The Best and Worst of Fan Fic!

[Pansity]

Since others are plugging, I will plug away too!

I haven't written much DS fanfiction. I wrote a little diddy called Murder in Collinsport that upon re-reading it really not too bad, but given the time that has passed (like 3 or 4 years) since I wrote that and now, (I've become much better, at least I like to believe that) it really lets me know how far I've come. So if you do read that, please please please please ignore the plot jumps, the passages that have run-ons and the various other mistakes that occur here.

I remember reading your story and thought it was quite good for a beginner. But if you are now seeing things you are uncomfortable with, please remember that on the net your story is NOT set in stone.  You can pull up the file of your story, edit the things you don't like and repost it.

In the days before the internet <I know, when dinosaurs roamed the earth> the only outlets for fanfiction were called fanzines (you may have seen them mentioned here and there on the boards).  They are anthologies of fanfiction, alternately known as amateur press.  You submit as you would for a professional publication  and the works are edited to make them the best they can be in plot style, grammar etc. before anyone else sees them.  Why do I mention this?  Because since you posted so long ago, you have grown and matured as a writer, and now see things that got by you before.  So, do what a fanzine editor would do.  Take your manuscript and rework it to what you know it can be, and republish it.  That way, you won't feel the need to apologize when you give people the URL of your stories.

[Heather]

Heather, have you ever read Tales of Hoffman?  It's a novel-like collection of short stories taking one from Julia's childhood to post DS where she's married to Barnabas and fawning over their college age son Ben.  Good reading! 

Yup...
I have purchased a number of fanzinzines in the past, both B&J centerd as well as ones focusing on the OTHER other characters featured on DS...I adore and treasure them all.

I suppose I was introduced to the world of fanfic on the net via the JuliaHoffman site (which I luv), But I have also found a wealth of top-notch VERY well written, well researched fanfiction written by some VERY talented individuals, comprised of a group of professional well rounded guys and gals on the aforementioned JuliaList.

[bluedog]

I've throughly enjoyed the fanfic posted on the various boards & websites.  And I think I've ordered everything Kathy Resh has.   I've tried my hand at a few and because of my fledging attempts at DS fanfic, I've joined a local chapter of RWA so I hope my writing improves.  It is a great stress reducer & I often find myself at work dreaming up new scenarios for our beloved DS characters.
Lynn

[Brandon Collins]

Thanks for the advice, Pansity.

I've often thought of editing my story, but it's rather long (to me at least) and the problem is finding the time to do editing. Maybe when summer comes it'll be a project I can take on, but unfortunately now, it's rather low on my list of things to do. And while editing it would give me something to resend out to most of the Yahoo Groups it's posted on, and even change it on FanFiction.net, I can't log in to my DS website from eons ago to change it. Oh well. I suppose 100 places to 1 is better than nothing. 

[MagnusTrask]

Petofi through the 20th century too... and there are all the alternate events that happened in the years leading up to the now altered 1971, where ECS is alive but obviously knows Barnabas, Julia, and Eliot.

[Pansity]

Thanks for the advice, Pansity.

You're Welcome, Brandon.  Even if you don't have the time to change that story, you have the lessons you learned about what you  see wrong with it.  Since there's no real critiquing of fanfiction on the fanfic oriented groups, thats the only way authors are learning to improve their work that I can see.

I find that really sad; the fanfiction groups I am used to exchange notes on writing resources and function as writer's workshops so that everyone can learn how to make their work better. (And there's NO AUTHOR, whether professionally published or an author of fanfiction, who can't benefit and learn from a thoughtful critique of their work. This applies even to self critiques, though it's very hard to be objective about one's own work.)

[Pansity]

Petofi through the 20th century too... and there are all the alternate events that happened in the years leading up to the now altered 1971, where ECS is alive but obviously knows Barnabas, Julia, and Eliot.

Oh, Petofi alone is a wonderful font of story ideas.  I've only seen a few petofi stories, and, alas I am on my laptop and don;t have access to my bookmarks.  But there is an author who has posted (reprints from old WODS) some wonderful stories that have face offs between Petofi and Stokes.  I would guess that everyone here knows about fanfiction.net; this author's handle there is wilusa.

So many characters that we didn't find out about, and who would seem to have interesting backstories:  Gerard, Samantha and Quentin, Kitty Hampshire, Beth, Flora Collins -- the list just goes on and on.

[MagnusTrask]

Would writers/readers be willing to follow Quentin or Petofi out in the world somewhere, instead of just at Collinwood?

I'd love to do Petofi stories, but I don't know the historical detail etc. necessary to throw into his conversation.

How about PT Gerard, whom I keep forgetting exists, until he pops up briefly...?

[Brandon Collins]

I'm right there with you, Pansity! I think it would be good for writers to exchange critiques on each other's work. There's a group on AOL which is a writers group that does just this, not with FanFiction but with actual manuscripts that people want to have published. Alas, I've not been able to participate here lately, but hopefully once I go on break from school I'll be able to once again.

