The elements of fan-fic discussion thread

[McGee's Jabberwock]

Originally Posted by Sparky

That's the key I think - WORK with the existing material, don't reinvent it. When you reinvent it, that's what we like to call AU, or alternate-universe fanfic writing.

Good AU fics work with the source material as well as reinvent it. It's always interesting to see familair characters placed in new situations. For example, take Futurama. When it first came out, people accused Bender and/or Fry of being re-hashes of Homer, but since they were in a different setting, they could develop in different ways and act in different ways.