Question for FanFic Writers

[on:]

Hello All,
 As an aspiring fanfic writer (or perspiring, as the case may be), I'm curiuos where the rest of you get your inspiration for your fanfics.
 So, what might it be? Other TV shows? Conversations overheard? Music? Or what?
 Thanks.

 Later...

[Reply #1 on:]

Well for both of my fics the inspiration usually comes from songs. I started to think of the first chapter of "And then there was two" after listening "Gone away" by the Offspring.
The rest of the pieces I draw inpiration rom all around me.

[Reply #2 on:]

For my current fan-fic (got your email, thanks very much for the offer, I'll keep you posted  ) I was inspired a lot by just general things that are important to me. Music was involved though certainly: The Graceland album by Paul Simon, and a certain piece by Richard Wagner (you'll easily guess which one if you know what my story is about) There are a few things I've added that come from conversations or events. There is one or two in-jokes that only people who went to AGI2 and hovered around Slimmy would probably get - though one of them is/will be in Russian. A few other jokes that are in there are also stoladapted from other TV shows - though largely British shows...
But Teral's been able to spot most of them 

Most of the plot I planned out in my mind, usually wrapped around several "waypoints" - like an image or something you have in your mind of what you want to happen in general - that I kind of wrote up to...but in the end I've barely actually writen in one of the original plot waypoints. Then, another huge plot change happened just by me looking at something and saying "How ironic would the sentence be if I did it slightly different?" - I even killed off one of my characters early just because of the music I was listening to. (Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria - Vangelis)
Crazy you see! 

For the next one I'm doing, I've got much more obvious inspirations - namely the computer game Freelancer and the music of Russian dance duo PPK - and by extension, some of their influences, like Yuri Gagarin. Also certain references to the Dollar Series come into it. Actually the biggest influence I have came from a dream I had - though the story-line is fairly similar to The Sting, though I had the dream before watching that episode.

Hope that helps - if it doesn't sound too random. 

[Reply #3 on:]

What inspired me to write my first Futurama fanfic (it hasn't been typed, and I don't have a title for it yet) was the reaction I had to the end of "Time Keeps on Slipping..."; it hit me hard enough that I wanted to write something about it.

- THM

[Reply #4 on:]

Ya I haven't finish writing it yet but I got my inspiration from a random thought that popped into my head.

[Reply #5 on:]

Lots of different things, though sci-fi parody was the main inspiration for UoM, different movies/books/series/games for different parts (eg Transformers: The Movie, Star Trek, Dune) as well as various random ideas I come up with, and sometimes just wanting to put characters in different situations to see how they act. Inspiration can range, depending on your personality, and some things can just hit you as really neat. I've even had inspiration come from strange dreams, and sometimes even being somewhere different (seeing a particular sunset one while I was on holiday at New Years last year inspired something once for example).

[Reply #6 on:]

I was inspired to start my first story when I read AstroZombies's Crash course of Love fanfic, which has always been one of my favorite stories.  I liked the way the story read, and thought that I'd try to do one on my own.  No more Fun and Games came about because I wondered what would happen if Leela finally blew up at Fry, and how would he react to try and get her respect.  I started Leela Squared because I'm a big Dr. Who fan, (have been for the last 25 years), and since the Doctor is a star of tv in the Simpsons universe, then maybe he'd exist for real in the Futurama one.

Funeral for a Friend, my angsty fic, came about when I was sitting at home, and the memory of someone that I loved a long time ago, just came up and got me by the throat, and writing that story helped me to deal with the loss I felt.  Funny, it only took me about 90 minutes to write the whole thing, and I only corrected a few bits before I submitted it to TLZ.

As Kif stated, inspiration can come from lots of different places, whether it be real life, or fictional, your best bet is to think of a situation and then wonder how the Futurama characters would react to it.  Let yourself go, and remember, to write for yourself, don't worry about what others think about it.  Just enjoy the work.

[Reply #7 on:]

music, mostly....you know what, my inspiration is very dry. my latest fic in progress has almost no inspiration right now, just my love for shippiness  but... listen to music, that's the only thing that helps me. 

