Fanfiction - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Ch 2 - The Good

I feel that there are a lot of positives to writing fanfiction, that majority of people may not understand. A lot of people believe that fanfiction writing is all smutty and perverse, and while a lot of it is, there's a whole group of people who don't write that way. They just want to reinterpret a world that they love, with twists of their own.

Fanfiction writing is a great way to practice your writing skills. In taking someone else's already created world, in this case the Naruto one, you don't really need to spend time thinking up your own cast of characters and places for them to dwell.

Of course, people usually write in their own characters or OC's (original characters) as well. Some fanfics don't though, choosing to use the canon characters and then create a whole new world for them instead.

Whichever way you choose to write your fanfiction, this is a great way for you to become more creative and increase your writing skills. Sometimes writing a fanfiction is easier than coming up with your own entirely new universe.

Maybe you don't have the imagination for that, or don't know how to convey your unique thoughts and ideas into your own story. Writing a fanfiction, you can use an already created plot or set of characters and just add small changes to completely renovate the story. This in turn, can help inspire you with your own original story.

Hopefully this is all making sense. Maybe I'm the only one who knows what I'm talking about here, but I'm hopeful you're catchin what I'm throwin here.

In the world of fanfiction, you can exercise your imagination to change whatever you want. Let me reiterate that for the people in the back who can't hear me. WHATEVER. YOU. WANT.

Whatever the author wants is what goes. No arguments.

Let's use Naruto as an example. If you want Kakashi to be a woman instead of a man, cool.

If you want Sakura to have her own Clan, cool. If you want your OC to be on Team Seven, cool.

If you want to swap it around so Jiraiya is the new Orochimaru and Orochimaru is the new Jiraiya, cool. If you want your OC to summon a Unicorn, COOL!

Do what you want, it's your world, no matter what anyone says (or cries about, or rages about etc). Have fun with it. If you're taking the time to write a fanfic seriously (not a mock one), you're obviously a Naruto fan, you know what happens in the anime and manga, and you want to make some changes that you enjoy. No harm in it, it's fun.

Another positive for fanfiction writing is the community itself. It's larger than you may think, and doesn't just exist on Wattpad. I get a lot of messages and comments every single day, mostly on my fanfics, and I'd say 98% of them are positive.

Most people in the (Naruto) fanfiction community know what happens in the anime and manga and don't care that you're changing things, because they understand what fanfiction is. Realistically, Kakashi can't be a woman and Sakura doesn't have a Clan blah blah blah, but if you write that in, most are going to be very accepting to the changes.

Well, maybe not Kakashi. He's a fine anime specimen and a lot of the fangirls may be sad that he's a lady. But then again, they may like it. Who knows?

Back to the point, majority of people reading fanfics are either silent viewers, meaning they come, they read, they leave and those people are great. Then there are the people who come, read, leave comments and vote. They're awesome too.

When I say that comments are positive, sometimes there are people who don't like something in the story, but they leave their opinion in a respectful and helpful way, rather than a nasty and vindictive way. Those people are great as well, because they can help you make your story better or give you ideas. It's happened to me personally a few times, and I'm very appreciative.

If you're happy with your story though, don't change it. Write it in a way that makes you happy, not the crowd. Most people will respect that.

The Wattpad family that I have amassed over the years has, for the most part, been incredibly, incredibly positive. They talk to me, let me know when they've enjoyed a chapter, they make me laugh with their ridiculous comments, they willingly defend me when someone is a straight up rude brat and I just appreciate the hell out of them.

They've given me ideas, helped me out with spelling and grammar mistakes (SHAME ON ME), and they even check in on me if I've been inactive for awhile to make sure I'm not dead. Now, how sweet is that. Checking to see if I'm dead or not.

You could have that kind of love one day too.

For me, it's gotten to the point where people have been supporting me for years and whenever I see their name in my notifications, I feel so happy and appreciative to know that they've stuck with me for so long.

All in all, I think fanfiction writing can be a fun, expressive past time and helps to develop creativity and vocabulary.

Now, let's delve into the darker side of things. Bring your flashlights people, and have your parents sign the permission slip in case you get lost. Even if you're fifty years old, you need a signed permission slip.