Hier veröffentlichen wir unsere FanFiction Geschichten./ Here we publish our FanFiction Stories.

Bożena Cudak - 30.09.2018 @ 17:01

In our article we tried to explain what fanfiction really is.

Fanfiction – What (exacly) is it?

by Monika Pociecha and Sara Kotlarz, VIII LO Kraków/Poland

Probably you’ve heard about it, maybe you’ve even read it but do you know how to define it?

First we’ll go with definition:

As we can deduce it’s written by fans od books, TV series, movies or bands and celebrities. It’s unofficial and it’s rarely published. It’s a mix of real story and something that autor of fanfiction dreamt up. This is really popular literature for young people mostly teenagers.

Now we’ll focus on how we can divide fanfiction into groups. We have three of them:

• Alternatives – they present to us ‘what if…’
• Continuations – prequeles and sequeles. They show us what could happen before the action of the book, film, e.t.c or what can happen after the book ending
• Collateral – they show in more detail some of the plots that were mentioned but not developed in the original story

One of the most popular websides where you can find fanfictions is Wattpad. According to the latest fanfiction ranking the most frequently read ones are:

1. ‘Angel’s: City of Successors’
2. ‘Royal|l.h.’
3. ‘Adopted by the Devries family’

Links: https://www.wattpad.com/list/385010791-najczciej-czytane

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction

Picture from https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/viewimage.php?image=260997&picture=book-reading-reading-a-book

Monika Pociecha - 17.11.2018 @ 10:45

That's our article in which we wrote about pros and cons of fanfiction. We hope you'll join the discussion.

What makes good fanfiction?

by Martyna Kołek and Amelia Marchewczyk, VIII LO Kraków/ Poland

We all know the feeling of finishing a book, a movie or TV series that was so compelling that you couldn’t bear the thought that this is the end and still wanted more. Maybe you thought about reading fanfiction to at least keep the illusion of the plot still continuing? Sounds like a good idea, right? Only in theory, because if you’ve ever tried to find a good fanfiction, you know that's a truly tough row to hoe. There are plenty of fanmade stories on the internet. Unfortunately, overwhelming majority of them are so poorly written that you automatically get discouraged by their multiple imperfections. So what exactly makes good quality fanfiction and what are the problems with this genre?

However great it is to get new stories about your favourite characters, it doesn’t change the fact that you still want them to be the same people that you’ve been following in the books or movies. Writing about them not as a person who was their creator is very difficult. That’s why fanfiction makes you feel like you are reading about the adventures of strangers instead of well-known, beloved characters. Another problem are common plot holes. Fans aren’t always acquainted with the story well enough to continue it on their own. Changing some facts in main hero's past (with the exception of doing it on purpose) usually isn’t well received by other fans. Those situations can be spotted in ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ screenplay. Even though it’s not really fanfiction (some people consider it as one- J.K. Rowling was only a co-writer of it), it is a great example of the problems mentioned before. The plot is a bit strange, hardly compelling and the characters aren’t always acting in a reasonable way, sometimes even against common sense. What good fanfiction should have is an entertaining storyline with no plot holes in it and well-written, composite characters whose behaviour is shown in a believable way.

We would also like to point out that one of the differences between a book and a fanmade story uploaded on the internet is that the book is checked, edited, corrected etc. by many people before it's finally published and available in the bookstore. That provides the good quality (generally it depends on the publishing house) and minimises the possibility of mistakes. Fanfiction, usually written not by professional authors but teenagers who lack the necessary skills and experience to write a good story, often turns out to be not so good. We cannot forget that writing novels is a job for professional authors, whereas writing fanfiction is rather a hobby, which means that most of the times fanfiction writers have to go to school or work, which doesn’t let them fully dedicate to writing. That's why books usually have a little vantage, in comparison to fanmade, amateurish stories. On the other hand, the only thing that limits young authors is their creativity. Sometimes in fanfiction we can find many motives and threads that are nearly impossible to find in normal books, e.g. absurd situations unlikely to happen in a real story. Maybe fanfiction is the only space where impossible becomes possible.

Fanfiction is an undeniably interesting genre, but it has its weaknesses. Nevertheless, it’s a new kind of story that has a potential to grow.

What do you think about fanfiction? Do you know any that is worth reading? Let us know in the comments!

Picture by Amelia Marchewczyk

Martyna Kołek - 17.11.2018 @ 10:59

First of all, I like fanfictions. If it's good I enjoy reading it very much but there are some cons about it like already mentioned in the article.

I think it's impossible to find the perfect fanfiction, where the characters are like in the original. Most of the characters are quite annoying and they are just different. I know it's really hard to write something which is in the style of the book, movie, series etc. I try to write some fanfictions and stories too. Of course I‘m no professional author but I have been improving myself at writing. I just write and write so one day I'll be better.

"Maybe fanfiction is the only space where impossible becomes possible." That's the one sentence I keep thinking about. It's just true. Even though fanfiction isn't perfect it makes the impossible possible.

So fanfiction is great, you have so much opportunities but almost always it‘s not as good as the original.

Leonie Reiter - 16.12.2018 @ 22:13

I think fanfiction is an amazing way to express yourself as an author. I wrote some and it takes a lot of effort, creativity and time. You need to have right skills to write a good one, but must learn it somehow. And what’s the better way to learn than trying and practising?

I read a lot of fanfictions, they are diversed, some are better, some are worse. I see how to correct my own mistakes and improve. We have so many options with the Internet nowadays that I’d recommend posting some little parts to get feedback. You just have to try, be open-minded and never give up.

"Maybe fanfiction is the only space where impossible becomes possible." I agree with this sentence. That’s exactly what happens there. You are in power to change the plot, look at the characters from a different angle, share your point of view for certain things. When I write or read them it helps me a lot and I recommend it to everybody, it’s worthwhile!

Dominika Gwóźdź - 02.01.2019 @ 20:01

I really like fan fiction and I read it very often so I totally agree with this article. It is hard to find a good story but that's what it's all about. It is for people or teens who have just started an adventure with writing and they try to interest or surprise readers with new facts or stories of popular characters' lives. In this way readers could find good young autors who can publish their own books in the future.

Zuzanna Lassota - 03.01.2019 @ 18:47

Hi Martyna and Amelia,

I really liked your artice and can totally agree with your opinion.

A fan fiction is a great way to show your own view of a book. You can change parts you didn't like and write your own story. I think it's hard to find a good fan fiction beacause everyone has a different imagination of the story.

Annalena Sieberer - 03.02.2019 @ 12:32

Hi Martyna and Amelia,

I really enjoyed reading your article. You explained everything very well and now I know a lot more about fanfiction.

I think fanfiction is a great way to share your thoughts about a book, film and so on. You can make up a totally new story or just continue one. You are definitely right when you say that there are also lots of fanfictions which are not so good, but I think that it is a good chance to practice writing.

Johanna Holaubek - 07.02.2019 @ 14:41