AN-FICTION: NO LONGER A DIRTY WORD?

I joined Sean Taylor's Writer Roundtables this week to talk about writing fan-fiction. Give it a read right HERE.

I don't do a lot of fan fiction, but I've certainly tried my hand at it. I started out writing and drawing my own comics, first using established characters and later creating my own.

I also wrote a few Star Trek fan films, primarily to see if I could write a decent script, but also because I enjoy the world and the filmmakers I was working with. It was great practice. I learned a lot.

These days, I do a good deal of media tie-in writing, which writes established characters, but is not fan fiction as it is licensed from the IP owner and has to go through them for approvals. Lots of DOs and DON'Ts in tie-in writing. In fan-fiction, you pretty much do what you want. The important thing to remember when doing fan-fiction is that you do not own it. That means you can't sell it. You can't make money on it. That's when the lawyers of the people who own said characters start sending out cease and desist letters.

Bobby