Ok, so I know some people worry that they're wasting their writing time and talents writing fanfiction, but honestly, it's as good a way to practice as any, and maybe better than some.
For one thing, there's tolerance for lengths that you would have a very hard time getting published, or even workshopped in an actual class. (E.g. literally anything in the 6,000-60,000 word range, but also 100 word drabbles and sprawling 300,000+ word epics that in original fiction would be very unlikely to be accepted as a first novel, and even if they were you'd probably get told to split it up and make it a trilogy.) Novellas do occur naturally in the wild, as does very short and very long fiction, and if you're writing for fun, to learn, or to receive feedback, fanfiction means not having to fit your work into lengths it doesn't want to be at. Obviously there is something to be said for writing to length, but there is also something to be said for giving yourself control over when and in what contexts to work on that.
For another thing, fanfiction allows you to work on one aspect of your craft at a time, or at least to not worry about aspects that are tripping you up. Want to work with setting? You might actually learn more doing an AU, taking existing characters and having them interact in and with a setting you created than you would working with characters who were also your own creation, since depending on your writing process, it can be hard to tell in original fiction what's coming from your character versus the place you put them. Want to just write the damn plot you have in your head, without worrying about making up a setting and characters? That's like, most fanfiction, and it's a great way to build skills with plot and structure and pacing without getting sidetracked by research and worldbuilding and all the other super-important-but-super-distracting stuff that can prevent original fiction from ever getting off the ground. It's also an excellent vaccine against "this will definitely have to be a series" syndrome, which is usually caused by either wanting to write speculative fiction without having to explain the world, which you can really only do from the second book onward in original fiction, or by feeling like the amount of work you did creating the damn setting kinda necessitates spending more than one book there. Want to work in characterization? Make an OC and bounce them off existing characters (as with AUs, it's easier to tell what's coming from where when you didn't create all of the elements in the equation), or focus closely on one or several existing characters and really delve into their depths. The limitations created by canon will make it so you can't just have things go a certain way because you've just decided that's how the character would act. Enjoy worldbuilding but get worn down by decision fatigue? (Hi.) Start with an existing world you know and love and expand an underexplored aspect of it, or do a crossover fic and work to integrate two existing worlds. (Putting characters from different stories into contact with each other is also another way to practice characterization).
Actually, just this aspect of it is making me want to design a writing class around fanfiction. If I ever get around to it, you might see a syllabus at some point.
Probably the most important reason though is that fanfiction is the absolute best way to build an audience for your writing without either engaging in a lot of smoke-and-mirrors social media stuff trying to get people interested in your work without seeing any of it or making work available for free that you could theoretically get money, or at least a publication credit for. One of our most popular stories in The Fantasist was written by someone with a substantial following as a fanfiction author. I'm pretty sure this is also part of why anyone bought 50 Shades of Grey. Even if you do also have a blog or other substantial social media presence as a writer, it gives people (including publishers) some reason to give a shit who you are before you've published any original fiction.
For one thing, there's tolerance for lengths that you would have a very hard time getting published, or even workshopped in an actual class. (E.g. literally anything in the 6,000-60,000 word range, but also 100 word drabbles and sprawling 300,000+ word epics that in original fiction would be very unlikely to be accepted as a first novel, and even if they were you'd probably get told to split it up and make it a trilogy.) Novellas do occur naturally in the wild, as does very short and very long fiction, and if you're writing for fun, to learn, or to receive feedback, fanfiction means not having to fit your work into lengths it doesn't want to be at. Obviously there is something to be said for writing to length, but there is also something to be said for giving yourself control over when and in what contexts to work on that.
For another thing, fanfiction allows you to work on one aspect of your craft at a time, or at least to not worry about aspects that are tripping you up. Want to work with setting? You might actually learn more doing an AU, taking existing characters and having them interact in and with a setting you created than you would working with characters who were also your own creation, since depending on your writing process, it can be hard to tell in original fiction what's coming from your character versus the place you put them. Want to just write the damn plot you have in your head, without worrying about making up a setting and characters? That's like, most fanfiction, and it's a great way to build skills with plot and structure and pacing without getting sidetracked by research and worldbuilding and all the other super-important-but-super-distracting stuff that can prevent original fiction from ever getting off the ground. It's also an excellent vaccine against "this will definitely have to be a series" syndrome, which is usually caused by either wanting to write speculative fiction without having to explain the world, which you can really only do from the second book onward in original fiction, or by feeling like the amount of work you did creating the damn setting kinda necessitates spending more than one book there. Want to work in characterization? Make an OC and bounce them off existing characters (as with AUs, it's easier to tell what's coming from where when you didn't create all of the elements in the equation), or focus closely on one or several existing characters and really delve into their depths. The limitations created by canon will make it so you can't just have things go a certain way because you've just decided that's how the character would act. Enjoy worldbuilding but get worn down by decision fatigue? (Hi.) Start with an existing world you know and love and expand an underexplored aspect of it, or do a crossover fic and work to integrate two existing worlds. (Putting characters from different stories into contact with each other is also another way to practice characterization).
Actually, just this aspect of it is making me want to design a writing class around fanfiction. If I ever get around to it, you might see a syllabus at some point.
Probably the most important reason though is that fanfiction is the absolute best way to build an audience for your writing without either engaging in a lot of smoke-and-mirrors social media stuff trying to get people interested in your work without seeing any of it or making work available for free that you could theoretically get money, or at least a publication credit for. One of our most popular stories in The Fantasist was written by someone with a substantial following as a fanfiction author. I'm pretty sure this is also part of why anyone bought 50 Shades of Grey. Even if you do also have a blog or other substantial social media presence as a writer, it gives people (including publishers) some reason to give a shit who you are before you've published any original fiction.
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