Aside from the original animatiopn/manga/story as a basic structure for
  the fanfics created, are there any othe sources of inspiration for the
  fanfic writers?  Anyone care to share their feelings?

Everybody's got their own takes on this one, but here's my $0.02:

o Make sure you're familiar with your source material.  Unless you're
  obviously altering the way characters think, act, and speak, you're
  not going to win readers when you *do* alter them.

o It's a lot less interesting to read "another typical Ranma story"
  than it is to read a: (1) Ranma/other anime crossover; (2) Ranma
  story in a totally different style or tone; (3) Ranma story which
  advances the main plot in some way.  For example: writing an
  Urusei Yatsura story in which some new alien race appears and makes
  life hell for our heroes is not very interesting--it's been done in
  the original series before.  However, writing a serious UY story in
  which the entire series as we have seen it is a dream shared by two
  people who have never met--THAT'S interesting.

o Writing yourself, or some variant of yourself, into a fanfic is a
  sure way to get branded as a narcissist.  Make your "import"
  character more generic, representative of Otaku-At-Large rather
  than just yourself. ^_^  If you're writing a fanfic based on an
  established series, which uses characters you've created, either
  make the characters VERY interesting, or keep their use minimal
  compared to the main characters.

o Types of fanfic:
	Crossovers.  Ranma/UY.  Quantum Leap/Koko wa Greenwood.
		Star Trek/Zeta Gundam.  Sailor Moon/BGC.  You can
		bring the characters from one series into another,
		or you can merge the two series into an interesting
		new form.  For an example of the former, look at
		the Ranma/UY crossovers floating about the net.  For
		the latter, try the hilarious "Bishoujo Senshi
		Sailor Ranma" by Stephen Tsai et al.

	Variations.  Serious Urusei Yatsura.  "What If" something had
		been different in this world.  Lemons.  (Yes, they
		fall under this category.)  There's a very nice story
		called "Akane 1/2" which, in detail, explains what
		might have happened if Soun and Akane had gone to China
		on a training trip, and Akane had fallen in the "Spring
		of Drowned Man".

	Continuations.  Daigakusei no Ranma.  Kimagure Orange College.
		Bubblegum Smash.  Given that events in the series only
		go up to "X", what happens after "X"?  Very popular
		variant among readers.

	Character Insertion.  Either a variant version of the author
		(see cautionary note above) or a character who has
		reason to exist but the original author did not create.
		See the Ranma story "Juyza's Lyric".  These can be
		good or bad, and must always be used carefully.

Combinations of these types are encouraged.  For a project I'd shelved a
long time ago ("Maison Ikkoku II: Glass Houses"), I'd planned a
continuation of the original series, with character insertions, and
variation on "purpose" of the series--the larger theme would not be
romance between characters.

Currently, my project is "Maiden America", a Video Girl story set in the
U.S.A., which explores some of the technical aspects behind Video Girls.
None of the original characters will be used, but I may make an oblique
reference to events in the Video Girl Ai series.  Don't know when that
one will be ready for perusal....

Hope this helps as you break out into the world of fanfic.  Inspiration
is mostly just crazy thought processes put into words, so work with what
you've got.  Gambatte, ne?

--Doctor Angst
(Too many fanfic ideas for his own damn good.)

-- 
Jeff D. Williamson *** Interactive Training Resources *** Chicago, Illinois
***  e-mail: jeff@casbah.acns.nwu.edu ** Anime Central Project Fanatic  ***
      "Half-crazed?  We're *fully crazed* here, Nina!" --Chet, Nina's
    KYConnect(tm) disturbingly chirpy virtual co-host from _DP:FBNS #2_