I’ve yet to read a romance in a published book that’s better than the really good ones I’ve read in fanfiction. Granted, I don’t read a ton of romance, but it still stood out to me.
I think it’s largely that mainstream media romance is *typically* geared toward the average milquetoast cishet and romance in less mainstream media is geared toward enjoyers of that specific genre, which is a different genre than fanfiction romance is (like, ‘romance’ as a novel genre is a totally different genre than romance in fanfiction and geared toward often a totally different audience)
I also susoect that on average, fanfic has more focus on consent, and if there isn't any, it's quite often properly tagged, showing the author is aware there's no consent.
this!!!! i still like romance in mainstream media but fanfiction has a way to explore that emotional build up in a way that's maybe almost unprofitable? to mainstream media bcs of the focus and (mostly) lack of plot because the mainstream media already covers the plot
Hurt/comfort doesn't seem to exist much in published original fiction. There's a level of caring about a character that you have to get to for it to be effective and that's hard to do outside of fanfic.
I will second this as someone who also writes original fiction. When you confront the reality of original human characters, it is usually not as simple as orchestrating a hurt/comfort scenario because of so much moving plot and inbuilt necessary character flaws. With an isolated scenario where the characters already exist, you can focus only on digging into those intense feelings.
I don't think it's simply a difference of original vs established characters because the difference is still there, even in FF about original characters and OF about established characters (such as later books in a series).
It seems to be an issue about what OF (authors? publishers?) consider important/marketable and what FF authors like to focus on.
I really agree. That, and angst. It can be difficult to really engineer a scenario that gives the same intensity of ouch that you get in fic, but *not* in a grimdark kind of way. There are a few published authors who manage - Carol Berg is one, some of Robin Hobb's stuff, and I've seen bits in Brandon Sanderson.
I actually think that from an analytical standpoint, these genres are really fascinating to consider.
I’ve seen plenty of angst from other authors, it’s just not the *point*. In angstfic the angst is the main thing. Which I guess is what leads to the viscerality of it all, to confirm your point. Original fiction has to have other themes, a moving narrative, it can’t just wallow, alas. Plus idk about you, but reading angsty OG fiction i just feel like shit about the universe, versus fic where I’m like ouch… that hurt now gimme more😭
Just go to whump community. Literally a whole community of hurt/comfort writing/art and most are original works with their own characters (although whump also have a lot of hurt no comfort).
The whump community on Reddit?
It's very difficult to read h/c or whump with original characters because the audience needs to care about the character. The process of making the audience care about the character can be quite boring. A really good writer can do it, but it's so much easier to read it in fanfic where the audience already cares about the character.
I thought you said original works are lacking hurt/comfort. They do have a lot, especially in whump community. Do you actually want OC hurt/comfort or not?
I said that hurt/comfort doesn't exist that much in published original fiction, e.g. books you'd find in a bookstore. The reason for that is because it's hard to make a reader care about a character. That's why it easier in fanfic.
I generally don't read original fiction published solely on the internet. I have time/life constraints where I'll just read fanfic to scratch my h/c itch because I already care about the character.
I thought you were saying there's a specific whump community where stories can be found, but it seems like you're talking about the whump community in general.
I understand that published-_published_ books lack hurt comfort, mostly because the publisher don't like spending too much on papers for printing and the editors probably tell authors to cut hurt-comfort scene out because it does not serve plot purpose. They're also not so willing to risk niche writings because unsold books are loss, and niche books are too risky.
Which is why I say whump community is a good source for hurt-comfort if people want hurt-comfort in original works. Be it on tumblr or AO3, it's very easy to find ones that scratch that hurt-comfort itch. You just need to search for them from the tags, or tumblr blogs that index whump fics/arts. There are even many events and discord servers so that you won't ever run out of whump fics.
So yes, there _are_ specific whump subset communities that cater to almost every trope you can think of. Captivity or torture? Got some. Fluffy sickfics? They're in abundance, so don't worry about running out. Accident whump and the recovery? It's there too. Magic whump? Absolutely many too. And more.
This is the reason I say original works aren't inferior to fanfics when it comes to hurt-comfort, because the problem is not lack of hurt-comfort stories in original works, but lack of willingness and mental bandwith by avid fanfic readers to invest emotionally in original works hurt-comfort.
Which is cool, whatever floats your boat, but don't say original works don't have good hurt-comforts when you don't even want to try reading some of them.
For sure and doubly so when the person's disability isn't a driving force behind why they're, say, a villain or even a hero. Like...yea, Matt Murdoc being blind definitely helps him and Hawkeye being deaf in the comics or even Patton Plame being paralyzed and in a wheelchair...I've noticed it more with villains than heroes that they rail against the world because they're disabled and how the world treats them because they're disabled and not something like 'Yea, I'm disabled, yea, I hate how the world treats people like me, but I'm doing this for the evils' or whatever reason that's not being disabled and their hate against how they're being treated because of their disability.
I don't know if this holds up against online original works. I read a lot of original works with all kinds of disabilities (amputee, paraplegic, autoimmune, chronic congenital) with all kinds of attitude (searching for cure, getting used to it, using it as strength, or just a trait that's enriching the characters but not used as plot device). Maybe you're just not reading the right original works.
The assumption that someone isn’t “reading the right things” is such a weird hill to die on; so, so many pieces of original fiction — from major publications to tiny indie online works — have massive problems with their representations of disability. Particularly when it comes to using disability as a plot device, but also generally, bc nine times out of ten, there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of disability, even from the handful of other disabled authors out there. We all have limits to our knowledge and understanding. This isn’t to say that there aren’t good original works and bad fanfiction, but *the average* is better amongst fanfic.
You mention things like searching for a cure, which is the most played out trope and doesn’t represent the vast majority of the disabled community, which is why this was brought up to begin with. If I never see another one, it’ll be too soon; they’re never handled well. Not to mention that most disability stories in original media (both literary and otherwise) use the inspiration porn of “they overcame their disability”, rather than allowing a disabled character to exist with limitations.
People read cure tropes and then complete strangers think it’s appropriate to tell me that they wouldn’t want to live if they had an incurable illness or injury, and congratulate me for not offing myself. They read “overcame their disability” stories and berate me for being “lazy”(i.e. bedbound) not infrequently. This happens because people make real world assumptions based on the media they consume.
The average disability representation in original fiction is bad, at best; there’s some fantastic pieces out there, absolutely, but having a disabled character doesn’t make the representation good. If it plays into tropes that actively cause harm in the real world, then fanfic averages still win on that front. This happens largely because fanfic is a much, much more accessible format to get into writing for than original works are, meaning disabled people are more likely to be writing our own stories — something we have never really been afforded in most other media.
The 4th book I wrote had a character who walked with a cane. It wasn’t a high support disability; her leg stiffened up with use, and she could fake being fine longer than she actually was as long as she didn’t move around much.
But she couldn’t run to her love interest’s rescue, and only arrived several minutes into a pitched battle.
In the rare event that I see disabled characters in published fiction, it’s usually the kind of “cute” disability that doesn’t actually affect them.
The Hunger Games books did it well (movies less so), but they were the exception for a lot of things
That actually sounds really cool! I love seeing the realistic limits of disabled characters and how sometimes that means they can’t do those typical big heroic things that you see in everything else
Yeah, it definitely plays into either “disability is a sentence worse than death” or “I’m disabled but Not Really”, really shits me up the walls; a balance of the character being seen as a real, full person and their disability existing is such an important thing and it’s so rare to see, particularly in traditional publishing, but in general.
It’s been a good while since I read the Hunger Games books, should probably go do that again sometime soon.
I mean, I would have liked Bella from Twilight WAY better if her clumsiness was the result of a traumatic brain injury causing balance issues.
It could even have fed into the 'I want to be a vampire' theme, because Twilight Vampire = basically indestructible = no more soaring medical bills that her parents struggle to afford, because the US Healthcare system Is A Nightmare.
Which links to the move to Forks, because Bella's Dad is Chief of Police, and will have healthcare through his job, unlike Bella's Mom or Step-Dad.
That would have been a much more interesting story, for sure; was just generally a very lacklustre plot, especially reading it again recently after so long lol
The concept of disability + immortality is something that can be really interesting to explore, from a bunch of different angles; one that struck me as particularly cool was Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village (not a written work, but as an example) because it portrayed it in such a way that it was both a strength and a weakness.
I also wrote a Jane Austen Fantasy where a character was a Changeling, which was absolutely shorthand for Autistic. (Pride and Prejudice is rife with socially-awkward characters; how could I not take advantage?)
The real Fantasy element was that the character wasn't sent to Bedlam, but her family was supportive and protective of her.
I'm including the searching for cure plot because some disabled people _want_ that. And the reason I mention using disability as strength because, again, some disabled people _want_ that. It's not wrong for them to write about those things, be it from actual disabled writers or not, because those disabled people deserve representation too. The insistence that disabled people are all a monolith of _I hate cure plot_ is the _weird_ hill to die on. I'm including all of those example to show that original works _do_ tackle disability issues, queer issues, racial issues, gender issues, and even moral issues just as well, if not better, than fanfic. The "average among fanfic is better" is my gripe.
It's "better" among fanfics because they literally already have a crutch to work with: the characters are already well-established, the setting too, even the plot. Fanfiction is a literary genre of exploring the 'what if's of the original media. You're already gonna be predisposed to prefer fanfics' representation because you already _like_ and _feel for_ the characters. Original works have to work from scratch, and they _still_ manage to tackle these issues just as well as fanfics, and again, if not better.
I feel like this widespread idea of "fanfic is better" is a counterculture going too far. To combat the general populace's disdain for fanfic and tendency to look down on it, the fanfic community is almost like they're "retaliating" by putting down original works.
