Has anyone used fan fiction as a way to get in to writing and as a way to get noticed? A well established universe negates the need for a lot of creativity and allows people to concentrate a bit more on writing I would have thought. Just looking for people experiences of trying it.
I started writing in fanfiction. I wrote AU RPF, so I didn't really have the established universe or characters to help me, but I found it really useful to have a built-in audience. That said, most fanfic authors I know who switched to pro fic didn't find that a lot of their audience came with them, and that was my experience as well. So a good way to learn some tricks of writing? For sure. But I don't think it's a great way to "get noticed".
I got my start writing fanficiton as well, writing over 30 fics in just about 3 years. I don't know that it gets you noticed outside of whatever fandom you're writing for, but for me it was a great way to build my writing chops prior to taking on my first original novel. I'd always wanted to write but was too overwhelmed by the thought of creating everything from scratch, but with fanfic I was able to take already established names/places/character traits/physical descriptions and go from there. I will also say that the feedback and and support I got from my fanfic readers were instrumental in building my confidence to the point where I felt I was decent enough to make a foray into original fiction. I know a few of my fanfic readers have followed me across the void, but most of those are fandom friends I had an established relationship with beyond writer/reader.
In a word, no. There is such a sea of fan fiction out there that the chances of being noticed are nil. But it is good practice.
I started off my serious writing by writing fanfiction. I novelised a game, and while I'd tried to write original novels before, this was the first time that I wrote a novel from start to finish without abandoning it, because I was very passionate about the game. It got rid of my commitment issues and showed me that I could do it. Since then I've written quite a bit more fanfiction, as well as two (currently unpublished) novels. My writing has progressed a lot since that first fanfiction, so it was definitely a good way to practice. It also boosted my confidence and gave me some writing friends. This was invaluable (especially considering that I was not aware of this forum at the time.) I wouldn't say it's a way to "get noticed" but it's a good place to start.