And in response to what Magnus said:

I think that there is a great fanbase out there for stories with Quentin (or anyone, really) in the world outside of Collinwood. A number of years ago I read a couple of stories that were all connected-- Like one story and then sequels-- by someone, whose name I can't for the life of me remember.

But, what I do remember about them is that they were VERY entertaining. I think I've read them on FanFiction.net as well as on some Yahoo Groups. I don't remember much about them except that they delt with Quentin being in Egypt and some sort of story there. Does anyone know the stories I'm talking about? I never finished reading the entire series, but I'd like to return to it when I get them time, because they were expertly written.

[BuzzH]

So many characters that we didn't find out about, and who would seem to have interesting backstories:  Gerard, Samantha and Quentin, Kitty Hampshire, Beth, Flora Collins -- the list just goes on and on.

And if one was interested in Bramwell and Catherine and their backstory and life AFTER the show ended, there's my book!  

[Heather]

  Since there's no real critiquing of fanfiction on the fanfic oriented groups, thats the only way authors are learning to improve their work that I can see.
I find that really sad; the fanfiction groups I am used to exchange notes on writing resources and function as writer's workshops so that everyone can learn how to make their work better. (And there's NO AUTHOR, whether professionally published or an author of fanfiction, who can't benefit and learn from a thoughtful critique of their work. This applies even to self critiques, though it's very hard to be objective about one's own work.)

I know what you mean that certain boards accept any and all fanfiction, and many of it is either knocked down or praised whatever quality it is, but I don't agree that there is no real critiquing out there. It does exist on a few rare groups. Maybe I just lucked out, but I have found a group where people, fellow writers, ARE willing to take the time to critique and beta read each other's work before it's posted to a board...I know my writing (which is far from perfect - as i joke with friends, I am an artist, not a writer) has definitely improved because of my association with DS writing groups. The pointers and lessons I have learned from tough critiques have even helped with my college writing classes as well...

[Jackie]

I think that there is a great fanbase out there for stories with Quentin (or anyone, really) in the world outside of Collinwood. A number of years ago I read a couple of stories that were all connected-- Like one story and then sequels-- by someone, whose name I can't for the life of me remember.

But, what I do remember about them is that they were VERY entertaining. I think I've read them on FanFiction.net as well as on some Yahoo Groups. I don't remember much about them except that they delt with Quentin being in Egypt and some sort of story there. Does anyone know the stories I'm talking about? I never finished reading the entire series, but I'd like to return to it when I get them time, because they were expertly written.

That sounds like Scarlett's stories,  http://www.portraits-of-collinwood.net/fanfiction.html  "Whispers in the Wind" and "Moonstruck".
 

[Pansity]

I know what you mean that certain boards accept any and all fanfiction, and many of it is either knocked down or praised whatever quality it is, but I don't agree that there is no real critiquing out there. It does exist on a few rare groups. Maybe I just lucked out, but I have found a group where people, fellow writers, ARE willing to take the time to critique and beta read each other's work before it's posted to a board...I know my writing (which is far from perfect - as i joke with friends, I am an artist, not a writer) has definitely improved because of my association with DS writing groups. The pointers and lessons I have learned from tough critiques have even helped with my college writing classes as well...

Sorry for the delay in responding to you on this, but work has been eating my life the last few weeks.

In any case, thanks for reminding me of the exception to the rule. If the group you mention is the one I think it is,  you must mean the julia b & j group.  Thing is, I don't think of that group even in the same light as the other groups in that venue.  I'm very glad you found such a group, for all the reasons you yourself point out.  Given the sea change that's happened with the rise of net fiction and the decline in fanzines, where authors learnt  by being EDITED -- not just proofread -- its really the only way left for writers interested in turning out an interesting, readable product to learn how to make their work better.

I only wish that there were more groups like that one, catering to authors writing for characters other than Barnabas and Julia.  But, as has been mentioned,  most of the self-styled "fanfiction groups"  allow anything to be posted, no matter how incoherent plots, characterizations, etc. are.  And don't even get me started on the blatant historical or medical inaccuracies that are so basic that a five second google search could have eliminated them.

[loril54]

I think the best Fan Fic out there is one's that sticks to the plot of the story and the sense on where the Charactors were going. I am a fan of the Julia list. It has some of the best writters. One the only bad fan fiction is where it is not true to the Charactors or it is never completed. You don't know what happens. Not in the same way as a 40's of 50's Movie.

[MagnusTrask]

There's something to be said for including everybody.   Sometimes, that's a nice friendly aspect of fandom... everyone can participate, no matter what her/his level of talent is.    There should also be places, though, that hold you up to some kind of standard, so that you can learn and improve.   Actually, I've never before heard of any fan fiction venue, site, zine, whatever, that is concerned with that.

It seems a lot to ask of a fan website, considering that those posting can't move on from there, and make money and careers out of their material, and the editors don't get those rewards either.   I'm glad some are willing to do it.    If people learn, they can start writing non-fandom stories too, of course.