"The Next Generation," and why you can't afford to miss this awesome contest! (or its huge prize pool!) · 9:13am Feb 12th, 2018
So, you may have seen this contest that GaPJaxie announced today. We've been planning the details for a few weeks now, and we're excited to finally see it go live. Quick details for the impatient:
- The prompt is "The Next Generation"
- $350 prize pool
- Stories must be between 3,000 and 12,000 words
- You have until March 13 to enter on the Writeoff Website
oh, and
ORIGINAL FICTION ONLY!
That's right! This is an original fiction contest. It's your chance to prove your mettle with a story that's not just about ponies, or any other fandom for that matter! A chance to write something that stands on its own!
That's pretty scary. Like, real scary. Trust me, I know.
Original fiction is much harder to write than fanfiction. With fanfiction, after all, we get free, already made characters, settings, plotlines, worlds, mythologies, whatever you want. It's already there! You barely have to develop anything yourself, just rearrange the pieces into something aesthetically pleasing. I love fanfiction, but even I have to admit that writing it is like riding a bike with training wheels. It's just easier.
Original fiction is tough. It'll make you reassess your skills as a writer. You'll wonder why your original character seems flat and lifeless when your Rarity or Twilight Sparkle is so on-point. You'll wish the fantasy world you are creating could be half as detailed as the MLP universe. You'll wonder why you bother writing at all.
But then, at some point, it starts to click. You get enough of the little details in place. You find the voice you've been looking for. And suddenly the flat, lifeless and dull characters start to seem like real people. And that's a magical moment, because at that point you realize you're a real author, too.
Or, that's how it was for me, at least. Your results may vary.
But that $350 prize pool is there for your taking, if you're interested.
Certain lines here disappoint me of you, a fellow writer here on FIMFiction.net. Mainly, how pony fic authors get thrown under the bus with that statement up there and called "not real authors" by implication.
Personally, I would expect a professional author to understand that writing fanfiction is just as challenging and difficult, as well as worthy, as writing original fiction. The challenges are just of a different nature.
Original fiction is not better than fanfiction.
Sorry to step on your tail there, fellow pony author, but reading such a condescending statement by one of the most prestigious and talented pony authors we have here, on a site that published a good number of ponyfics that are on par or even better than what you find on bestseller lists and mainstream literature, is exorbitant enough that it requires a clear response.
4795078
I'm pretty sure that's not what he's saying. Original fiction is a greater, scarier challenge because you must create your own "canon", which forces you to be that much more creative. And every challenge you face in fan or original fiction advances you as an author.
Failing that, you could say that a "real" author is a pro who makes their living entirely from their writing, which I suspect no one here is doing with fan fiction.
4795102
You kind of just said the same there.
4795170
Sure, in a way. Point being that expanding my skills helps me feel more like a real writer, like I'm making progress.
What is a "real writer"? You pretty much decide that for yourself. My take is that CiG is simply showing you his enthusiasm for writing, and it's not something you benefit from by taking it personally, negatively.
Sorry, I really should not be speaking for him, but that's how I feel...
While I won't dispute that fan fiction is any less worthy than original fiction, I have to disagree on the challenging and difficult factors. Original fiction is far more difficult and challenging to write, at least for me. I suppose the opposite could be true for some authors, but I don't see how.
4795283
For me, when I tried writing fimfiction many moons ago, I found it a lot harder. Using a universe like, say, MLP, means you have established characters. You have to follow certain traits and ticks and make all actions and dialogue fit to their character. It's easier to break believability with pre-established characters, or in a pre-established universe (which can be cheated on with the alt-universe tag, I suppose).
But, original gives a blank slate. You don't have to follow those pesky rules and guidelines of an already existing universe. Creating characters gives you free reign over their development and actions. It's just, well, easier. In my view. Of course, it really depends on what each writer is actually talented at. I failed massively at staying in character for certain characters when I tried writing fimfics all those years ago (I published none of them, thanks to my commitment [laziness] issues). Of course, I had other issues too with fanfiction as well. But...
Eitherway, I haven't written in a while. Maybe I should dust off the knowledge I gained in my many creative writing courses and breakout one of my short stories I did that never saw the light if day. Wouldn't hurt to try. And I do have this insatiable craving for chocolate right now... Though, I probably should focus on learning a new language, gonna be moving across the planet sometime this year. Decisions, decisions.
4795283 Because professional writers have no limits aside from the ones they set themselves. Fanfiction authors must operate within the confines of an existing universe. There are rules they cannot break or must twist in clever ways, lest they risk scrutiny by those who demand canonical accuracy.
Obviously, both approaches have elements that make it easier or harder. But the true difficulty is not only contextual to the circumstances, but dependent on each individual writer's personal strengths. It is an indistinct thing to measure, and thus can't be generalized.