[Reply #8 on:]

I've started accumulating ideas for a few fanfics I intend to write. The thing about Futurama is that, for me, it's so great as it is that I have trouble reading most fanfics unless they're very much in the vein of the actual show. I just read Stephen Beer's "All Rodents Lead To Home" fanfic and I loved it because for me it could almost be a real episode.

 As for inspirations, I've never actually been a huge sci-fi fan so I try to think up crazy, imaginative futuristic scenarios rather than pay homage to already existing sci-fi. I think it's also good to incorporate anecdotal material: something I loved about the episodes Bender Gets Made and The Route Of All Evil was that in the commentaries they revealed that there were real stories behind some of the plot that occurred in those episodes, so that's also an inspiration.

 Essentially, I want to try and stay true to both the content and the spirit of Futurama, and that's why I try to keep as open minded as possible.

[Reply #9 on:]

Well, If i am writing a fan fic about fry and leela falling in love in some way, i listen to a sad song. I suggest these following songs


1)I will always love you-whitney houston
2)i will remember you-Sarah mclachan
3)thats what love is for-amy grant

or if im writing an action type episode, i'll listen to a song that screams, like the song "headstrong" i like that song.

music, like mentioned in the other post(s) is a good thing when writing a fan fic.

[Reply #10 on:]

i just write what comes out of my conciousness, and i might add a little shippyness to the mixture. then take my sweet ass time reading it over.

[Reply #11 on:]

 

Originally posted by helpimchoking:
1)I will always love you-whitney houston
2)i will remember you-Sarah mclachan
3)thats what love is for-amy grant

or if im writing an action type episode, i'll listen to a song that screams, like the song "headstrong" i like that song.

how could you like Headstrong and like those other ones too?  i kid, i kid

[Reply #12 on:]

I've started writing a fanfic, and i get inspiration from pretty much anything and everything, what i thought was, do you want Leela falling love completely with Fry, and getting a whole new angle, or sticking with the tried and tested formula.

[Reply #13 on:]

i'm doing a futurama fan comic. its pretty good so far. i've done part 1 and starting part 2. i'm going to ask futurama comics[if they could] bring it up to matt.[yeah right. like thay'll happen]

[Reply #14 on:]

When I came up with the spin-off for Futurama, SpyOrama, I just noticed what was going on in pop culture.  In 2002, I noticed there were many spy movies; The Sum of All Fears, XXX, The Bourne Identity, I Spy and of course Die Another Day.  Not only that but there were spy parodies; Austin Powers, Undercover Brother and Spy Kids.  the spy genre had become a parody of itself.  I've seen all 72 episodes of Futurama and I noticed they had only a few references to James Bond, but nothing solid.  I decided wouldn't it be funny to see Fry try to be a spy, based on the movies, and TV shows he probably saw in the 20th century.  And the rest you can read at fanfiction.net

[Reply #15 on:]

 

Originally posted by ooy:
i'm doing a futurama fan comic. its pretty good so far. i've done part 1 and starting part 2. i'm going to ask futurama comics[if they could] bring it up to matt.[yeah right. like thay'll happen]

Have you uploaded any of it? I'd like to have a look.

[Reply #16 on:]

I come up with an idea, then write it as ideas come to me, sometimes it works, other times is need rewriting complete sections like NCII is requiring at the moment, to such an extent I've paused it and going to start on a new one, coded :- MMIH.

[Reply #17 on:]

Actually, althought this isn't related to the question directly, I think its important and may interest some of you. Notes are essential, IMHO. And when it comes to actually doing the writing in multipart fics, I find it is very good to have the basic plot points all worked out at least two chapters ahead of the one you're writing, e.g. if you're writing your 4th chapter, make sure chapters 5 and 6 have comprehensive notes for them. This stops you from being stuck as often, and makes sure than when you *are* stuck, you're at least either two chapters clear of any problems or you know where you're supposed to be going, if only vaguely. This helps avoid running dry when time is crucial and the dreaded release delay.

