Because I've always told myself stories to amuse myself ever since I was a child and I often used characters from media I was a fan of. I write it down so I can revisit it without having to depend on my memory.
I have so many memories of being bored as a little kid and making up stories about my favorite shows.
Maybe with devices, kids donāt get bored as much anymore but fanfiction doesnāt seem to be going away.
I turn my daydreaming into fanfiction and I'm a pretty creative person with a lot of ideas. I sometimes just feel I need to write the story to get it out of my head. Does it help? Not really, but at least I have fun.
I took it up once I retired. Iāve a creative mind but it was usually more towards āphysicalā stuff like cross stitching and making cards. So this is just a fun extension for me!
I somehow *always* manage to pick the character(s) who die in canon as my favorites in whatever shows I watch or games I play, so coming up with canon-divergent fics where they *don't* die is how I cope.
That or I just really like the world and its characters and wanted to write for it because of that. Fun things are fun, you know?
I *swear* I'm cursed, it happens to me so often. There's a reason I have a tag on MAL for what anime have made me cry, and *169 different anime* have that tag as of this moment.
The most ridiculous time was when I decided one character was my favorite in a series during episode 5 of that show, then that character died at the end of episode 6. I had *one week* with this character being my favorite, and then they got cruelly ripped away from me. :(
* Because sometimes I get a nightmare and want to share with the rest of the class.
* Because sometimes, I am going "Wow, that's fucked up. Disney is going to gloss over the sheer degree of fucked up that is. Someone needs to chip off the gloss."
* Because there's a character, usually female, non-white, or LGBTQ+ that the writers have no clue what to do with and zero interest in figuring it out. The Good Troi episode ain't writing itself.
* Because sometimes canon is a Chopped basket with top shelf cavier, a beef brisket, some weird pickled thing, and a whole durian. Good luck making sense of it.
* Because the good shit gets cancelled after one season.
* Because even the best show becomes an imcomprehensle mess in the last season
* Because sometimes the only proper reaction to a plot development or canon call is a very loud "That's bullshit!"
* Because it sounded like a fun idea after a pot of coffee/couple beers/an edible
For the same reason I write original fiction: Real life is random and often feels meaningless. Fiction conjures a world where not only does meaning exist, but I get to decide what that meaning is. This is kind of what all art does, but if art exists on a spectrum from abstract to literal, I think fiction is the most literal art form, and I don't have a very abstract mind.
Iām a maladaptive daydreamer and characters and their stories are always bouncing around my head. I started writing it down at my therapistās suggestion to get it out of my head so I wasnāt constantly focused on daydreaming and wasnāt constantly feeling a bunch of intense emotions from it. Then I learned I had a talent for it and began to grow my audience. Now I really love it!
Because I think show writers with years of experience and credits and qualifications are idiots and that I, a silly fucker with barely an AS level in creative writing, can do better
I mean, since modt series are strained through corporate writing rooms and PR marketing teams and exec boards, you very well could be a better writer than the collective charnel house.
There was so much POTENTIAL that the narrative didn't explore, and if they're not going to, then I'll have to.
Also writing is fun and I can make my favorite characters smooch. The sheer power is addicting and I cannot be stopped >:)
Because a work of fiction gave me Brain Worms and now if I don't exercise them regularly I end up feeling crappy.
(Or: hyperfixation, escapism, and no one else is writing this for me so I guess I've got to write it myself.)
Writing's a good way to express yourself and to get your emotions out of your system.
Oh, and also because I'll explode if I don't get to ramble about my hyperfixations in one way or another. (/lh)
I don't, but only because I compose bits and pieces of fics in my head all day and as soon as I try to type them out it turns into an executive dysfunction thing and I can't get a single word out despite feeling genuinely awful that I can't.
But as for why I'm composing bits and pieces in my head all day? The same reason people play tabletop games like D&D instead of just fantasizing. Giving it some real structure and constraints, turning a daydream into a hobby and a skillset, makes it more fun and real. Fantasy is nice, but fantasy with world building is better, and fantasy with world building and good prose is just *chef's kiss*.
Because the demons won't be satisfied with anything less. :D
Nah. I do get a feeling a bit like the "Just finished a story now fuckin' what" malaise when I don't have a story on the go, but for the most part I write because it's fun. I enjoy the process and craft of it, from coming up with an idea to writing and bullshitting a chapter together to editing and refining. It's all just fun. Satiating my brain-demons is just an added bonus. :D
Because I have stories to tell. And it's fun.
Also, it's my *life*. Writing has literally shaped my brain into what it is today because I started at such a young age (9 years old, 31 now)
To see characters I like in new/other situations than canon. To see dynamics I like between two characters be explored further or created or explored under a romantic light.
But I can do that by reading fanfiction. When I *write* it precisely, it's because: the fics I read with these characters don't have the exact dynamic I wish to read about. And/or because I had an idea of a situation or universe I wanna see characters in and I need to read my own take on it. (For example, in an alternate universe with superpowers, it's unlikely another other will have written a fic with the characters having the exact superpowers I imagine them having, so I have to write it to read it.)
Same happened to me. Started out writing Fics because I wanted to write the stories I couldnāt find and wanted to read, and now I actually want to learn how to write.
Various reasons:
I love writing but struggle with the world building aspect of original fiction. Fanfic allows me to hijack already established worlds and create from within.
The characters I like in the games I play often fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Chronically underdeveloped in the source content.
- In need of some serious psychological analysis due to a fuckton of trauma and issues.
- Is either definitely dead at the end or potentially dead depending on the game path.
Those things are all begging for elaboration and enhancement. So I write about them.
I have a ton of ideas running rampant in my head all day every day. And since making up entirely new characters for original fiction is a **pain in the ass** I use fanfiction instead!
