Just Curious: What is easier to write - fanfiction, translation, or original?

[Deleted member 40682]

As one who has written fanfiction on Ao3, posted translations of Chinese webnovels on NU and recently started my own original work on SH, I was just curious which one writers find the easiest? And by easiest I mean actually able to stay motivated and finish?

 

[bafflinghaze]

For me, (short) fanfics! Especially for the big fandoms and pairings on AO3, there's so much community and engagement even for cute fluffy or cracky oneshots.

 

[LotsChrono]

The easiest and most motivating for me is writing original works. Since it’s something I especially took the time to build up and create from scratch, you can bet my motivation is higher than either translating a work or taking someone else’s work and making it in my own way.

Yet, that’s merely when it comes to motivation. When it comes to the easiest to write, I would have to say fanfiction. It depends on the fanfiction but, mostly, the plot and world is already laid out for you, and most of the characters are built and ready to go. What’s to be done is insert something or another or change one significant thing. (Save for those who make an AU, of course.)

That’s not to harp on writers of fanfiction, however. I’ve written some myself after all, though none are currently published. It’s merely my subjective opinion.

 

[Queenfisher]

As one who has written fanfiction on Ao3, posted translations of Chinese webnovels on NU and recently started my own original work on SH, I was just curious which one writers find the easiest? And by easiest I mean actually able to stay motivated and finish?

Depends on the person, really.

I can't fathom writing either fanfiction or translations. I don't like feeling restricted by another person's lore or style or preferences in handling plot and themes. I would just descend into the black hole of "research to represent better" and will wind up being paralyzed by it, thus never budging in actual writing.

Thus, the only one I can write (and be motivated by) and finish -- is originals .

Plus, I am not a very sociable person, really, so the fanfiction communities always intimidated me, tbh. Originals kinda benefit people with lurker personalities like mine ^^.

 

[Valmond]

No doubt, I will say translations are the hardest. Gotta know the language for one, then translating it to another tongue can be quite a hassle. Then you gotta go through all the checks and balances for that language you are trying to translate it towards. Honestly, the time and effort it takes to do this is far more than Original and FanFiction.

Original is definitely the rank below it. Mainly because, everything is being thought about from the beginning. Every detail, the world, characters, etc. There is no leverage, and more often than not. There will be countless rewrites to go with it to try and get the idea just where one wants it to be. Then there is the other challenge of getting it out there, being new out there.

Fanfiction being the easiest. Since well, the characters, plot, world, etc. Have all been created. That element of building and development has all been done. Even more, it does not require as much effort to push out there. So all the writer will really have to do is move ahead based on whichever point they are inserting in. Without much hassle to get the ball rolling.

 

[DubstheDuke]

I think it really depends on the person. For someone who is fluent in 2 languages, translation would probably be the easiest, but for most people this would be the most difficult, given that you have to master both languages or do a lot of research.

I am unsure about fanfiction as I have never and will never write it. Not to badmouth fanfic writers, but I simply don't find fanfiction interesting to write. I would much rather write my own characters, who go through the development which I put them through, and have the personalities and attributes which I give them. Is it easier to start out with a character that is already in existence? I don't know. Some people may say yes, some may say no, depending on the person. I would say it would be harder because you have a set personality that youre now forced to work with, but perhaps that's actually a benefit to fanfic writers, given that they don't have to come up with a personality?

I wouldn't say writing original is the easiest, but it's the only thing for me.

 

[Deleted member 40682]

For me, (short) fanfics! Especially for the big fandoms and pairings on AO3, there's so much community and engagement even for cute fluffy or cracky oneshots.

Right! I'm still getting used to the silence here on SH when back in Ao3 almost every chapter has a comment even if it's just to say 'thx for the chapter'.

Since it’s something I especially took the time to build up and create from scratch, you can bet my motivation is higher than either translating a work or taking someone else’s work and making it in my own way.

Very true, though I love those fandom characters they just aren't the same. It's like one is your blood related child while the other is the really likeable child of a friend or neighbor.

Plus, I am not a very sociable person, really, so the fanfiction communities always intimidated me, tbh. Originals kinda benefit people with lurker personalities like mine ^^.

Hmmm. As a reader I tend to be a lurker. But as a writer I wished there were less lurkers. Sigh~ I guess I can't help playing double standards

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Fanfics are by far the easiest to write, which is why I stopped writing them years ago and started writing my own stuff. I don't write b/c it's easy; I write b/c it's hard, b/c the best things in life are hard but worth it.

 

[yansusustories]

Personally, original stories.
I have never tried writing fanfictions but even just thinking about it gets my brain knotted. I couldn't precisely nail down the personality of a character I have not personally come up with no matter how much I've read about them but I think fanfictions should stay true to the original in that regard. So, fanfictions are a big no-no for me ability-wise already.
I have actually done translations, albeit of my own stuff (wouldn't do anything else either because it's a difficult thing legality-wise and since I'm living off being an author, I'd rather not get into territory regarding that which could get me in trouble). Let me tell you, it's effing hard. I actually had some lectures on translating back in university so I had some guidelines on hand for how to go about this, what to take note of etc but actually doing it was still darn frustrating. I can probably churn out a whole story in less time than I need to do a translation of the same story. Actually, I frickin hate translating my stuff but it actually pays out quite well so the broke artist in me thinks it's still somewhat worth it
Now, original stories are a whole different breed to me. Since I'm making everything up it usually goes fast (since the plotting and world-building and lore-part is actually what I consider myself being best at as an author), I know the characters and how they'll react, I don't even mind missing the mark with phrasing since I know I'll edit it later anyway, and it's just so much more surprising than the translations because I can still discover new aspects I didn't think of before.
So hands-down, I'd always choose writing a completely new, original story over translating an already written one or attempting to write fanfictions.

