I think my friend ~herzeleid1995 touched on this pretty well in the comment I posted in my journal. So this journal here is going to be concerning fan fictions, and their viability as a genre of writing.

A lot of people have no respect for these types of writing,  but I also believe with good reason. Most people have butchered this form into something perverse, where the most they want is to inflict their own wants and devices into a storyline, giving little to no consideration for the characters, the storyline, the plot, etc...

Now, in my own opinion, fan fictions can be a viable art form, and a practical one. Consider the vignette; a very limited idea, take one suspended moment in time and then expand it, dissect it, see it from every dimension. With that little bare-bones concept, there is an endless line of things that can be done.

In my view, there are two forms of fan fictions, both of which are merely observations of the storyline, when it is followed down different paths. In one form, you introduce a different element into the plot mid story-arc. In the other, you create an entirely new plot line to happen before or after other events.

In the first form, you are simply conducting a "What If?" experiment. For instance, in one story I've read it asks the question "What if General Grievous killed off Chancellor Palpitine, bested Skywalker and Kenobi, and then came to lead the CIS after Dooku's passing?"

A novel question, which is the first step. The question of "What If?" must examine an element that would make an important, interesting change to the story. From there, it's a matter of examining the characters and the events and the world in which they live to see how time progresses differently. You can't make the world morph around as you will it, because there are still rules and you are still working with a pre-made storyline and characters.

Let's take a look at the average Naruto fan fiction, specifically, a ItaSaku paring. Firstly, that goes against any range of possibility of the story, but mainly, does that not defy who the characters are? If one wants to see the two together, then ask yourself "How would that happen?" And then from there, you can plausibly, respectably get to the question of "What If?"

In the second form, it is a matter of creating your own storyline, your own plots, and seeing how characters that were already made would act, how that world would be if such things happened. The difference is, in the first case you are asking the question of "What If?" as it pertains to the story arc in question, and to the characters at the moment. In this form you are creating a whole new story arc and saying, "With the progression of these characters so far, what now?"

In both cases there are rules. For one thing, characters do not magically change in nature or personality or action. An evil, maniacal, sadistic person cannot magically becoming loving, tender, and caring. People do not act that way, and in the words of some person who said these words, "Writing has to be believable, where reality does not."

There is always a step you can take to far. In fan fiction writing, you must be careful to regulate yourself, to be subtle and thoughtful. You have to be an artist, making art with substance, not just words that produce a short lived emotion. If you are good, if you are an artist, you can make drastic changes and never lose your audience or respect. If not, then feel free to oblige yourself, but it will be apparent that you are not making art.

With rules and regulation, careful thought, and a bit of talent, you could be on the way from the good beginnings of a good fan fic to the good beginnings of great art.