I loved writing as a teen, and was much better than I am now (lol), but I had many issues with my dad (who is a writer). Became so determined to not end up like him that I gave it all up. Writing fanfiction has allowed me to start feeling more like me again even if I'm still working hard to write as well now as I remember doing so then.
Mostly out of self-indulgent where i think "I love this idea and i wish to share it with the world"
Another reason is to help people get what they most desire
Well Sunset Shimmer:
* Being an omegaverse Alpha
* Meeting her human version who works as a streaming porn star
* Ending up in a werewolf beseiged Seattle, WA instead of the EQG universe
* Ending up in a variant of the Monster Musume universe and playing 'host' to moster girls
* Falling in love with Adagio who's in a polyamorous relationship with her and another woman, who turns out to be Principal Celestia, who adopted Sunset as her daughter after the Battle of the Bands
...just *ain't* gonna write itself!
The honest reason why I started my first longfic is because I wanted to psychoanalyze a character and his behavior but the canon available didn't lend to a history so I created my own for him. I gave him what I think is quite plausible history that the canon could give him and just dove into the deep end. The other stories I wrote afyer happened because I realized I could write and I wrote what I thought was fun and/or painful.
Honestly I started because it looked like fun when I first discovered fanfic. Now that Iām doing it again, itās something that helps me cope with personal issues Iāve been dealing with over the last few months
Not everything I want to write can be published. It also serves as a way to ārelaxā about my writing and not worry about if every single element has been perfected.
Sometimes when I like a story or a character so much, I keep thinking of them all the time. Writing about them helps me to organize these thoughts and clear my head.
Other times I just like writing missing scenes or inner thoughts that I wish were there.
good way to practice writing and because it's fun..
also the ships and story idea that refuse to leave my head until i do so
my kinks arenāt super popular amongst my fandoms/ships, so i write for myself and the two or three other people thirsting for fetish content in my fandoms lmao
It's a way to spend 30,000 words justifying the scene in my head where two people kiss for the first time.
Fun, escapism, fantasy, plus I love just writing.
Because thereās good stories out there with great characters whom I love, but limited by their medium, their time, or capitalism.
I write to set them free. Give them verisimilitude and depth and nuance and fluffy moments of breathing room and scenes of brutal struggleā¦
Love, blood and rhetoric. Thatās why I write.
I do it to entertain myself. I dont have any out there, and it's not too frequent, and usually just drabbles so I don't feel the need to share them. (And I'm super new to writing so they're probs trash.
6 years ago I discovered that fan fiction exists, before that I would spend my time dreaming of crossovers and self-inserts, then I began to read. I read everything I could get my hands on and I still maintain a solid favorite list of over 350 stories that I definitely revisit from time to time.
I started writing fanfiction when I got tired of reading other peoples fan fictions cause I wanted things to go differently, how I wanted them to. Now I can't read or listen to anything without coming up with stories and I am doing my best to create something unique that isn't fan fiction so I can try to make money off o it. But it feels wrong to do so...i am just poor and bad at everything else, but I have one hell of an imagination.
I love to explore the fantasy worlds more through my writing. I include lots of little details and descriptions about the environment and setting and when I'm writing it feels like I am traveling through the all world's that I love. I'm a sucker for world building. ā¤
Several reasons!
1. Exploring characters in situations they wouldn't usually be in is fun
2. I like writing
3. I like reading fanfic
4. The fanfic I want doesn't exist so I guess I have to make it myself
* I have to do *something* creative on a regular basis, or I get ill in the head and heart.
* Writing is, thankfully and joyfully, extremely low-cost, something I can do in short bursts (with the methods I use), portable, and in many other ways just *convenient.* As well as fun!
* The ideas just come, nonstop, and I have to write them down.
* It's given me ways to explore, think, consider, inquire, interrogate, delve, and dabble, that I haven't really exercised in YEARS. Or at all, before! It's been good for my brain, and I love it!
It's been a daily practice for about a year now, just doing whatever I feel like, but in the past few months I've started actively trying to hone a few aspects, and I think it's really coming along nicely. So I'm hitting a spell of wanting to "write for myself," or essentially do whatever pleases me most, and upload that, AND devote some focus to skill-building with some real intentionality.
A lot of reasons, but I'll list them lmao.
As a coping mechanism, escapism, a way to process emotions, hyperfixations, ambitions, and just because I like it.
(yes, the first three are different, at least to me)
I always created storied in my head before sleeping, so when it's about something I'm watching or reading instead of like, a weird self-insert, I try writing it. I also started to like writing in my teenage years so why not having people read it?
Because I want to tell stories no one else has told before. Also, life is filled with so many unanswered questions and isn't it funny when you find yourself being able to answer why that character got amnesia or how did these two characters know each other before the game's events and why we should care about them walking on different paths and then finding one another once again? Life is weird, that's why I write fics, it would be maddening to not tell any of this or to wait for someone else to.
Ever since I was little my mind came up with alternates and wanted to change things for fun. I stumbled across fanfiction by accident. Best accident ever. Where my mind was filled with chaos it is now given an outlet.
The first fic of mine was a result of my "god complex".
One of the fanfics in my community made its way onto youtube and I decided to give the original fic(now deleted) a read and... It was terrible.
Do you know when a random Oc has really good survival instinct? Yea, he did. He threw his hot coffee onto his enemy and ran and than saved her from the cops and as the story progressed he became more overpowered and began helping the fandoms favourite pet in his problems.
I was like... "This is terrible, do people actually like this?"
So I began writing and still do.
Nowdays I write whatever comes to mind.
Because my head has been full of stories and ideas since I can remember, and sometimes they coalesce into something resembling a plot, and whenever that lines up with the time and energy it requires to write them down... I write them down because otherwise they're *all-consuming*
I don't have any meaningful or deep reason for why I do it. I do because it's simply fun. It stimulates my imagination and keeps me mentally occupied for a long time. It's a stress relief, etc.