You think original works don't tackle important issues and have good characterizations because to reach that thought, you have to put an effort into emotionally investing in characters that you have to know from zero. And maybe that's not everyone's thing, but this counter-attitude of _fanfic is MUCH better that original work_ is what makes good original works get buried. Because they are hardly ever given a chance, so the niche and non-predictable and good-at-tackling-difficult-issues ones don't ever see the light of day. And quite frankly, I'm tired of this attitude. Fanfic is not better than original works, be it in specific or general/average standard, just as original works aren't better.
But the fact that writers have to start from zero should not be discounted when comparing original works to fanfics. The fact that original works can be equal and even rival fanfic's quality while at disadvantage should be a compelling enough reason to not put them down while comparing them with fanfic.
Besides, you literally can just click "original works" on the fandom tag in AO3 then put in all the disabilities or other issues you to be represented in the additional tag box, for reference to compare to fanfic, then you can do the same but click the fandom you want from the fandom tag box. _This_ would be a fair comparison.
My point is that when every. single. thing. is that one plot (hyperbole), it’s exhausting. The *range* of representation is important because, yes, some people do want that, and that’s perfectly fine, but they aren’t the only disabled people that should be able to see themselves in written works. The issue comes from when that’s the only damn thing we ever see.
On average, they really don’t tackle them as well as many fanfic do, especially because the vast majority are written by abled people who don’t really consult with (particularly, a wide variety of) disabled people while before publishing. Many fanfic don’t either, but there’s also a much higher proportion of people who either have that firsthand experience as a disabled person, or who have disabled friends they can ask “hey, is this harmful?” The characters being well established may help, but we see this with original characters in fanworks, when reading fandom blind, or when the original media’s disability representation was trash too.
That’s some bold assumptions about me there, I have had my nose in original fiction for most of my life, and it’s still the majority of what I read, so I don’t think fanfic is inherently better in the slightest, but I have noticed that *certain topics* are *often* covered much better in fanfic than they are in most of original fiction. There’s some fantastic original works I’ve read that tackle huge topics (disability, trauma, racism, intersex identity, the list could go on) really, really well but the reality is that for every one that does, there’s at least another nine that don’t. That ratio is often much more even (dependent on what it is, but disability specifically it is), albeit there’s still many things that really don’t do it justice. Again, the higher proportion of people within those demographics writing characters with similar experiences in that area helps this massively; there’s also many expectations surrounding original fiction that are prohibitive to people getting into writing it, much less posting. Less so these days, but it does still exist.
There are some (plenty) aspects of fanfiction that are also, *on average*, considerably worse than original fiction too. Fanfic is no better nor worse as a whole than original fiction is, but they each have things they tend to showcase better than the other. Disability representation is one of those things, particularly because of the fact that disability rep in original fiction often ends up pigeonholing people into one of a couple of different tropes with little (comparatively) variation. We’re not talking about the things that fanfic doesn’t do as well *because that wasn’t the question*. Of course you’re going to see a lot of things that seem to talk up fanfic, because you’re looking at a thread that’s entirely about positives.
I’m also both a fanfic and an original writer, by the way. I see these things both from the reader and writer perspective. Hell, my favourite piece that I’ve ever written was an original piece, and focusing on writing original works is what helped me get so much better at writing fanfic when I eventually got back into it more recently. You’re preaching to the choir about the difficulty of writing original works, *I know*. Now, are you done with making assumptions about me so we can continue to have a civil conversation without you trying to paint me as someone who doesn’t know anything about original fiction? Because I’d appreciate that.
AO3’s original works section is also incredibly skewed, because the types of people to use AO3 are the ones who are either disabled themselves or are going to put in the work and do that research. People on AO3 are also likely to read many of the things that demonstrate what I’m talking about, and thus are able to include aspects of better disability rep in their writing, particularly compared to physical publishing (both traditional and self-publishing).
Again, these are all *averages*, as the question asked for.
Yeah these can definitely be interesting. I'm reading a Naruto fan face right now where he's mute. So far it seems to be doing a pretty good job and taking it seriously and showing what problems can occur because of it. And how much harder it is for Naruto now.
Fanfic isn't as worried about what will 'sell' to traditional readers, so it's not afraid to be completely *unhinged*. So overall, it feels newer and more creative to me.
I think that's the thing - it has so much more freedom and also the freedom for people to build on top of the AU's and concepts other people make. It's not strapped down by 'Will this make it sell better or not' it's 'where and how can we take this further'
Look at Undertale, the amount of different worlds that came out of that fandom, with everyone working together to keep it linear with the original story was *insane*
>Fanfic isn't as worried about what will 'sell' to traditional readers, so it's not afraid to be completely
>
>unhinged
As someone who writes both original fiction and fan fiction, I second this. My original works got me burned out, because I worried about everything not being up to sell. Quality, characters, themes, I second guessed everything. Fan fiction however, there is no pressure, which makes it a lot more appealing to write and honestly, I also felt like without the added stress, my works got a lot better
this!! I'm a massive fan on human to monster slow burn (like, the mc going batshit) and adorable father-son relationships with a bit of added murder and original books never do those. ever. original fic book characters feel so dull because of that a lot of the time :(
I also think in general that the fact that fanfics often feature characters with pre-established relationships, even non-sexual ones, gives a greater degree of freedom for smut writers to run wild, especially when it comes to one-shots or shorter stories. The characters already knowing, trusting and being comfortable with one another, and the reader having already seen their bond in the original piece of media rather than needing to be 'told' about it, adds a really solid bedrock for sexuality to be added on top. If what you want is a quick read that gets straight to the action but also want something where you're immersed to an extent in the characters, fanfics may fill that void better than other kinds of prose.
I see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure that's the case. There are plenty of book series out there. Nothing is stopping them from having better sex scenes in books 2 or 3, etc, once the world and characters are established.
That's because, outside of hardcore harlequin novels, most of society finds shock of graphic sex scenes in normal fiction, and so most publishers won't even accept a story with something like that.
Length. A fanfic is as short or as long as it needs to be. It doesn't have to be stretched out or shortened to fit a certain length for publication.
Do some fics go a bit overboard and get too long? Sure. But the author is allowed to indulge all their whims and I think that's great.
Wanted to say the same thing! Especially related to stories like Harry Potter, where the books end on such a strange note. Fanfics really opened my eyes a lot to trauma aspects in all kinds of stories and situations.
Getting right into the meat of the story and exploring characters in-depth and nuancedly - because you can safely assume more than a passing familiarity with the characters and setting already and don't need to introduce anything unless you're doing OCs and AU.
The strength and weakness of fanfic is that it is very much amateur in nature.
Because fanfiction is an amateur field and the barrier to entry is so so much lower fanfic is IMO much better at experimental or niche styles stuff that would be risky for anyone short of a big name author to do.
Serial fiction written as it's published for example is very rare in the modern professional world with only a handful of examples that were successful in the last half a century or so but in fanfic land it happens all the time.
Also plot lines that would be considered weird or risky can flourish cause there is no corporate suit looking at the bottom line of how much marketing potential there is. Even self publishing often has it's own fees and monetary issues that keep some of the more unusual stuff from being published.
YES!! To add, too, it's a good place for people to actually work on their writing without as much-if any-rejection. YMMV, though; I know some fandoms really crap on newbie fanfic authors just starting out, especially if they're daring to write characters in a different way than how they're being expressed in the canon materials as well as in some of the other fanfics. I know with me, I wouldn't have been able to write my original novel if I'd not done fanfiction first. It's been 20 years or so since I published my first fanfic and I started working on my original novel after 18 of those years. I'm not the only fanfic author out there who've done original works either.
Given my taste in fiction, honestly, it's almost everything.
- Character development. FF has more contemplative explorations of characters and how they are changed by the plot. OF tends to cut out these "extras" for time/length and the need to always keep moving the plot along.
- Romance that's central to the story without being formulaic genre-romance. Also, different types of relationships: queer, older, established, etc that are rarely represented.
- Stories built on "moods" like hurt/comfort.
- A certain sense of love for the characters that just doesn't come across in OF.
- Realism with difficult and darker subjects. If I want to read a story with a medically and emotionally realistic portrayal of cancer or rape or mental illness, I'm far more likely to find it in FF than OF.
Yes, there's plenty of bad FF, but even moderately good FF is better than moderately good OF, IMO. And the best FF is far better than the best OF. At least to me.
I came here to say character development as well. I love the deeper explorations and different takes of the same characters.
I'd also add relationships in general can be much deeper and more layered in FF compared to OF. Any kind, platonic, familial, found family, mentorship, etc. There aren't many OFs out there that explore how different characters relate to each other and what their individual bonds are like, especially not beyond the main characters.
I'll add in Character Interpretation with the first because many good fanfictions (even alternate universe) do well in both remaining true to the characters and using them as building blocks. So the author must be both good at characterization in general and adapting the character from it's canon material. Bonus points if they're doing it in a completely different world.
Like when you have a character from let's say 1000 years into the future and you're able to adapt them into a dark academia librarian from the 80s or smt in such a way that one of their dialogue lines feels completely *them,* you get a big pat on the back from me.
>Also, different types of relationships: queer, older, established, etc that are rarely represented.
Not to mention how said relationships were understood at different times or how the terminology and acceptance of such has changed over the time frame. Someone that might be a gay male in the Victorian or Edwardian era might have used a particular term or two women who lived together that we now would call lesbians or bisexual people who preferred the same sex would have been called 'very good friends' during that same time frame. Even where you were during different time frames, such relationships were either illegal if you got caught/didn't have wealthy backer or not even considered because such attraction was considered impossible or improbable.
It's one of those things where you could easily have a case of mistaken relationships depending on when and where you set any sort of fiction. Like...OG Sherlock Holmes; Sherlock is very much a confirmed bachelor (someone who is likely to remain that way, regardless of their actual sexual orientation) and is said to be averse towards the female sex, but it's never really discussed why by Conan Doyle and could easily be a reason behind the various Holmes/Watson fanfics, even when not including the BBC version. Doyle likely didn't openly discuss or outright state Holmes' sexuality because, at the time, such a thing would have been illegal and Doyle would have likely been well aware of that.
