Re: Fan fiction in general was: MOVED from MAIN - "sequels" to the classics

[sistermagpie]

> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "coriandra2002" 
> <coriandra2002@> wrote:
> >
> > If any of you are or hope to be published writers (as I do 
sometime in
> > the future) how would you feel about fan fiction writing in your 
> universe?
> > 
> > My position would be: don't ask don't tell.  I'd rather not have
> > people killing off my characters or writing slash or incest 
stories
> > about them.  But because there's so little control over that on 
the
> > internet, I'd try to encourage good writing by linking some high
> > quality archives to my website and try to ignore the more tawdry 
ones.


> Tonks: 
> I too hope to be a writer. Mostly non-fiction, but I might try my 
hand 
> at fiction too. I am told that I tell a good tale. I know my 
position 
> will not win me many friends here, but then my robes have been 
singed 
> so many times by other things that I have said here why should I 
care 
> now. ;-)
> 
> I do not like fanfiction. I don't read it, and I don't write it. My 
> view is that fanfiction is a lot like playing a game and cheating. 
> There is no glory in winning that way. I think that people should 
use 
> their own imagination and make their own characters, etc. I have 
read 
> some of the HP fanfiction just to see what it was. I really hate 
> reading about Hermione being raped by the death eater, etc. and all 
of 
> the rest of these takeoffs on the real story. (I will admit that I 
did 
> like some of the het stories about Snape. But then, who wouldn't?) 
I 
> don't want Rowling's view of her world compromised by fanfiction. 
After 
> awhile it would be hard to remember what was in the original and 
what 
> was somewhere else. I just think that fanfiction is the lazy way 
out of 
> being a writer. It might be OK for people to experiment when 
learning 
> to write, I guess... but I don't know. Better to use you own 
imagiation 
> and see where it takes you. I think a writer should have enough 
faith 
> in themself to just make up their own world and go from there. We 
all 
> did it as young children. Just set your inner-child free. The world 
is 
> waiting for you!

Magpie:
That's only one way of looking at fanfiction, though, and it doesn't 
cover what everyone is doing with it. (FWIW I am a published writer 
and also support fanfiction though I don't write it myself--thinking 
it's something I did as a child in my head along with making up my 
own characters and worlds.)

But the idea that fanfiction is cheating is, imo, completely false 
because it assumes that it's goal is the same as original writing and 
it isn't. Plenty of writers of original fic also write fanfic, and 
some fanfic writers have no interest in writing original fic.

Fanfic is its own activity, not just "not really writing." It is, 
imo, mostly about interacting with the text that grabs you. A person 
writing a fanfic wants to see something happen with these characters 
in that world. They're not just using them because they don't want to 
make up their own. You can work out things for yourself using 
characters/worlds that resonate for you, or work out things about the 
source text. Honestly, sometimes I've read analysis of texts where 
I've wished the writer of them would just write the fanfic rather 
than find a way the text is saying something more along the lines of 
what they would want it to say. 

So in general, fanfic is awesome, some of it's great, a lot of it is 
bad (just like original writing) and it's its own animal, separate 
from original fiction. And to me just writing a book is encouraging 
fanfic--maybe the fanfic might never be written down, but you're 
putting a story and characters into peoples' heads where you can't 
follow them. If they have any kind of staying power they very well 
might inspire some imaginary stories of their own there. 

-m