The basics of your story should all be worked out before you even start, and the more the better. You don't need to know where or how you're going to end things, but you should know where the story is going to some extent. It's often tempting to try and get your story out there as soon as possible, but rushed work shows cracks, but its often better to delay things a while and maybe slow things down for the sake of quality. Your story will be better off for it in the end, so never release anything, no matter how tempting, unless you're really happy with it.

Well, that's enough of that. Just a few tips that might help, though you may already know it. Still, its worth it if it just helps one aspiring writer 

[Reply #18 on:]

I don't use notes, I have everything in my mind - which is why, as I'm going through my story again, I realise I've written things I've actually forgotten to refer to when I wrote the end. So in other words - does as Ken does 

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Originally posted by ActionLaPointe:
i just write what comes out of my conciousness, and i might add a little shippyness to the mixture.

More like me, I look at what I want to accomplish overall and where I want the charcters to go. If your writing it like its a book, for individual scenes I try to keep in mind some central theme and use it through out.
About where they come from originally, well, I just have abstact ideas come into my head when I don't focus on anything particular. The real trouble is fiding an ideally expressive medium. That could be its own thread topic.

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by zoidyzoid:
 Have you uploaded any of it? I'd like to have a look.

i dont know where to put it. mayby TLZ because it kinda has leela as the main.
i will upload it as soon as i have finished the editing like the lettering. this is how it goes:

leela finds out that the teller at the big apple bank made a calculation error when counting the intrest for fry[fishful of dollars] fry thinks of getting a car with leela and dr zoidberg so leela gets her body damaged by malfuntioning eddiee's leg. puts head on fry. then puts on head in jar on a robots body. amy and fry with their money [aamyyy!::drools  ] to convice leela to be human as a

Show spoiler

mutant

can be. while bender teaches her to be a robot. its called put my head on a robots body.

[Reply #21 on:]

i am so confused. That plot discription made no sense. Leela gets hurt and then what happens?

[Reply #22 on:]

oy, that was more confusing than talking to speli at 10:00 on a tuesday night (trust me, you don't want to know). explain please>

[Reply #23 on:]

I've only write a FanFic in my life, and it failed miserably.
Music I used? None

[Reply #24 on:]

For my half-assed attempt of a fic, i just locked myself up in a room, tortured myself for a little while, didn't sleep or ate well, and didn't talk to anyone (for the first 4 chapters), and i basically take a long hard look at my memory while blasting metallica's S&M album as loud as possible without waking up the neighbors. I'd say introspection is important, and i haven't had that lately since i finally got a bit social and been busy with other stuff, but who cares. Oh, also, reading all the fics in TLZ inspired me to write my own.

[Reply #25 on:]

I just go and do my job(When I actualy have one  ),
I always get the best ideas when I'm suppose to be working. 

[Reply #26 on:]

You and me both brother. 
I once penned half a novel in my mind whilst pushing trolleys, and designed several new cars and ships whilst on the checkouts, though my section managers don't really like me doodling on EFT slips...
If you have to escape the tedium of work, thinking about what to write is a great thing to do. 
That way you can never get bored in a job - though you can get distracted and make a...mistake...

[Reply #27 on:]

I spent all of my high school years writing a RPG storyline, instead of you know,... what-cha-call-it ... Learning! thats it!  lol

[Reply #28 on:]

It occured to me I never revealed my secrets of how I write. Well, that's just it, they're secret. Even from me. I'm one of those people who gets inspired by seemingly nothing. The phone rings. "Aha, a great idea for a novel!" (Nonfuturama) Music plays. "Ooh, nice one." Can't sleep. "I've been typing on the keyboard..." Watching TV. "Mother of your God! Ingenious!" Drinking. "Ahh! Ooh!" Eating. "Mmm, this dinner's good. . .may I be excused?" Can't forget sleeping. "Man what a dream. There's an idea."

I could go on, but I don't wanna bore you. It just seems like everything I do spurs another idea. Whether I get it down or not is another thing.