The Creators Conundrum: Fan Works And Original Content

I've been a writer my entire life. My main goal is to be a film director. I believe it's safe to say that I am a creator, I build things, imagine entire worlds and put together stories, lives, within these places I think of. I bring stories to life through series of pictures that move across your screen. I fill your head with my words and you remember them. Well, I like to think you remember them.

I am also a fan. I am part of multiple fandoms and I continue to become part of these fandoms more and more. I love seeing the work other people have done. Their original content become very near and dear to their hearts. Their work inspires more than hundreds of people, including myself, to create their own works of art. This is where we get fan art, fan fiction, cosplay and even fan films. This is where the line becomes blurry for me and where I've wanted to avoid getting myself caught.

Being creative is just a part of who am. This gives me the gift and curse that I have. Its fairly easy to make a story out of almost anything. Creating your own universe and rules for that world is a bit harder, but obviously, it's doable. This is where the crosses and blurred lines come in. Why go through the effort of world building when there's already one set up for you? You don't have to worry about much because it's all taken care of for you, even most times, the characters. All you have to do is fill in the blanks. It's like writing the stage directions in a play, everything is there, you just need to tell it where to go.

It's amazing, honestly, the things fans can do with something they're passionate about. I have seen absolutely gorgeous art based off of books and TV shows, People have made animations of things, done their own versions of and written stories that in every respect could (and basically are) full length novels. The things that inspire us are very powerful.

But, this is where you can get caught in the middle. As someone who is a member of multiple fandoms I completely understand the allure to all of this creativity. As a filmmaker it's a bit harder to handle for a few reasons.

It should come as no surprise that things related to fandoms are generally more popular than original content. I have a friend whose fan art has gotten her jobs for the very people she drew fan art of. She's an amazing artist and animator and definitely has worked very hard to get where she is, make no mistake about that.

Wouldn't it be great if it was that easy for everyone else? Original content is so much harder to get out there. When you create something related to a fandom people are looking for it, they're specifically searching for that. Original works have to be dragged into people's attention, advertised and broadcasted to everyone who might listen.

I've been trying to avoid this for as long as possible, but the time has come. As I've recently been trying to work on more projects and get more things going for myself I've come to know this struggle.

I want to create original work. I want people to know what I'm capable of and what I can do. I love what I do and I want to do more and more of it and I want people to see it and love it as much as I do. It isn't all about me. But it is harder to get original work out there, so I don't want anything to get in the way of that.

But I also want to create fandom related things too. I have ideas that keep evolving and popping up the more I get into things. I want to create things based off of them because I love them and it's a good way to practice what I know while doing and being surrounded by things that I really love. I'd be doing it because it's fun. But I do not want that to be what I'm known for. I'd like to be known for what I do on my own.

Why not do both? I wish it were that simple. I can do both, yes, but it's given that the fandom related things will overshadow everything else I do. I could be wrong, but looking at the way most of the artists that I know feel, it isn't likely.

Even thought it is a struggle, it is a good one. Artistic mediums are all about expression and in the end, all that really matters is how you express yourself and how you feel about your work. Allow yourself to feel pride in everything you do, original or inspired.