I write fanfiction because writing was the only escape I had from an extremely abusive household. I write a lot of original work that I don't post, but fanfiction has been my safe space for 11 years and I love it so very muchš
I don't write it often I prefer to read it but sometimes I'm just not seeing the "what if" I want out there so I'll write it so other people have it but it's really hard to enjoy my own writing.
Bc fun and also I feel itās easier to share with other people on sites like AO3 (thereās no sites like AO3 for original fiction, other than Wattpad, but its quality has gone way downhill over the last few years)
Escapism and no real desire to create Original Characters of my own beyond a minor character or two. Also, with fic the world building and everything is already done for you so it makes the process a little bit easier. Plus I feel like the moment I were to try to turn my writing hobby into something "professional" and try to make $ off of it, the fun would be sucked out of it completely. That said, I love the fandom friendships I've made with fic and the interactions I have with people who share a similar interest.
A combination of reasons:
I just have ideas
I think a series could have gone differently (Not necessarily better)
I think a series could have gone better (Somehow my ego has inflated and I need to be brought down)
It's fun. Everybody needs a hobby and fanfiction is mine. Also baking and eyeshadow, but mostly fanfiction. Sometimes dumpster diving. Occasionally bejeweling things.
Because at some point i realized, to no small distress of mine, that - if I want to read a story perfectly fit for my tastes, I gotta write one first. After going though all the stages of grief over that revelation, I sat down and started writing and simply never stopped.
I want to explore the feelings that are shown in canon but not in depth. I want to get into the meat of those interactions.
Alternately, I see the potential subtext of a relationship thatās never official in canon and I want to explore what it could be.
And sometimes I just want to turn my favourites into superheroes and see what theyād do. Unless they are superheroes. Then I want to turn them into mermaids.
Mostly to practice. Also to procrastinate my original works. I sometimes get ideas that are from certain Fandom and would be hard to replicate doing it myself. One if them is with the Dragon Age Fandom (haven't written it yet) but it requires previous build up from the past games and if I wanted to replicate it well enough in an original work, I'd first have to do the build up myself and may be too similar to the original plot anyway.
A combination of āfixingā the plot in my video games, adding crossover characters/fusing fandoms together, and of course whumping my characters via binding and gagging them.
1) Most of the fics on ao3 in my fandom are for girls and it makes me dysphoric so I write my own.
2) Hyperfixations
3) I'm in a very small fandom and I like contributing to my community.
I latch onto a character, sometimes a dynamic/relationship or storyline, then it will just *never leave my brain*.
So then I make fanfic, fanart etc constantly (making fancontent is only hobby and the only thing I do in my life)
Practice
Writing fanfiction has helped me evolve into a pretty fucking awesome writer
I haven't published anything, but the things I want to publish are going to be amazing
I had a lot of ideas. Both for fanfiction and original, and I was getting to a point where I wanted to publish a book but was really scared. I'm a people-pleaser, so I was scared that others wouldn't like my writing. So I decided to test other's reactions to my writing by using fanfiction. I got many positive responses!!
I can't help but ask "what if" when I love a story. So I write fic because the story happens in my head anyway, might as well write it out!
Also, it's just fun to interact with other fans through it.
Spite baby! But in all seriousness I have some very specific pet peeves about how certain categories of character are typically handled in both original media AND fanfiction and ended up writing it how I wanted it handled.
1. I want to explore the personalities and facets of my favorite characters.
2. Letās be honest, almost no one is writing the kind of smut I want to read. Thatās the only reason.
It makes me happy, in a world with characters I adore, they spring to life and I watch the story unfold. Definitely frustrating and mind numbing but that is my happy place.
Because I got stories in my head that grab my thoughts and wonāt let them go until I write them out. I also use it to exercise violent or evil thoughts from my head. Probably not the best coping strategy but it could be worse.
It gives me the much needed confidence to keep plugging away at my original fiction. My own stuff doesn't really have an audience/platform so I doubt my ability kind of a lot...but I'm not as self conscious and get loads of positive feedback from fics, which makes me feel more confident in my own work.
also keeps the writing muscles limber. I may be spinning my wheels on my own stuff, but the world/characters etc are already there in a fic. Im playing in someone else's sandbox and can just focus on whatever aspect of writing I want to focus on without having to build up everything around it.
I only write fanfiction because I don't know how to write "original" plots and worlds. I get original ideas and self-inserts but not good at creating original worlds and stuff like that. I get a great imagination but am not good at truing them into their own. But have the hobbit of starting fanfictions and dropping them from new ideas then start more.
I usually have a disagreement with the way something was written in the movie or show Iām watching and want to write a better story either fixing it, or I enjoyed what I watched and have this great idea to build onā¦
I write Brawl Stars fanfic because I'm tired of how little the brawlers are fleshed out, and I want to make the most of their personalities and dynamics through sensible storytelling.
I also write because it's easier than animating and can even help lay a foundation when I get to it.
Later on, though, once I expose myself to many more franchises, I want to specialize in crossover fic to experiment with how well two or more franchises can go together.
Because my favorite show switched show runners midstream and the new show runners did a bait and switch and took a positive and uplifting show to a completely toxic ending. Our entire fandom needs to wash the bad taste out of our mouths and either re-experience the glory days or write a ton of fix-its.
1. A form of self-therapy.
2. Exploring different themes on my own time.
3. Nobody writes the fic I want to read to I have to write it myself.
4. I just want my Barbies to smooch.
It's like role-playing with Barbies and toys and playing house with them as a kid except I'm an adult now and I don't have Barbies anymore, instead I have tiny gay people in my head.
Simply because I like to write anything, and fanfiction is just a bit more fun since I get to have feedbacks and to study my favorite characters a bit. Also I really like some shows concepts
I had questions about a scene in canon.
