Why does Fan Fic deserve more attention? This question came to me when i was on an article and read a lot of the comments pertaining to Fan Fic. People were admittingly saying that "i dont read the Fan Fic as often as i should" or "I like the Fan Fic but sometimes it is offputting" and some even went so far as to say "the Fan Fic on this site just sucks" and other things to that nature. Well, i wanted to take the time out to address these issues because there is so much in the fan fiction section that are examples of phenomenal writing.
1. Aspiring writers
Now, this is my first point, there are some people on here who are aspiring writers, trying to break into the business. This does not happen over night, people. It's not like once a person has a job writing that then they are deemed "a writer". The writing and practice of writing comes way before any employment in that department. There are people on this site whose material i have read that deserve the utmost respect and highest of praise because it is very well thought-out, coherent, inspiring and everyone's own style has a sort of beauty to it. So, when people come onto this site and post their works for other people, this is just like practice for the big game. These writers may not have the resources at home to give them the kind of critiques that they are looking for and turn to people with similar interests to give it to them straight. I could sit and here and name off quite a few people on this site whose works are absolutely brilliant, but for the sake of anonymity and argument i will refrain. Now, these aspiring writers have to start somewhere correct? Yes, i have already somewhat established this. Well, if this is the first outlet they choose to use to network their material,especially when it pertains to characters we all know and love, this site should be the first to hold its arms wide open and accept that. Which brings me to my next point:
2. Not giving the time of day
We take the time to be choosey in what we read (Ill admit i do it sometimes as well. It really is impossible to read every article) but to completely overlook so many articles is rather harsh on our part. Sometimes i am saddened to go onto a fan fic link and see that this person has spent a lot of time typing up whatever it is that came to their head and to see that there are no comments on it, or the only comments on it are very discouraging. Now, sometimes this could be in part due to the authors lack of "reeling them in" with their titles and the little teaser that we are allowed underneath not caputring an audiences attention. So if this has happened to you before, really try and think of a title that will peak curiosity and compell someone to click on your link and take a read. Same goes with the teaser underneath. I know not everyone who comes to this site has dedicated the time to make a username and profile and what-have-you, but those of us who have for the sake of being able to post articles and comments, it is in part our responsibility to oversee this site and help to guide people. If you made a username on here just for the sake of arguing then you got on here under the wrong motives. But when people go on to read other people's work, whether it be a script they posted, a fan cast they posted or a general idea that they posted, we are somewhat obligated to at least give it a read. This is a community site and as such should treat it like one. Every community has the village idiot of course...wont name anyone. But most of us who have respect and can look at things objectively and give constructive criticism should try and help the posters. Glossing over all of the fan fic articles is a mistake because there are some true gems in there that deserve more attention and do you know why?
3. Networking
You never know who is behind the aliases on this site. You never know what the people behind the usernames are doing with their lives, or are planning to do or have already accomplished. Anonymously bashing people is not what this site is for. You may come across someone's fan fiction who is already an accomplished writer, who uses this site as a "test run" for their works to see how it is received. Although this is probably not even close to the majority of the cases, you never know! But there are many people on here who are aspiring writers, looking to break into the movie business, the comicbook business and were first inspired by their love for comic books and superheroes. We all share that same love or else we wouldnt be on this site in the first place. So, you'd think with so many people sharing a common interest, that we would support those who hope to make it and post their original ideas on here because you never know what happens to those people in the future. Say 10 years from now someone who has been posting fan fiction on here suddenly breaks into the comicbook industry as a writer, writing one of your favorite characters, it would be really cool to know that you had already read their work, see what got them to where they are, how they have improved and progressed. And networking with the people on this site, giving criticism, compliments or just plain talking about their ideas could prove to be immensely helpful for them! you never know what triggers a stroke of genius, but a lot of times it comes from conversation and actively engaging, providing a point of view someone else may not have considered. And if you got to know that person well enough, you never know where that could lead. If the people writing these fan fics truly are looking to do something with it and they find each other on these sites, they could end up collaborating on something big. And we dont want to be the people who disregarded someone like that, they are from our neck of the woods. You never know what kinds of goodies could be in store if something like that happened and the writer doesnt forget their roots. It will be the people that they received feedback from, made friends with and engaged in stimulating conversation about character analysis, story archs, conflicts, journeys, all the elements that make up a great story, the people who provoke those ideas with the writer are the people that will still have influence for that writer. We look to our own to help us out because if anyone knows these characters, knows comicbooks, comicbook movies, or just the heroes that fill our favorite pages in general, it is this community. So who better to give criticism and feedback than the ones that are most knowledgable?
4. Feedback
Feedback is not something in the comment section akin to: "this sucks". That is not feedback and that is bashing someone's hard work. If you dont like it then do better, but that doesnt help anyone, it doesnt help the writer improve and it doesnt help you make any friends and it alientates you from many people on this site. Feedback should always be constructive, a tool for the writer to take into consideration to better whatever it is they are writing about. You can even give the "shit sandwich" feedback which starts with something good about it then goes to what could be improved and ending on a good note, sandwich the bad with two slices of good bread. Feedback should tell the writer what track they are on with their story, if they are going the right way or they are going the wrong way. Leaving these people comments is something they live for, it is the whole reason they post these things in the first place. So if you're going to take the time out to read, please, leave a comment! The writers want to know what people think, good or bad (Bad being constructive still!). Bottomline, the whole reason people take the time out of their day to post their brainchild and creative ideas is to hope to hear back from people, hear their opinions and many just want to better themselves. And for the veterans on here who have been writing, who do well, who seem to have a bit of a following, help the people you see struggling, tell them what they can improve on whether it just be formatting or content. But to leave an article untouched is really a shame because someone took the time to post it and write it up. Even if you're comment is just one or two sentences, just leave the writer with something they can use.
5. Giving the Fan Fic some hype.
If you take the time to read the Fan Fiction section and you find something that blew you away, surpassed your expectations, has some redeeming qualities that made you think to yourself, hype it up! One of the best things we can do for these writers is bring in more feedback, more attention. If you find one of those gems i mentioned, mention it in other comment sections. Dont just go and comment and say "hey! read this fan fic!" on an article about superhero clothing wear, but if there is a natural way to bring it up, be sure to do so! Direct people towards the fan fiction. You see a comment or article about Superman for instance and someone just wrote up an awesome original Superman script, there is a very easy and organic way to incoporate that into your comment, im sure. Or if there is an article about a new movie in the works and someone just did a fancast for it, and you really liked some of the picks, bring it up! tell people. There is one thing i've learned on here from chatting with some of the users, if you suggest reading a fan fic to someone, they are usually more than happy to give it a glance. If they like it enough to read it all, they will leave feedback. But we need to promote them!
Anyways, i'm not entirely sure how many reads this will get, what kinds of attacks or comments i will get from this post but i felt that this was a subject that needed to be brought up. Time and time again i go onto the fan fic page and read other people's stuff and just feel bad that more people wont read it because they do not frequent the fan fic section more often. I hope to generate a new found hype for the Fan Fic writers, if not, oh well, i tried and feel that i gave a good effort, but if so, i am very happy! I hope if you read this that there were at least a few key things that stuck out for you, resonated and made you think "hey, thats actually a pretty good point" if not then i did not do my job well enough and i apologize. Well, stay classy CBM! this has been yours truly, UniBeam11's first editorial!