It's a question I puzzled over for a long time and one my relatives occasionally ask me. Why do people write fanfiction? I hope to write a probably very long blog/forum post about it later on, but I need points to discuss as well as evidence because I am not satisfied with expressing my own opinion. So here's the big question authors of my group. Why do you write fanfiction? Be it popular, or unpopular, what makes you want to write better, drives you to continue updating a story that will never get any money? Please make a detailed answer as possible.

Eg. Personally, I progressed into fanfiction because I want a more or less anonymous audience I can share my writing with. The problem with writing stories with original ideas is that you are more than apprehensive to share this story with somebody else. With a fanfiction I had no limitation. Also, I like having an audience no matter how small. I liked having feedback on my stories and an attentive audience, especially the very responsive and sometimes very detailed feedback by certain users. Moreover, since fanfiction is based on an already established world, it makes it much easier for me to write as opposed to creating an entire world from scratch, which was what I used to do in my fantasy-historical fiction writing.

...dude, I wish I knew... I just get the ideas and they have to come out somehow.

865625 Why are you encouraged to put these ideas online though? Attention? Simple outpouring or wish to be heard? Or just a vent? Don't be shy

I write because I find enjoyment in coming up with ideas. I like to express what little creativity I possess.

865625What's with your avatar? I need a gold account to view it? Wtf.

I started off writing my own ideas, but soon I got to a point where it became more of a chore than anything. Writing fanfic helped me to take a new approach with writing in general, and of course gives me access to immediate and dynamic feedback. And I guess I have an ego that needs stroking.

I write because I read and I edit a lot. Writing isn't what I do best, though, so I don't do that much. I hope that changes someday, because I feel like I have a lot of creativity to offer. I'm not a native speaker, and all these help me get more comfortable with English… I feel like I'm already as comfortable with it as an average native speaker, but that's not enough for me.

I write to get the ideas i have out of my head. And once i start and people start reading i write for the readers who have stuck with the story.

865619

Simple. Practice.

Fanfiction already has a stigma against it, so you have to work twice as hard to make yours not seem like crap. It's also filled with thousands of other writers, which gets you used to how the real world of writing is.

But the most important part of it is the fact that you can focus entirely on developing characters that already exist. It's an exercise to see if you can handle some characters that already have defining traits about them. Before you start working with your own original characters in an original setting, you should be able to take somebody else's and work just as much magic with them!

So yeah. It all boils down to practice for me. And ponies.

It's the best medium I have for expressing the ideas that pop into my head. I have a powerful imagination and I need to do something with it so it isn't wasted. And being able to flesh out characters and problems in unique settings and worlds is something I've found I really enjoy. Now I'm hoping this will be my first step in becoming a professional author.

Actually, I tried drawing and music first, a sort of outlet and way to use my spare time, it just didn't work and then I tried writing, though I didn't know to start so I read fanfiction of famous works and see how fans do it, and I decided to try my hand on it and here I am.

Even though I have written little in terms of fanfiction, I have to say the reason I do it is because I love to write. I might not do it often enough but when I do I just love the feeling of shaping a story, a world, and characters around what you need them to. Sure I like the popularity that comes with writing a decent enough fanfic but I have to say that it is the satisfaction of getting down your ideas and presenting them to the world for all to see. It is like saying, "Hey I created this because I love doing this, take a look if you want to." Sometimes I write to vent but that is rarely since I find it doesn't help enough.

So in the end, the bottom line is that I love to write and also like to have it seen by people.

865629

I am inspired by something and I write about it. But the main reason I think, is that I just want to write a tale that I and my readers find entertaining. That is the whole purpose to my writing, to please both reader and writer.

Also, I tend to write about ideas that I would like to see more of in this fandom. I think of a great story idea, and I try to look for it. If I can't find it, I get angry and decide to write it myself.

Silver out!

I don't write for good! And I don't write for evil! I just write!