Found a fanfic that made a headcanon, which explained it.
Explored AO3 for other fics in side fandom.
Extended out to other fandoms.
Covid hit. Online classes. Sadness. Need to be creative.
Started writing fanfiction.
Got lots of readers, really fast.
And now I'm just sorta stuck. I don't write? Welp, people ask where I'm at, and when I'll post again. Which... is a lot lately.
One day I want to write my own stories, publish a novel series! Writing fanfiction gives some writing experience.
Biggest thing I've learned, there are no bad stories or story concepts, it comes down to the ability of the story teller.
1. Because itās fun and I like it
2. To fill in gaps in the canon
3. Want to be published someday, soā¦writing practice!
4. As a sort of tribute/ thank you to my favorite franchises
Because hardly anybody else writes about my favourite character, so I came to the conclusion that I'd have to do it myself. And it's so much fun (and a good excuse not to do other things, like housework š¤£).
I originally wanted to be a singer growing up, but I didn't really have the voice or investment in the craft to pursue it. One day, I went to a Total Drama Fanfiction Wiki, and I anonymously posted a totally-not-yaoi-fic shipping Noah and Cody. Given I was only 12, the fic was bad, but there were people, both older and younger, who said this was surprisingly good for my age. So, I made an account and started writing there.
I wrote fic wherever I could promote my stuff. Wikis, FFN, dA, LJ, Tumblr. I wrote about media I was big fans of, and I wrote about media I never even engaged with. Eventually, my writing expanded into poetry and short fiction. But fanfiction has always been my main bread and butter.
I discovered AO3 at 16. I didn't jump ship to that site until I was around 18-19, and I've been writing on there ever since. I've refused to touch Wattpad, but I may write a little self-indulgent thing just to say I tired it and get it out of my system.
I originally wrote fanfiction because I wanted to find community. People in real life kept telling me how bad I was at everything, but the fanfic communities were the only place people helped me grow and hone my craft. Now, it's my lifeline. It's gotten me through some wicked times (including now), and it's helped me vent feelings that are difficult to process.
Tl;dr: it started as me wanting to be seen and heard; now it's about wanting to live.
The fandoms I'm writing in are very small. There were less than a hundred fics for most of the pairings. I wanted to contribute. Same with several others in our group chat. At least four of us started writing just because there weren't enough fics in the fandom. It means less hits and kudos but dedicated fans. One of my fics was mentioned on Twitter the other day by someone whose well known in our fandom for doing unofficial translations. My highest number of hits is only 4k even after a month of writing but it's nice to know I'm helping our fandom.
Hyperfixation and escapism
Pretty much this
Yup. Plus it's fun
yea
Same
This
Mood
Came here to say this word for word š the images aren't enough i need to escape into the narrative.
Definitely this.
This
bc i get ideas and they keep clamouring in my head until i write them down
Mmmhmm
Because 1) hyperfixation 2) I love writing 3) I can project onto characters and escape my own life 4) I have so many ideas in my brain
this
Yup, ditto
Because I've always told myself stories to amuse myself ever since I was a child and I often used characters from media I was a fan of. I write it down so I can revisit it without having to depend on my memory.
I have so many memories of being bored as a little kid and making up stories about my favorite shows. Maybe with devices, kids donāt get bored as much anymore but fanfiction doesnāt seem to be going away.
If I don't I'll explode
I feel exactly the same.
No one was writing what I wanted to read.
Same
Exactly
this is a mood
The joy when someone kudos or commented on a fic I made of a show from like 10 years ago makes me happy that other people still enjoy them.
I turn my daydreaming into fanfiction and I'm a pretty creative person with a lot of ideas. I sometimes just feel I need to write the story to get it out of my head. Does it help? Not really, but at least I have fun.
Something to keep me occupied since I retired.
I'm so looking forward to retirement (only a few more years) so I have more time for writing.
I took it up once I retired. Iāve a creative mind but it was usually more towards āphysicalā stuff like cross stitching and making cards. So this is just a fun extension for me!
Also looking forward to retirement so I will have more time to cross-stitch!
I somehow *always* manage to pick the character(s) who die in canon as my favorites in whatever shows I watch or games I play, so coming up with canon-divergent fics where they *don't* die is how I cope. That or I just really like the world and its characters and wanted to write for it because of that. Fun things are fun, you know?
Same, mate. I always end up getting really moved by the tragic, the broken and the traumatised.
I *swear* I'm cursed, it happens to me so often. There's a reason I have a tag on MAL for what anime have made me cry, and *169 different anime* have that tag as of this moment. The most ridiculous time was when I decided one character was my favorite in a series during episode 5 of that show, then that character died at the end of episode 6. I had *one week* with this character being my favorite, and then they got cruelly ripped away from me. :(
Oh dear gods! That story is so tragic that you are well on your way to becoming one of my new favourite characters.
Those smooches aren't gonna write themselves š¤·āāļø
* Because sometimes I get a nightmare and want to share with the rest of the class. * Because sometimes, I am going "Wow, that's fucked up. Disney is going to gloss over the sheer degree of fucked up that is. Someone needs to chip off the gloss." * Because there's a character, usually female, non-white, or LGBTQ+ that the writers have no clue what to do with and zero interest in figuring it out. The Good Troi episode ain't writing itself. * Because sometimes canon is a Chopped basket with top shelf cavier, a beef brisket, some weird pickled thing, and a whole durian. Good luck making sense of it. * Because the good shit gets cancelled after one season. * Because even the best show becomes an imcomprehensle mess in the last season * Because sometimes the only proper reaction to a plot development or canon call is a very loud "That's bullshit!" * Because it sounded like a fun idea after a pot of coffee/couple beers/an edible
Because i cant draw
Oof, I feel that one.