 

[lnv]

As one who has written fanfiction on Ao3, posted translations of Chinese webnovels on NU and recently started my own original work on SH, I was just curious which one writers find the easiest? And by easiest I mean actually able to stay motivated and finish?

Trick question? It's all about how much effort you put into it.

For translation you can MTL and that would be easy, you can also put a little more effort with some editing. Or you can translate while looking into every little detail to find the inner meaning to insure it is properly conveyed.

For fan fiction and your own writing, it is easy if you plan to just write anything. I mean you do realize it takes more time to do editing and consistency checks then writing right? And it gets even more difficult if you start to want to do world building and lore.

Fan fiction is probably easier in sense that most of the world building and lore is done for you, but at same time it limits what the writer can do unless he plans to ignore the original story or go completely tangent (very common in fanfics).

From a motivational standpoint, it is completely irrelevant. But to be honest, the more effort you put into the world building and the details, the more difficult it is to write. So the more walls you start hitting, the harder it is to finish.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

For me, the easiest to write would be fanfics. Here's why: the world has already been built, you only have to tweak it to fit your narrative. Characters have already been established as well; just add a few of your own and you're all set. The only thing that you have to concern yourself about, is that you deliver the same or even better quality as the original story.

However, I prefer to write originals because I like to create something to call my own. Plus it's also a challenge for me to create something and deliver good stories others would enjoy.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Seto Kaiba is my muse. He makes writing easy. I tried to do it without him for a while, but it didn't go so well.

 

[Fromage]

If you don't miss your Duolingo lessons, translating things won't be as hard as escaping from Azkaban.

 

[Moonpearl]

Translation, since you just have to find a way to communicate over what someone else has already written.

Fanfiction comes second. You have characters and a setting you can use, as well as pre-determined relationships and fan lore to guide you.
This may be constraining depending on how accurate to the original you want your work to be, but this isn't a requirement. You can go for an AU and just write all the shippy stuff you want.
In general, your audience will be forgiving because they just want that good shipfic.

Original fiction requires you to build something from the ground up and it won't be supported by an already popular fandom. Making people care about your characters is all up to you.

 

[minacia]

Translation is the most tedious, meaning it quickly becomes tiring proportional to the amount of effort it takes.

Original fiction runs into this issue where most people struggle to finish something they start. However, it's more fun (and it can be fun to write for just yourself, if you're happy with that). It can be disappointing if you care about an audience and no one reads the things that you write, though.

 

[yansusustories]

It can be disappointing if you care about an audience and no one reads the things that you write, though.

Actually, now that you mentioned it, I think this might be the same for all three kinds though. Like, I see translators give up halfway pretty often and while I don't really read much fanfiction, I remember once trying and finding a good one that hadn't been updated in months so might as well have been dropped as well. I guess especially if it's something longer, at least some external motivation might be necessary no matter whether it's original, fanfiction, or translation.

Translation is the most tedious

Also, I feel this so much When I started trying to translate, I purposefully picked some of the things that were the shortest plus the most important to me so I wouldn't need as long and would hopefully stay motivated. But gosh, it takes forever if you want to get it right. And going over a single sentence time and time again while comparing it to the original to make sure you didn't miss anything, stayed true to the meaning and maybe even writing style but still made it sound good in the other language is so strenuous, it felt like it would never end It's because of that that I still haven't attempted to translate a whole novel even though I really want to

 

[tigerine]

Each of them requires the use of different skills, so it will vary from person to person.

I only know one language and can't translate, but a good translator is knowledgeable about both languages they are using (including idiom or turns of phrase; knowing the Four Classics and poetry is useful for allusions in CN writing, for example). They also have to be a good writer, and know when something needs to be interpreted more strictly or more loosely. For this reason, I consider translation to be something akin to alchemy.

Having written fanfiction for over 20 years I can say that fanfiction stretches different muscles than writing original work does. At least for me, the fun of fanfiction is the same as playing a game with rules: the floor is lava. But it's okay to land on pillows, and the blue tiles are safe. Now, get to the other side.

With writing originals, no one is telling you how to get to the other side. You have to decide how you're going to do it. You can walk, you can walk like a pirate, you can walk like a Rockette chorus, you can crawl, you can crab-walk, you can scoot your ass like a dog with worms, and this is the fun of writing original things: making your own decisions about how to get there.

One isn't 'harder' than the other. They're different kinds of fun for me, so I turn to them for different things.

 

[Jessie_Emilyn]

Never done translation or fan fiction so naturally I would say original writing.
When I make my own characters I generally have some idea of what I want them to be, I can shape them however I want them to be and even fill in the gaps when I get inspired by an idea that drives them to be who they are. I have breathed so much life into them that they can surprised me, when it feels so natural that I am not seeing plot twists coming and having to deal with them with an extra chapter or so just to get the story back on track.
Can you say you will ever know a character you only see the actions of and always have gaps with (and that you can't fill without reshaping who they are), that you will be able to write naturally a character you don't know every inch of? I feel that it might be more work to create original writing but it is also more freedom and nothing is hidden from you. That is why I think original writing is easier.

As for translations I am poor with my primary language let alone secondary ones...

Granted after all this I guess the real thing to consider is where you struggle, if creation is more problematic then fan fiction might be the way to go but if freedom is what you need then original writing will suit you better and as for translation then you need a strong graps on multiple languages but often also culture to know implication of phrases and ideas and how to translate them so they are not lost on the reader.

 

[Discount_Blade]

Fanfictions. A good chunk of the work in creating a story has already been done for you. Also what is AO3?

 

[bafflinghaze]

Fanfictions. A good chunk of the work in creating a story has already been done for you. Also what is AO3?

AO3 is https://archiveofourown.org/ which is the gayest of all big fanfic websites