865619 the whole reason for fan writing that I do if for the simple enjoyment of it. It allows me to put out ideas I have had of the show and expand it to ways we would never see it happen in the real mlp universe

865629
I think everyone has a subconscious desire to be famous. Fanfiction is great because it starts with a fanbase already, and characters we already know and love without having to develop them from scratch.
I'll say I write for fun, and I'll say it's for personal growth, but check my stories and you'll see that the one that's liked best is the one that has the most updates. I think we as humans have a need to be wanted and admired for what we can do, and fanfiction is one easy way to start.
My stories are more lighthearted, so I can't say I'm ranting or anything (though I have found at least one story that admitted to being pure rant translated into ponies, and I'm sure there are more I just haven't seen).
I dunno, really.

865636
The avatar I made for April fool's day and I just haven't drawn a new one yet.

865619
Honestly it's just an extension of my enjoyment of writing in general. If something has an engaging story and fleshed out characters, but there are still tales to be told, I feel a need to be the one to tell those stories. Also, fanfiction is a way for me to connect with the characters even more deeply than I would enjoying the original material. Not only is there the joy of receiving feedback from the audience and the joy of spawning new ideas to fit into this universe that you are working within, I as the writer have to get inside the heads and hearts of each character. There's something rewarding about the emotional connection you have with that character once you've gotten it right.

On a more basic note, fanfiction allows you to explore ideologies and concepts that the show literally can't touch upon.

I enjoy writing, as difficult as it may sometimes be. Plus, it's good practice in getting to know your own writing better, when it's reviewed and proofed, at least. Helps to find what works for you as a writer.Not every famous writer writes in an extravagant manner. Some things can be broken down to the bare bone and still be just as effective as a verbose statement. I don't get much feedback, but what I've notice some people do enjoy my work, and that's encouraging. What's a mystery is am I keeping their attention? Are they still reading it?

Aside from that, I feel myself compelled to finish a story once I've started it.

865619 Mostly it's my way of interacting with the MLP fandom. (I only know a couple fans of the show where I live.) It gives an interactive and creative depth to my silly little pony hobby.

Original fiction is where my heart is. No matter how much fun fanfiction is, at the end of the day you are still playing with someone else's toys. Nothing is as thrilling as creating a world of your very own. But there are some really great things you can learn about writing from fanfiction that you can't with original fiction. It teaches you to write characters that are different from the ones you would come up with on your own, which strengthens your characterization skills. It allows you to see what works and what doesn't for readers, helping you to learn how to garner mainstream appeal. And it lets you practice submitting your stuff, getting rejected, having people who like and hate your work and give you an honest opinion (which family, friends, and even schoolmates may not do).

865619
I get to explore themes and build off of a preexisting universe in ways that I couldn't otherwise. Basically, the same reason I write in any genre: the story demands it and it can't be told in any other way.

865619 I write because I was inspired enough by something to do so and continue to do so.

I have always enjoyed writing. However, coming up with worlds of my own is difficult for me. Writing fan fiction allows me to play around with a world that has already been constructed as I see fit. Most of my stories focus on aspects of the pony world that do not get much attention. I like to look at things like what the timber wolves really are, what motivated Sombra to turn evil, what did Luna face while she was on the moon, and other things that are hinted at by the show but never really explained. Looking deeper into a world and filling the blanks that have been left is just fun to me.

Meeting friendly, creative people is another reason I write. I have met a couple of people that have really helped me develop as a writer, thanks entirely to this site and fan base. I do enjoy seeing my stories getting favorites, I won't lie, but that's not really what it's about for me. Sharing ideas and my the love of the series' story and its characters is what keeps me writing. Without the other writers and readers out there to share with, writing stories would loose something to me. Friendship is magic after all.

It's another way for me to be creative. Just like music, I don't care how many people like it. It's the fact I get to express myself to those who see it.

To get these stories out of my head, and to sharpen my writing skills for the novel I intend to write.

Also, while it's not among my reasons for writing fanfiction, I do enjoy exploring the characters, and fanfiction is a good way to go about that, to my mind.

