How would feel if someone made a fix fic of your story?

Just as the title says, hwo would if your fans or readers made a fix fic of your story? Fix fics usually address the flaws, inconsistencies or stuff that they didn't like in a story. Ideally, the fix fics are supposed to 'repair' problems with canon and try to create a story that fixes the problems. Although that would be ideal, not every one is a good writer and fix fics are not immune to Sturgeon's Law but nevertheless the good ones are great and some fics are better than canon. With that said, how would you feel if someone made a fix fic of your work or even had an idea that you didn't think about before?

I'd start looking at the story in a new way.

Honestly, I doubt I'd care much. A Fix Fic is meant to correct something that its author disliked, which does not at all mean the same thing as "something actually wrong with the work".

(Actually, I doubt I'd even know - in the unlikely event that anyone ever writes fanfiction for my story, I probably won't want to read it).

Depends on the execution.

I'd be flattered anyone's actually reading my work, and cares enough to write fan fiction.

Yeah, the fix nature might be a pain, but hey, you can't make everyone happy, so the fact that they don't like something wouldn't bother me that much.

This. If someone cared enough about my writing to invest time in it, then I would be extremely happy.

I'd also possibly check it out to see if they make any good points that I should address in my future work.

edited 9th Jul '12 7:41:29 PM by ChocolateCotton

Depends on how it's written.

Though, I'd be really flattered if my story was good enough to have any fanfics.

I don't know if there's necessarily any correlation between the quality of a story and whether or not it gets fanfic.

Maybe but nevertheless there seems to be fanfics of popular stories especially in anime and video games.

Popularity doesn't always relate to quality.

Really depends on what they're "fixing." It would bother me if I put my heart and soul into a particular element of the story, only for someone to claim as having "fixed it," especially if it's for the sake of, I dunno, a pairing they wanted to be canon or something.

So.

Wouldn't read it. For one thing, I imagine I'd be more than aware that the story is flawed - I've heard many writers claim that no story is ever really perfect, and I agree.
Also if they're doing better than me I'd feel sad. And offer them a book deal or something.

If it would point out inconsistencies and flaws in the plot, I may even try to re-write to acommodate for stuff I missed, or at the very least write the next parts acknowledging what people pointed out. I hate inconsistencies and if someone seriously found plot holes in my work, I would try to correct it.

If it's just "fixing something I don't like", I would probably not react at all.

If it stood in complete opposition of some ideological parts (for example, an anti-theistic villain is portrayed in a too obviously positive and sympathetic way, or the "nation of good" is made to be corrupt), I would do what I can to eradicate that sort off from any sort of official site, and probably even ask fanfiction sites to take it down. Why such a knee-jerk reaction? Because there are certain moral values behind my work. I don't want fanatics and misanthropes to follow it, and one sure way to get rid of them is to let them know I hate them and their "death of the author" interpretation is BS.

That seems a bit like an overreaction. I mean, just because someone puts your villain in leather pants doesn't warrant the entire fanfic being taken down. It's just fanfiction, it won't matter in the slightest. Plus, I don't get how making a villain in a fictional story seem sympathetic means that they're misanthropes.

In response to the OP, I wouldn't mind so much. It's just a fanfic, after all. If they have any valid points, I'll try to fix the problems to the best of my ability.

i think that a more important point than the execution is the nature of the fix, and whether it is an acceptable criticism. And whether the overall feel is of someone who likes the story but feels it falls short of its potential (rather than a hater venting). I would try to understand what they find wrong.

But above all, I would be flattered that someone cares enough.

I know it's an overreaction, but as I said, I want to make some stuff clear so 10 years later I don't have to deal with a "fan" who really hates stuff the story is really about (meaning, he never was a fan of the work, but of his delusion of the work). I want people to like my work for what it really is, not their delusions.

This has actually happened to me. Basically some one read a story I wrote, thought they could do it better, wrote their version, and now we're best buds.

It was the 'fix the things the author didn't personally like' variation, so he wasn't really attacking anything wrong with the story, only shifting the tone and the physics to match his own personal tastes.

But as others had said, it's very flattering to have someone read your story and have it affect them so much that they devote time and energy to a project of their own based off of it. And even though we have different tastes, we can both respect one another as authors and creators. It is interesting to see my characters and ideas implemented through a completely different point of view.

I would laugh.

If the fixfic was a genuine improvement of the original, that remains true to my characters and ideas and implements them in a way that is plausible then I think I would try to learn from it. Otherwise, I would probably try to ignore it for fear of igniting a flame war or tempting godwin's law.

I'd just be glad someone liked it enough to be inspired to write something of their own. Because I'm a Wide-Eyed Idealist like that.

Most of it would probably be people who wanted to sail the ship that was sunk, and I am aware of this and have resolutely decided not to care. They can enjoy it all they like, so long as they don't try to "force" me to make it canon. And if they do try, I have some harsh words for them.

Flattered, naturally. Especially if it was well-written. If I liked what they did with it, I may even import some elements to my own story.

People can sue you for that.

I must say, legal issues aside that seems to be a wildly optimistic view of Fix Fic.

^^ It's a nullified issue. Technically all fanfiction is in violation of copyright even Fix Fic. (Nearly everybody doesn't care though.) Problem is, you can't sue for something "stolen" from a fanfic when the fic itself is in violation of copyright from a legal standpoint.