Is writing an original novel really more difficult than a fanfiction?

[WhiteBellTower]

I am asking this question because I have tried multiple times to write fanfics, yet give up every single time.

The thing I am having the most trouble with is keeping the existing character’s personality and action consistent with their canon counterpart, and I can never seem to do a good job at it.

I always have the feeling that my interpretation of a character is flawed, and the original author has a different intent in mind that I am misunderstanding. In other words, I just feel like the character I am writing and their original character are two completely different person, at which point, I consider that a failure and give up.

Meanwhile, original characters doesn’t seem to have that problem? Since it’s a blank slate, I can fill it in however I want in a logical manner, without worrying about clashing with a different mind that is the original author.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Writing an original novel is infinitely harder, it's not even a question you should ask. Moreover, apart from actually writing, you should also promote your own story, which certain fandoms have already done for you. Overall, writing fanfiction is an easy mode.

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

Original is like making a blueprint that you can innovate and edit without any worries since your making something out of nothing. The drawback is that while you can create from scratch, you don't have any guide nor direction as to where it goes or how it would function.

Fanfiction is basically just a blueprint with a guide, you can flesh out and even edit but you'll face some drawbacks such as running into mistakes that crumbles the entire structure or running into some problems if you get too creative with how you edit the blueprint.

 

[Jerynboe]

What this is is that you have a problem most people writing fanfic don’t. Fanfic is a jumping off point. You’re treating it as a straight jacket. “Considering your story a failure” because you didn’t perfectly embody the original author is not typical.

I have mostly written fanfic and I don’t really care if I deviate from the original IP in manifold ways because that is the point of a fanfic. I pay more attention to the original IP than half of the Hollywood adaptations you see, but I’m still making fanfiction. I recognize that I am making my own version of these characters in my own version of this world.

 

[minacia]

Would distinguish between (A) difficulty writing and (B) difficulty marketing/"succeeding".

For the former (A), it depends on the kind of writer you are. If you care about making your characters consistent with the original IP, that itself involves a different type of skill (i.e. acting) than the type of skill that is needed for spontaneously generating ideas (i.e. improv). For some people acting is easier than improv, and for others it's the opposite.

For the latter (B), any subject matter that is more popular will be easier to "succeed" in than a subject matter that is less popular.

 

[TASTYLEADPAINT]

Yes and no. Original allows for more freedom and flexibility. You can create your own characters with there own personalities. The world can have its own lore and rules and you can makes systems that work well with how you write. However the downsides is that it's hard to make those good. Making a likeable character and interesting world is difficult.

Fan fiction doesn't have that problem because 90 percent of the work in those areas has been done already. But because that work has been done you lack any freedom. You can't add new systems or alter characters because altering them turns them into an OC.

All In all it depends on the sort of person you which is harder

If you want a 50/50 solution do a fan original. For example "i reincarnated as gandalf with an op system"

With that you get the option to change gandalf and add a new system

 

[CodeCrisis]

Fanfiction typically isn't meant to follow what the original author had in mind, for example let's take BNHA. Most fanfic authors who write BNHA fanfics tend to rewrite characters in various ways, like turning Todoroki into a yandere.

Following what the original author had in mind is, well, pointless. Unless of course, you're trying to follow the canonical story.

But generally, fanfics already have 99% of everything you need. Pre-made characters, a pre-made world, pre-made backgrounds, etc. Meanwhile, in original stories, you need to come up with all of that yourself, including general world rules & laws.

 

[Tempokai]

Imagine that you're a bard in ancient Greece. You, your goat, and even your three-year-old son know about The Iliad. The OG, the myth, the legend, and the stuff that gets repeated again and again and again. Hell, that's your job as a bard: to sing about Achilles' wrath for the 360th time. The crowds are bored. You’re bored. Even Achilles is probably bored, wherever he is, rolling his eyes in Elysium. But here’s the thing: you still sing it. Because how you sing it matters.

You embellish. You riff. You add a scandalous twist where Hector’s helmet falls off and reveals he's actually wearing socks with sandals. The crowd loves it. Not because it’s new, but because you made the old feel alive again. That’s fanfiction—dancing with a well-known partner, but not stepping on their feet.

Now, imagine instead that you don’t sing The Iliad. You sing your own epic. No Achilles, no Troy, no gods causing chaos to mess things up. Just your own heroes, your own world, your own rules. You’re not just a bard now. You’re Prometheus with a lyre. You’ve created something from scratch, and nobody cares because you're not great enough.

All ecause persuasion is survival. Invention—or creation—may be divine, but people won’t listen unless your tune is as catchy as the war in Troy. That’s the brutal beauty of originality: it demands excellence not just in creation, but in persuasion. You must persuade your audience into caring.

Yes, fanfiction is hard. You’re constrained by canon, burdened by the readers who would scream “He wouldn't say that” if you veer off the canon even just slightly without justification. At least you'll have readers from the preexisting base that are starved for the interpretation of the canon, in your way. The fanfiction exists to scratch an itch, and if it fails to do, it fails to matter.

Anyway, original work? That’s triple hard. No preexisting world. No myths. Just you, trying to convince a jaded crowd that your new tale is worth their ears. Unless you're great Muse, you'll not make your story so interesting that you'll overcome the triple effort needed besides of effort that is needed for creation. Creation isn't enough; persuasion is survival.