I write because I always wanted to be an author. When I was little, I read everyday. I adored reading fairy tails, adventure novels; heck, I even considered video games as novels in an interactive form. I love games that could be epic stories on their own like Legend of Zelda, Mass Effect, Metroid, Kingdom Hearts, ect.

Reading and playing games focused on stories fired my imagination every time. I could easily lose myself in the worlds told to me by authors, and I wanted more than ever to do the same for others. I loved stories so much, I sat down and tried to write my first fanfic, an utterly terrible Legend of Zelda story. I was never going to publish it anywhere and it has been lost for quite a while now, but I never forgot how I felt writing it.

Then I got into MLP:FIM. The show somehow fired my imagination in the way stories and games did and, lost in Equestria, I had an idea. That idea became my first fanfic, Shooting Star, the first and worst story I've written. However, as I got feedback and read some more, I wanted to write more. I wanted to create a story that others would love to read as much as I loved to write it.

So, I wrote a dumb little idea, published it for my own amusement, and now have what I set out to do. I wrote a good story.

[img] http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111108230754/mlpfanart/images/e/e7/And_that%27s_how_Equestria_was_made%21%21_logo.png[/img]

Firstly: because I want to be a better writer - perhaps even a professional one. If I can train my brain to produce ideas that people will like, and be able to produce those ideas with some semblance of speed and regularity, and get paid for producing those ideas... Well, that would be a fantastic thing, I think.

Secondly: because I love the world. Equestria is an ideal mix of explained and unexplainable - good and evil - peace, and the darkness that lies just beneath the surface. What sort of ancient, evil beings are locked up in Tartarus? Is Discord the only God of Chaos, or is he only one facet of a larger pantheon? What exactly was it that finally pushed Luna over the edge? Was Sombra part of a larger group of dark magicians, or was he simply insane? For that matter, how does magic even work?

These are the kinds of questions that, given the nature of the show, will probably never be answered - and so, it is up to us to answer them, and we are more than willing to take the task to hoof. For every question that the show leaves raised, we give a hundred answers, and each of those answers presents us with even more questions. Together, we spin webs of fact and theory, certainty and possibility. We build upon each other, we undermine each other, we shape each other, we tear each other down. But at the center of this maelstrom of rampant speculation and cock-fighting pet theories, there is a stable core that all can agree on - a set of commandments set in stone, to which any of us can flee for inspiration and reassurance.

I write (and, to an extent which is much less than it should be, read) fanfiction of My Little Pony because I want to explore that world. I want to share what I think the space between the facts is filled with, and I want to know what others think the space is filled with, and while there may never, ever, ever, ever, ever be a "right" answer, it is exhilarating to delve into all of the "lefts" that together, we have made.

Thirdly: because once an idea takes hold of my brain, it won't get the out until I write the er down. Characters are as important as the stories they shape, and once a character has life, that life demands - and deserves - some form of closure, even if that closure is only the promise of a tomorrow.

865619 There are two reasons I write fanfiction: I want to correct the fiction, or I want to express my overwhelming love for the fiction. No one will ever see my work intended for the first purpose; publishing it would be childish and mean.

865659

I will say it once more,
The author is you and you are the author..

So many ideas...have to put them somewhere

I write fan fiction because it exercises my writing creativity in a relatively controlled and easy to enter, easy to analyze environment. By doing this, I can figure out exactly HOW to write and WHY to write in general without facing rejection from potential agents or big publishing houses, which could have crumbled my spirit. I can launch myself into an arena with a low barrier to entry, and interact with people who are like-minded and focused on either helping others with their efforts or are willing to share what they learned, which is something that would be impossible without fan fiction. Also, it allows me to focus on the kinds of stories that I genuinely like to write beyond the scope of the fan fiction; I found that while I like the epic fantasy that has world-shattering events, the character moments where two or more characters are just bouncing off each other have turned out to be far more powerful than I thought they could ever be. Fan fiction has also kindled my desire to write in a way no other story has ever done, and I genuinely think that I can turn my hobby into a talent that will eventually bring lots of spiritual upliftment to those who read my work.

