Confused: Imagining fan fiction wrong?

[MichCecil]

Just to clarify: I am not talking about fan fiction itself and whether or not it is inherently wrong. It is a little more personal than that.

I imagine “fan fiction” from time to time. It hardly has any questionable content. Most times, I just take a fictional universe and turn everyone into spectacular Catholics. For example, I might turn a super-villain into a faithful Catholic - but the fact remains that he did many immoral things in his past (or that it might surge up again as I craft his journey).

The problem is NOT that the stories in general could have immoral content. I mean, there might be nothing wrong with featuring immoral content to some degree (as is the case in classic literature) as long as the overall message and intention of the story is proper.

But because I imagine these fan fictions in my head, I often find inappropriate thoughts (e.g. the super-villain’s immoral past) pop into my mind. I obviously find no pleasure or interest in them and dismiss them immediately. They just happen to pop into my head often, like any random immoral thought. So, by imagining these fan fictions (and opening myself up to the possibility of inappropriate thoughts popping into my head), am I putting myself in near occasions of sin?

In my opinion, they sort of appear that way. I mean, my fan-fic “imagining” does not serve a useful purpose - because I will not publish them or make money off of them (the characters do not belong to me). Since I am not writing the Great Gatsby or anything, I should not be subjecting myself to fantasies where I might have inappropriate thoughts. Thus, I am indeed putting myself in near occasions of sin… right?

The thing that gets me is that, if my argument above holds true, then I should not be imagining any fan fictions whatsoever, as to avoid near occasions of sin (I write mostly conversion fan-fics in my head, so that necessarily requires that the fan-fic characters be somehow ‘bad’ to begin with… which results in odd thoughts popping into my head). Of course, I could continue to imagine other forms of completely ‘clean’ fan fictions, but they don’t really interest me. Anyway, the point is that, fan-fictions (for me, personally) might be near occasions of sin and thus I should quit them… right?

I just need some assurance that this is the fair conclusion because if it is, I will have to Confess it and swear that I’ll never have to do it again… or if it is not, I will not have to necessarily Confess it.

Here’s the thing though: I have no real problem with Confessing and giving up fan fiction… it will just be really hard, because it is an entertaining hobby for me when I am not working on an original story. I even confessed all this once and promised to God that I’d never write fan fictions again, but relapsed into crafting fan fictions so much that my priest gave me permission (during a Confession) to just go ahead and imagine fan fictions because he figured that my promise was unrealistic and unnecessary (i.e. fan fictions are just an important mental writing exercise/ hobby for me) and it is not necessarily a sin. I can be very scrupulous, so I could have been overthinking everything, but given the argument (see above paragraphs) I am really not sure about this conclusion.

I guess the biggest argument that I am just being scrupulous (and thus can keep imagining fan fiction) is this: many people seem to be okay with fan-fic writing or imagining as a hobby. I know that I should not compare myself to others and that I could have a personal cross to bear (i.e. “fan-fics are great for everyone, just not me”). I also know that I should do what my conscience tells me. But then again, this is the sort of indication I might use to try to overcome scrupulosity (e.g. “many Catholics eat desserts - thus, having some dessert yourself isn’t over-indulging, even if it feels wrong”). I suppose that I could just say “fan fics don’t always bring me closer to God” and quit, but neither does reading/writing original stories (even when they are written with good intention). I am just confused. I am fine with either decision (trying to give up fan-fics or ignoring the thought that fan-fics are wrong) and I know that the only person who can tell me which decision is right is God. But if you could tell me what you think, it might help settle my confusion a bit.

Thank you so much for putting up with this long post! Please feel free to help me with this confusion.

 

[OxygenMan]

Well, whether it is a near occasion of sin is greatly dependent on the individual. So you have to ask yourself, have these stories ever actually caused you to sin? Have they ever brought you close to it? If not, then it really isn’t a near occasion of sin.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with writing fiction where one character is evil or has done bad things in their past. In writing fiction, if you are writing something where you want a character to be realistic or to serve as an antagonist (or lots of other conceivable reasons, really), there is nothing wrong with thinking of what that person is like. It helps you develop the character. Just writing an evil character into a story doesn’t make you evil, though.

Take, for example, writing a story about a character seeking redemption. It has a valid message to deliver, but in order to convey that message, the character would have to have done something wrong first. That way it would give the story a purpose; the character is attempting to right a wrong from their past.

 

[MichCecil]

Thank you, Oxygenman. That was actually…surprisingly helpful! If I define sin to be turning away from God (or acting contrary to God’s laws), I can think of occasions when I got carried away with my imagination to the point that I refused to make time for prayer. I guess fan-fics are probably best left to the original authors (which would actually make them…er… not fan-fictions).

Thank you so much again!

