1. First of all, I think the more you write the better you become. I'd written two books before I got into fandom and my writing now is SO MUCH better. Not that I couldn't have parlayed all that writing into actual novels, but I don't think that I would have benefitted as much, mostly because there are no financial goals here. If you write a piece of fanfiction and get some feedback great. If you write a novel that isn't well received, then it impacts your future goals in publishing. You might get dropped from your publishing house. Your agent might dump you. There are a host of things that can happen. In fanfiction, all you do is, well, have a reader walk away. So I do not consider those tens of thousands of words I have devoted to fanfiction a loss. I am a MUCH better writer now. I'm also a much better reader. Which, sadly, has affected how I read because so much of what is out there is total crap. Alas.
2. You build a community. I have lots of friends who are writers, but I wouldn't call them close friends. I have close friends from fandom. People that I fly across the country to see.
3. You can (I think this is changing, however) build a community of readers. Cassandra Clare built an entire market with her Draco triology. She could go to a publisher with her fantasy series and say, hey, I'm the most popular writer in the HP fandom. And, hello, book contract.
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1. First of all, I think the more you write the better you become. I'd written two books before I got into fandom and my writing now is SO MUCH better. Not that I couldn't have parlayed all that writing into actual novels, but I don't think that I would have benefitted as much, mostly because there are no financial goals here. If you write a piece of fanfiction and get some feedback great. If you write a novel that isn't well received, then it impacts your future goals in publishing. You might get dropped from your publishing house. Your agent might dump you. There are a host of things that can happen. In fanfiction, all you do is, well, have a reader walk away. So I do not consider those tens of thousands of words I have devoted to fanfiction a loss. I am a MUCH better writer now. I'm also a much better reader. Which, sadly, has affected how I read because so much of what is out there is total crap. Alas.
2. You build a community. I have lots of friends who are writers, but I wouldn't call them close friends. I have close friends from fandom. People that I fly across the country to see.
3. You can (I think this is changing, however) build a community of readers. Cassandra Clare built an entire market with her Draco triology. She could go to a publisher with her fantasy series and say, hey, I'm the most popular writer in the HP fandom. And, hello, book contract.
4. The most important, perhaps? It's fun!