Testing the waters: a Fan Fic challenge next year?

[PennyThompson]

I like the idea of having SOME kind of creative restriction to a FF writing challenge.

I do like the idea of fanfic-ing other Lit writer's characters, there are a few I could think of that I would love to take a crack at It does overlap somewhat with the LitCon event, but that event focused on a shared location and story theme. (Sort of... @EmilyMiller 's entries ended up turning the convention into a demonic metatextual pocket universe) I also wonder if fanfic about other Lit characters is sufficiently fannish enough for the FF&C category?

Some other FF&C restrictions that might be fun, off the top of my head:

• Characters must be from a specific time period. The 1940s, for example? Rosie the Riveter erotica, anyone??
• Characters must be from a specific genre, like animation, or adventure pulps, or musicals?
• Characters must already be in the Public Domain, like Sherlock Holmes or (gasp) Steamboat Willy-era Mickey Mouse!

 

[Erozetta]

You’re very welcome . I’m hitting up Bethany and Madison for a Halloween short & very keen to see the milieu expand

And I'm very excited to read it!

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

And I'm very excited to read it!

Likewise

 

[StillStunned]

However the thought of a Ross/Monica tryst is rather .

Canonically, they made out once.

 

[dirk2024]

Canonically, they made out once.

*shudders*

And i say this as an afficianado of brother/sister stories. Its just those two together.

 

[WhiteTailDarkTip]

Avon and Servalan? Now you’re talking!!

But who remembers Blake’s Seven? (apart from you and me)

 

[redgarters]

Now that I would be interested in! (@HelenL @redgarters @SugarStorm @DawnDuckie @proseinagarden a chance to expand our accidental shared universe?)

Oh! I'm so in! I may have already inserted a tiny mention of one of your characters in my latest WIP (was going to ask permission, hoping you might beta read ), but a full blown fanfiction challenge? Oh dear, I have at least three little plot bunnies jumping for joy right away.

 

[AchtungNight]

Not sure if I’d participate, since I would need the right inspiration. But if there needs to be an event organizer providing encouragement and organization support, I can probably provide that.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I know, Fan Fic & Celebrities is pretty much a dead category. I complain about SF&F often enough, but I've just looked at the FF&C story list, and it's a graveyard.

But we enjoy a challenge, don't we? And look what happened to Reviews & Essays when we did WIWAW. So in spite of all the misgivings... Would it work? Would there be any interest from writers, let alone readers?

I think it would be a great opportunity to try something different in a category most of us rarely venture into. A chance to write all those cheesy Luke and Leia fantasies, and Ross, Rachel and Monica, and perhaps something involving Velma, or Geralt of Rivia - or both of them together! Or to explore the shared past that Shagrat and Gorbag hint at in the tunnels below the Tower of Cirith Ungol, or the "true" love story of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, or what would have happened between Will and Angie if Single Parents had ever had a S3, or whether Avon and Servalan ever got together to rule the galaxy...

If this happens, it would likely be in September next year.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Retching sounds of disgust?

I think if this is going to happen, it should be broad, not narrow. Making it some subset of fan fic will be exclusionary.

 

[dirk2024]

I think if this is going to happen, it should be broad, not narrow. Making it some subset of fan fic will be exclusionary.

Yeah, I don't want to try to FanFic someone I might not even be a fan of.

 

[StillStunned]

Thanks for the input, everyone! It seems that there would quite possibly be enough interest to give this one a go.

A few thoughts:

Given how quiet the FF&C category is, it would probably be best to make it inclusive rather than exclusive. Choosing a theme within the theme will only limit the number of people who want to take part.

And fan fic of other Literoticans sounds great, but I wonder whether it should be a separate challenge. While many of us have read and loved other authors' stories here, I don't think they occupy the same place in our minds as the books, movies and television shows we've read and watched. They also wouldn't resonate the same way with readers, I suspect, although that might be a moot point with the FF&C readership anyway.

And of course there's the added issue of getting the original author's permission. How many discussions have we had about continuing someone else's work? This would fall in the same category.

I'll give the idea some more thought, and then decide whether or not to reach out to @Laurel. If I decide against it, I'll probably take @AchtungNight up on his offer and hand the idea over to him.

 

[TheLobster]

Retching sounds of disgust?

Maybe not to this extent, but if it were up to me I’d rather loosen up the event schedule than try and inundate a barely active category with stories hardly any readers care for.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Make it interesting by restricting the fanfic to existing Lit stories. Those who want to participate will need to pick a story they want to fanfic and, of course, obtain permission from the author.
It would make things fun and would give new life to some stories, but also make us read each other's stuff more.

