I remember that I once wanted to write a Half-Life story and a SystemShock2 story, but just never got round to it--my Unreal stories and AvP novel-sized stories are sitting half-done as I pursue commercial writing, ie. I got 2 novels I want to submit to publishers in the coming weeks.

I think that somewhere along the line I lost something--the joy of writing fanfics--I focused so much on writing original stuff that I abandoned the sheer pleasure of writing in an ALREADY-existing universe that sets some rough boundaries, yet simplifies IMMENSELY the creative process, allowing me to focus on heroes and action.

Yet, whenever I think about fanfics [and as grateful to them I am for sharpening my skills] I keep hearing a small voice: "what's the point?".

depends on the universe, if your do the lains/predator/etc, fox will come down on you.

But then agin, you have Star Wars were Goerge Lucas doesn't mind fan fiction (as he knows and understands it will further his vision).

Quote:

Yet, whenever I think about fanfics [and as grateful to them I am for sharpening my skills] I keep hearing a small voice: "what's the point?".

I think the steep decline in the number of new fanfics answers that question. I still do the odd shorty but they are getting few and far between now. My mind is on my music and not on my writing.

I think there's probably been a general decline in the the number of people reading the stories as well.

I pop in now and then to see what's happening but I'm getting quite removed from the AvP scene.

Anise.

re: AvP--I think it illustrates a trend: when a game/movie comes out the fans get their fill of information/experience for the OTHER medium, alowing fanfics to die off [for a while].
Once a game like AvP2+PH becomes older, fanfics will come back into force with such strict control of OTHER modes of expressing fandom.

So I expect 2-3 more months before people become bored with the current game and return to looking for cool stuff involving their favourite Universe[s].

Same with UT2003--now everybody is playing, but the tradition of map-related stories ain't dead. I KNOW that once Unreal 2 comns out it will stimulate a new batch of writers to join the fandom brigade. Same with Doom3.

So demi what your trying to say (if I'm not mistaken as usual) is that the games/movies create fans who after a while get bord of the game/movie and start reading the fanfics.
Well in that case it would appear the the game/movies are helping the fanfiction grow.

Fanfiction FILLS the void when a product grows stale and clients [fans] WAIT for the next best thing to arrive.

HL, UT, and similar had a massive modding community that quenched the thirst for NEW, yet "always familiar" things, but even there the fanfic community was active.

I'm still new to this writing thing - only been writing for a year, and so far I am simply riding it along - at the moment it's Aliens, but I've no idea where it will go from there - I've been a hardcore fan of Aliens for around 24 years or so, and so naturally this new interest went in that direction too. My Aliens interest has always been there, it hasn't faded in all that time, so I don't really know where my writing will go next. More Aliens, or what...? I dunno!

My interests have a habit of not really waning - I just add more to what's already in here *taps crested head*

Beginning of 2002 I did a First Person story [FPS ] in thriller-mode.
That's been abandoned after 4 chapters due to conceptual critique--ie, publishers said they don't wanna "do Yugoslavia" anymore.

I'm working on another FPS thriller--got some good material, am now polishing it before sending off the [traditional] 3 chapters+synopsis to some publishers. The chapter structure and content are unchanged for last 4 months, but I'm polishing the stuff like mad, adding words, choppping sentences, etc.
Depth is key.

The scifi [space opera-style] novel is being reworked after in-depth feedback from a few places--have to drop half of the material [either leave it for later in the book or forget it totally], but the bits I retain I KNOW are good--both in terms of the ideas and style of writing.
Some publishers really liked the overall idea and the in-depth aspects, so I'm hopefull.

LOL--the benefit of writing so much fanfics [well, not really MUCH, but...] is that my action scenes are GOOD.
Funnily--my mentality affects HOW I write [logical], and I have problems describing PEOPLE--I'm a loner and take a long time to feel good with strangers/associates.
Action?? no problem. [some of you saw the 7th chapter of my Unreal story--the fight between the hero and a Skaarj Warmaster--even I LIKE it, lol]
Setting?? OK.
Storyline?? Fine.
Characters?? hmmmmmmm........yes--three of them.

I have to fight hard [being an University kinda bloke] to NOT lecture my readers.

Good luck m8

Don't think my stuff is even close to publishable, I really only write for me.

