Libraries, Cons, McCaffrey, Rowlings, Derivative Works, Trademarks, fan fiction (was Re: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: GWTW Fanfic Provokes Lawsuit

[love2write_11098 at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Rosmerta" <tmayor at m...> wrote:
> And with all the efforts of various emotional and physical kinds 
that 
> go into writing anything, fanfic very much included, how does it 
feel 
> when it's all over to have written something that is derivitive in 
> the literal sense, derived from someone *else's* brainchild? With a 
> little more effort (okay, a LOT more, since the initial genius 
spark 
> is the biggest thing) couldn't you be writing your own "stuff?" 

Hmm . . . I haven't written fanfiction in awhile, since I switched 
to "stuff" of my own, but I will say this -- fanfiction *is* easier 
(at least it was for me) and the community that surrounds it on the 
internet makes it more fun. It also was easier for me to finish a 
story. For me, I think it was a bit of a transitory-type stage -- 
though I can definitely see myself writing it again, possibly as soon 
as I get disentangled from the long original story I'm tied up with 
at the moment. If you look at a lot of the really good fanfiction 
authors (and I'm thinking of Lori, Cassie Claire, Penny, and Carole 
here simply because they're the ones I'm most familiar with from the 
PoU group), they're either aspiring professional writers or already 
published professional writers. For me, if it hadn't been for 
fanfiction, I would still be thinking about becoming a doctor instead 
of majoring in creative writing (thank goodness for fanfiction!).

>And 
> if you did write your own stuff, would you truly truly in your 
heart 
> of hearts be nothing but overjoyed that people felt comfortable 
> making your creation jump to their own tunes? That's asking a lot 
of 
> anyone, never mind an artist. 

Um . . . yes. If I ever created something that truly sparked the 
imagination of someone enough for them to want to take it and make it 
their own (because do we ever do anything *but* make it our own when 
we read a story?), I would be extremely flattered. *Extremely* 
flattered. I can see where I maybe couldn't/wouldn't read fanfics (if 
I was going to write more about the universe the fans were writing 
about), but I still would be very flattered.
 
> I'm just wondering what fanfic authors *feel* when they 
> pour what is obviously some heartfelt effort into something that is 
> ultimately not purely their own work? 

I wrote fanfic because I fell in love with the characters. *shrug* I 
knew it wasn't publishable, but it had been years since I'd written 
anything of my own and fanfiction helped me break through whatever 
mental barrier I'm put up for myself. That's not how it is for 
everyone, but that's how it was for me. And I loved it. I wrote a lot 
of it. And I really, truly loved it (part of that was just writing 
again at *all* but I did love it).

> Someone posted something a long time 
> ago on the main list that suggested fanfic was around to fill in 
the 
> holes in the primary work......is HP fanfic around mostly because 
> it's still a work in progress? 

Probably, I think. I've written a bit (unfinished) of HP fanfic, and 
the other genre I wrote in was a book series that was ongoing. Here 
are these great books that we love, and they're not finished. So of 
course all these questions come up, and that's what fanfic tries to 
answer. Is anyone going to get it 100% right? Of course (well, 
probably) not. But we can have a hell of a lot of fun trying.

Stacy