Are You Writing Serious Fantasy?

[Faenaduial]

Perhaps this is a daft question, but if I was writing a piece of fiction about characters I'd made up but it was set in Middle-earth, is it fan fiction or original work?

It seems to me that it can be an original work. For example "Scarlett" was a sequel to "Gone with the Wind" written by different writers using some of the same characters and settings.

What makes books of that nature original is a totally new and different story line with original ideas.

That is exactly what I have been working on. I'm up to nine "finished" chapters and have an outline and notes for the whole story.

I find the biggest challenge is reworking the chapters I consider done after I have written new material to include or change things to make the story flow smoother.