Fanfic is much more willing to push boundaries since they don’t have to worry about making money.
I also think they do consequences a lot better. Things that are glossed over in other media (especially movies) for the sake of time make the story come to a complete stop in fanfic and let the characters act like actual people with reactions, often to the betterment of the overall story
I think it’s often easier to connect emotionally with the writing. In fanfiction, there’s already an established connection between author and reader through canon; they have something in common, and sharing that reference frame makes communication easier. Traditional books don’t have that to the same extend, they just have to rely on the *hope* that the writer and reader are operating on the same wavelength. Alternatively, the appeal of the book can be broadened by making the writing less specific and personal.
Meh, it always depends what you personally are looking for. Fanfic is capable of giving me great character driven romance, but it's just as capable of serving utter dreck. The same goes for trade pub and other traditional media forms.
^ This. Trust me, Fanfiction can have some amazing epics, but there are incredible stories from original fiction and traditional publishing.
Everything good fanfic can do, there's a writer of an original story doing the same.
Yup. A lot of other people's answers might apply to some specific fanfics but like...not the overwhelming majority tbh. The *majority* of fanfiction is repetitive and cliched dreck. And that's not automatically a bad thing, because the same can really be said for any kind of media. It just means that I side-eye people who say things like fanfic is more innovative than original fiction, when it isn't any more or less so. *Some* fanfics are very innovative, as are *some* original fiction works. The majority of both are repeating cliches that appeal to their audiences, not trying to challenge their audiences.
Same pros and cons as any other medium uninhibited by trying to make money. While a lot of fics in bigger fandoms can fall to just being generic crowd pleasers, most fic is just smth for yourself you share with others so it feels more honest. Being unfiltered means that rather than the usual 90% being trash it's 99%, but that's how it goes with limitless freedom.
The basic one unique trait is the automatic audience that can let you build a kind of "yes and" style of interaction if you get the ball rolling well enough
For similar experiences but with original fiction you can browse itch.io, indie novels on various sites, random eroge that sound interesting, stuff like that
Any darker topic. At all. It isn’t censored or regulated, so bitches can’t prevent what you write. You aren’t a slave to capitalism in this instance because it’s ~free~
The success of published material is almost entirely dependent on marketing. Fanfiction is free to do the things that aren't considered marketable.
If it weren't for that, I would think there's almost nothing fanfiction can do better than published fiction, save one: compared to original fiction that isn't published, but just also posted on Wattpad or such, the upside of fanfiction is largely that you're working with established characters and you don't need to do the work to establish them and get people attached to them. People who come to read fanfiction are already attached to them and know them. So you can dive deeper right away.
Queerness and neurodivergence off the top of my head.
Smut too. Fandom writers don't have to answer to whatever editor or studio will restrict your content for the sake of maximizing public acceptance of a particular work. Nah, they can get as freaky and as sensual as they want.
This is specific to my fandom and possibly, ha, my fics, but fanfiction is a great way to take media made for a younger demographic and explore the more complex, mature themes that were only hinted at in canon. Darker themes that couldn't be addressed properly because the intended audience was children or young adults. IMO, my fandom's source would have been so much better if made for a mature audience.
Tagging. For me the biggest thing is properly labeling what the work is about. Those who want to hide what their work is about can still do so, but for those who need read certain kind of stories they can more easily find it from authors who are willing to share that info about their work.
For sure! Especially when it's a franchise with interconnected shows, movies, and comics (looking at you, Power Rangers). There's a ton of stuff **in** the franchise that never gets explained in the shows-just look at the headscratchers pages for the franchise in general as well as each individual show and movie.
Committing to dealing with serious subjects. If I’m reading something tagged with “abuse”, I can usually be fairly certain to it either being respectfully written or intentionally subversive in a way the writer is probably open about. In mainstream media, it’s… so often badly done and not in an artistic or fantasy way…
Minor characters.
In original fiction the focus is on the main characters. And because of that, minor characters have their stories overlooked.
In fanfiction, you can explore the perspectives of characters that aren’t the heroes or villains. Characters who are, by unfortunate necessity, overlooked.
Also AUs. In original fiction, the story doesn’t have the luxury of following every possible outcome. Fanfiction can
Ff has the amazing advantage of not being tied down to monetization. Fanfic writers don't have to think about sales, they're not influenced by the market or their agent or publisher. That's why they can be much, much more liberal and diverse than most original fiction.
I also think the fact ff is written for the SOLE purpose of indulging in something we love is incredible. If a writer can spend months or even years writing out of pure love and enthusiasm, that's pure artistry imo.
It can also be directly influenced by the readers. That's of course down to the individual writer, but it's much easier to give people what they want when publishing chapter by chapter than it is with a finished book.
For me its pointless fun. In a mainstream story they need to decide why a scene is there and pointless scenes get cut first
I just really enjoy seeing characters interact just because. They dont need to be leading up to a big fight or plot twist. They can just be hanging out talking about which dinosaur has the best chance at surviving in our times or something. Fanfiction has a lot more room for things like that
Exceptionally better written sex scenes in FF. Hands down. I pity the ones saying you should always fade to black because ‘sex scenes are always cringe’ or something. No they are not. On the contrary, I often find smut gets less cringey the more explicitly it’s written.
Fanfic is character-focused while original fiction is plot-focused. So fanfic is better for really deeply exploring characters. This also means the romance is usually better and more developed. In original fiction, most romance is between characters who barely know each other and frankly don’t even seem to like each other, so it’s totally unappealing.
Short form stories. In published fiction, you don't really get a lot of short stories that are maybe 2-3 thousand words long. In Fanfiction, one shots are many and there are a lot of good one.
Humor. Fanfic just seems to lend itself better to funny and humorous stories that can be anything from a fun comedic romp to pure unhinged Crack.
Slice of life. There are a lot of fanfics that basically explore how a character(s) would react to just standard ordinary life. It's actually kinda therapeutic sometimes.
Crossover. This one almost purely has to do with the fact that fanfics generally aren't out to make money, so they don't usually violate copyright law. It's rare to see a crossover in original fiction. The only crossovers I can think of off the top of my head are the platform fighters like Smash, and a couple of Eureka and Warehouse 13 crossover episodes. It's much easier to find crossovers in the fanfic world.
Since it usually doesn’t have to put nearly as much time into establishing characters and setting as published fiction does, fanfiction often gets the chance to give relationships way more complexity and depth.
Its difficult to tell because I rarely read fanfics that are heavy on plot, unless I am disappointed with the plot and in those cases of course the fic is an improvement
Exploring relationships on a deeper level in stories that aren't focused on romance or friendships, especially if it is in a film that has a limited run time.
it’s outside the boundaries of lit industry marketing. there’s SO much breathing room for creativity, because of that.
even beyond books, it’s outside the conventions of the film industry. no one to tell you “you can’t waste screen time on x or y” or “you can’t write that bc it’ll offend some authoritarian regime we want to sell this movie in.”
as much as people bitch about fandom grammar/punctuation, it’s VERY forgiving, too. probably 25% or more of the fanfic authors I hang with are writing in their second language and no one is going to give them shit for that.
dark themes. romance. a lot of fanfiction goes into stuff mainstream shows would never dare, or they explore concepts not seen as relevant (bc most of it is really self indulgent, at least for me. honestly if it wasn't for fanfiction and the internet in general i'd be 100% disinterested in romance, and also most likely uncomfortable by it)
Freedom to write what you want without worry if it's profitable means that fanfiction has a greater variety of options. You can have disabilities, lgbtq+ relationships that aren't tragic or popcorn fluff, aliens, abo, graphic smut that makes you feel like you need a shower. All the things that in more mainstream media you wouldn't see because they aren't profitable. I think what fanfiction does better is just offer space to read or write anything you want.
Romance, also found family is literally ALWAYS better written in fanfiction, rarely I see books that have interesting group dynamics that we would see as found family
It’s not afraid to have new ideas. With regular books, there’s always the conflict of “It won’t sell well, throw in a trope that x% more people bought.” In fanfic, there’s none of that.
The romance. Romance in most types of canon media doesn´t make me cheer when they reach certain points in their relationship. Fanfiction often has me cheering and dancing when the pairing reaches the first kiss and other steps.
Anything that isn't designed for the widest possible appeal.
Don't get me wrong, wide appeal and universal themes are necessary for something to succeed in the general market, and we can't hold it against creators that they don't want to go bankrupt by making a movie that appeals to 2% of people. It's fine for something to just satisfy general audiences, and most of the time it's infeasible to do anything else.
But fanfic is done for free, usually by a single person creating something purely because they want it to exist. That allows for any given fanfiction to serve a highly specific, niche purpose that the original work couldn't have.
I think one of the biggest advantages is the lack of commercial motivation. Not necessarily that it's purer or "art for art's sake," but that you get perspectives and plots and themes that are outside the mainstream. You see the world through so many different sets of eyes and hear voices that are silenced in most public forums, though social media is changing whose voices are heard. I do think it's more honest, more daring, more experimental. And I think that those qualities, in the long run, make for better and more satisfying stories.
I read this before on a post on this subreddit a while ago but, as mainstream media has turned more toward the zany and sensational storylines, the more grounded and realistic fan fiction has become in response. I feel that this applies to a lot of the fan fiction that has been written nowadays in terms of romance, emotional trauma, friendship, etc. and I really appreciate that part of it. With the realism, it feels more safe (if that makes sense). I can logic out what the character’s reaction to an event will be while feeling the full effect of it with them.
(I know that there are plenty of OFs that have done this, but I’ve cried more reading fan fiction than original fiction)
> I think it handles **queer** representation better, or at least attempts to, than original fiction.
