When You're Caught Writing Fanfiction or Drawing Fanart

Doesn't matter for what universe... Just wondering, what are some of the odd responses you got when someone found you writing ff or doing fanart?
I've never gotten any unusual responses for my SW stuff, but here's one I got from a guy in my Alg class when he glanced at my Enterprise fancomic:
Shran? What kinda bad name is that?

 

I don't think it's as weird/uncomfortable when it's fan art. I drew Obi-Wan in class often, but no one questioned it.

Writing, on the other hand, is something quite different, at least in my experience. I'm either told it's, well, dorky, or that I'm wasting my time.

My friends don't make fun of me for it. Only my family does.

 

My friends would always ask me why the hell I was at an engineering school. I could never come up with a good answer.

Needless to say, I'm not studying that anymore.

 

My family knows (both my daughters read my stuff although my husband does not); a lot of friends at work know as well as do my costuming friends. Frankly, if they think less of me for writing fan fic, then they aren't very good friends...

I'd just ignore snide remarks. They are usually made by people who haven't got a clue.

 

My friends would mock me endlessly, so I don't tell them. I just say I'm writing a story and that I don't let people read my work.

Of those I have told, though, like my boyfriend, it amuses them.


Jes

 

I never do at school, but a couple times my little sister has. I just tell her to go away. My mom knows what I'm doing so she never says anything.

 

Some of my friends think it's pretty cool but don't really read it, except Terr

My parents have more recently tried being supportive and reading and all. But my family still doesn't really understand and I can tell they think it's kind of an annoying waste of time.

[hl=darkgreen]-sj loves kevin spacey[/hl]

 

People at my school know I write, but they don't comment on it. They just look at me like I'm insane. I ignore them. I gave up caring what they think. They'd think I was crazier if I told them what my original novel I'm writing is about.

 

I had my greek teacher be glad that it wasn't interfering with my work to write greek notes in the margins of the stories I wrote in class...

 

I told one of my best friends about a year ago, and she goes, "Wouldn't it be better to write real stuff that you could publish?" I didn't really care, though. I think of fanfic as good practice for the real thing. Doesn't mean I'm going to let anyone else know what I do!

And then there was that one day in Latin class last semester, when people were arguing over what one little word was supposed to mean. So I got bored and started drawing lightsabers and Rebel and Imperial symbols in my book. The guy next to me saw them and thought they were cool.

For some reason, it seems like fan art is more "acceptable" than fanfic. Maybe just because art is more, I don't know, mainstream, so to speak?

Whenever I feel embarassed about writing or doodling, I think of Bug, one of the coroners from Crossing Jordan:

"What are your plans tonight?"

"Cup of Ramen and Star Trek fan fiction."

"You're so sad...and yet so happy."

 

My friends (except for a few) aren't really interested in what I'm writing -- fan or original fiction. Out of the ones who I did tell that I write fan fiction, they were like, "What the heck is fan fiction?"

 

Interesting topic. Very few people know that I write fan fiction. Aside from the fact that i'm a very private person anyways - it's just not something that I think people ought to know about me.

My husband knows, and while he's accepted that I enjoy it as a hobby, he doesn't really understand it and wishes i'd write something 'real' or 'original.'

I finally told my sister about a year ago and she found her way to ff.net and read "Going Home". She enjoyed it she said, but she's not a real big SW fan - but she thought it was great that I could write so well. She's the artist - loves to draw, paint, I love to write. But i'm so private about it I never let anyone read my stuff-even before I found fan fic. Funny, how it's much easier to let a bunch of 'strangers' read your work and not the people closest to you. It was that way for me anyways.

Anyways, being the big mouth that she is, my sister told my mother and she found her way there too. She loved that I had put something on line and loved reading the reviews that I got - but she's a 'treker' and could not get into the SW aspect of it I got a better reception from those around me about it than I thought I would. Still, I don't announce it.

--shan

 

Funny, how it's much easier to let a bunch of 'strangers' read your work and not the people closest to you.