My experience working in the film and television industry compels me to point out that writing for television (especially episodic/serial hybrids like MLP) is not all that different from writing fanfiction. A vast majority of TV show writers are not in-house, they're freelancers on contract. It's quite literally part of their job description to come up with original ideas within the confines of an existing universe. This includes staying true to established characters, following the rules of that universe, matching the desired tone, and staying consistent with its themes.
Being able to express your creativity while adhering to someone else's artistic vision is an exceedingly valued talent in this industry. This is even more true today than it ever was before, now that television drama has made such a massive comeback, and franchises and sequelization are absolutely dominating Hollywood.
Another example of this happening in film/TV/animation is the concept of "writing fellowships", the entertainment industry's equivalent of scholarships. Once every season, all of the big companies like Disney, FOX, et al. as well as various renowned industry luminaries, will host events where they invite writers to submit spec scripts and screenplays based on well-known franchises. Anyone who they deem as talented will be given career-advancing rewards, such as grants to start their own show, or (relevantly) an offer to be a writer on an existing franchise.
These principles also apply to a great many other industries. Quest designers for video games, companion novelists (Christie Golden and the Warcraft franchise, Timothy Zahn's renowned Thrawn trilogy for the Star Wars franchise, Eric Nylund's early work on the Halo franchise), movie novelizations, the creative minds behind reboots (J.J. Abrams to Star Wars, Michael Bay to Transformers), and writers of historical fiction (AKA "fanfiction of real life").
I mean, if anything is more telling, it's the fact that all of us here at Fimfic are almost literally writing fanfiction of fanfiction. After all, Lauren Faust certainly did not invent My Little Pony. Her mandate was to create a new spin on an existing franchise, under the watchful gaze of Hasbro corporate executives. Many characters and concepts are not original; they are recycled from previous iterations of the My Little Pony franchise.
In all of the above examples, the same set of skills for writing fanfiction are extensively employed in a professional capacity. It is essentially fanfiction in all but name.
You are a well-respected author. Your words have power and influence over a great many people here. It is thus that I feel the need to posit the argument that to claim fanfiction-related skills do not comprise a set of tools in a "real" author's toolbox is not only inaccurate, but grossly misleading to anyone seeking entry into a writing-related industry.
4795688
We'll have to just disagree, then. Everything I've learned about writing in seven years suggests that original fiction is harder. Perhaps I'm just biased.
4795697 Perhaps we will disagree, but I still think it’s worth exploring, because your experience contrasts with mine and I’m curious where the dissonance lies.
The thing is, I’m not wholly disagreeing with you. Writing original fiction is harder than writing franchise fiction… for some people. The last five years I’ve spent working with other writers in this industry suggest it’s a spectrum, and thus a matter of perspective/experience and immune to hasty generalization.
I mean, perhaps it's a matter of specialization. Maybe your personal strengths lie in writing franchise fiction rather than original fiction? Maybe fanfiction just comes more easily to you. It’s certainly not uncommon, and it would explain the bias. You'd likely make a good fit for the industry if so.
Though I suppose another potential differentiator is that we as fanfiction authors don’t have a producer/director/marketing exec hovering over our shoulders dictating what of our writing does and doesn’t betray the tone of the series. I suppose without limitation of directorial oversight, the difficulty is reduced.
And nor are we writing for franchises we’re uninterested in. An independently contracted writer doesn’t always get to “choose” their projects based on personal interest, and writing for a subject matter that doesn’t particularly inspire them would naturally be more difficult,
Though that does lead me back to my original point, which is that it’s circumstantial and contextual.
I’ll still posit that franchise authors are “real” authors. Otherwise, celebrated writers like Christie Golden, Drew Karpyshyn, Eric Nylund, and Timothy Zahn wouldn’t be published bestsellers.
4795688
When I started:
Selling my stories back in the late 1980s, they called franchise writing "work for hire," and while it uses most of the same skills as writing original fiction, it doesn't use all of them. Anytime someone hands you a story bible, that's a whole big section of the creative process already taken care of, for one thing, and when it comes to legal issues, well, remember that Lauren Faust left MLP during season two because Hasbro wanted her to do things with the series that she couldn't make herself do.
So think of this as a contest specifically for non-franchise fiction writing, for stories that will be created and owned one hundred percent by the writers who come up with them. It's nowhere near the most lucrative sort of writing--I've only had one or two years of the past thirty where I've made more than three figures from my writing--but I love doing it way too much to stop.
Mike
Hm. Hmm.
Hmmmmm.
Hm.
4795697
Thought of another example (4 months later…): video game writers and quest designers.
Game companies often hire a bevy of writers because they need a shit-ton of narrative content that a single writer simply cannot shoulder the burden for. They’ll delegate a single writer to individual quest lines and sometimes entire primary characters (Mass Effect, Dragon Age).
All of these quests not only need to fit into the overarching thematic setting for the game, they also need to fit with each other and what other writers have concurrently written. This is far, far from an easy task, because you suddenly have to write for a team, whom each member has a unique perspective on the world they write for.
It’s essentially a huge collab.