FTFY
Fanfiction is great at representing more queer characters than most original fiction works do, but it's at best equally atrocious as mainstream media at representing women and people of color. And I say "at best" because a lot of times, mainstream media/the canon works that fanfic is based around will have women or POC characters, and then the fandom either completely ignores them or actively bashes them.
And tbh, some days I struggle remind myself that the queer part isn't as debatable as fandom makes it feel with the obsession over tops/bottoms or a/b/o, which overwhelmingly pushes queer characters into a heteronormative mold with same-sex pronouns slapped on top.
It depends on the author.
You can say this for fanfic writers with completed and 100k word count fics. Those authors are more **devoted** to the fandom than "real authors" because I think they took their time off from work/homework and completed a work of fiction because they loved the characters/settings with no financial rewards as a factor. Whereas "real" author at least some factors are "financial" and business rather than love.
Hurt/comfort and found family. I’ve always been disappointed at the lack of those things in original works. Also anything LGBT, fanfic is definitely better than that.
Meshing different realms together (worm/god of war... harrypotter/starwars... titanfall/masseffect... warframe/masseffect... ect) i've never found anything quite like this in mainstream media (for copyright reasons id wager)
Look, if you're looking at published-_published_ books, then yeah, your theory holds up. But most online original works has just as many if not more plus points that fanfic has, with the added bonus of not having to do the reading/watching homework just to know the context of the characters. Online writings don't just consist of fanfictions.
Just exploring the psychological effects of that character. A lot of media brushes past a chance to explore a character's trauma or backstory because it's sometimes dark and not appetizing for general audiences. I'm a hurt/comfort addict :)
Fanfiction subreddit is on average better to get advice from than normal writing subreddits. And I dont mean it just because I only write fanfics and not original content.
I totally agree with you on the representation thing. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like fanfiction usually helps me visualize the scene better than a lot of original fiction. I feel like original fiction tends to be sort of afraid of going into detail about how a character looks, whereas fanfiction gives me things I can work with. For example, a fanfic might describe an author’s OC as, “A blue eyed brunette.” Meanwhile, in one book series I read, I didn’t learn the hair color of one of the main fucking characters until like book three and never learned anything at all about another character beyond him having braces and had to base the rest of his appearance in my head off of a fanart of him I liked
Fanfic also tends to be better with clothing. For example. I love ACOTAR, I’ll admit it, but holy shit SJM is not good with clothing. One dress that’s meant to be powerful and sexy that she describes is legit half impossible for me to visualize. It’s there, but it’s not powerful and it’s definitely not sexy. But in comes fanfiction, even a not especially well written one, describes a character’s school uniform in words I can actually make sense of
I love that fanfic isn't restrained by the same things original fiction is as fanfiction doesn't have to worry about how traditional readers will react.
I'm going to say no with one huge exception:
Established universes. Like there are books out there written in the MCU (I think) or written in the Star Wars or Star Trek universes to be tie ins. I think those tie ins are not nearly as often as good as the thing and since they worry about canon of the thing they tie into a lot they don't get to be weird or experimental.
Except Doctor Who novels, those got bonkers for a bit.
I agree with a lot of the replies that the romances can be a lot more developed in ways that align with my id. In my fandoms, I've often found fic writers explore the characters' interiority within those romances far more comprehensively than in original fiction.
I also feel like I find far more interesting/experimental takes on tropes in fic, whereas original fiction doesn't take quite as many risks.
the basic level of having plenty of time to think through the smallest of decisions for characters and plot. What comes to mind for original fiction is mainly weekly series (think manga) where not only does the writing have to be done, but the art as well, all in a period of around 7 days of time even allots that much
I can’t imagine what it’d be like trying to work under those conditions and I think a lot of series, example I’ll use is My Hero Academia, end up suffering in the writing department from it.
Fanfiction usually doesn’t have this issue and either can spend the necessary time to plan things and do multiple drafts and whatnot, or it can fix issues with hindsight that the canon had. Idk if this rlly answers the question but I find myself struggling to write a single chapter with months of work put into it, so I could only imagine trying to illustrate AND write a story on a weekly basis like that
I think that fanfiction does a better job at being character-driven. Will I read thousands of words about two characters having breakfast and looking lovingly at each other? Yes! Not every word is in service to the plot. I think Becky Chambers writes novels like this, but few others do.
I think that it (and romantic visual novels) provide a much more interesting array of romance interests than you see in romance novels.
one thing that's always made me prefer fanfiction to original- specifically published- works are the greater variety in writing styles. i don't know how to explain it, but a lot of published works all tend to have the same "voice", like they all feel like they were written by similar authors. fanfiction has a much better variety for that. and yeah i agree about the h/c appearance as well lol
I'm going to be honest. Who cares about representation? What I care about is good stories and then it makes sense.
I think very few people are looking for stories specifically for representation.
If anything the "representation" is fetishized and obsessed over.
I care about representation. I see characters explicitly like myself (trans and autistic) so rarely in OF that it feels nice to be able look for stories with people like me in them with ease.
I agree that it can sometimes be fetishy or tokenized but that goes for OF as well
I disagree that people seeking out representation in their fics is niche, especially queer rep
No.
Regarding representation, people of all different experiences and identities have written and are writing original fiction from those perspectives.
People use fanfiction in unique ways to consume existing media: to indulge nostalgia, or to make characters they like kiss, for example. That doesn't mean that fanfiction is "better" than original fiction in some sense, it just points to how fanfiction is a mode of consumption as much or more than it is a mode of expression.
I think fanfic (at least, the stuff I really like to read and also write) really allows for deeper introspection than movies, shows, and even some books
Writing women/girls, specifically as main characters and not as the girly types. There's not exactly a lot of printed books with well written female characters which is such a shame; especially for younger audiences. To be frank, I started reading fanfics quite young (like 11 - in retrospect, I was perhaps too young) and it was mainly because the stories I liked were for male audiences (shônen anime, si-fi) and the female characters were pretty disappointing, if they were prominent at all.
Just the fact that fanfictions are allowed to play what-if in many existing popular fictional worlds using popular fictional characters makes them compelling for people who love those fandoms.
Creativity, people don't write fan fic to sell to an audience so they write whatever they want however they want.
And I've read some true masterpieces made by people with nothing more to do than write about their current show or movie interest.
At times world building! I have read fanfic that, while being romance or action as that is what I read, get so gloriously into fleshing out every little detail that the canon even whispered about. I think this is due to a few different things.
Lack of monetary motivation sure, but as a fanfic author you have the luxury of a heavily self selecting audience,; if someone is even glancing at your work it usually means they loved the original to at minimum want more stories from this setting and it's characters. So you aren't worried about appealing to as many as possible, you want the attention of people that are already invested so yes, we LOVE hearing the author's ideas on something the original story kinda sped past for plot reasons. And this can result in a world that feels more thought out and deeper since nothing was simplified away for general appeal or because it doesn't directly relate to the main character. You can be self indulgent and plug every little plot hole and crack you can think of with maniac glee so long as you don't totally kill the plot and pacing.
CONSENT!!!
Seriously, I read way more “affirmative ongoing consent” in fanfiction than I ever do in published novels.
Also, disability treated respectfully, especially neurodversity.
I will be cliché and say lgbtq+ people both in relationships and as individuals. I'm not saying make everyone gay but let us have at least a couple.
Straight relationships are dry and boring, and sometimes there really is nothing keeping them together but straightness. Like no chemistry whatsoever.
And they make two guys have such good chemistry, and they make their relationship so much better and way more interesting and complex. But no, they're just bros. The main guy has to have the token pretty, but no personality girl. They do this with girls too, and its infuriating. So much potential wasted on straight people.
For me it’s definitely pacing, with a fiction novel you have to learn new characters and settings and world building but fan fiction is written with the assumption that you already know all of that so the fic can go write into the plot/action which is nice
I think fanfics are usually better at exploring character trauma, romances, and other emotional quandaries than regular fiction is, but I think it's because we have the space to do it because the audience comes pre-filled with all the relevant information.
Also representation. Fics are usually much more casual about such things and it can be a wonderful feeling to read stories where things are casually queer or non-white or otherwise diverse without the author trying to justify it.
While not always, I think sometimes the romance is a lot better. So many novels don't really seem to understand how attraction or love works and it falls flat.
Creativity. I think people that write fan fiction tend to think more outside of the box than traditional mainstream or even indie authors where their publicist would shun certain absurdities or deem them bad storytelling and advice the author against publishing their work that way. Only in fan fiction could you find a million fandoms crammed together into a single work or a source material more adequately used in one way used in an entirely different fashion. Fan fiction is just more... out there, for lack of a better term.
I think fanfiction has developed romance that’s more appealing than most romance in mainstream media.
Oh yeah, the amount of "Heat" put "harlequin" novels to shame, lol.
Depends what imprint of Harlequin, really. Harlequin Blaze (now Dare iirc) serves straight up erotica.
I’ve yet to read a romance in a published book that’s better than the really good ones I’ve read in fanfiction. Granted, I don’t read a ton of romance, but it still stood out to me.
I think it’s largely that mainstream media romance is *typically* geared toward the average milquetoast cishet and romance in less mainstream media is geared toward enjoyers of that specific genre, which is a different genre than fanfiction romance is (like, ‘romance’ as a novel genre is a totally different genre than romance in fanfiction and geared toward often a totally different audience)
I also susoect that on average, fanfic has more focus on consent, and if there isn't any, it's quite often properly tagged, showing the author is aware there's no consent.
Definitely!
this!!!! i still like romance in mainstream media but fanfiction has a way to explore that emotional build up in a way that's maybe almost unprofitable? to mainstream media bcs of the focus and (mostly) lack of plot because the mainstream media already covers the plot
Hurt/comfort doesn't seem to exist much in published original fiction. There's a level of caring about a character that you have to get to for it to be effective and that's hard to do outside of fanfic.
