Fan Fiction as a Writing Tool

Zaphyre carefully dips her pen into the small black inkbottle close by. Her pale blue fingers, stained with ink, hold the quill gently, but steadily as she begins to write about her day adventuring or about the poem that seems to repeat itself in her mind, pestering her until it gets written down. The candles glow over the surface of her writing table and a music box plays a sweet melody. Words begin to appear before her as her quill releases the ink in elegant black swirls and strokes. Her dark elven eyes follow the quill as the writing continues long into the night.

I am not Zaphyre, but I couldn't have written that without her.

Zaphyre is a character that was created almost 5 years ago in a game called Everquest 2. Little did I know she would not just become a 3 dimensional character to be use as some kind of game token like the monopoly tokens we use to go around the game board with, or the black and red disks we use for playing checkers, not Zaphyre or "Zaphy" as I like to call her. Thanks to a writing form known as "Fan Fiction" she is more. She awakens my otherwise sleepy brain with ideas and story lines.

What is Fan Fiction? Dictionary.com defines it as: "a fictional account written by a fan of a show, movie, book, or video game to explore themes and ideas that will not or cannot be explored via the originating medium; also written fan fiction, also called fanfic. Wikipedia also has a good definition about Fan Fiction stating: "a broadly-defined term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator."

If you have trouble trying to decide what to write about, fan fiction may be something that can help you. During my research for this article, I was truly amazed at the volume of stories and lore that abounds on the Internet on just Everquest 2. Do you need some proof? I have listed only 3 of many links available about Everquest2 that are filled with player-written fan fiction. I can only imagine the fan fiction stories one can find on Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Lestat the vampire, and popular movies and television shows.

http://www.eiwyn.arcanya.com/

http://www.lorelibrary.com/

http://lorenorrath.free.fr/

How does Everquest inspire me? When I am playing Everquest2 and I choose Zaphy to roleplay/game with, it's only a matter of time when a story begins to appear in my mind. She goes places and does things that are often comical or amusing, and I log her words and actions to a text file so I can go through that file later and create a new story about her. This is how my imagination gets the boost it sometimes needs for a story or plot to write about.

You can find the same kind of inspiration through your favorite movies and books. Just be careful how much of the original story is used. Just ask yourself "What am I passionate about in the way of movies, books or television?" Fan fiction is an excellent way to do what all writers should do on a daily basis: Write! Even if you decide never to go beyond writing privately the possible story endings or twists of a favorite program or book, it will still benefit you in the long run by giving your imagination a good workout. It will keep you motivated and inspired while you are in on the road to writing your original work.

Is Fan Fiction legal? Some authors approve it and some don't. Just remember that if you do ever use material for publication on the Inet or hardcopy, not originally yours, that you make it clear to your readers what your content is based on. Use links or references (disclaimers) to that original story or movie, and if you prefer, write to the author, if possible, to get their permission to use some of their original work. Wikipedia puts it this way: "Most authors, however, seem to turn a 'blind eye' towards fan fiction - not actively approving it, but not discouraging it, either. In some cases this tolerance may be due to the fact that, due to the internet, preventing fan fiction from being published would be an expensive and almost impossible task."

Writers need to write often to keep their imaginations vibrant and productive. Learn more about how fan fiction can help as a tool in your writing. Exploring the multitude of online sites filled with the type of stories you enjoy writing and see how fan fiction can be useful to you as a writer. Artists have been doing this for centuries, improving their skills by studying and copying the works of their teachers and masters, so why not writers?