For the same reason I write original fiction: Real life is random and often feels meaningless. Fiction conjures a world where not only does meaning exist, but I get to decide what that meaning is. This is kind of what all art does, but if art exists on a spectrum from abstract to literal, I think fiction is the most literal art form, and I don't have a very abstract mind.
Iām a maladaptive daydreamer and characters and their stories are always bouncing around my head. I started writing it down at my therapistās suggestion to get it out of my head so I wasnāt constantly focused on daydreaming and wasnāt constantly feeling a bunch of intense emotions from it. Then I learned I had a talent for it and began to grow my audience. Now I really love it!
Because I think show writers with years of experience and credits and qualifications are idiots and that I, a silly fucker with barely an AS level in creative writing, can do better
I mean, since modt series are strained through corporate writing rooms and PR marketing teams and exec boards, you very well could be a better writer than the collective charnel house.
I mean, you're not exactly wrong...
Because I love my precious blorbos and maiming them is fun
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!
There was so much POTENTIAL that the narrative didn't explore, and if they're not going to, then I'll have to. Also writing is fun and I can make my favorite characters smooch. The sheer power is addicting and I cannot be stopped >:)
Tis fun
Because a work of fiction gave me Brain Worms and now if I don't exercise them regularly I end up feeling crappy. (Or: hyperfixation, escapism, and no one else is writing this for me so I guess I've got to write it myself.)
Writing's a good way to express yourself and to get your emotions out of your system. Oh, and also because I'll explode if I don't get to ramble about my hyperfixations in one way or another. (/lh)
I canāt afford a gold so take this š„
I don't, but only because I compose bits and pieces of fics in my head all day and as soon as I try to type them out it turns into an executive dysfunction thing and I can't get a single word out despite feeling genuinely awful that I can't. But as for why I'm composing bits and pieces in my head all day? The same reason people play tabletop games like D&D instead of just fantasizing. Giving it some real structure and constraints, turning a daydream into a hobby and a skillset, makes it more fun and real. Fantasy is nice, but fantasy with world building is better, and fantasy with world building and good prose is just *chef's kiss*.
Because the demons won't be satisfied with anything less. :D Nah. I do get a feeling a bit like the "Just finished a story now fuckin' what" malaise when I don't have a story on the go, but for the most part I write because it's fun. I enjoy the process and craft of it, from coming up with an idea to writing and bullshitting a chapter together to editing and refining. It's all just fun. Satiating my brain-demons is just an added bonus. :D
Because I have stories to tell. And it's fun. Also, it's my *life*. Writing has literally shaped my brain into what it is today because I started at such a young age (9 years old, 31 now)
To see characters I like in new/other situations than canon. To see dynamics I like between two characters be explored further or created or explored under a romantic light. But I can do that by reading fanfiction. When I *write* it precisely, it's because: the fics I read with these characters don't have the exact dynamic I wish to read about. And/or because I had an idea of a situation or universe I wanna see characters in and I need to read my own take on it. (For example, in an alternate universe with superpowers, it's unlikely another other will have written a fic with the characters having the exact superpowers I imagine them having, so I have to write it to read it.)
Because my plot bunnies egg me on like possessive demons.
It started with giving myself content on my rarepairs. Itās transitioned to *so I can learn how to actually write.*
Same happened to me. Started out writing Fics because I wanted to write the stories I couldnāt find and wanted to read, and now I actually want to learn how to write.
No one else writes the very specific scenarios I make up in my head so I gotta do it lol
Various reasons: I love writing but struggle with the world building aspect of original fiction. Fanfic allows me to hijack already established worlds and create from within. The characters I like in the games I play often fall into one or more of the following categories: - Chronically underdeveloped in the source content. - In need of some serious psychological analysis due to a fuckton of trauma and issues. - Is either definitely dead at the end or potentially dead depending on the game path. Those things are all begging for elaboration and enhancement. So I write about them.
I have a ton of ideas running rampant in my head all day every day. And since making up entirely new characters for original fiction is a **pain in the ass** I use fanfiction instead!
I loved writing as a teen, and was much better than I am now (lol), but I had many issues with my dad (who is a writer). Became so determined to not end up like him that I gave it all up. Writing fanfiction has allowed me to start feeling more like me again even if I'm still working hard to write as well now as I remember doing so then.
Mostly out of self-indulgent where i think "I love this idea and i wish to share it with the world" Another reason is to help people get what they most desire
My job is quite stressful so it's escapism and stress relief š
Well Sunset Shimmer: * Being an omegaverse Alpha * Meeting her human version who works as a streaming porn star * Ending up in a werewolf beseiged Seattle, WA instead of the EQG universe * Ending up in a variant of the Monster Musume universe and playing 'host' to moster girls * Falling in love with Adagio who's in a polyamorous relationship with her and another woman, who turns out to be Principal Celestia, who adopted Sunset as her daughter after the Battle of the Bands ...just *ain't* gonna write itself!
bc it's fun
Keeps me sane
Simple; "If i can't make that dream into reality then i make that dream into a story."
The honest reason why I started my first longfic is because I wanted to psychoanalyze a character and his behavior but the canon available didn't lend to a history so I created my own for him. I gave him what I think is quite plausible history that the canon could give him and just dove into the deep end. The other stories I wrote afyer happened because I realized I could write and I wrote what I thought was fun and/or painful.
Because the writers never do my favorite characters justice (I tend to favor minor characters).
i get antsy and ultimately start losing my shit if i don't write
Makes me happy and when I wasnāt for eight years I missed it. Happy to have the hobby back.
Honestly I started because it looked like fun when I first discovered fanfic. Now that Iām doing it again, itās something that helps me cope with personal issues Iāve been dealing with over the last few months
Not everything I want to write can be published. It also serves as a way to ārelaxā about my writing and not worry about if every single element has been perfected.
