Tag Archives: Fan fiction

NaNoWriMo: Inspiration Before Perspiration Part 4

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So, maybe you’re thinking “I’d really like to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but I don’t have a clue what to write.”

The solution is surprisingly simple. You don’t have to pull a story out of thin air. Consider these sources of endless inspiration: fairy tales, Shakespeare, pastiche and fan fiction.

Putting a modern twist on a classic fairy tale is a great way to use an existing plot and characters to tell a fresh story. The popularity of television’s “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm” attests to a wide audience eager for these stories.

The same is true for Shakespeare’s plays. For example, the movie, “10 Things I Hate About You” is a retelling of “The Taming of the Shrew.” The musical “West Side Story” replaces Verona with New York City and places Romeo and Juliet in rival gangs.

If fairy tales and the Bard don’t appeal to you, consider writing pastiche from public domain works. “Pride and Prejudice,” “Dracula” and Sherlock Holmes have been adapted countless times in a wide variety of genres and media. For that reason, you might want to find a less familiar, but equally powerful story to adapt. For example, the TV series “Revenge” is based on “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

Still not inspired? You may want to try your hand at fan fiction. This can be especially helpful for new writers. Working with familiar characters can help spread your wings and inspire you to create your own characters and situations. While you can’t legally publish this work or be paid for it, you can post it to fan fiction websites, where readers are eager for novel length works.

You can rewrite stories to fit almost any genre. “Something Rotten” by Alan M. Gratz turns “Hamlet” into a modern murder mystery set in the town of Denmark, Tennessee. “Cinder” by Marissa Meyer is a science fiction retelling of “Cinderella.”

Find a story or play that strongly appeals to you. This is key. You won’t sustain enough creative energy to write a novel if the original story doesn’t excite and engage you.

Check out these links for free resources on Shakespeare, fairy tales, public domain works and fan fiction.

Derivative Fiction and Media Tie-ins

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I wrote an earlier post about how fan fiction can’t get respect. However, this is only true of so-called amateur fiction written by unpublished writers. Once the work is professionally published, it gains instant respect. These works are considered either derivative fiction or media tie-ins.

For example, “The Green Blade” is a 15-chapter novel that resides in a fan fiction archive. “The House of Silk” is a novel published by Mulholland Books. Both are well-regarded stories about Sherlock Holmes, but only one is considered legitimate.

So, am I saying the only difference between fan fiction and derivative fiction is a publishing contract? Not exactly. Authors of derivative fiction and media tie-ins are usually skilled writers well enough established in their craft to be offered contracts by publishers. With the contract comes a professional editor to help polish their prose. Fan fiction writers may have a couple of beta readers, but those are usually fellow fans who aren’t real picky about incorrect comma usage.

You may wonder what the difference is between derivative fiction and media tie-ins, so let’s discuss that.

Derivative fiction is based on another piece of fiction. There’s a lot of it out there, some of it famous and critically acclaimed. Much of it comes from works that have passed into the public domain. For example, Jane Austen has become the darling of Chick Lit, as well as horror and mysteries. Novels based on her works include “Austenland,” “The Phantom of Pemberley,” and “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”

Dracula is another good example of a derivative fiction subgenre. Bram Stoker’s version of the Count, who was actually a prince, has inspired numerous spin-offs, including “Dracula, My Love,” “The Historian,” and “Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula.”

Other authors whose work has become the subject of derivative fiction include L. Frank Baum, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, J. M. Barrie, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.

Media tie-ins are novels and stories based on TV shows, movies and video games. This can be a novel based on a movie, as opposed to the other way around. Often, this is a shared world scenario, where authors spin-off from the original show. The original creators have tight control over this form of derived fiction and there is usually a bible and guidelines for a selected author to work from.

Media tie-ins have been created for “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” “Doctor Who,” “CSI,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “World of Warcraft,” and “Dungeons & Dragons.” It is a very successful and profitable genre, yet the authors don’t get a lot of respect, perhaps because they are writing what amounts to sanctioned fan fiction. For more information about the genre and the work it takes to write these novels, check out The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

In the end, the author of a serious literary novel based on “Hamlet” does not have the high ground over the author of a novel tied in to the TV series, “Supernatural.” Both are derivative and it’s possible the “Supernatural” novel is the better story. Neither should look down on fan fiction writers since they are often beginners learning their craft. We’ve all been there. Even if your first efforts weren’t fan fiction, chances are these were based on something you’d previously seen or read.

Interested in reading the original classics? Many are available in a variety of eBook formats for free on the Project Gutenberg website. Below, I have listed several Jane Austen spin-offs, free-for-now for the Kindle on Amazon.

  Charlotte ~ Pride and Prejudice Continues by Karen Aminadra
When Charlotte Lucas married Mr Collins, she did not love him but had at least secured her future. However, what price must she pay for that future? She once said she was not romantic, but how true is that now after almost one year of marriage? Mr Collins is submissive in the extreme to his patroness, and his constant simpering, fawning and deference to the overbearing and manipulative Lady Catherine de Bourgh is sure to try the patience of a saint, or at least of Charlotte.