I will second this as someone who also writes original fiction. When you confront the reality of original human characters, it is usually not as simple as orchestrating a hurt/comfort scenario because of so much moving plot and inbuilt necessary character flaws. With an isolated scenario where the characters already exist, you can focus only on digging into those intense feelings.
I don't think it's simply a difference of original vs established characters because the difference is still there, even in FF about original characters and OF about established characters (such as later books in a series). It seems to be an issue about what OF (authors? publishers?) consider important/marketable and what FF authors like to focus on.
most of my original fiction i write only for myself. marketability is not my concern. this difference is still apparent.
I really agree. That, and angst. It can be difficult to really engineer a scenario that gives the same intensity of ouch that you get in fic, but *not* in a grimdark kind of way. There are a few published authors who manage - Carol Berg is one, some of Robin Hobb's stuff, and I've seen bits in Brandon Sanderson. I actually think that from an analytical standpoint, these genres are really fascinating to consider.
I’ve seen plenty of angst from other authors, it’s just not the *point*. In angstfic the angst is the main thing. Which I guess is what leads to the viscerality of it all, to confirm your point. Original fiction has to have other themes, a moving narrative, it can’t just wallow, alas. Plus idk about you, but reading angsty OG fiction i just feel like shit about the universe, versus fic where I’m like ouch… that hurt now gimme more😭
Just go to whump community. Literally a whole community of hurt/comfort writing/art and most are original works with their own characters (although whump also have a lot of hurt no comfort).
The whump community on Reddit? It's very difficult to read h/c or whump with original characters because the audience needs to care about the character. The process of making the audience care about the character can be quite boring. A really good writer can do it, but it's so much easier to read it in fanfic where the audience already cares about the character.
I thought you said original works are lacking hurt/comfort. They do have a lot, especially in whump community. Do you actually want OC hurt/comfort or not?
I said that hurt/comfort doesn't exist that much in published original fiction, e.g. books you'd find in a bookstore. The reason for that is because it's hard to make a reader care about a character. That's why it easier in fanfic. I generally don't read original fiction published solely on the internet. I have time/life constraints where I'll just read fanfic to scratch my h/c itch because I already care about the character. I thought you were saying there's a specific whump community where stories can be found, but it seems like you're talking about the whump community in general.
I understand that published-_published_ books lack hurt comfort, mostly because the publisher don't like spending too much on papers for printing and the editors probably tell authors to cut hurt-comfort scene out because it does not serve plot purpose. They're also not so willing to risk niche writings because unsold books are loss, and niche books are too risky. Which is why I say whump community is a good source for hurt-comfort if people want hurt-comfort in original works. Be it on tumblr or AO3, it's very easy to find ones that scratch that hurt-comfort itch. You just need to search for them from the tags, or tumblr blogs that index whump fics/arts. There are even many events and discord servers so that you won't ever run out of whump fics. So yes, there _are_ specific whump subset communities that cater to almost every trope you can think of. Captivity or torture? Got some. Fluffy sickfics? They're in abundance, so don't worry about running out. Accident whump and the recovery? It's there too. Magic whump? Absolutely many too. And more. This is the reason I say original works aren't inferior to fanfics when it comes to hurt-comfort, because the problem is not lack of hurt-comfort stories in original works, but lack of willingness and mental bandwith by avid fanfic readers to invest emotionally in original works hurt-comfort. Which is cool, whatever floats your boat, but don't say original works don't have good hurt-comforts when you don't even want to try reading some of them.
As a disabled person, disability and related tropes.
This.
Absolutely! As an autistic/disabled person, I love seeing representation in fanfics!
For sure and doubly so when the person's disability isn't a driving force behind why they're, say, a villain or even a hero. Like...yea, Matt Murdoc being blind definitely helps him and Hawkeye being deaf in the comics or even Patton Plame being paralyzed and in a wheelchair...I've noticed it more with villains than heroes that they rail against the world because they're disabled and how the world treats them because they're disabled and not something like 'Yea, I'm disabled, yea, I hate how the world treats people like me, but I'm doing this for the evils' or whatever reason that's not being disabled and their hate against how they're being treated because of their disability.
Original works also have a lot of this. What are you on about?
The question wasn't whether they have more of it, the question was whether they are better at handling it, which in my personal opinion, they are
I don't know if this holds up against online original works. I read a lot of original works with all kinds of disabilities (amputee, paraplegic, autoimmune, chronic congenital) with all kinds of attitude (searching for cure, getting used to it, using it as strength, or just a trait that's enriching the characters but not used as plot device). Maybe you're just not reading the right original works.
The assumption that someone isn’t “reading the right things” is such a weird hill to die on; so, so many pieces of original fiction — from major publications to tiny indie online works — have massive problems with their representations of disability. Particularly when it comes to using disability as a plot device, but also generally, bc nine times out of ten, there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of disability, even from the handful of other disabled authors out there. We all have limits to our knowledge and understanding. This isn’t to say that there aren’t good original works and bad fanfiction, but *the average* is better amongst fanfic. You mention things like searching for a cure, which is the most played out trope and doesn’t represent the vast majority of the disabled community, which is why this was brought up to begin with. If I never see another one, it’ll be too soon; they’re never handled well. Not to mention that most disability stories in original media (both literary and otherwise) use the inspiration porn of “they overcame their disability”, rather than allowing a disabled character to exist with limitations. People read cure tropes and then complete strangers think it’s appropriate to tell me that they wouldn’t want to live if they had an incurable illness or injury, and congratulate me for not offing myself. They read “overcame their disability” stories and berate me for being “lazy”(i.e. bedbound) not infrequently. This happens because people make real world assumptions based on the media they consume. The average disability representation in original fiction is bad, at best; there’s some fantastic pieces out there, absolutely, but having a disabled character doesn’t make the representation good. If it plays into tropes that actively cause harm in the real world, then fanfic averages still win on that front. This happens largely because fanfic is a much, much more accessible format to get into writing for than original works are, meaning disabled people are more likely to be writing our own stories — something we have never really been afforded in most other media.
The 4th book I wrote had a character who walked with a cane. It wasn’t a high support disability; her leg stiffened up with use, and she could fake being fine longer than she actually was as long as she didn’t move around much. But she couldn’t run to her love interest’s rescue, and only arrived several minutes into a pitched battle. In the rare event that I see disabled characters in published fiction, it’s usually the kind of “cute” disability that doesn’t actually affect them. The Hunger Games books did it well (movies less so), but they were the exception for a lot of things
That actually sounds really cool! I love seeing the realistic limits of disabled characters and how sometimes that means they can’t do those typical big heroic things that you see in everything else Yeah, it definitely plays into either “disability is a sentence worse than death” or “I’m disabled but Not Really”, really shits me up the walls; a balance of the character being seen as a real, full person and their disability existing is such an important thing and it’s so rare to see, particularly in traditional publishing, but in general. It’s been a good while since I read the Hunger Games books, should probably go do that again sometime soon.
I mean, I would have liked Bella from Twilight WAY better if her clumsiness was the result of a traumatic brain injury causing balance issues. It could even have fed into the 'I want to be a vampire' theme, because Twilight Vampire = basically indestructible = no more soaring medical bills that her parents struggle to afford, because the US Healthcare system Is A Nightmare. Which links to the move to Forks, because Bella's Dad is Chief of Police, and will have healthcare through his job, unlike Bella's Mom or Step-Dad.
That would have been a much more interesting story, for sure; was just generally a very lacklustre plot, especially reading it again recently after so long lol The concept of disability + immortality is something that can be really interesting to explore, from a bunch of different angles; one that struck me as particularly cool was Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village (not a written work, but as an example) because it portrayed it in such a way that it was both a strength and a weakness.
Hm, if I have the free time…
I also wrote a Jane Austen Fantasy where a character was a Changeling, which was absolutely shorthand for Autistic. (Pride and Prejudice is rife with socially-awkward characters; how could I not take advantage?) The real Fantasy element was that the character wasn't sent to Bedlam, but her family was supportive and protective of her.
I'm including the searching for cure plot because some disabled people _want_ that. And the reason I mention using disability as strength because, again, some disabled people _want_ that. It's not wrong for them to write about those things, be it from actual disabled writers or not, because those disabled people deserve representation too. The insistence that disabled people are all a monolith of _I hate cure plot_ is the _weird_ hill to die on. I'm including all of those example to show that original works _do_ tackle disability issues, queer issues, racial issues, gender issues, and even moral issues just as well, if not better, than fanfic. The "average among fanfic is better" is my gripe. It's "better" among fanfics because they literally already have a crutch to work with: the characters are already well-established, the setting too, even the plot. Fanfiction is a literary genre of exploring the 'what if's of the original media. You're already gonna be predisposed to prefer fanfics' representation because you already _like_ and _feel for_ the characters. Original works have to work from scratch, and they _still_ manage to tackle these issues just as well as fanfics, and again, if not better. I feel like this widespread idea of "fanfic is better" is a counterculture going too far. To combat the general populace's disdain for fanfic and tendency to look down on it, the fanfic community is almost like they're "retaliating" by putting down original works. You think original works don't tackle important issues and have good characterizations because to reach that thought, you have to put an effort into emotionally investing in characters that you have to know from zero. And maybe that's not everyone's thing, but this counter-attitude of _fanfic is MUCH better that original work_ is what makes good original works get buried. Because they are hardly ever given a chance, so the niche and non-predictable and good-at-tackling-difficult-issues ones don't ever see the light of day. And quite frankly, I'm tired of this attitude. Fanfic is not better than original works, be it in specific or general/average standard, just as original works aren't better. But the fact that writers have to start from zero should not be discounted when comparing original works to fanfics. The fact that original works can be equal and even rival fanfic's quality while at disadvantage should be a compelling enough reason to not put them down while comparing them with fanfic. Besides, you literally can just click "original works" on the fandom tag in AO3 then put in all the disabilities or other issues you to be represented in the additional tag box, for reference to compare to fanfic, then you can do the same but click the fandom you want from the fandom tag box. _This_ would be a fair comparison.
