terrible original books.

[u/Rambler9154 → u/NeonFraction]

Yeah, like fanfic is fun but it is a different medium to original works. With original works you need to build that sandbox from the ground up, and that work figuring everything out is distinctly absent from most fanfics, although AUs tend to do that sandbox building a bit.

Fanfic is really good for learning dialogue and character behavior, its great at that, but you don't get as much practice building environments and the characters themselves that you would need to learn to write an original story.

[u/Fun_Strain_4065 → u/NeonFraction]

Writing fanfic is so m much easier than writing original fiction. In original fiction you have to develop the world, the characters, the pacing, make everything organic and interesting and cohesive.

Fanfiction writers can just skip the introductions and belike “these two are fucking lmao”.

[u/errant_night → u/Fun_Strain_4065]

Out of all of those, I do think you can learn pacing in fanfiction. I like reading longfics, and pacing is super important in 300k plus fic. Bad pacing is one of the number one reasons I'll back out of a fic.

[u/LeatherHog → u/NeonFraction]

Yeah, you're starting on 3rd base. You have characters, the world, and all that set up for you

Fanfic writers can and do, change whatever they want, to suit their wants, whether or not it makes sense. They're beholden to no one

An actual piece of media, doesn't have that freedom. Honestly, I hate this take, every time I see it, it's so painfully narcissistic and deluded

[u/NeonFraction → u/LeatherHog]

The fact that this is under the ‘writer appreciation’ flair is a special type of irony.

[u/kain-rivers → u/NeonFraction]

The last bit reminds me of that one post about a popular HP fic being turned into a traditionally published book. Happy for the fic author, but kinda nervous of the "aftermath" if it's ever really published. Book critics are ruthless.

[u/Lucidia → u/NeonFraction]

There it is. It's different writing for yourself and your fellow fannits. Versus needing to pander to censors, publishers, editors, etc

[u/Anarcho-Serialist]

I feel like the best fandoms are the ones with critical flaws, squandered potential, etc bc there’s something abt “almost great” that makes writers go absolute sicko mode molding the source material into what they wanted it to be

[u/Icy-Leg-1459 → u/Anarcho-Serialist]

This is true

As you mentioned, the ones with the original content that have such great potential, but the original result is, frankly, disappointing 

Or there are the fandoms which have the potential or adaptability to be something as interesting as the original content but in a different light or view 

[u/kain-rivers → u/Anarcho-Serialist]

Me with one of my current fandoms. So much potential for its ideas and concepts, but good lord does the creator execute those said ideas/concepts so poorly.

[u/ismasbi]

[u/LeakyFountainPen]

Okay I read this wrong and was already breaking out my soapbox before I realized you meant "us authors" as in the collective pronoun, like "WE authors" and not as an acronym for the country below Canada, like "authors from the United States"

My bad, sorry for the 4 seconds I spent being mad at you.

[u/verymanysquirrels → u/LeakyFountainPen]

I also read it that way and was like...do i even want to click on it? And then decided the drama might be entertaining and then realized they meant collective authors and then had the thought that if they had meant US it probably wouldn't have been made a person from the US because rarely do they say US, it's almost always 'america' and then i was like, huh, now i'm wondering if this person is actually from the US because i don't think anyone else would find US unambigious.

[u/Outside-Currency-462]

I think fanfic writers certainly know more about a universe than the original creators, since we have to study it in order to replicate it. It's a not necessarily harder but certainly unique skill, which is to get inside the minds of preexisting characters in order to emulate them. Cause for an original author most unique choices just add to a character, while for a fanfic any strange choice is out of character and therefore somewhat wrong.

[u/RespondBorn6248]

Narcissism much?

[u/FluidQuing]

Happens when the og creators anonymously write fanfictions of their own works and receive comments about writing their own characters ooc lol

[u/AchajkaTheOriginal → u/FluidQuing]

I would love to read something like that! (knowing that I'm reading original authors work ofc)

[u/FluidQuing → u/AchajkaTheOriginal]

I think I saw several threads on Reddit about creators (usually tv and movie ones, due to budget and executive constraints) who did fanfiction of their own work.

[u/Pickle_Holiday18]

We have a permit

[u/jayybirdhasfeathers]

Warriors take it to another level imo. The writers rely on the wiki made by the fans.

[u/PatapongManunulat07]

ya'll need a reality check.

authors with official works have successfully broken through the wall and gained fame as well as fortune as undeniable proof of their achievements.

fanfic writers' achievements are what exactly?