 

[OxygenMan]

Thank you, Oxygenman. That was actually…surprisingly helpful! If I define sin to be turning away from God (or acting contrary to God), I can think of occasions when I got carried away with my imagination to the point that I refused to make time for prayer. I guess fan-fics are probably best left to the original authors (which would actually make them…er… not fan-fictions).

Thank you so much again!

No trouble at all, glad to help!
I understand, it’s easy to get distracted by worldly things. It’s something I have to keep on my toes about, too.
But I always feel much better when I push those aside when they’ve taken up too much of my time, and I make more room for God.

 

[3DOCTORS]

As a person who’s dealt with scrupulosity and OCD/intrusive thoughts, and also likes to write, I’ll offer my two cents:

We with OCD tend to have very active imaginations. And I think our minds make a lot of connections. Sometimes we make connections to the “dark side” of a topic. And then if we fear the unsavory thought our mind has come up with, by trying to push it away we end up giving it more power and attention. An anxious battle begins.

Now I’m going to assume that the OP is referring to parts of the character’s bad past as possibly including sinful sexual escapades, crimes, something along those lines. The sexual ones might be particularly troubling because the scrupulous/OCD person isn’t sure at which point he/she might be starting to dwell on them in a sinful way, and to be in danger of becoming aroused.

This type of problem could arise with any writing, whether fanfiction or original work. I think that most of the time it’s not necessary to give up writing; rather, learn to deal with the obsessions by detaching from them. Notice that you have them but try to laugh at them a little - like “Ah-ha - gotcha - that’s a temptation but I won’t be fooled by it and I won’t worry and obsess over it either.”

As a female, I realize some of these issues may occur more for guys (OP, are you a guy?), and so my advice may not cover all the potential pitfalls. But I can tell you that in my writing sometimes I have to go slowly on any intense scenes because I can get caught up in whatever the theme is. Example, I have one novel about a young lady who gets pregnant out of wedlock back in the 1970s and gives up her baby for adoption. Even just the emotional stuff can make me react. I might cry or get depressed over how my character is feeling or being treated!

Or I can be researching for some of my science fiction writing and reading works by other authors and if whatever I’m reading contains disturbing or scary materials or concepts, that can stick with me and I get anxiety and bad dreams. uch:

I guess what I’m saying is that some of us have minds that tend to be more susceptible to being overwhelmed easily, and that means we need to take it slow. I do believe imagination is a gift from God that we should use, but we may need to pace ourselves.

Fanfiction and imagining conversion experiences for characters is kind of cool, I think. So if you can basically handle it most of the time, I’d say don’t think you have to give it up - find ways to deal with the obsessive tendencies. Also, you might want to do an original piece here and there just to experiment with what it feels like to stretch your imagination - who knows, it may provide an outlet for an active imagination. Though if you only prefer fanfic, that’s okay too.

Oh, and, yes, I do see quite a bit overthinking in your post - “it takes one to know one” - I overthink a lot of things! But we can retrain ourselves out of that habit, a little bit at a time.

 

[Nimzovik]

Deep sigh…

My daughter used to get conflicted as well. She was OCD too. She just loves to write. Good heavens. Villians are villians. Writers probe such minds because they are fascinated by how they work. Writing and imagining and creativity and thinking very,**very **deeply are gifts. There are lessons to be learned in such literature. Lessons like seeing the villians pain and why he/ she became a villian. Writers display such for all to see. Empathy for those that do bad things and understanding them is what writers often convey to the readership.

I do know that evil tries to make us feel guilty** for absolutely everything we do.** One of the evil one’s names is the Accuser - yes? Don’t let evil take that, your gift, away from you. Our Lord is not ‘the big zapper!’

Enjoy your gift and your craft.

Just ask Andrew Greeley.

 

[3DOCTORS]

Also, check out NaNoWriMo’s site - even though the National Novel Writing Month is November, they keep the forum board up till the next one. There’s a fanfiction section, and under “Writing Groups and Clubs” you can find Christian and Catholic writers.

I have a group on Catholic Answers Social Groups called “Catholics Who Write Lounge” :compcoff: - click here if interested - forums.catholic-questions.org/group.php?groupid=747

And there’s also the big OCD/Scrupulosity group - there might be someone there who can help you - it’s a big group so surely somebody has faced a similar dilemma.

Hope this is helpful!

 

[vsedriver]

although I’ve only co-written one fanfiction I have published collections of fanfics and still have many friends who write fanfiction. The stories are shared for fun and it is an excellent way for a writer to gain writing experience. In fact, one friend has gone on to publish her own original stories and books.

I would say the degree to which you get into the details may be what could be considered sinful. If you want your villain to be evil you don’t need to give a blow by blow description of their crime but can refer to it more clinically as in a police report or through the eyes of victims.

You can always get a beta reader to help you set the tone of your stories.

 

[St_Francis]

I’m wondering if you might be affected by something totally different, but which did affect me? And that is that I have a tendency to put myself in the shoes of the character, as if the character were me. And this can lead to imagining oneself committing acts of virtue.