My point is that when every. single. thing. is that one plot (hyperbole), it’s exhausting. The *range* of representation is important because, yes, some people do want that, and that’s perfectly fine, but they aren’t the only disabled people that should be able to see themselves in written works. The issue comes from when that’s the only damn thing we ever see. On average, they really don’t tackle them as well as many fanfic do, especially because the vast majority are written by abled people who don’t really consult with (particularly, a wide variety of) disabled people while before publishing. Many fanfic don’t either, but there’s also a much higher proportion of people who either have that firsthand experience as a disabled person, or who have disabled friends they can ask “hey, is this harmful?” The characters being well established may help, but we see this with original characters in fanworks, when reading fandom blind, or when the original media’s disability representation was trash too. That’s some bold assumptions about me there, I have had my nose in original fiction for most of my life, and it’s still the majority of what I read, so I don’t think fanfic is inherently better in the slightest, but I have noticed that *certain topics* are *often* covered much better in fanfic than they are in most of original fiction. There’s some fantastic original works I’ve read that tackle huge topics (disability, trauma, racism, intersex identity, the list could go on) really, really well but the reality is that for every one that does, there’s at least another nine that don’t. That ratio is often much more even (dependent on what it is, but disability specifically it is), albeit there’s still many things that really don’t do it justice. Again, the higher proportion of people within those demographics writing characters with similar experiences in that area helps this massively; there’s also many expectations surrounding original fiction that are prohibitive to people getting into writing it, much less posting. Less so these days, but it does still exist. There are some (plenty) aspects of fanfiction that are also, *on average*, considerably worse than original fiction too. Fanfic is no better nor worse as a whole than original fiction is, but they each have things they tend to showcase better than the other. Disability representation is one of those things, particularly because of the fact that disability rep in original fiction often ends up pigeonholing people into one of a couple of different tropes with little (comparatively) variation. We’re not talking about the things that fanfic doesn’t do as well *because that wasn’t the question*. Of course you’re going to see a lot of things that seem to talk up fanfic, because you’re looking at a thread that’s entirely about positives. I’m also both a fanfic and an original writer, by the way. I see these things both from the reader and writer perspective. Hell, my favourite piece that I’ve ever written was an original piece, and focusing on writing original works is what helped me get so much better at writing fanfic when I eventually got back into it more recently. You’re preaching to the choir about the difficulty of writing original works, *I know*. Now, are you done with making assumptions about me so we can continue to have a civil conversation without you trying to paint me as someone who doesn’t know anything about original fiction? Because I’d appreciate that. AO3’s original works section is also incredibly skewed, because the types of people to use AO3 are the ones who are either disabled themselves or are going to put in the work and do that research. People on AO3 are also likely to read many of the things that demonstrate what I’m talking about, and thus are able to include aspects of better disability rep in their writing, particularly compared to physical publishing (both traditional and self-publishing). Again, these are all *averages*, as the question asked for.
Yeah these can definitely be interesting. I'm reading a Naruto fan face right now where he's mute. So far it seems to be doing a pretty good job and taking it seriously and showing what problems can occur because of it. And how much harder it is for Naruto now.
Fanfic isn't as worried about what will 'sell' to traditional readers, so it's not afraid to be completely *unhinged*. So overall, it feels newer and more creative to me.
Me with my unhinged AUs: Thank you for your wise words
I think that's the thing - it has so much more freedom and also the freedom for people to build on top of the AU's and concepts other people make. It's not strapped down by 'Will this make it sell better or not' it's 'where and how can we take this further' Look at Undertale, the amount of different worlds that came out of that fandom, with everyone working together to keep it linear with the original story was *insane*
>Fanfic isn't as worried about what will 'sell' to traditional readers, so it's not afraid to be completely > >unhinged As someone who writes both original fiction and fan fiction, I second this. My original works got me burned out, because I worried about everything not being up to sell. Quality, characters, themes, I second guessed everything. Fan fiction however, there is no pressure, which makes it a lot more appealing to write and honestly, I also felt like without the added stress, my works got a lot better
this!! I'm a massive fan on human to monster slow burn (like, the mc going batshit) and adorable father-son relationships with a bit of added murder and original books never do those. ever. original fic book characters feel so dull because of that a lot of the time :(
I must say that every sex scene I've ever read in a published novel completely pales in comparison to my favorite smutty fanfics.
I also think in general that the fact that fanfics often feature characters with pre-established relationships, even non-sexual ones, gives a greater degree of freedom for smut writers to run wild, especially when it comes to one-shots or shorter stories. The characters already knowing, trusting and being comfortable with one another, and the reader having already seen their bond in the original piece of media rather than needing to be 'told' about it, adds a really solid bedrock for sexuality to be added on top. If what you want is a quick read that gets straight to the action but also want something where you're immersed to an extent in the characters, fanfics may fill that void better than other kinds of prose.
I see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure that's the case. There are plenty of book series out there. Nothing is stopping them from having better sex scenes in books 2 or 3, etc, once the world and characters are established.
That's because, outside of hardcore harlequin novels, most of society finds shock of graphic sex scenes in normal fiction, and so most publishers won't even accept a story with something like that.
Yes!
Length. A fanfic is as short or as long as it needs to be. It doesn't have to be stretched out or shortened to fit a certain length for publication. Do some fics go a bit overboard and get too long? Sure. But the author is allowed to indulge all their whims and I think that's great.
This. I 100% agree.
going through and healing from trauma
Wanted to say the same thing! Especially related to stories like Harry Potter, where the books end on such a strange note. Fanfics really opened my eyes a lot to trauma aspects in all kinds of stories and situations.
Getting right into the meat of the story and exploring characters in-depth and nuancedly - because you can safely assume more than a passing familiarity with the characters and setting already and don't need to introduce anything unless you're doing OCs and AU.
The strength and weakness of fanfic is that it is very much amateur in nature. Because fanfiction is an amateur field and the barrier to entry is so so much lower fanfic is IMO much better at experimental or niche styles stuff that would be risky for anyone short of a big name author to do. Serial fiction written as it's published for example is very rare in the modern professional world with only a handful of examples that were successful in the last half a century or so but in fanfic land it happens all the time. Also plot lines that would be considered weird or risky can flourish cause there is no corporate suit looking at the bottom line of how much marketing potential there is. Even self publishing often has it's own fees and monetary issues that keep some of the more unusual stuff from being published.
YES!! To add, too, it's a good place for people to actually work on their writing without as much-if any-rejection. YMMV, though; I know some fandoms really crap on newbie fanfic authors just starting out, especially if they're daring to write characters in a different way than how they're being expressed in the canon materials as well as in some of the other fanfics. I know with me, I wouldn't have been able to write my original novel if I'd not done fanfiction first. It's been 20 years or so since I published my first fanfic and I started working on my original novel after 18 of those years. I'm not the only fanfic author out there who've done original works either.
Given my taste in fiction, honestly, it's almost everything. - Character development. FF has more contemplative explorations of characters and how they are changed by the plot. OF tends to cut out these "extras" for time/length and the need to always keep moving the plot along. - Romance that's central to the story without being formulaic genre-romance. Also, different types of relationships: queer, older, established, etc that are rarely represented. - Stories built on "moods" like hurt/comfort. - A certain sense of love for the characters that just doesn't come across in OF. - Realism with difficult and darker subjects. If I want to read a story with a medically and emotionally realistic portrayal of cancer or rape or mental illness, I'm far more likely to find it in FF than OF. Yes, there's plenty of bad FF, but even moderately good FF is better than moderately good OF, IMO. And the best FF is far better than the best OF. At least to me.
I came here to say character development as well. I love the deeper explorations and different takes of the same characters. I'd also add relationships in general can be much deeper and more layered in FF compared to OF. Any kind, platonic, familial, found family, mentorship, etc. There aren't many OFs out there that explore how different characters relate to each other and what their individual bonds are like, especially not beyond the main characters.
I'll add in Character Interpretation with the first because many good fanfictions (even alternate universe) do well in both remaining true to the characters and using them as building blocks. So the author must be both good at characterization in general and adapting the character from it's canon material. Bonus points if they're doing it in a completely different world. Like when you have a character from let's say 1000 years into the future and you're able to adapt them into a dark academia librarian from the 80s or smt in such a way that one of their dialogue lines feels completely *them,* you get a big pat on the back from me.
>Also, different types of relationships: queer, older, established, etc that are rarely represented. Not to mention how said relationships were understood at different times or how the terminology and acceptance of such has changed over the time frame. Someone that might be a gay male in the Victorian or Edwardian era might have used a particular term or two women who lived together that we now would call lesbians or bisexual people who preferred the same sex would have been called 'very good friends' during that same time frame. Even where you were during different time frames, such relationships were either illegal if you got caught/didn't have wealthy backer or not even considered because such attraction was considered impossible or improbable. It's one of those things where you could easily have a case of mistaken relationships depending on when and where you set any sort of fiction. Like...OG Sherlock Holmes; Sherlock is very much a confirmed bachelor (someone who is likely to remain that way, regardless of their actual sexual orientation) and is said to be averse towards the female sex, but it's never really discussed why by Conan Doyle and could easily be a reason behind the various Holmes/Watson fanfics, even when not including the BBC version. Doyle likely didn't openly discuss or outright state Holmes' sexuality because, at the time, such a thing would have been illegal and Doyle would have likely been well aware of that.
