Fanfic yes or no and why?

[Amy Z]

Pippin wrote:

> 	I don't think it ruins canon. It is a time honored method of 
> interpretation and commentary.

Oh, I definitely agree with that; there's nothing wrong with writing 
it.  What I occasionally worry about as a reader is whether the fanon 
images in my head are going to mess with the canon ones.  I usually 
think no, but then I find myself going through the books with a 
fine-toothed comb to find the reference to "Virginia" Weasley that I 
was SURE was there, and I realize that it's from fanfiction, and what 
other little untruths are sneaking in, I wonder?

I never knew fanfiction existed, except for the semi-official world of 
Star Trek novels, until I discovered HP.  I resisted for about a 
month, then gave in totally.  It's odd that I read as much of it as I 
do, because I have only read 3 or 4 pieces that I really liked.  
Everything else is just not well-written, IMO; I guess I have pretty 
exacting standards.  It's mostly the usual things that plague 
not-so-terrific writing:  characters doing things because they advance 
the plot, not because they're the thing these characters would do; 
dialogue that just doesn't sound like the way people really talk (JKR 
writes *such good* dialogue, I've realized); plots going all over the 
place or, more often, nowhere.  And as Angela said, no one but JKR 
conveys the feel of the HP world, which is the main thing that I love 
about the books.  A few come close, or at least they might not have 
JKR's tone and style (and it's fun to see others' styles at work), but 
they at least remember that they're about witches and wizards.  But 
most of the stories could be about anybody or any place for all they 
convey of magic; they're just adventure stories or romances or dramas 
that happen to have people named Harry and Sirius and Hermione and 
Draco in them. 

So why, I ask myself, do I keep reading them?  Just because I love the 
world JKR has created, it's a long time 'til 5 comes out, and I keep 
hoping that I'll open the next file and find that the author has made 
it possible for me to walk around in that world a little more.  I keep 
coming up empty and telling myself that if I want a real HP fix, I'll 
just have to reread 1-4, but I keep trying anyway. 

To come full circle:  the irony is that the mediocre ones don't 
interfere with canon in my head.  Only the really good ones have even 
a chance of doing that.  So if I wanted to make sure not to mess with 
my inner canon, I'd have to avoid the really good ones.  I had read 
all the books (not counting FB and QTA) before having read fanfic, so 
I haven't yet had the experience of reading a new real HP book with 
fanfiction already in my head; I probably won't know until I read 5 
whether the fanon has really affected my expectations of canon.

Amy Z