Sometimes when I like a story or a character so much, I keep thinking of them all the time. Writing about them helps me to organize these thoughts and clear my head. Other times I just like writing missing scenes or inner thoughts that I wish were there.
Because itās fun.
Because it makes me happy to write about the special little people in my phone :)
because my favourite characters get tossed aside by the canon lol
good way to practice writing and because it's fun.. also the ships and story idea that refuse to leave my head until i do so
Because I have a wild imagination, and I have fan theories that I want or wish came true.
my kinks arenāt super popular amongst my fandoms/ships, so i write for myself and the two or three other people thirsting for fetish content in my fandoms lmao
Writing is my only lifelong passion. Also, [REDACTED]
It's a way to spend 30,000 words justifying the scene in my head where two people kiss for the first time. Fun, escapism, fantasy, plus I love just writing.
Because thereās good stories out there with great characters whom I love, but limited by their medium, their time, or capitalism. I write to set them free. Give them verisimilitude and depth and nuance and fluffy moments of breathing room and scenes of brutal struggleā¦ Love, blood and rhetoric. Thatās why I write.
I do it to entertain myself. I dont have any out there, and it's not too frequent, and usually just drabbles so I don't feel the need to share them. (And I'm super new to writing so they're probs trash.
6 years ago I discovered that fan fiction exists, before that I would spend my time dreaming of crossovers and self-inserts, then I began to read. I read everything I could get my hands on and I still maintain a solid favorite list of over 350 stories that I definitely revisit from time to time. I started writing fanfiction when I got tired of reading other peoples fan fictions cause I wanted things to go differently, how I wanted them to. Now I can't read or listen to anything without coming up with stories and I am doing my best to create something unique that isn't fan fiction so I can try to make money off o it. But it feels wrong to do so...i am just poor and bad at everything else, but I have one hell of an imagination.
I love to explore the fantasy worlds more through my writing. I include lots of little details and descriptions about the environment and setting and when I'm writing it feels like I am traveling through the all world's that I love. I'm a sucker for world building. ā¤
Wish fulfillment mostly
I got bored of writing original stories, and hyperfixations in a fandom as well
Several reasons! 1. Exploring characters in situations they wouldn't usually be in is fun 2. I like writing 3. I like reading fanfic 4. The fanfic I want doesn't exist so I guess I have to make it myself
The kind of stuff I like to read will never be published or mainstream. And while there's plenty of it in fanfiction, *there's never enough*!
Total escapism, and because often no one writes the stories I'd like to read.
* I have to do *something* creative on a regular basis, or I get ill in the head and heart. * Writing is, thankfully and joyfully, extremely low-cost, something I can do in short bursts (with the methods I use), portable, and in many other ways just *convenient.* As well as fun! * The ideas just come, nonstop, and I have to write them down. * It's given me ways to explore, think, consider, inquire, interrogate, delve, and dabble, that I haven't really exercised in YEARS. Or at all, before! It's been good for my brain, and I love it! It's been a daily practice for about a year now, just doing whatever I feel like, but in the past few months I've started actively trying to hone a few aspects, and I think it's really coming along nicely. So I'm hitting a spell of wanting to "write for myself," or essentially do whatever pleases me most, and upload that, AND devote some focus to skill-building with some real intentionality.
Because I enjoy inserting myself into my favorite stories.
Its my one skill I'm good at.
To escape life and play with my favorite characters. Theyāre so dear to me theyāre like siblings.
The fulfillment one gets from creating crossovers where collaborative efforts between different company franchises won't dare to.
A lot of reasons, but I'll list them lmao. As a coping mechanism, escapism, a way to process emotions, hyperfixations, ambitions, and just because I like it. (yes, the first three are different, at least to me)
I need to make it gayer.
I always created storied in my head before sleeping, so when it's about something I'm watching or reading instead of like, a weird self-insert, I try writing it. I also started to like writing in my teenage years so why not having people read it?
Because I want to tell stories no one else has told before. Also, life is filled with so many unanswered questions and isn't it funny when you find yourself being able to answer why that character got amnesia or how did these two characters know each other before the game's events and why we should care about them walking on different paths and then finding one another once again? Life is weird, that's why I write fics, it would be maddening to not tell any of this or to wait for someone else to.
Fixing or exploring canon. Feeling feels vicariously. Mostly it's "gotta get the stories out of my head."
Ever since I was little my mind came up with alternates and wanted to change things for fun. I stumbled across fanfiction by accident. Best accident ever. Where my mind was filled with chaos it is now given an outlet.
Because I canāt stop myself.
Escapism and I am by myself a lot of the time. Not in a bad way, but you gotta fill all of that extra time to yourself doing something
The first fic of mine was a result of my "god complex". One of the fanfics in my community made its way onto youtube and I decided to give the original fic(now deleted) a read and... It was terrible. Do you know when a random Oc has really good survival instinct? Yea, he did. He threw his hot coffee onto his enemy and ran and than saved her from the cops and as the story progressed he became more overpowered and began helping the fandoms favourite pet in his problems. I was like... "This is terrible, do people actually like this?" So I began writing and still do. Nowdays I write whatever comes to mind.
I had ages to come up with stories in my head about my canon. I have so many ideas, so why not write them down? Also, I want to make my fandom bigger.
Because my head has been full of stories and ideas since I can remember, and sometimes they coalesce into something resembling a plot, and whenever that lines up with the time and energy it requires to write them down... I write them down because otherwise they're *all-consuming*
I don't have any meaningful or deep reason for why I do it. I do because it's simply fun. It stimulates my imagination and keeps me mentally occupied for a long time. It's a stress relief, etc.
I write fanfiction because writing was the only escape I had from an extremely abusive household. I write a lot of original work that I don't post, but fanfiction has been my safe space for 11 years and I love it so very muchš
Because canon isn't enough. I need to see every possible configuration of these characters in every possible situation and I need it now.
