In case anyone isnât completely convinced: This is not how learning works, and definitely not how learning to write works holy shit.
There are a number of specific skills that fanfiction cannot teach you. Introducing and establishing character tends to be one of those; with fanfiction youâre typically working with already established characters with established characterization, whereas in original fiction you have to do the establishing yourself.
Thereâs also worldbuilding, and if you want to write fantasy, worldbuilding is important.
You do not become a worse writer by writing imperfect stories. Any variation on âwriting can make you a worse writerâ is, without exaggeration, the worst possible writing advice, because 90% of getting better at writing is literally the exact opposite, which is writing insane amounts of whatever shit you can scoop out of your brain until youâre getting carpal tunnel in your dreams.
Of course, this is not even getting into the things that fanfiction does a better job at teaching you than whatever is considered to be Real Writing:
Time management and deadlines. Most fanfic writers update their stories chapter-by-chapter in a serial manner, which means theyâre not only beholden to other people (which is itself something writers need to learn to adjust to), theyâre also learning to work more-or-less regularly.
Relationship dynamics. Fanfic is typically very centered on relationships and the development of those relationships between characters and their interactions. I mention this because so much original fiction (obviously not all! but too much) is so ABYSMALLY bad at showing that two characters like or care about each other.
On that note: TROPES. The fact that fanfic has popularized specific terminology for the tropes that occur within a story is fantastic, because the fact that fanfic writers can identify a âfound familyâ relationship dynamic means that those writers are aware of what theyâre trying to do, what is effective and appealing about it, and what elements go into it. This is, again, obviously not a broad universal statement, but many original fiction writers donât appear to purposefully use tropes or understand what theyâre trying to accomplish with them. Original fiction teaches you to fashion characters, worldbuilding, and events, and even though there are general rules to what produces a good story, theyâre just thatâŠgeneral rules. Most of the technical knowledge of fiction writing that is likeâŠtaught in creative writing classes does not classify by function.
what Iâm getting at is, thereâs knowing what an antihero is, and thereâs understanding what about an angsty self-destructive sadboy pushes all the right buttons in you, whether those are catharsis, trauma processing, the fantasy of being deemed deserving of love despite hating oneself and pushing others away, the projection of future healing and ability to change, or just âwhat if I made all the bad, self-destructive choices that Iâm glad I didnât make?â
still more of a continuation of the last point but fanfic is a LOT more in tune with how specific stories fulfill specific emotional needs in people, and this makes complete sense because fanfic more or less exists because the source material leaves those things unfulfilled. Sure, fanfiction is often more about scratching an emotional itch than developing a grand, complex story, but thatâs not a bad thing for developing storytelling skills. I think itâs great that writers are starting out with the understanding that resolving the main plot doesnât necessarily mean a full emotional resolution to the story, and that leaving the reader satisfied emotionally is important. Seriously. So many awful endings are awful specifically because they ignore or leave unresolved the changes characters would undergo, traumas they would carry, and healing they would have to do, ending their story without fully acknowledging how the story has changed the character. Not just like, in an obvious sense of Values and stuff, but in terms of what they need and want from life.
also, this reminded me of this xkcd:
âŠwhich in turn reminded me of James Joyceâs love letters (repressed memory), which itself became a reminder of something I think is a very good final point: There are outliers, but most fanfiction authors can write a far better sex scene than almost any old straight white guy writing Literary fiction. Literally just clearing the bar of having both characters appear to be actually enjoying it and calling a dick a dick instead of a âbulbous salutationâ is acceptable. I know the horribleness of fanfic sex scenes is renowned but. Yâall. Have you EVER read any âliteraryâ adult novel I swear to god I have read so many sex scenes that are just the WORST theyâre so uncomfortable
