Fan-fiction vs. Original Fiction

So, my first post about writing...and it's going to cover the difference between fan-fiction and original fiction, though I think most people know the difference. But I'm also going to cover what I think to be the pros and cons of both. Of course, these are just my opinions, and more a musing on the subject than actual tips.

To begin with, fan-fiction is, as the name implies, fiction written by fans of a particular movie, TV show, book, game, etc. The story could include a crossover with another movie, TV show, book or game. It could also include the addition of original characters. Basically, the story is written about a pre-established universe and characters.

Original fiction is the writer's own world and creation.

Neither is necessarily any better--or easier to write--than the other. Both have their own challenges and merits.

With fan fiction, the writer doesn't have to establish an entirely new world or new characters (unless, of course, they're adding original characters, but those are for another post). It gives the writer something to work with.

However, that's a challenge in itself, because the writer has to take care not to make the world and characters something that they aren't. It's all too easy, sometimes, for beginning writers to attempt to write fan fiction and portray the characters acting in a way that they would never actually act.

For instance, I've seen writers take a character who is very serious and easily annoyed and pair him or her up with someone who is exceptionally cheerful and annoying. They throw the two together with no regard to the fact that Serious Character would be more likely to bash Annoying Character's face into the pavement than to willingly tolerate their annoying personality and enter a romantic relationship with said character.

With original fiction, there's a lot more freedom in how the characters and world are portrayed, but along with that comes the challenge of making a believable world and characters that readers will like and relate to. It's a lot harder, with original fiction, to create something that doesn't fall completely flat.

There are stories that could be very good--the premise is interesting--but it ends up not being good at all because the characters aren't three dimensional. There's nothing to the characters or the world, and who wants to read something like that? Of course, there could also be the problem of there being too much to the characters and/or their world, which is just as much of a turn off.