You know, until today I’d never heard the term Mary Sue, and I read a lot of (X-files) fan-fic. I’ve only read one M S…it was this really scary story about Mulder and Scully adopting two teenagers (the authors) and I didn’t get much past the intro. I think it was called Accidental Adoption, and it might be lurking out there on the web…
Heh! Fanfic goes strange places, including the Network Operating Center… Yup, someone actually did a fanfic based on Simon Travaglia’s Bastard Operator From Hell… Someone was actually willing to write about being a clueless simp, repeatedly too stupid to learn their lesson, and repeatedly victimized by the BOFH. For all that, it started out quite well, taking the persona of one of the BOFH’s legion of victims, and nicely insinuated itself into the thread of of Simon’s work, as the first-person of one of the BOFH’s unseen serial victims. So far, so good, and a fairly original concept, too… Then it went “wish-fulfillment mode”, and got really stupid, and quickly, too.
Too bad… It had such promise at first.
Here’s my stuff, though there isn’t any slash, lemon, or Mary Sue – just a lot of big robots. No promises if it meets your definition of “good,” either. 
Should I admit to writing this stuff, or not?
Actually, let me rephrase that.
I’ve never written a Mary Sue in my life.
So should I admit to writing fan fiction or not?
Fan fiction is not necessarily what makes the Baby Jesus bawl his little eyes out - badly written, Mary-Sue-raddled fanfic does.
Actually, let me rephrase that - it makes people who enjoy good writing cry. Fair enough if you want to write up your fondest fantasies about whatever fictional character/universe turns your crank, but when you post it in public, on the internet, you’re announcing it’s for public consumption, and you shouldn’t be surprised if the public howls in derision. My personal theory has always been, if you’re going to post something in public, make sure it’s at least been proof-read for stupid typos first [sub]and you would not believe how carefully I’m proof-reading this to clear out stupid typos[/sub].
SisterCoyote, I wouldn’t be ashamed to admit to writing Mary-Sue-free fanfic, not by a long shot. We need more of the good kind, less of the crap.
Tav, not only fanfic writer but fanfic archive-maintainer, in a small way, even if it’s a fandom only a few people have ever heard of, much less write for.
Well, Okay.
So, I’m “San” on There.
And I’d love to know if it’s the good kind or crap.
I mean, I know what I think…
Bob Scene wrote:
Interesting. I mean, I hesitate to call it `good.’ But bad writing is certainly not what’s so horribly wrong about it. Possibly it’s the best thing I ever wished I hadn’t read.
Actually, I kinda LIKE the stupid typos and cheesy Netspeak - it’s a quick way of letting me know that I don’t need to bother to read past the first sentence. A great timesaver!
I’m also impressed by the courage it takes to post anything in public. As several people have pointed out, to do so opens up your work (which most writers hold close to their heart, no matter how bad it may be) to criticism, and not all the reviewers are gentle. Perhaps even worse is daring to post a piece, and then getting no feedback at all. If nothing else, writing fanfiction gives a person a small taste of what professional writers go through all the time.
I never realized how many Dopers write fanfic - it’s neat how this thread has brought many of us ‘out of the closet’, so to speak.
To all my fellow fanfic writers - may your writing give joy to many (and not earn any links to the Worst Fanfiction site!). 
I read a lot of Roswell fanfic for a while… some of the best of it but no smut is here: http://pub10.ezboard.com/frandomroswellramblingsroswellianfanfictionspace The Roswell Elementary series is really good… they screen everything so there’s none of the crappy writing and grammar of much of bad fanfic…
I read and write fanfic, and I’m also on ff.net as Nichol (shameless plug) and if fanfic has done nothing else, it has certainly helped me grow as a writer. I learned a lot about writing from just jumping in there and doing it, and while I’m not Shakespeare born again, I can bang out a half-way decent story when I put my mind to it, and I learned my way around a keyboard damn quick. This is a vast improvement from my first attempts in which I had no idea how to use either the capitalization or the “,” key, so everything I wrote looked like this:
“sarah stood up ,and walked towards the door ,which trembled on its hinges.”
.:Nichol:.
P.S. If you visit ff.net, read everything you can find by Alara Rogers and Kielle, even if you don’t give a crap about Magneto or TCP. Trust me!
I read and write fanfic, and I’m also on ff.net as Nichol (shameless plug) and if fanfic has done nothing else, it has certainly helped me grow as a writer. I learned a lot about writing from just jumping in there and doing it, and while I’m not Shakespeare born again, I can bang out a half-way decent story when I put my mind to it, and I learned my way around a keyboard damn quick. This is a vast improvement from my first attempts in which I had no idea how to use either the capitalization or the “,” key, so everything I wrote looked like this:
“sarah stood up ,and walked towards the door ,which trembled on its hinges.”
.:Nichol:.
P.S. If you visit ff.net, rerad everything you can find by Alara Rogers and Kielle, even if you don’t give a crap about Magneto or TCP. Trust me!