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dulcesiabits · 7 months

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hope i'm not over stepping my boundaries but i am curious. you said that there are some tactics you use in fanfics that cannot be used in "serious" writing. what are some of these things? or what do you think the differences between fanfic and "serious" writing is?

Hi!! This isn't overstepping at all! I'd be happy to elaborate on my thought process, but I do want to make several caveats!

I think "serious writing" wasn't a really good term for what I meant, so I regret that wording! A better term would be original writing instead. I do take every piece of writing I do seriously, even if it's considered "lowbrow," and I didn't want to imply that fanfiction was less serious or important to me. Every piece of writing deserves respect and love, because an act of creativity should be celebrated!

These are my personal thoughts, and mostly pertain to my own style of writing, so the advice I give here might not be applicable to everyone. The issue with creative writing is that there are no real rules as to what makes a piece good; it's all subjective. There might be some general guidelines for good writing, but every rule has exceptions, and can be broken if done right. This is partly why it's so hard to write, haha.

But let me answer your questions! Let me start off with your second question, just so it can set the groundwork for the first.

What do you think the differences between fanfic and "serious" writing is?

There are a lot of different categories for writing; an instruction manual is writing, just as much a piece of poetry or a short story can be. When I say "serious" writing, I meant my original writing, or my more "literary" works (said with quotations because even the very definition of literature can be debated endlessly; what gives a work merit? Sorry if I keep giving vague answers! These ideas can be approached from so many different angles that I want to give it justice and acknowledge the various complexities).

(Original writing might not be the best term, either, because non-fanfiction genres are so varied... YA, adult, literary, sci-fi, fantasy, etc... but I'm trying to keep this as general as possible).

In this case, I think that both fanfiction and original writing have their own merits; they're just different subcategories of writing, and it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both fruit, but the flavors, taste and growth process are different, even if they share similarities. So, they're both forms of creative writing, but the skillsets that they require are different.

There are some similarities, though; they both require knowledge of prose and how it functions, characterization, the use of literary devices (similes, metaphors, etc), an understanding of pacing and how plot moves, and so on.

However, one of the major differences isn't even the craft of writing itself: it's "public perception." Fanfiction is seen as lowbrow, or embarrassing, and "original writing," while it can also be mocked, is seen as a bit more "highbrow" (not a hard and fast rule, as I'm generalizing here). Because fanfiction draws on a source material, people assume it's not as creative, silly, or requires less effort, when fanfiction writers know that's not true.

Some of the major differences between these writings involve characterization and world-building. In original writing, you'd need to build these completely from scratch, but in fanfiction, these worlds and characters are already there. Instead of building a character from the ground up, you interpret and translate an existing character into your own work (I use the term interpret and translate because all fanfiction writers are analyzing and writing their own versions of an existing character, so no one interpretation is more correct than the other (unless you completely disregard the source material), because none of us are the original author. If we were, it wouldn't be fanfiction). At the same time, fanfiction authors might build off existing characters and world-building to formulate new understandings of both (ie expanding a character or world beyond what we seen of them in a story). Both forms of writing require the ability to analyze and understand characterization and world-building, but apply them differently (creation vs interpretation).

Additionally, there are certain conventions to original writing and fanfiction writing, respectively, and the troupes utilized in both are different because they're different forms of writing. In fanfiction, you're working with a world and characters that your audience already recognizes. They already have context for the world, which means you can focus on other aspects of the narrative. "5+1," drabbles, headcanons, "AUs": these are all structures of fanfiction writing that we're familiar with, that are made possible precisely because the material you're working with is fanfiction. You couldn't necessarily do the same thing in original writing, when the audience doesn't have an attachment to or understanding of these characters.

In original writing, however, your audience doesn't know who these characters are or what the world is. Since you're working to build that connection, you have to develop the narrative as a whole, instead of taking pieces of it. "Insta-love," "boy next door love interest and brooding dark haired love interest," "secret evil religious institution," "it was all a dream": these are also some troupes that take place in some forms of original writing, which happen because original writing follows different patterns from fanfiction writing, but nonetheless, still have their own patterns and structures (which vary from genre to genre).

I do want to recognize that there are still similar troupes in both original writing and fanfiction writing! Forced proximity, pining, etc... these are used in both forms of writing (though potentially applied differently), because sometimes original writing can be just as self-indulgent or wish-fulfilling as fanfiction writing, just like how fanfiction writing can be just as literary and thoughtful as original writing.