Seriously, I could go on and on, but I would like to finish with a caveat: I do not intend to pursue fan fiction as a "way of life" or as my "niche genre". At best, it will always be a hobby that I will continuously work on. However, my time with fan fiction will prepare me for many literary writing challenges outside of fan fiction, and I could seriously use the practice.

Here's to future bestsellers and future amazing fics alike.

I only started writing fanfiction once I found this site, reason being the community on here is fantastic so I was sure my work wouldn't just be shot down straight away. Turns out I was right I started writing because I had what I considered an interesting idea and after discussing it with my friends we all decided I could make something out of it. I continue writing even though I don't make a profit because, well, it's just fun to do. There's just something... liberating about being able to shape a world with your own imagination :) Oh, and it fills the long gap until season 4 too.

I write fan-fiction because its great practice. You can upload chapter-by-chapter, so you get feedback for every chapter you publish, meaning that you become a better writer with every chapter you write. That, and I just love to write, and fan-fiction is a really easy way to get creative. It's easier to write a story when the stock-models for the characters and settings are already in place.

To relieve stress and maintain what little sanity I have left.

basically what nightmareknight said

865619 Me I write for two reasons. One, I just love to write, it brings me great joy just to write something of my own. Two, I strive in life to become an author, so fanfiction writing is good practice for real writing.

865619 I mostly write for myself, but once I got some sort of audience, I tried to cater to them too. Starting off, I found the MLP universe, I liked the universe and wouldn't have minded being inside such a universe, and thus a self-insert appeared. Once I got that out of my system, however, I think each of my stories have started with a single Why? question. To take an example, one of my fics (Oldnew Luna) was started all because there was no explanation for Luna's character model change between Seasons 1 and 2, and so I asked myself why that happened. Of course, ideas often stem off from that, and it ended up a Twiluna shipfic. The reason for adding in the different elements is that, after discovering the base of the story, I add in things that I would like to read about, and so the story builds from there since, as I said before, I mainly write for myself.

I write fanfiction because my real fiction would get turned down by every publisher in the country, and it's good practice for me.

865619
Most of your points fit me. Primarily, I use fanfiction as a way to explore possibilities. I always think "How would ____ respond to _____," or "How could ______ do _____?" So I use fanfiction as a way to think about these things. By writing, the story further reveals itself to me, thus I learn just how X would respond to Y.

Hope this helps! And good luck!

865619
I write because I feel there is a story to be told

Truth be told, I've always enjoyed writing. The problem was, I had nothing to write about. When I found out about the brony community and how creative everyone was, I figured that I had to contribute something and it fell to writing. So that's why I do it. It's fun and I feel like I'm contributing to something worth contributing to.

I love getting simply hilarious reactions out of random people. And I enjoy writing, practice makes perfect.

I write because i have too much of an immagination, if i dont release it somehow ill go insane with pent up worthless energy. MLP fanfiction was just somthing that i had an idea to do as with anything i like and secretly wished i could contribute to.

If i had a choice of doing one thing though, i would love to be on the storyboard for a spiritual successor to Resident Evil, my favorite franchise ever. but that's not going to happen, so im here with ponies.

usually, i want to write somthing original, because i DESPISE unoriginality, inspiration is fine, but you get the picture.

Anyway, i have a few ideas for stories, non of which are in production yet because i ve been workign on the same story,for almost a year now, writing the first draft and now rewriting it because i am willing to go the distance to succeed. every now and then i feel a pang of doubt, that my efforts are going to be for naught, that my work will go completely unnoticed, but at the same time, as ive been watchign the featured box, for a while, ive had a revelation, "Do I really want to be featured?" and to be honest, the answer is no, even though it would be nice.

SO, in short, i am writing because i had an idea that has grown to enormous porportions, ive given it a heart and sould, and from the few people who have preread what i have so far, they have been left in a bit of awe. So that little tidbit of encourgement is all i need.

