Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The Popularity of Fan Fiction

If you look at any large and popular book or series of books, you can find fan fiction that has been written on it. Fan fiction is when an admirer of the original work uses the same characters, settings, and plots to expand on the original storyline and add new chronicles to the adventure. It is rarely published, but it has been in the past. There are many fan fiction networks on the internet where people can share their own writings, and critique those of other people. If you are interested in writing fan fiction, you should always follow certain guidelines when writing it and showing it to the public.

You should always be wary of copyright issues when you are writing fan fiction. When you use the exact same characters and plotlines as a published book, you could very well be opening yourself up for a lawsuit. So when you are writing the story, you should give all the proper references where needed. Make it clear the beginning and end of the story that it is written completely by a fan, and is not associated with the author. You may never profit from the sale of your fan fiction, since it is not entirely your invention. You can post it online for free reading, though.

Another thing you should pay attention to is the issue of plotlines. If you create a plot line that is directly involved with the one that already exists, you will be opening your story up to more problems with continuity and events that could happen in the future which are out of your reach of knowledge. If you are going to write fan fiction, it should be part of a completely separate saga than the fiction that already exists. You will create the story form the beginning to the end, and take every part into consideration. This will allow your fan fiction to be free standing, and avoid being tied in with the main one other than the characters and settings.

Once you are done with your fan fiction, you should post it around on the internet for as many people as possible to see. Your fellow fans of the previous work are sure to appreciate your efforts in creating more for their own enjoyment.

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