Another difference is that, structurally, fanfiction can be shorter than original writing. You can write drabbles, snippets, and even multi-chapter fics that take years to complete, if they finish at all (I'm guilty of not finishing my own multi-chapter fic). But in original writing, you have to build the narrative yourself. You decide the plot, the character arcs, the ending, and the whole course of the story and its characters. Especially if you want to get published, you can't drop a story halfway through like you can with fanfiction (though there's no shame of getting bored with a WIP and dropping it), and there's no fandom to build your world for you.

You said that there are some tactics you use in fanfics that cannot be used in "serious" writing. What are some of these things?

When I said this, I was venting a bit about the frustrations in my own writing! I found that in my original writing, my literary writing, I'd skipped over the foundations of world-building and characterizations. I'm the sort of person who writes from the top down: I tend to focus on themes and motifs first before I decide on characters and individual scenes, and plan the end goal before I plan the details. But when I do this, sometimes the details get lost and my piece loses strength because I focus more on making my characters symbols instead of people. Fanfiction ties into this because I'm used to not having to build context for my characters and world, and when I don't do this, it's disastrous for my original writing. In fanfiction, people already know who Lyney and the Fatui are without me explaining it, but in original writing, people have no clue who my OCs or world are! If I forget to establish fundamental details of my world (like rules on how magic works, explaining the roles of certain institutions etc), it messes up my overall execution. I focused too much on the forest instead of individual trees, so to speak.

I also have a habit of making clean little sections in my fanfiction; I might do several drabbles that, together, make up a whole story, and I can skip scenes I don't want to write. However, sometimes my original writing requires that I write an extended scene, including all the "boring" set ups and character-building moments. Instead of certain context being built in, I have to write the context myself, which means I can't just skip around from emotional bit to emotional bit; I have to do the proper build-up for it (ie like how in my ruggie fic, I don't have to elaborate on what happened with Leona, and I jump around from emotional point to emotional point. But in original writing, I'd need to build the context for their relationship, why it fell apart, what made both of them act like that, their respective pasts, what NRC is, how the magic system works, etc).

When I write reader-inserts, I can be vague with details on who the reader character is, to make sure anyone can self-insert into them. However, if I were to use second-person POV in original writing, I'd need to think about intent (why this POV and not other POVs? what's effective about it? what purpose do I use this for?), and ensure I make the reader-character their own distinct person; you're not always supposed to self-insert in the reader-character in original writing, because the reasons for using second person POV are different.

In fanfiction writing, I can "let loose" and not worry over motifs or themes or other literary devices. I can just write for fun, but with my original writing, I'm more conscious of those things. Each detail has a purpose (my purpose in fanfiction is usually self-indulgence, but my purpose in original writing might be, say, to do a piece on the nature of grief, and as such, I have to pay more attention to the structure of my writing the devices I use).

Additionally, when it comes to fanfiction writing, I can lean on troupes (if I write a royalty AU, for example, there's no need to establish too many rules for the world because it's more about the characters playing different roles than the world itself), but in original writing, troupes are used with more care and purpose. Leaning on troupes and refusing to develop them beyond troupes can, in my opinion, lead to flat and uninteresting writing (if they're royalty, why? What's the world like? The system? Is there opposition? How does the government work? What's the history of the world? How does being royalty affect their interactions? Why did I make them royalty?). I can't do "short-hands" (ie leaning on troupes) in original writing, not if I want to be successful.

Also, in fanfiction writing, I can get away without a proper resolution. I can write a series of events, and explore a character's motivations and backstory, and never make it an actual "plot." But in original writing, I need resolution and a plot. I can't write a series of events, where we jump here and then there because I want to; I need those events to link together (or not link together) with a purpose (resolution is used loosely. If it's an ambiguous ending, or one where nothing changes, why? What's the purpose of that? What am I trying to express through a lack of resolution?).

So, the skills I've picked up from fanfiction writing have helped me become a better writer, but some of those skills don't translate quite as well to original writing.

#liya answers #THIS WAS SO LONG OMG....#My apologies if you were expecting a different answer anon TT TT #It was just a really interesting question so i found myself wanting to do it justice and give you a thorough answer!!!!#i can say a lot more on the subject... but i wanted to keep it general + brief #bc if i went in further with the nuances i'd be dropping a whole 20 page paper on your lap LOL #anywayz i love talking about the craft of writing!! hmu #id love to run a writing workshop sometimes lol (maybe for fanfic?)

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