Anyway, for a little advice to anyone who is reading this, Go the distance, work on somthing until you are happy with it, have pride in your work.

But above all, if you want to get featured, just copy someone else.

I write because the show gave me ideas, and I wanted to have my head free of ideas bothering me all the time. Then with season 3, I got more ideas, so I had to write them out. Eventually, I put my ideas online, and now I'm technically an author! An extremely obscure author of fanfiction, which isn't usually considered "real" writing, but still an author.

When I was little, I was always making characters -- little creatures I made up, Pokémon, that sort of thing. I would draw every day, filling notebooks upon notebooks of drawing. Eventually, everyone started to tell me I was a good artist, and I wanted to be an animator. One day, though... I realized, after all that practice, all those drawings... I still wasn't that good at it. That, hey, I had just won two essay contests, and I hadn't won any art contests at all. A lot of people I knew were good at drawing, but I was good at writing. No one else I knew was, and... that really felt nice. So I started to write Pokémon fanfics. To practice to be a professional author... guess it just went from there.

865619 Well, I don't know about anybody else, but for me it's because when I like something, I want to show my take on it, because a lot of the time I imagine things happening differently then they actually do, so I want to put what I perceive out there. I want people to know what I have to say on the subject, and, whether they like it or not, at least they took the time to read it.

Also experience. the more fanfiction I write, the more experience and practice I get for my books that I do want to make money off of.

And just the fact that I know that whether it's liked or not, SOMEBODY saw my work, whereas with my actual novels nobody has.

So yeah, those are my reasons...

I started writing fanfiction because I thought it would be a good way for me to improve my writing, as I want to try to get into professional writing in the future. I've written several stories of my own already, so I write fanfiction as a bit of a challenge to my skills; I have to work with characters that already have their personalities and traits defined, and other elements that occur in that world. Also, with some people having prejudices against it, it makes me want to work harder at it to see if I can overcome that stereotype. Sure, I'm not great at it now, but as long as I'm improving over time, I'm happy with it.

865619

Dunno. I would write the entire essay, but considering my incredibly bad English, I will write something smaller.

The thing about the writing, is that's the mirror image of your own mind. I want to give the piece of my mind to other people, because I think that these parts are the best one's. I love writing, because I love to see people reading this, and enjoying it. I love writing, because I read so many books in my entire life, that I would feel bad if I hadn't try to. All the things I create, is my own reality. I'm the King of my Own Domain, I'm the only Ruler of my World. When I write, I see myself as the God.

Day One : The Idea
Day Two : The Plan of Story
Day Three : Description of Story
Day Four : Plot
Day Five : Characters
Day Six : Writing Itself
Day Seven : Publishing, basking in the glory ( okay, not really. Celestia dammit ).

And the most important, it's something I can be truly proud of.

For me, fanfic happens when there are characters and settings that I've come to know and love through something pre-established meet with the part of me that sees the possibility of a really good story in the source material that isn't addressed, or isn't important to the main plotline.
That leaves the opening for me to, as a fan of the source material, go in and fill in all those interesting little holes with something that fits with the source material and "validates" my headcanon explanation.

tldr, because it's fun, and I like it.

also, ponies.

865619

Short Answer? I had an idea for a story in my head and it WOULD NOT LEAVE ME ALONE. EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR WEEKS I THOUGHT ABOUT IT AND YUADABYJVDATY—

Long answer: The world that My Little Pony: Friendship has created is magic is the perfect world to write about. Since the show is restricted to the main characters, there's not a whole lot else we know about this world, other than the fact that there's a fuck-ton of different races and monsters. It's a great world for us authors to explore and imagine different scenarios in.

Also Magic. Oh my god there's so much shit you can do with that. (If the "Twilight causes a disaster" stories are anything to go by. )

So, that's how the thought "What would the future be like in this world?" came into my head and slowly transformed into A Better Equestria.

and it will plague my mind until I finish it.

For the fun of it and for my fans on this website. I have not written fanfiction due to rl for a while but I hope to soon.