 

[Corty]

Writing an original and writing fanfic are two different things, just like riding a bicycle or a Kawasaki ninja. You may have pedaled around the city (fanfic), but now you are sitting on something different.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

If writing a fanfic is harder or the same difficulty as writing an original novel, why write fanfic in the first place? Since it limits you in what you can create to a small world of someone else's creation, it has to be easier in some way, otherwise no-one would do it.

But if writing a fanfic is easier, what makes original writing harder? On the micro level of storywriting, I think perhaps fanfictions require less descriptive pieces. You don't need to describe as many characters, because some of them are already well-described, nor do you need to describe well-known places.

From the macro level of storywriting, the only thing I can think of that's different is that you now have to invent the worldbuilding and characters from scratch, which gives you a lot more freedom to do and think about what you want to include.

The other thing I could think of is perhaps something to do with zeal. Because you enjoy the original fiction, it's easier to be zealous over it than a completely new work. In other words, it's easier to become "excited" into writing a fanfiction than it is an original work.

But I wouldn't know, because I've never wrote a fanfiction before.

 

[minacia]

If writing a fanfic is harder or the same difficulty as writing an original novel, why write fanfic in the first place?

Well, part of it is because they are fans of the original. Not everyone writes for "success", per say. There's a large population of writers out there who write because they love something.

 

[Arkus86]

If writing a fanfic is harder or the same difficulty as writing an original novel, why write fanfic in the first place? Since it limits you in what you can create to a small world of someone else's creation, it has to be easier in some way, otherwise no-one would do it.

That's not a good way to look at it. As mentioned above, there are plenty of peaople who love certain work, and they want to create their own story in that specific universe, or just create a different take on the story.
Even if it was harder, it would not really matter, because creating an original story around the same plot they had in mind would just defeat the purpose.

As for whether it's actually harder to create a fanfiction, I would guess not. The world-building side of the story is already done, and depending on what exactly you are writing, most, if not all character are already there, fleshed out for you to use. You can even reuse a good chunk of the original plot, if your idea ties into it.
The only point where creating a fanfiction is harder than original work, is merely... keeping the characters and world somewhat consistent with the source material, and even that is not a strict requirement.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I am asking this question because I have tried multiple times to write fanfics, yet give up every single time.

The thing I am having the most trouble with is keeping the existing character’s personality and action consistent with their canon counterpart, and I can never seem to do a good job at it.

I always have the feeling that my interpretation of a character is flawed, and the original author has a different intent in mind that I am misunderstanding. In other words, I just feel like the character I am writing and their original character are two completely different person, at which point, I consider that a failure and give up.

Meanwhile, original characters doesn’t seem to have that problem? Since it’s a blank slate, I can fill it in however I want in a logical manner, without worrying about clashing with a different mind that is the original author.

Depends on how the writer is "wired" - some are at their best using other people's creations (occasionally even better than the original creator), others find it too restricting and HAVE to write their own.

 

[LuoirM]

I ate greens today

 

[Danja]

Fanfiction is basically just a blueprint with a guide, you can flesh out and even edit but you'll face some drawbacks such as running into mistakes that crumbles the entire structure or running into some problems if you get too creative with how you edit the blueprint.

Which is why the magic words "alternative canon" exist.

I've taken Jeannie places Sidney Sheldon never imagined (link to my fanfics on AO3 is in my signature).

 

[Plantorsomething]

I am asking this question because I have tried multiple times to write fanfics, yet give up every single time.

The thing I am having the most trouble with is keeping the existing character’s personality and action consistent with their canon counterpart, and I can never seem to do a good job at it.

I always have the feeling that my interpretation of a character is flawed, and the original author has a different intent in mind that I am misunderstanding. In other words, I just feel like the character I am writing and their original character are two completely different person, at which point, I consider that a failure and give up.

Meanwhile, original characters doesn’t seem to have that problem? Since it’s a blank slate, I can fill it in however I want in a logical manner, without worrying about clashing with a different mind that is the original author.

I think from experience, whichever one you’re more used to is easier, but fanfic has a lower entry barrier overall

 

[Tegeli]

Writing fanfiction is infinitely harder. Have you seen what fanfiction decent enough to read is? Literally part of the literary canon, like Virgil or Dante. Original proselets can't compete with that.

 

[goth_dropping_in]

Yeah, echoing everyone else here; with an established world and characters you have a lot more to bounce off, and can "tune" the existing pieces to your own vision of the canon, while with your own world you have to make it all up wholesale. Worldbuilding in and of itself is a whole discipline; look at the lengths that J.R.R Tolkien went to to make Middle-Earth feel "real." You get to steal all that and use it for yourself if you write in Lord of the Rings' canon.

However, original fiction gives you more room to play with in some ways - you get to make up pieces of setting and character for yourself, and if you have a talent for it they may be "better than stock" in important ways. But generally you have to get to a pretty decent level of skill before it's better to use your own pieces. Until then, fan-fiction gives you the equivalent of a Lego kit - solid enough pieces to build on, and enough space to make something of your own.

 

[Snake99]

I believe that writing an original story is easier as long as the characters and the world are generic, making a good fanfic requires a deep knowledge of other characters and lore.

 

[BruderBaer]

Writing an original novel is infinitely harder, it's not even a question you should ask. Moreover, apart from actually writing, you should also promote your own story, which certain fandoms have already done for you. Overall, writing fanfiction is an easy mode.

First reaction, very good answer. Yet alone bringing an original work into the spotlight vs fanfcition, where the lore already has a big and established fanbase, is way easier to write.