what, in your opinion, separates "fic" from "stories"?
lets set aside the obvious square::rectangle analogy and get to the real question you're asking, which is 'what is your problem with fic'.
which is technically not even the right question, because i don't have a problem with fanfiction as an activity. my only problem with it is as an end.
fanfiction is not serious writing. you can take it seriously, it can be tonally serious, but at the end of the day, by virtue of it standing on another person's shoulders, it is not serious writing. there is still that little bit of development you're opting not to do, there is still that little shortcut you're taking. there is an expectation of your audience that they will engage with it because they liked the thing you're riffing on, and not because they like you. they might engage with it because they like your ideas, or have read your other work, or your prose is legitimately good, but these are happy accidents. your work, no matter how good it is, is not standing on its own. and that's why it's not serious, the way playing covers on guitar for your friends is not serious. it's not a bad or lesser thing to do. but you're only going to get so far with it.
now, are there exceptions? of course. wicked (the maguire novel) was arguably a fanfiction. is all writing that isn't fanfic therefore inherently serious? of course not. i've read some garbage not worth the paper it was printed on. i don't want to be misconstrued as saying i think coolsville sucks, that fanfic is a waste of time. fanfic is perfectly good as a hobby, as a way to connect with others, to engage with or critique existing ideas. it just can't be where you stop if your desire is to grow.
so when i say fanfic is not serious writing, and when i say i have a problem with fanfic as an end, and when i say my writing advice is not directed at fanfic, what i am specifically saying is i want you 🫵 to want more for yourself. if you're passionate about improving your writing, if you're going to work hard, it should be for yourself. your ideas. your own work. your own message you want to convey. your own characters you care about. your own perspective. you can only get so far when you squeeze all of those things through somebody else's lens, and i want you to go as far as you can!
but again. i'm putting my hands on your shoulder. again. i am not saying fanfic is a waste of time or an embarrassing pursuit or whatever slight you want to take my opinion as. there is inherent value in every creative pursuit, and if you only want to write fanfic and nothing else, i am powerless to stop you. but my advice is not for fanfic. my advice is for you.
I -- what? Fuck that noise. I'm sorry but this comes across as the absolutely most condescendingly shitty piece of advice I have EVER read. How dare you give someone the impression (and let's be clear -- you are doing that, even as you're saying 'I would never!') that writing fanfic is 'less' than writing 'for real'. Point to me your written works, friendo, so I can make sure to tell everyone I know that I met The One True Author on Tumblr. LOL. Seriously -- you're just being rude AF.
NONNY! Write. Write fic. Write porn. Write plays. Write lyrics. Write with your piss in the snow. Write write write write write. And if it's made of "someone else's characters"? You're still the one writing. We make things made of things other people made alllllll the time. Because we thought those materials were beautiful/amazing/resonant/whatever, and they inspired US to make something new with them. You are NOT and could never be doing 'less' for yourself because you're not 'making your own'. You DID make your own. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a pretentious, gatekeeping fuckbarn.
actually i do think coolsville sucks if this is the behavior it produces
@catastrophe-jones shut the fuck up dumbass
Sure, sure, I am the dumbass from coolsville, which sucks, because it produces the behavior of... [checks notes] telling someone it's gatekeepy and rude to tell someone else that what they create isn't 'good enough' under the guise of 'wanting them to do better/more for themselves'. Did I really misunderstand? Or is it just that people don't like to be told the shit they say can be hurtful? By all means, I'm absolutely capable of saying "Aw, shit, I fucked that up and put my foot in my mouth." But what I hear you saying is "Fanfic is cool and all, I guess, but you 'should' write stuff that isn't fanfic, because [insert some kind of comparison where fanfic equates with 'lesser']. If you want to write that and only that, well, I can't stop you, but 'you should want more for yourself'. I'm telling you this because I do not know you but I genuinely care about you as a writer, and you can tell I am Serious and Correct because I am putting my fictional hands on your fictional shoulders." Is this a case of me thinking you told someone they piss on the poor? Because out one side of your mouth you're saying 'I promise this isn't a slight' but the other side of your mouth you're saying some mean and ugly shit out loud: Fanfiction isn't serious. You should want more for yourself. You can't learn how to really write if you only write fanfiction. Babies -- there aren't 'original' ideas at this point. EVERY single thing you consume goes in the blender and comes back out, directly or otherwise.
There are college classes in the Ivy Leagues on how we tell and retell and retell the same stories over and over and over and overrrrrrrrrrrr again. There are reboots. There are spinoffs. There are books that become movies that become musicals.
Why'd you tell Nonny that the question they asked you (which was very clear) wasn't their 'real' question? Why did you direct it away from your definition of the difference between 'fic' and 'stories' and into an unasked-for editorial about which one is 'better' (while also saying of course you aren't saying which one is ''better")?
Why's Maguire's fanfic 'serious' but other people's can't be?
What makes you the arbiter of the exceptions?
What did I misunderstand? I like words. A lot. I talk before I think, sure. But I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm trying to keep someone from reading what you're saying and closing their word doc. To keep someone from reading what you said and never completing an AO3 account. To stop you from stopping someone before they start, because they think they'll never REALLY get anywhere, because some Author said it isn't 'serious'. Because it looks like (based on the comments section and your fans telling me to shut the fuck up, lol) maybe you THINK you said "Write fanfic and also try other stuff because it could also be super fucking cool and you'd learn new stuff." but what you SAID was "You can write fanfic if you want (I mean I guess I can't stop you!) but nobody but your loser friends or rando strangers are ever gonna really read it or like it, and they only read it or like it because someone else ACTUALLY made it -- you're just pretending."
holy shit