Then I read that this can be spiritually dangerous because then one has the illusion of having done a virtuous act, and if done too much, one ends up not having actually grown in virtue but feeling as if one had. Do you see what I mean?

They have done studies where a sports person imagining doing a particular thing, like lay-ups in basketball, can help them improve, but they are also doing real lay-ups. They wouldn’t be able to improve *only *by imagining it; imagining it is only an extra tool.

So maybe you are feeling a disconnect in that way? I could be totally wrong… but I have to thank you for asking the question because in answering it, I saw a problem in an area of my life!

 

[Kamaduck]

I’m actually really glad to read this thread- it reminds me of some of the problems I encounter while writing original fiction. I do have a very active imagination and a lot of what I write has some very dark stuff going on, but the characters always pull through in the end. A lot of times, though, part of what they have to “pull through” is their own immoral pasts. So it’s not always villians doing bad things- often, there are antiheroes that are just now learning how to be heroes.

For me, I think it’s only a problem when anything sexual or romantic crops up. I can write about a man who lures people to his castle, kills them, and takes their organs to prolong his own life, and not be anywhere close to sinning. (I write speculative fiction, can you tell? ) But I can write about two people dancing and freak out about it.

The sexual ones might be particularly troubling because the scrupulous/OCD person isn’t sure at which point he/she might be starting to dwell on them in a sinful way, and to be in danger of becoming aroused.

This type of problem could arise with any writing, whether fanfiction or original work. I think that most of the time it’s not necessary to give up writing; rather, learn to deal with the obsessions by detaching from them. Notice that you have them but try to laugh at them a little - like “Ah-ha - gotcha - that’s a temptation but I won’t be fooled by it and I won’t worry and obsess over it either.”

I was glad to read this, I think it’ll help me. I love to write but I really think it does cross over into lust sometimes. I would never give up writing all together, though. It’s a gift God gave me, and I need to learn to use it responsibly. So OP, if writing fanfic is fun for you, I would just follow 3DOCTORS’s advice.

I’m wondering if you might be affected by something totally different, but which did affect me? And that is that I have a tendency to put myself in the shoes of the character, as if the character were me. And this can lead to imagining oneself committing acts of virtue.

Then I read that this can be spiritually dangerous because then one has the illusion of having done a virtuous act, and if done too much, one ends up not having actually grown in virtue but feeling as if one had. Do you see what I mean?

I guess that could be a problem, but I don’t think we should write about bad things or NOT write about people doing good things just for that reason. If we think about doing good things enough and we get used to it, or try to behave like our (good) characters do, I don’t see how that could hurt. It might even help us become better people!

 

[3DOCTORS]

I’m wondering if you might be affected by something totally different, but which did affect me? And that is that I have a tendency to put myself in the shoes of the character, as if the character were me. And this can lead to imagining oneself committing acts of virtue.

Then I read that this can be spiritually dangerous because then one has the illusion of having done a virtuous act, and if done too much, one ends up not having actually grown in virtue but feeling as if one had. Do you see what I mean?

They have done studies where a sports person imagining doing a particular thing, like lay-ups in basketball, can help them improve, but they are also doing real lay-ups. They wouldn’t be able to improve *only *by imagining it; imagining it is only an extra tool.

So maybe you are feeling a disconnect in that way? I could be totally wrong… but I have to thank you for asking the question because in answering it, I saw a problem in an area of my life!

Like living too much in one’s imagination and not enough in real life, perhaps? Or the practice of visualization? I don’t know for sure if this fits what the OP is struggling with, but it’s a good thing to bring up for writers, in a couple of ways:

1. 
   *]As long as one approaches it in a Christian context, it can be helpful to have faith in one’s potential success at an endeavor. There are Scriptures that back this up. (I have to remember where - some are in the Gospels and some in St. Paul’s epistles. I’ll post the references when I locate them.) :bible1:
   *]The pitfall would be being tempted to utilize New Age methods for the visualizing, or to hope for success if one was doing something evil like planning a terrorist attack or writing pornography, etc. :nope:
   *]There is such a thing as “Method Acting” in the arts (wisegeek.org/what-is-method-acting.htm) and it can help achieve realism but sometimes it can overtake one’s life. This happened to me for a brief time years ago, I’ll spare the ugly details, but the spiritual crisis that ensued I set writing aside for awhile until I felt steadier in my faith - and like God was nudging me to start up again but take a different, more positive and more spiritual approach. :yup:
   
   @ kamaduck - glad what I posted earlier was helpful to you and I hope you’ll consider joining “Catholics Who Write Lounge” also - and anyone else on this thread, you’re invited! :grouphug:

 

[MichCecil]

Thank you everyone again for all your responses! They gave me a lot to think about!

 

[3DOCTORS]

That’s what we’re here for!