Just a thought.

I wouldn't be interested in fanfic, but writing a celebrity story might entice me.

I have one series in the category that has done well in scores, but each of the installments only averages around 5 views per day, so don't expect a lot of attention.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

One island.

Four huts.

Seven people.

A lot more than 3 hours.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Forty something dullard ex-high school football player, works in a women's shoe store.

Redheaded wife who spends what little money they have, hates to cook or clean, but somehow maintains a killer body.

Blonde bimbo daughter who strives to be a slut in a rock band video.

Horn dog son with an identity crisis or three.

Neighbor banker lady who was married to another banker, got divorced and woke up married to a new guy that used to be a photographer on a cruise ship.

What could go right?

 

[Rob_Royale]

Yeah. I'm in. Honestly, if the category was more robust I'd have done dozens of them by now. So many old sitcoms would be perfect for a fan-fic.

EDIT- from experience, the more restrictions you put on a challenge, the more interest you lose in potential participants. Make it for ANY sort of fan fiction, from Green Acres to Supernatural, and you might get some interest.

 

[SugarStorm]

Now that I would be interested in! (@HelenL @redgarters @SugarStorm @DawnDuckie @proseinagarden a chance to expand our accidental shared universe?)

I'm not sure what's happening but I'm in

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Y'all have fun. Just the idea of picking up someone else's characters and trying to do them justice scares me. I know people do it and do it well and I'll probably read them, it's just not for me. Like I said, y'all have fun.

 

[StillStunned]

Y'all have fun. Just the idea of picking up someone else's characters and trying to do them justice scares me. I know people do it and do it well and I'll probably read them, it's just not for me. Like I said, y'all have fun.

But... but... the point of fan fic isn't to do the characters justice! It's to make them dance like puppets to fulfil your whims, or to self-insert an author avatar and show everyone how cool you'd be in that world!

More seriously: I completely understand. It's probably one of the reasons why FF&C is such a barren wasteland. But maybe we can turn that around.

Even more seriously: I've decided to make an official suggestion of the challenge to Laurel.

 

[Duleigh]

I love writing fan fic! In fact I have nearly half a million words of Fanfiction already posted here. There's only one problem with Fan Fiction, you can't sell it. I have half a million words, that's almost six novels that are not making me any money.

Just sayin'

Count me in - In honor of the upcoming release of Gate 2: Tides of Conflict I want to do a Lieutenant Itami + Rory Mercury + Tuka Luna Marceau in a GEM three-way (Goddess/Elf/Male) while poor Lelei La Lelena lies in the other room asleep because she's too young to participate.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Y'all have fun. Just the idea of picking up someone else's characters and trying to do them justice scares me. I know people do it and do it well and I'll probably read them, it's just not for me. Like I said, y'all have fun.

It doesn't have to be someone else's characters, it can just be their world.

There is a brilliant episode of Phineas and Ferb where they are doing Star Wars, but it's all them doing things around the main plot.

 

[Duleigh]

I think if this is going to happen, it should be broad, not narrow. Making it some subset of fan fic will be exclusionary.

Agree! Us anime nuts have tons of unrequited fanfic. If you want it to be an American TV shippers convention, then count me out because I don't watch Network TV. I caught the mention of Luke and Lia but I had to look up Ross, Rachel and Monica. And Velma? I immediately thought "Scooby wouldn't be allowed," but who is Geralt of Rivia? Sounds like a knight in rusty armor.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

It doesn't have to be someone else's characters, it can just be their world.

There is a brilliant episode of Phineas and Ferb where they are doing Star Wars, but it's all them doing things around the main plot.

I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Might be worth a rethink. At worst, it would be an excuse to rewatch the original trilogy for the eight millionth time. I'm assuming all legit fan fiction is Star Wars based...

 

[StillStunned]

Sounds like a knight in rusty armor.

Now I'm wondering whether anyone has ever written fan fic about Sir Thomas Tom and Sir Hugh.

(For the tiny minority who don't get the reference: "The Knight Whose Armour Didn't Squeak" by A.A. Milne.)

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I hadn't thought of it from that perspective. Might be worth a rethink. At worst, it would be an excuse to rewatch the original trilogy for the eight millionth time. I'm assuming all legit fan fiction is Star Wars based...

Or if you want the greatest piece of fan fiction in history it's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

Although, seriously any Star Wars fan needs to see that episode of Phineas and Ferb.