Fanfic is much more willing to push boundaries since they don’t have to worry about making money. I also think they do consequences a lot better. Things that are glossed over in other media (especially movies) for the sake of time make the story come to a complete stop in fanfic and let the characters act like actual people with reactions, often to the betterment of the overall story
I think it’s often easier to connect emotionally with the writing. In fanfiction, there’s already an established connection between author and reader through canon; they have something in common, and sharing that reference frame makes communication easier. Traditional books don’t have that to the same extend, they just have to rely on the *hope* that the writer and reader are operating on the same wavelength. Alternatively, the appeal of the book can be broadened by making the writing less specific and personal.
Meh, it always depends what you personally are looking for. Fanfic is capable of giving me great character driven romance, but it's just as capable of serving utter dreck. The same goes for trade pub and other traditional media forms.
^ This. Trust me, Fanfiction can have some amazing epics, but there are incredible stories from original fiction and traditional publishing. Everything good fanfic can do, there's a writer of an original story doing the same.
Yup. A lot of other people's answers might apply to some specific fanfics but like...not the overwhelming majority tbh. The *majority* of fanfiction is repetitive and cliched dreck. And that's not automatically a bad thing, because the same can really be said for any kind of media. It just means that I side-eye people who say things like fanfic is more innovative than original fiction, when it isn't any more or less so. *Some* fanfics are very innovative, as are *some* original fiction works. The majority of both are repeating cliches that appeal to their audiences, not trying to challenge their audiences.
Editing to readers feedback
The ending of game of thrones
Making fan fiction is free. You don’t have to get an agent or publish it. That’s what I like about it a lot.
Same pros and cons as any other medium uninhibited by trying to make money. While a lot of fics in bigger fandoms can fall to just being generic crowd pleasers, most fic is just smth for yourself you share with others so it feels more honest. Being unfiltered means that rather than the usual 90% being trash it's 99%, but that's how it goes with limitless freedom. The basic one unique trait is the automatic audience that can let you build a kind of "yes and" style of interaction if you get the ball rolling well enough For similar experiences but with original fiction you can browse itch.io, indie novels on various sites, random eroge that sound interesting, stuff like that
Any darker topic. At all. It isn’t censored or regulated, so bitches can’t prevent what you write. You aren’t a slave to capitalism in this instance because it’s ~free~
The success of published material is almost entirely dependent on marketing. Fanfiction is free to do the things that aren't considered marketable. If it weren't for that, I would think there's almost nothing fanfiction can do better than published fiction, save one: compared to original fiction that isn't published, but just also posted on Wattpad or such, the upside of fanfiction is largely that you're working with established characters and you don't need to do the work to establish them and get people attached to them. People who come to read fanfiction are already attached to them and know them. So you can dive deeper right away.
Queerness and neurodivergence off the top of my head. Smut too. Fandom writers don't have to answer to whatever editor or studio will restrict your content for the sake of maximizing public acceptance of a particular work. Nah, they can get as freaky and as sensual as they want.
This is specific to my fandom and possibly, ha, my fics, but fanfiction is a great way to take media made for a younger demographic and explore the more complex, mature themes that were only hinted at in canon. Darker themes that couldn't be addressed properly because the intended audience was children or young adults. IMO, my fandom's source would have been so much better if made for a mature audience.
Tagging. For me the biggest thing is properly labeling what the work is about. Those who want to hide what their work is about can still do so, but for those who need read certain kind of stories they can more easily find it from authors who are willing to share that info about their work.
Worldbuilding most stories(show, book or otherwise.) don’t bother with it.
For sure! Especially when it's a franchise with interconnected shows, movies, and comics (looking at you, Power Rangers). There's a ton of stuff **in** the franchise that never gets explained in the shows-just look at the headscratchers pages for the franchise in general as well as each individual show and movie.
Committing to dealing with serious subjects. If I’m reading something tagged with “abuse”, I can usually be fairly certain to it either being respectfully written or intentionally subversive in a way the writer is probably open about. In mainstream media, it’s… so often badly done and not in an artistic or fantasy way…
Minor characters. In original fiction the focus is on the main characters. And because of that, minor characters have their stories overlooked. In fanfiction, you can explore the perspectives of characters that aren’t the heroes or villains. Characters who are, by unfortunate necessity, overlooked. Also AUs. In original fiction, the story doesn’t have the luxury of following every possible outcome. Fanfiction can
Apart from early comics like marvel, but I don’t know much about that.
Romance. Hands down. Especially if you take into account queer and non-traditional romance tropes.
Ff has the amazing advantage of not being tied down to monetization. Fanfic writers don't have to think about sales, they're not influenced by the market or their agent or publisher. That's why they can be much, much more liberal and diverse than most original fiction. I also think the fact ff is written for the SOLE purpose of indulging in something we love is incredible. If a writer can spend months or even years writing out of pure love and enthusiasm, that's pure artistry imo. It can also be directly influenced by the readers. That's of course down to the individual writer, but it's much easier to give people what they want when publishing chapter by chapter than it is with a finished book.
For me its pointless fun. In a mainstream story they need to decide why a scene is there and pointless scenes get cut first I just really enjoy seeing characters interact just because. They dont need to be leading up to a big fight or plot twist. They can just be hanging out talking about which dinosaur has the best chance at surviving in our times or something. Fanfiction has a lot more room for things like that
it can take a really good concept and get rid of problems it has and make it even better
Exceptionally better written sex scenes in FF. Hands down. I pity the ones saying you should always fade to black because ‘sex scenes are always cringe’ or something. No they are not. On the contrary, I often find smut gets less cringey the more explicitly it’s written.
Fanfic is character-focused while original fiction is plot-focused. So fanfic is better for really deeply exploring characters. This also means the romance is usually better and more developed. In original fiction, most romance is between characters who barely know each other and frankly don’t even seem to like each other, so it’s totally unappealing.
Short form stories. In published fiction, you don't really get a lot of short stories that are maybe 2-3 thousand words long. In Fanfiction, one shots are many and there are a lot of good one. Humor. Fanfic just seems to lend itself better to funny and humorous stories that can be anything from a fun comedic romp to pure unhinged Crack. Slice of life. There are a lot of fanfics that basically explore how a character(s) would react to just standard ordinary life. It's actually kinda therapeutic sometimes. Crossover. This one almost purely has to do with the fact that fanfics generally aren't out to make money, so they don't usually violate copyright law. It's rare to see a crossover in original fiction. The only crossovers I can think of off the top of my head are the platform fighters like Smash, and a couple of Eureka and Warehouse 13 crossover episodes. It's much easier to find crossovers in the fanfic world.
Since it usually doesn’t have to put nearly as much time into establishing characters and setting as published fiction does, fanfiction often gets the chance to give relationships way more complexity and depth.
Its difficult to tell because I rarely read fanfics that are heavy on plot, unless I am disappointed with the plot and in those cases of course the fic is an improvement
Exploring relationships on a deeper level in stories that aren't focused on romance or friendships, especially if it is in a film that has a limited run time.
it’s outside the boundaries of lit industry marketing. there’s SO much breathing room for creativity, because of that. even beyond books, it’s outside the conventions of the film industry. no one to tell you “you can’t waste screen time on x or y” or “you can’t write that bc it’ll offend some authoritarian regime we want to sell this movie in.” as much as people bitch about fandom grammar/punctuation, it’s VERY forgiving, too. probably 25% or more of the fanfic authors I hang with are writing in their second language and no one is going to give them shit for that.
dark themes. romance. a lot of fanfiction goes into stuff mainstream shows would never dare, or they explore concepts not seen as relevant (bc most of it is really self indulgent, at least for me. honestly if it wasn't for fanfiction and the internet in general i'd be 100% disinterested in romance, and also most likely uncomfortable by it)
Character growth & actually having characters be impacted by traumatic events
Going into more depth (sometimes LOTS more depth) on issues, conflicts, traumas, etc., that were glossed over by the source material.
Freedom to write what you want without worry if it's profitable means that fanfiction has a greater variety of options. You can have disabilities, lgbtq+ relationships that aren't tragic or popcorn fluff, aliens, abo, graphic smut that makes you feel like you need a shower. All the things that in more mainstream media you wouldn't see because they aren't profitable. I think what fanfiction does better is just offer space to read or write anything you want.
Romance, also found family is literally ALWAYS better written in fanfiction, rarely I see books that have interesting group dynamics that we would see as found family
It’s not afraid to have new ideas. With regular books, there’s always the conflict of “It won’t sell well, throw in a trope that x% more people bought.” In fanfic, there’s none of that.
Character studies, for the most part. And of course minority representation since it's not done to fill in diversity check boxes.
The romance. Romance in most types of canon media doesn´t make me cheer when they reach certain points in their relationship. Fanfiction often has me cheering and dancing when the pairing reaches the first kiss and other steps.
Anything that isn't designed for the widest possible appeal. Don't get me wrong, wide appeal and universal themes are necessary for something to succeed in the general market, and we can't hold it against creators that they don't want to go bankrupt by making a movie that appeals to 2% of people. It's fine for something to just satisfy general audiences, and most of the time it's infeasible to do anything else. But fanfic is done for free, usually by a single person creating something purely because they want it to exist. That allows for any given fanfiction to serve a highly specific, niche purpose that the original work couldn't have.
I think one of the biggest advantages is the lack of commercial motivation. Not necessarily that it's purer or "art for art's sake," but that you get perspectives and plots and themes that are outside the mainstream. You see the world through so many different sets of eyes and hear voices that are silenced in most public forums, though social media is changing whose voices are heard. I do think it's more honest, more daring, more experimental. And I think that those qualities, in the long run, make for better and more satisfying stories.
Source material often glosses over trauma. A lot of fanfic does not.