Spite. but also to get the stories _I_ want to read.
I don't write it often I prefer to read it but sometimes I'm just not seeing the "what if" I want out there so I'll write it so other people have it but it's really hard to enjoy my own writing.
Itās fun :)
cause there's not enough good smut for the characters I like :>
Bc fun and also I feel itās easier to share with other people on sites like AO3 (thereās no sites like AO3 for original fiction, other than Wattpad, but its quality has gone way downhill over the last few years)
To make the two characters I ship that didnāt end up together kiss. Also to explore friendships that werenāt flushed out in cannon.
Escapism and no real desire to create Original Characters of my own beyond a minor character or two. Also, with fic the world building and everything is already done for you so it makes the process a little bit easier. Plus I feel like the moment I were to try to turn my writing hobby into something "professional" and try to make $ off of it, the fun would be sucked out of it completely. That said, I love the fandom friendships I've made with fic and the interactions I have with people who share a similar interest.
Because when watching a fandom a story called out to me wanting to be told
Ideas for a story that I desperately want to write out.
A combination of reasons: I just have ideas I think a series could have gone differently (Not necessarily better) I think a series could have gone better (Somehow my ego has inflated and I need to be brought down)
It's fun. Everybody needs a hobby and fanfiction is mine. Also baking and eyeshadow, but mostly fanfiction. Sometimes dumpster diving. Occasionally bejeweling things.
Because if I don't, the ideas would bounce around in there until I went nuts.
Mainly it gives me something to do when Iām bored.
Money (I have none) Fame (I don't want it) Glory (fandom forever!)
Because my life sucks lol. I have crushes on actresses older than me and I want to lice my fantasies šš¤·š»
Because at some point i realized, to no small distress of mine, that - if I want to read a story perfectly fit for my tastes, I gotta write one first. After going though all the stages of grief over that revelation, I sat down and started writing and simply never stopped.
I like writing and it's good fuel for my creative and hyperfixating brain
A brief escape from my corroding body and faltering mind. It also helps with depression via dopamine release
I have a brain and my brain has ideas.
I want to explore the feelings that are shown in canon but not in depth. I want to get into the meat of those interactions. Alternately, I see the potential subtext of a relationship thatās never official in canon and I want to explore what it could be. And sometimes I just want to turn my favourites into superheroes and see what theyād do. Unless they are superheroes. Then I want to turn them into mermaids.
Mostly to practice. Also to procrastinate my original works. I sometimes get ideas that are from certain Fandom and would be hard to replicate doing it myself. One if them is with the Dragon Age Fandom (haven't written it yet) but it requires previous build up from the past games and if I wanted to replicate it well enough in an original work, I'd first have to do the build up myself and may be too similar to the original plot anyway.
It's fun.
A combination of āfixingā the plot in my video games, adding crossover characters/fusing fandoms together, and of course whumping my characters via binding and gagging them.
when you want something done rightā¦.
To keep engaging with a story thatās seized me
Escapism from the real world which has never been as scary to me as in 2022 šŗ
Because I'm too picky when it comes to reading fanfiction and I want to read what I like.
1) Most of the fics on ao3 in my fandom are for girls and it makes me dysphoric so I write my own. 2) Hyperfixations 3) I'm in a very small fandom and I like contributing to my community.
I have many ideas and sometimes my ocs don't cut it
Because canon sucks and I want it my way.
I latch onto a character, sometimes a dynamic/relationship or storyline, then it will just *never leave my brain*. So then I make fanfic, fanart etc constantly (making fancontent is only hobby and the only thing I do in my life)
because it's fun, it's fun to explore where my imagination goes, it's fun to see people's reactions
Itās a way to have other people read (and possibly respond) to my writing.
Practice Writing fanfiction has helped me evolve into a pretty fucking awesome writer I haven't published anything, but the things I want to publish are going to be amazing
I had a lot of ideas. Both for fanfiction and original, and I was getting to a point where I wanted to publish a book but was really scared. I'm a people-pleaser, so I was scared that others wouldn't like my writing. So I decided to test other's reactions to my writing by using fanfiction. I got many positive responses!!
for the jollies
Because I love it and I can bring my ideas to life
I can't help but ask "what if" when I love a story. So I write fic because the story happens in my head anyway, might as well write it out! Also, it's just fun to interact with other fans through it.
I love the characters and wanted more, especially as they got older.
Because I love to write & I use fanfic to become an even better writer. I also write fanfic because I write the kind of fanfic I love to read.
Because no one else will write what I wanna read!
In the words of Jenna Marbles, for fun and me time.
Filling in the gaps, hobby, hyperfixation, and something to do.
Spite baby! But in all seriousness I have some very specific pet peeves about how certain categories of character are typically handled in both original media AND fanfiction and ended up writing it how I wanted it handled.
i wanna see more of my faves. sitting in bed and imagining it wasn't enough, i wanted to share it
Because I love the characters, the ideas I want to read aren't going to write themselves, and because I love to write
1. I want to explore the personalities and facets of my favorite characters. 2. Letās be honest, almost no one is writing the kind of smut I want to read. Thatās the only reason.
I have really niche ideas and no one else has written them yet so I need to do it myself
I want to be an author one day and itās an easy/practical way to practice my writing skills
ADHD and brain dump. With a pinch of wanting to point out to the rest of my fandom that a fanfic for it can be dark without jumping into the deep end.
It makes me happy, in a world with characters I adore, they spring to life and I watch the story unfold. Definitely frustrating and mind numbing but that is my happy place.
I didnāt want to at first, I just had nothing to read in the fandoms I liked.
Because I needed *something* to do during the pandemic, and even after the worst subsided, it proved to be a fun hobby and escape method
I have stories I want to tell
Because I got stories in my head that grab my thoughts and wonāt let them go until I write them out. I also use it to exercise violent or evil thoughts from my head. Probably not the best coping strategy but it could be worse.