And all of your fans here that read them too, slof

Slofy, I've read damn near every one of your stories, and after reading each one, I only have one thing to say "awsome". I'm still working on my own short story(I'm only on the 2nd chaptor).

no offense to all... but ive been reading, and im seeing things that, to me... are not what fanfics are about....... to me, a fanfic is well.... a letter (bare with me here.. this si the first time ive been real serious on this site!) you right a letter to say something, to express, or to just say thanks... when i look at my work, i think it could always be better, i think there's always something missing...

it makes for great writing, but all the want and yearning to write leaves me... but then i hear some music that inspires me, or read a forum (p.s remind me to thank u guys) and i burst out anew... and slof.. you say your new to writing... a year of writing one thing.. that is not new in my eyes.. that is experianced.. determined, and all teh traits of an awesoem writer, i however, have been working on the same thing for 4 years... and sadly, i dispise it! i deleted it, but yet the story is still there, more images come... better villians appear and cackle in my face... and so i begin again...

ladies and gentlemen, to write, is to taste life twice, because no matter how you write, you're always living something new.. something fresh, and this feeling has kept me going.............. dang i gotta put that in my writers log..........

ive also just figured something out, what slof said "i just write for me" that sparked something.. what am i writing for? not me.. i was writing for the thought of fans, the thought of being great.. but no... when true experiance comes.. you don't write for anything, anyone.. but yourself... for it is all about you... every character, every place in your creation is a part of you... so.. now that i'm through cleansing my doubts.. i come to see... that i'm probably looking like an over zealous fool now oh well.... i love to write.. what can i say?

When I first wrote Diary of a Xeno, I wrote it purely for myself, as I had at that time read nothing else like it. S'liithsss burst out while I was in the bath, and I just had to write it down. Because I'd done it just for me, I wrote in the style I like to read not knowing if that was good or bad, just what I liked. I had never intended it to be made public until a friend read it and said post it up on a site somewhere. That site was the then 'avp2.net' and I've not looked back since! Seems that the sort of thing I like to read is similar to many others!

All you guys who have read my stuff, commented and encouraged me, you all have my thanks - you've made my day so many times with things you've posted on here, and it's probably all that encouragement that has made me keep on going! I hope I can continue to produce stuff that you will enjoy. You can't put a price on things like that, it made me feel I had done something very right. After a whole year of writing and getting enthusiastic encouragement along the way, I felt this needed to be said to show how much I've appreciated it all.

Have a good New Year all, and look forward to part 3 of DoX2!

MERRY CHRISTMAS SLOF!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Merry Christmas, Renegade.

I write mostly for me. When I write, it's to preserve a good idea that I came up with. Sometimes, I write an idea down, and then I see it a month later in a folder on my hard drive. I'll open it, and it almost doesn't feel like I'm actually the one that came up with it.

I'm a hardcore fan of the Unreal universe. I pursue it to the exclusion of almost all other fictitious universes. I'm even very understanding of the workings of UnrealEd and UnrealScript. However, I have always considered myself too mentally aloof to be able to build a map or write code for a mod. On the other hand, writing fiction seemed to be easier for me, because I could see it evolve as I wrote it.

In addition to my story, The Golden Paradox (which I'm kind of ad-libbing now because I only have distant chapters planned already), I have full outlines for two or three other fan fiction projects that I thought up at some point. I even have a story that I've written nothing but the Epilogue for. I really wish I had the time and personal drive necessary to complete every project I've wanted to start. However, if I had actually created all those maps and mods I've seen in my mind's eye, I probably would never have gotten into fan fiction.

Hold in that christmas thought for another day guys I know your all excited and its as close to christmas as you can get at the moment but its not christmas yet... or has another day already gone by where you guys live?

remember--some cultures celebrate Christmas EVE as well [thats when the prezzies get handed out ].
I'm off to celebrate Xmas Eve with my Boss and his family right now.

Who else is doing something special for xmas eve?

My family isn't really into the whole xmas thing so I didn't do a thing.

Now that I think about it I don't really write for other people (mostly because they don't read my stories ) I only write because i want the story to get out of my head and onto my computer so that I can finally get a peacefull nights sleep with out thinking about the story the whole night long.