tygermama asked: I write fanfic because it's fun, makes me happy and it was one of the first things I ever did that was completely my own and that I got praise for. Now, I am thinking about trying to freelance but I'm very aware that professional writing is completely different from writing fanfic. The entire mindset is different, the reasons you write are different. I'll let you know how it turns out. (also you can be more experimental with fanfic. POV, story length, etc. Stuff you couldn't do professionally)
Hmmm.
Well, it is very different. On the one hand, writing is writing is writing.
But pro writing is a different tablet, a different pen, and a different world to write in. It really is. While I do know some people who used fanfic as a stepping stone, I do feel that there are things in the fanfic mindset (not a pejorative, by the way), that could easily hold a person back as they go pro, exceptions noted and acknowledged.
I am not certain I agree about ‘experimental,’ really, for a number of reasons, but that’s a different discussion entirely.
I do like the idea of people making fanfic to make themselves and others happy, to scratch an itch, and to improve their writing. All of that seems very valid and encouraging. I don’t see why it’s considered any differently than fanart, or cosplay, really. It all seems pretty legitimate expression to me.
