Fanfiction vs "Regular" Fiction

[Shauna]

I've wrote both fanfiction and for lack of a better word "regular" non-fanfiction stories. I'm just curious. Do you guys have any opinions on which is more difficult to write?

[Gravity]

I think regular is. You have to mold your characters and give them personalities and quirks and whatnot. With fanfic, a lot of the time it's based on actual people or characters that have already been developed.

[Julie]

I think it could go both ways. In some ways, fanfiction is limiting because you're writing about real people (or other people's characters, depending on the fandom), and usually you need to stick to the canon (their real personalities, etc.) for your readers, whereas with original fiction, you have no limits - you can create your own original characters and have them do anything you want.

But on the other hand, I think it does take more creativity to create well-developed, original characters than to write about a real person or someone else's developed character. That's not to say fanfic writers aren't creative because most fanfics contain original characters as well; it's just, with original fiction, you're writing about ALL original characters.

From the writer standpoint, though, I don't really know firsthand. I think the last original fiction story I wrote, aside from my short story "Adelaide" and my brief foray into NaNoWriMo, was my Young Authors story in 8th grade LOL. It's been all fanfic since then. My brain is just so programmed to come up with ideas that I can use Bsb with, that any story idea I have is catered to them. And as long as I'm happy writing about them, I'll keep on doing that. They're my inspiration for right now.

[A-RokzStalker]

I think regular fiction is harder. Because, personally, I AM creative enough to come up with my own personalities and whatnot, but without boudaries or a template of some sort, I feel overwhelmed. So, I like fan-fiction better. I know the Backstreet Boys well enough to be able to write stories about them.

[kristy]

I think orignal is harder, but that's all I write. I love writing and I'm going to college for Journalism. It's just so fun for me to make up my own characters and put them into different situations. I'm writing one now that kind of reminds me of the Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. These two people meet and there's this instant connection, but they don't see each other for a while. Their lives go on and the girl is trying to start her career in fashion and 'Jake' the main male character already has an established career. Sorry didn't mean to go into all that, but I'm just really proud of this story. I've written a lot over the years, but I have to say this is by far my favorite one. My teacher is talking to someone at the universtiy about it and it may get published. I don't know either to be scared or excited. I'm just really nervous.