I totally agree, shanobi.
Only two of my friends know that I write fan fics, but I never talk about my projects until I'm finished, so they rarely get to read pieces of my work.
My family has no idea. I once mentioned that I READ fan fiction and my brothers and sister thought I'd lost my mind. They are not exactly wrong .

 

I get mixed responses. One of my close friends at college writes fanfic herself, though she's into Harry Potter. We band together against our snide friends. My younger sister likes fanfic, but doesn't understand my love of mush. I think she'll grow into it.

 

Usually ranges from a slight snicker to a "That's great, why aren't you working on real writing though?"

That's why, outside my wife and few people online, no one in my family or real-life know I write fanfic of any kind. Saves me the headache and the tsk, tsks fro disappointed family members.

 

My sister knows and has actually helped me on it, but that's 'cause she writes it herself. My mom knows I read it, but it was hard to explain it to her.

 

I often get weird looks from the people around me when I start writing in class. I've now started to sit in the very back corner of the lecture hall because of it.

 

My family thinks it's an absolute waste of my time, but none of them really understand my love of Star Wars in general, be it my fanfics or the films themselves.

There is one guy I work with who's read most of my shorter stuff, and is trying to get caught up on some of the longer stuff online. He can relate, being a big fan himself, but most people I've told about it don't seem to really understand.

Force be with you,

Tych_sel

 

My mom, I think, either believes I'm certifiably insane, or else that I'm completely irresponsible and that fan fiction isn't a proper way to spend my time. She says the amount of time I spend on the computer is "unnatural". I beg to differ.

My real friends don't think I'm wierd at all; they're all Star Wars geeks like me. In fact, we had a Star Wars Trivial Pursuit Party last weekend, if that tells you what kind of people I hang out with.

People at school think I'm odd, though. Just this morning a guy told me I have way too much time on my hands. I told him that no, I don't...I choose how to spend that time, and if I had more then my longest fanfic would have been finished in one year instead of three.

Emmi

 

My hometown is a very backward place and if you told pretty much anyone you were a Star Wars fan or that you read Fanfiction they would smile, nod, and back away very slowly. I've never told anyone (except family) but Laura (the girl who introduced me to Star Wars) was very open about her addiction and was considered to be beyond weird.

I don't think anyone I know in "real life" knows I write at all. My mom might, I've been doing it for a long time and I've never bothered to hide it, i just never made it a point to tell her. My family knows I both read fanfiction and beta read for freinds online and they pretty much avoid the topic b/c none of them are fan's themselves. (At least, that's what I want to believe. )

Sadly, I think I'm the only Star Wars fan I know, other than all you nice people, that is.

 

I usually write in private with my door locked so noone knows what I'm doing. It's easier for them to knock on the door and I'll put on some full screen game and they think I'm doing that

 

Never come up, my mother knows I write SW stories (and make SW 3D models) and she?s pleased for me when things go well and sympathetic when things don?t but I?ve never seen any need to tell anyone else. My attitude is that if people don?t ask what it is I?m writing on the bit of paper then I won?t tell as it is none of their damn business.

 

I write before work, on the bus, and while I'm waiting in line I never tell my co-workers what I'm doing, just working on a writing project But it is so much fun. My sig other sees how much fun I have writing and puts up with me Though I am the only one other than my step-son in my family that even likes starwars.

I get a lot of comments about writing something that is my own, and getting published, but my attitude is: I have a good job, why can't I do something for fun?

 

No one I work with knows I write fan fic.

My closest friends know because they're my betas even if it's just to say "that scene doesn't work."

The big step was explaining to my parents that I not only gave up writing original fiction to write fan fic, but that I write NC17 fan fic. I expected shock, but my parents thoughts were "So you're writing SW romance novels?" I told them that was a good description. So now they listen to me babble about my characters and growl when a scene doesn't work. They either ignore me or let me babble until the Muse fixes my problem.