| WHAT'S FANFICTION? I'm sure everyone who ended up here is familiarized with the term. Most likely, you've even written your own fanfiction or at least, read a few. Just in case? Fanfiction are stories written by fans, for fans. I had fanfiction in my blood even before I knew it existed. I've always watched a show and thought to my self, 'Hey, wouldn't it be nice if X did that? Or if X and Y ended up together?' I've always been a fan of fiction, per se. I love those imaginary worlds people create and half the time, I live immersed in them. So, you can imagine my thrill when I found out that there were actually people who took the time to write all those things I'd imagined about my favourite characters and even some stuff I wouldn't have dreamt off. I became addicted almost immediately. But starting to write was a completely different story. I write fanfics because I simply *love* to write. Fanfiction is a very helpful practice. I was able to polish my grammar, my English, my approach to a plot. But above all, I learnt about characterizations. Believe it or not, it's a lot harder to keep someone else's characters 'IC' than it is your own. Think about it, you know your characters, you gave birth to them. You even know stuff about them that you'll never put on your story. That's not the case with characters from a show or a book. To be able to grasp that special something a character had and have other people see it as well, is quite an accomplishment. But as much as I love writing, I could *never* write fanfiction of a show I didn't simply *love*. It's quite basic, really. To write fanfics you *have* to be a fan. Maybe some people see it as a hobby for losers (not my words, I've heard people say that.) But while some girls buy tons of magazines to have information on actors they think they know because they saw them on their favourite show; while those same girls spent hours drooling over them and chatting with their friends about how hot they are; fanfiction writers actually take the time to know the *characters* and share their love for them in a much more productive way. And they're not making any money from it!!! Not that you can't buy magazines about Orlando Bloom if you're a fanfic writer...*-* Most fanfiction writers are women. I don't really know why, but I can guess. Sometimes it's just something written without much purpose; just to free the author from an idea that's been bugging them for a long time. Those little ideas can be really annoying if you don't write them. But sometimes they're works of art. The majority of fanfiction is written in English, but you'd be amazed to see just how many people are *not* native English speakers. Sometimes what it seems like poor grammar or lack of interest is nothing more than an inexperienced writer. I am still learning English to this day, even when my level is good enough to carry a conversation with a New Yorker and have him wondering from which part of the states I'm from (this actually happened to me *-*) Fanfiction *can* be a form of respectable writing. It takes as much work and effort as any other writing and some people actually have talent. The community of fanfiction writers is a beautiful one, though some fandoms are more creativity friendly than others. It is a bit frustrating to find a good fic sometimes. Especially in some fandoms in which the majority of people didn't share your view of a show. But it's not impossible. You have to fish around a little and read through tons of rubbish before you find that one little jewel, but when you do, it's priceless. The best part is when you find an entire fandom filled with people who think like you. Then you'll be able to enjoy most stories. (Yami No Matsuei 4EVER!!!) Get rid of all the misconceptions and clich�s about the genre and take the time to search for some fics on your favourite show. In the end you *will* find something that will be worth your time and will make you wanna e-mail the author to chit chat about her vision of the characters- even if you don't in the end. Here I leave you with some fic recommendations. |
| FiC RECOMENDATIONS This is divided in two sections: fics I'm currently reading- meaning, they aren't finished yet- but that are great so far, and fics I've read and liked enough to mention. If I come across an outstanding fic (from now on, I won't go back through all the fics I've read, sorry) I will comment on it particularly, giving a thorough recommendation. Unless I really feel the need, I won't recommend fics by friends of mine in this fashion. It would feel wrong and unfair to all my ficcer-friends; they all write beautifully and I couldn't choose between them. In other words, don't befriend me if you want me to rec your fic particularly.*-* Also, this is not an archive; I'm not stealing anyone's fic. So I probably will put fics in this list without telling the author. I'm just giving you my opinion, after all. (All of these stories can be found on Fanfiction.net. Otherwise I'll let you know where to read them, but I won't link to them.) Fandoms are abbreviated as such: (If they don't belong to any of the following categories, the name of the anime/show will be complete) YNM: Yami no Matsuei CCS: Card Captor Sakura Fk: Fake SS: Saint Seiya SD: Slam Dunk If it has this (!) next to it, it has elements not suitable for children, such as sex scenes or references to sex (this also includes violence, blood and gore). If there's two of those, it may be kinda graphic. I won't rec a PWP, they're not my cup of tea, but I don't shy from a story just because it has some 'nasty' elements. Though I don't believe a story about two people of the same sex are necessarily bad for minors, such stories will be mark with a (%). Prepare yourself to see a lot of those. I'M CURRENTLY READING "Generations of CardCaptor" by TamChornin "Lost Souls" by TamChornin (CCS-%) "Confessions of the master" by amalcolm1 (Sherlock Holmes-%) "The gift" by Fish1(YNM-%-!) "Take comfort" by butterflydreaming (CCS-%-!) "Promises to keep" by ChibiRisu-Chan (CCS-%) "A change of hearts" by Quela(CCS-%) "Risen" by DarkElf (X-men) OLD RECS "Exsultate, jubilate" by dodger-chan (YNM-%) "Summer's lease" by butterflydreaming (CCS) "Of dreams and reality" by LinaLau (YNM-%) "Be thy noble" by LYK (YNM-%) "Post traumatic kiss syndrome" by dodger-chan (YNM-%) "Illusions" by Askani Blue (CCS-%-!) "X's and O's" by TamChronin (CCS-%) "Spontaneous combustion" by Kyraille Fade (YNM-%) "Crash and burn" & "Crash and burn: so far away" by Swordy (Fk-%-!!) BACK "A highly unusual tale of Missy and the Fox" by Cymone (SD-%-!) |
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