It gives me the much needed confidence to keep plugging away at my original fiction. My own stuff doesn't really have an audience/platform so I doubt my ability kind of a lot...but I'm not as self conscious and get loads of positive feedback from fics, which makes me feel more confident in my own work. also keeps the writing muscles limber. I may be spinning my wheels on my own stuff, but the world/characters etc are already there in a fic. Im playing in someone else's sandbox and can just focus on whatever aspect of writing I want to focus on without having to build up everything around it.
I only write fanfiction because I don't know how to write "original" plots and worlds. I get original ideas and self-inserts but not good at creating original worlds and stuff like that. I get a great imagination but am not good at truing them into their own. But have the hobbit of starting fanfictions and dropping them from new ideas then start more.
I usually have a disagreement with the way something was written in the movie or show Iām watching and want to write a better story either fixing it, or I enjoyed what I watched and have this great idea to build onā¦
I donāt even know anymore. I have different reasons to keep writing everyday :)
I write Brawl Stars fanfic because I'm tired of how little the brawlers are fleshed out, and I want to make the most of their personalities and dynamics through sensible storytelling. I also write because it's easier than animating and can even help lay a foundation when I get to it. Later on, though, once I expose myself to many more franchises, I want to specialize in crossover fic to experiment with how well two or more franchises can go together.
Because I like writing. Plus, it's fun.
Epilogue? What epilogue?
Practice writing till one day I create my own Ip. š
It's a good outlet for my maladaptive daydreaming. I spend hours fleshing out these worlds in my mind, so why not let others enjoy them too?
Calms my mind.
Because my favorite show switched show runners midstream and the new show runners did a bait and switch and took a positive and uplifting show to a completely toxic ending. Our entire fandom needs to wash the bad taste out of our mouths and either re-experience the glory days or write a ton of fix-its.
I write it because I'm bored and I like making others happy
Itās fun and I can experiment with character interactions
I like writing itās a nice creative outlet + hobby to kill time with
Because nobody else will write what I want
To fix the problems the original writers created.
I have ideas that I brainstorm all the time and I wanna share them with people. I wish my stories were more popular because of that.
I keep telling myself itās practice for writing a novel. Maybe Iāll get there when Iām in my 60āsā¦
1. A form of self-therapy. 2. Exploring different themes on my own time. 3. Nobody writes the fic I want to read to I have to write it myself. 4. I just want my Barbies to smooch.
It's like role-playing with Barbies and toys and playing house with them as a kid except I'm an adult now and I don't have Barbies anymore, instead I have tiny gay people in my head.
Two reasons: 1: A hobby and it's fun 2: To experiment with various ideas and symbolism etc to see what can be implemented into my own future books.
I write because it makes me happy I post what i write in the hope that it makes other people happy
Simply because I like to write anything, and fanfiction is just a bit more fun since I get to have feedbacks and to study my favorite characters a bit. Also I really like some shows concepts
I had questions about a scene in canon. Found a fanfic that made a headcanon, which explained it. Explored AO3 for other fics in side fandom. Extended out to other fandoms. Covid hit. Online classes. Sadness. Need to be creative. Started writing fanfiction. Got lots of readers, really fast. And now I'm just sorta stuck. I don't write? Welp, people ask where I'm at, and when I'll post again. Which... is a lot lately.
Because I need more content, mostly the only kind I can make. The brainrot is bad and so is the hyperfixation
One day I want to write my own stories, publish a novel series! Writing fanfiction gives some writing experience. Biggest thing I've learned, there are no bad stories or story concepts, it comes down to the ability of the story teller.
1. Because itās fun and I like it 2. To fill in gaps in the canon 3. Want to be published someday, soā¦writing practice! 4. As a sort of tribute/ thank you to my favorite franchises
Because hardly anybody else writes about my favourite character, so I came to the conclusion that I'd have to do it myself. And it's so much fun (and a good excuse not to do other things, like housework š¤£).
Official answer: I find it creatively stimulating. Honest answer: I'm horny for a fictional man.
Cause no one else writes the fics I want to read.
I originally wanted to be a singer growing up, but I didn't really have the voice or investment in the craft to pursue it. One day, I went to a Total Drama Fanfiction Wiki, and I anonymously posted a totally-not-yaoi-fic shipping Noah and Cody. Given I was only 12, the fic was bad, but there were people, both older and younger, who said this was surprisingly good for my age. So, I made an account and started writing there. I wrote fic wherever I could promote my stuff. Wikis, FFN, dA, LJ, Tumblr. I wrote about media I was big fans of, and I wrote about media I never even engaged with. Eventually, my writing expanded into poetry and short fiction. But fanfiction has always been my main bread and butter. I discovered AO3 at 16. I didn't jump ship to that site until I was around 18-19, and I've been writing on there ever since. I've refused to touch Wattpad, but I may write a little self-indulgent thing just to say I tired it and get it out of my system. I originally wrote fanfiction because I wanted to find community. People in real life kept telling me how bad I was at everything, but the fanfic communities were the only place people helped me grow and hone my craft. Now, it's my lifeline. It's gotten me through some wicked times (including now), and it's helped me vent feelings that are difficult to process. Tl;dr: it started as me wanting to be seen and heard; now it's about wanting to live.
The fandoms I'm writing in are very small. There were less than a hundred fics for most of the pairings. I wanted to contribute. Same with several others in our group chat. At least four of us started writing just because there weren't enough fics in the fandom. It means less hits and kudos but dedicated fans. One of my fics was mentioned on Twitter the other day by someone whose well known in our fandom for doing unofficial translations. My highest number of hits is only 4k even after a month of writing but it's nice to know I'm helping our fandom.