True, but the difference is that fanfic authors have the excuses of a) not charging money, b) not affecting continuity, and c) not being deemed "professional" writers. To be fair, I enjoy a lot of fanfic - sadly, a lot of it is better-written than the canon stuff, nowadays - but in a sense, there's a greater LICENSE to fuck up with fanfic. I've written some TERRIBLE fanfic, under various aliases (if you want to cringe, Google up "Sunshine Lost," a very bad Generation X fanfic about A Very Bad Thing happening to Jubilee), but I've also LEARNED from writing shitty fanfic, as well, and the best part is, NOBODY HAD TO PAY FOR IT (except maybe in time and lost brain-cells).