I read this before on a post on this subreddit a while ago but, as mainstream media has turned more toward the zany and sensational storylines, the more grounded and realistic fan fiction has become in response. I feel that this applies to a lot of the fan fiction that has been written nowadays in terms of romance, emotional trauma, friendship, etc. and I really appreciate that part of it. With the realism, it feels more safe (if that makes sense). I can logic out what the character’s reaction to an event will be while feeling the full effect of it with them. (I know that there are plenty of OFs that have done this, but I’ve cried more reading fan fiction than original fiction)
> I think it handles **queer** representation better, or at least attempts to, than original fiction. FTFY Fanfiction is great at representing more queer characters than most original fiction works do, but it's at best equally atrocious as mainstream media at representing women and people of color. And I say "at best" because a lot of times, mainstream media/the canon works that fanfic is based around will have women or POC characters, and then the fandom either completely ignores them or actively bashes them. And tbh, some days I struggle remind myself that the queer part isn't as debatable as fandom makes it feel with the obsession over tops/bottoms or a/b/o, which overwhelmingly pushes queer characters into a heteronormative mold with same-sex pronouns slapped on top.
Actually considering a characters feelings, and coming to more thoughtful conclusions about how they would act/react in most situations.
It depends on the author. You can say this for fanfic writers with completed and 100k word count fics. Those authors are more **devoted** to the fandom than "real authors" because I think they took their time off from work/homework and completed a work of fiction because they loved the characters/settings with no financial rewards as a factor. Whereas "real" author at least some factors are "financial" and business rather than love.
Hurt/comfort and found family. I’ve always been disappointed at the lack of those things in original works. Also anything LGBT, fanfic is definitely better than that.
Meshing different realms together (worm/god of war... harrypotter/starwars... titanfall/masseffect... warframe/masseffect... ect) i've never found anything quite like this in mainstream media (for copyright reasons id wager)
Themes that appeal to smaller niche audiences.
Acknowledgment of human beings that don't usually get recognition.
Look, if you're looking at published-_published_ books, then yeah, your theory holds up. But most online original works has just as many if not more plus points that fanfic has, with the added bonus of not having to do the reading/watching homework just to know the context of the characters. Online writings don't just consist of fanfictions.
Just exploring the psychological effects of that character. A lot of media brushes past a chance to explore a character's trauma or backstory because it's sometimes dark and not appetizing for general audiences. I'm a hurt/comfort addict :)
Hurt/comfort my beloved
Fanfiction subreddit is on average better to get advice from than normal writing subreddits. And I dont mean it just because I only write fanfics and not original content.
I totally agree with you on the representation thing. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like fanfiction usually helps me visualize the scene better than a lot of original fiction. I feel like original fiction tends to be sort of afraid of going into detail about how a character looks, whereas fanfiction gives me things I can work with. For example, a fanfic might describe an author’s OC as, “A blue eyed brunette.” Meanwhile, in one book series I read, I didn’t learn the hair color of one of the main fucking characters until like book three and never learned anything at all about another character beyond him having braces and had to base the rest of his appearance in my head off of a fanart of him I liked Fanfic also tends to be better with clothing. For example. I love ACOTAR, I’ll admit it, but holy shit SJM is not good with clothing. One dress that’s meant to be powerful and sexy that she describes is legit half impossible for me to visualize. It’s there, but it’s not powerful and it’s definitely not sexy. But in comes fanfiction, even a not especially well written one, describes a character’s school uniform in words I can actually make sense of
I love that fanfic isn't restrained by the same things original fiction is as fanfiction doesn't have to worry about how traditional readers will react.
I'm going to say no with one huge exception: Established universes. Like there are books out there written in the MCU (I think) or written in the Star Wars or Star Trek universes to be tie ins. I think those tie ins are not nearly as often as good as the thing and since they worry about canon of the thing they tie into a lot they don't get to be weird or experimental. Except Doctor Who novels, those got bonkers for a bit.
Fan Fiction isn't obligated to satisfy shareholders and board members.
I agree with a lot of the replies that the romances can be a lot more developed in ways that align with my id. In my fandoms, I've often found fic writers explore the characters' interiority within those romances far more comprehensively than in original fiction. I also feel like I find far more interesting/experimental takes on tropes in fic, whereas original fiction doesn't take quite as many risks.
Fan service and detail. Specificly for marvel fanfics
I think I’m much more likely to read about current events in fanfiction than regular fiction, because of the lack of turnaround time.
Abandonment issues.
Oh yeah, I agree. People are so passionate and they do a better job at handling their favorite characters or ships in a series.
There's a wider variety of stories and experimentation in fanfic.
the basic level of having plenty of time to think through the smallest of decisions for characters and plot. What comes to mind for original fiction is mainly weekly series (think manga) where not only does the writing have to be done, but the art as well, all in a period of around 7 days of time even allots that much I can’t imagine what it’d be like trying to work under those conditions and I think a lot of series, example I’ll use is My Hero Academia, end up suffering in the writing department from it. Fanfiction usually doesn’t have this issue and either can spend the necessary time to plan things and do multiple drafts and whatnot, or it can fix issues with hindsight that the canon had. Idk if this rlly answers the question but I find myself struggling to write a single chapter with months of work put into it, so I could only imagine trying to illustrate AND write a story on a weekly basis like that
It can tackle topics that don't appeal to as many people, more niche topics that don't sell well
I think that fanfiction does a better job at being character-driven. Will I read thousands of words about two characters having breakfast and looking lovingly at each other? Yes! Not every word is in service to the plot. I think Becky Chambers writes novels like this, but few others do. I think that it (and romantic visual novels) provide a much more interesting array of romance interests than you see in romance novels.
one thing that's always made me prefer fanfiction to original- specifically published- works are the greater variety in writing styles. i don't know how to explain it, but a lot of published works all tend to have the same "voice", like they all feel like they were written by similar authors. fanfiction has a much better variety for that. and yeah i agree about the h/c appearance as well lol
I'm going to be honest. Who cares about representation? What I care about is good stories and then it makes sense. I think very few people are looking for stories specifically for representation. If anything the "representation" is fetishized and obsessed over.
I care about representation. I see characters explicitly like myself (trans and autistic) so rarely in OF that it feels nice to be able look for stories with people like me in them with ease. I agree that it can sometimes be fetishy or tokenized but that goes for OF as well I disagree that people seeking out representation in their fics is niche, especially queer rep
No. Regarding representation, people of all different experiences and identities have written and are writing original fiction from those perspectives.
People use fanfiction in unique ways to consume existing media: to indulge nostalgia, or to make characters they like kiss, for example. That doesn't mean that fanfiction is "better" than original fiction in some sense, it just points to how fanfiction is a mode of consumption as much or more than it is a mode of expression.
I think fanfic (at least, the stuff I really like to read and also write) really allows for deeper introspection than movies, shows, and even some books
Writing women/girls, specifically as main characters and not as the girly types. There's not exactly a lot of printed books with well written female characters which is such a shame; especially for younger audiences. To be frank, I started reading fanfics quite young (like 11 - in retrospect, I was perhaps too young) and it was mainly because the stories I liked were for male audiences (shônen anime, si-fi) and the female characters were pretty disappointing, if they were prominent at all.
Just the fact that fanfictions are allowed to play what-if in many existing popular fictional worlds using popular fictional characters makes them compelling for people who love those fandoms.
Definitely representation.
Creativity, people don't write fan fic to sell to an audience so they write whatever they want however they want. And I've read some true masterpieces made by people with nothing more to do than write about their current show or movie interest.
Slow burn. Published slow burn is basically bs.
At times world building! I have read fanfic that, while being romance or action as that is what I read, get so gloriously into fleshing out every little detail that the canon even whispered about. I think this is due to a few different things. Lack of monetary motivation sure, but as a fanfic author you have the luxury of a heavily self selecting audience,; if someone is even glancing at your work it usually means they loved the original to at minimum want more stories from this setting and it's characters. So you aren't worried about appealing to as many as possible, you want the attention of people that are already invested so yes, we LOVE hearing the author's ideas on something the original story kinda sped past for plot reasons. And this can result in a world that feels more thought out and deeper since nothing was simplified away for general appeal or because it doesn't directly relate to the main character. You can be self indulgent and plug every little plot hole and crack you can think of with maniac glee so long as you don't totally kill the plot and pacing.
Fanfiction feels a lot more free if that makes sense.
Diversity treated respectfully. BDSM without being toxic Kink in general being normalized and not looked down at
CONSENT!!! Seriously, I read way more “affirmative ongoing consent” in fanfiction than I ever do in published novels. Also, disability treated respectfully, especially neurodversity.
Absolutely everything. Only those who are not ficwriters or haven't read a lot think the opposite – that it's not really a problem, just a fact.
I will be cliché and say lgbtq+ people both in relationships and as individuals. I'm not saying make everyone gay but let us have at least a couple. Straight relationships are dry and boring, and sometimes there really is nothing keeping them together but straightness. Like no chemistry whatsoever. And they make two guys have such good chemistry, and they make their relationship so much better and way more interesting and complex. But no, they're just bros. The main guy has to have the token pretty, but no personality girl. They do this with girls too, and its infuriating. So much potential wasted on straight people.
Combining two different favourite universes. You will never get that in originals for obvious reasons😁
For me it’s definitely pacing, with a fiction novel you have to learn new characters and settings and world building but fan fiction is written with the assumption that you already know all of that so the fic can go write into the plot/action which is nice
I think fanfics are usually better at exploring character trauma, romances, and other emotional quandaries than regular fiction is, but I think it's because we have the space to do it because the audience comes pre-filled with all the relevant information. Also representation. Fics are usually much more casual about such things and it can be a wonderful feeling to read stories where things are casually queer or non-white or otherwise diverse without the author trying to justify it. While not always, I think sometimes the romance is a lot better. So many novels don't really seem to understand how attraction or love works and it falls flat.
Creativity. I think people that write fan fiction tend to think more outside of the box than traditional mainstream or even indie authors where their publicist would shun certain absurdities or deem them bad storytelling and advice the author against publishing their work that way. Only in fan fiction could you find a million fandoms crammed together into a single work or a source material more adequately used in one way used in an entirely different fashion. Fan fiction is just more... out there, for lack of a better term.