  Georgiana Darcy’s Diary by Anna Elliott
Shy Georgiana Darcy has been content to remain unmarried, living with her brother and his new bride. But Elizabeth and Darcy’s fairy-tale love reminds Georgiana daily that she has found no true love of her own. And perhaps never will, for she is convinced the one man she secretly cares for will never love her in return. Georgiana’s domineering aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, has determined that Georgiana shall marry, and has a list of eligible bachelors in mind. But which of the suitors are sincere, and which are merely interested in Georgiana’s fortune? Georgiana must learn to trust her heart–and rely on her courage, for she also faces the return of the man who could ruin her reputation and spoil a happy ending, just when it finally lies within her grasp.

  So Into You (The Jane Austen Academy Series) by Cecilia Gray
Sweet and sensible Ellie hasn’t met a problem her mom’s yoga mantras can’t fix. But when Ellie’s parents threaten to pull her from the Academy just as her flirtation with the cutest boy in school heats up, will Ellie be able to keep her cool?

Descriptions provided by Amazon

Disclaimers and Disclosures

I found these books via Amazon’s Kindle eBooks store. Resources for free Kindle and other format eBooks are listed in my sidebar.

These freebies are limited time offers, so there is no guarantee any of these books will still be free when you click on the links. Grab them sooner rather than later.

Fan Fiction

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Fan fiction could be considered the redheaded stepchild of literature. The genre has often been sneered at, considered the work of amateur writers without the skill or imagination to create their own characters and worlds. Yet to sneer at these writers is to alienate the very people that creative professionals rely on: the fans.

People who write fan fiction are often a work’s most ardent supporters. They love the characters and world so much, they want to keep the story going, or change it in some way to suit their view of how it could have gone.

Fan fiction is also known as fanfics, FF and fics. It encompasses a wide variety of media, including novels, television shows, movies, musicals, comic books, anime and video games. It has an enormous following with many writers and many more readers. Fan fiction is usually written as short stories, but can be novel length or even a series of novels.

Modern fan fiction is believed to have begun in the 1960s with “Star Trek.” After the show’s demise, fans wanted to keep the series alive and did so with fanzines, newsletters written and distributed by fans, containing news about the show and the actors, as well as fiction. Fanzines for other TV shows soon sprouted up, many of which also contained fiction.

The advent of the Internet caused the boom in fan fiction, making it a worldwide phenomenon. It has developed a unique, extensive terminology used by its readers and writers. I’ve listed several of the most used terms below, using the “Big Bang Theory” as an example, and yes, there is BBT fan fiction.

Canon. True to the original work in terms of characters and world. Example: The BBT gang go to a Star Trek convention and wind up in a hotel room next to William Shatner.

Non-canon. Deviates from the canon. Example: Sheldon is actually William Shatner’s illegitimate son.

AU or Alternate Universe. Sets the characters in an alternate universe. Example: Penny, Bernadette and Amy are the highly intelligent main characters into gaming and comic books, and the men are their satellite boyfriends.

Mary Sue or Gary Stu. A writer inserts herself into the cast of characters in a very flattering light. Example: Penny’s prettier and more outgoing cousin, Lori, comes to visit. Leonard and the rest of the guys fall for her. A Mary Sue is placed in the story as an OC, an Original Character, but not all OCs are Mary Sues.

Crossover. Crossing one fandom with another. Example: Sheldon and Leonard go to London and find a dead body in their hotel room. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson get involved in solving the murder.

Ship or Shipping. Short for relationship. These can be canon relationships, such as between Leonard and Penny, and can also be non-canon, like creating a relationship between Amy and Raj.  You would then say that you ship Amy and Raj. Shipping is typically between heterosexual couples.

Slash. A romantic and/or sexual relationship between same sex characters. It’s called slash because of the slash between the names. Example: Sheldon/Leonard, Raj/Howard, Penny/Bernadette.

Fan fiction can be highly sexual and even pornographic, and has gained a reputation as being simply that. It’s important to note that a lot of fan fiction is general storytelling in an established world with beloved characters.

Now to the elephant in the room: should fan fiction be tolerated? Much of it can be considered copyright infringement. Does fan fiction harm the bottom line of authors and other creative professionals?

Some authors, such as Ann Rice and George R.R. Martin are known fan fiction opponents and will not tolerate stories based on their characters and worlds. Other authors take a more relaxed approach. Basically, you can play in my sandbox with my toys, just don’t tell me about it; I won’t read your stories because I don’t want to be accused of using your ideas.

Confession time. I have written fan fiction. In particular, in high school I wrote a “Star Trek” story for a creative writing class. I got an ‘A.’ (fist pump) I don’t think I hurt anyone’s bottom line since only my teacher and a few friends read the story. Fan fiction can be a great story form for new writers learning their craft. Writers can stretch their imaginations in a known world, and learn about character and story arcs.

Much of fan fiction is online and readily available to millions of readers. As such, it is a double-edged sword for the original work. Fan fiction can build and maintain a fan base with what amounts to free publicity. Badly written fan fiction can turn away potential fans if this is the first they’ve seen of that work. There is also the issue of creative control. Authors may object when discovering their characters have been placed in relationships or situations outside the original story’s boundaries. Then again, it can be flattering to know that your story and characters have gained enough popularity to illicit a creative fan base.

There’s no easy answer here and it’s up to the creative person to decide how they want to feel about and deal with fan fiction.

Fan fiction is by and for fans and should never be published for monetary gain. Except for the fact that there’s plenty of sanctioned, professionally published fan fiction out there. I’ll go into that in later posts.

For further reading about fan fiction, check out the links below.