more cents to the pile.
May. 8th, 2010 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
okelayI've been thinking (more) about the fanfic debate. fyi, I have no idea where I'm going here,I'm just writing what comes into my mind. this isn't exactly a well thought-out essay.
I think we're like browncoats. they didn't want to be part of the alliance but they weren't exactly against it either. "I got no need to fight you, I just want to go my way" the fight began cause the Alliance wanted to unify all planets. tell everyone what to do, and how. and the browncoats didn't stand for that.
fic writers aren't looking to destroy the publishing business.otherwise we'd have nothingt to write.
but I honestly believe that once you've published a story, it has a life of its own and you can't expect to control it. the best thing an author can do is asks their fans not to write fic.
which they are in their right to do. but there are ways and ways to do it.
like wil wheaton says, don't be a dick. or a bitch.
being a bastard to fans...how is that a good idea?
well,being a thoroughly annoying and unlikable person is never a good idea in my book.
I think fanfic is a wonderful thing. I love fic. I've been writing for years and years and years. it is a wonderful writing exercise, it's fun and sometimes, you come across fanfic that is even better than the original material. I love that some people take the universe and invent new characters or a new life for a new character. I love this culture we have going on of sharing and remixing. I think it's brilliant. it's what the internet was meant to do,I think. share information, learn,improve. not just download porn and mock others, which is far too abundant.
and while I love writers like JK Rowling and Joss Whedon who support and encourage fans, I also like to think it is like our own little world and while writers can sort of tap on the window and wave, I don't actually want them to come in. I'm speaking strictly of fanfic here. not fandom in general. not that I wouldn't love to discuss plot bunnies with JK, but I also think fandom's better off. and the authors too.
I think us fans use fanfic as a way to react and connect to these works we love and we don't see it as a bad thing,it's just what we do.
and that's what they don't quite understand. why we react the way we do. they don't understand or don't expect it and it is something they thought they could control and are now scared to see it's gotten away from them.
I'm afraid fanfic's taken over my brain and it's always thinking of plot bunnies, of undeveloped plots, of unloved characters who need a day in the limelight, of deleted scenes I want to see and a long etc. some people read a story and are happy with it. those people are not in fandom. those people do not write fic. those are the kind of people that watch tv shows that allow them to shut down their brains. the kind of programme you forget until the next episode is on. when a story is complex,interesting,engaging, it gets fans who won't just read it. it gets fans who are interested in the story, who'll discuss the story and who'll write fic for it. people don't write fanfic for boring stories. or stories with no little threads hanging off them, which is essentially the same. we want to engage with our favourite stories, we can't help it. often fics go to places the authors never ever thought of, and that's the wonder of it.
now, if an author says they don't want to see fanfic of their works, I respect that. I won't write it. but I admit it colours my opinion of the author and the work. I have no interest in say,Anne Rice's work. I won't read Diana Gabaldon's work either. I am interested in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series or George RR Martin's Song of ice and fire, but where I would bought the books if I could've, now I won't. cause if I'm gonna support somebody, it'll be the author that won't act as if they are doing me a favour just by letting me read their books.
oh, I nearly forgot. I was thinking the other day how in fandom, what we do is our currency. we trade in fics and icons and vids and headers and layouts and what not. people can find something to do and improve it and that's just amazing.
I think we're like browncoats. they didn't want to be part of the alliance but they weren't exactly against it either. "I got no need to fight you, I just want to go my way" the fight began cause the Alliance wanted to unify all planets. tell everyone what to do, and how. and the browncoats didn't stand for that.
fic writers aren't looking to destroy the publishing business.otherwise we'd have nothingt to write.
but I honestly believe that once you've published a story, it has a life of its own and you can't expect to control it. the best thing an author can do is asks their fans not to write fic.
which they are in their right to do. but there are ways and ways to do it.
like wil wheaton says, don't be a dick. or a bitch.
being a bastard to fans...how is that a good idea?
well,being a thoroughly annoying and unlikable person is never a good idea in my book.
I think fanfic is a wonderful thing. I love fic. I've been writing for years and years and years. it is a wonderful writing exercise, it's fun and sometimes, you come across fanfic that is even better than the original material. I love that some people take the universe and invent new characters or a new life for a new character. I love this culture we have going on of sharing and remixing. I think it's brilliant. it's what the internet was meant to do,I think. share information, learn,improve. not just download porn and mock others, which is far too abundant.
and while I love writers like JK Rowling and Joss Whedon who support and encourage fans, I also like to think it is like our own little world and while writers can sort of tap on the window and wave, I don't actually want them to come in. I'm speaking strictly of fanfic here. not fandom in general. not that I wouldn't love to discuss plot bunnies with JK, but I also think fandom's better off. and the authors too.
I think us fans use fanfic as a way to react and connect to these works we love and we don't see it as a bad thing,it's just what we do.
and that's what they don't quite understand. why we react the way we do. they don't understand or don't expect it and it is something they thought they could control and are now scared to see it's gotten away from them.
I'm afraid fanfic's taken over my brain and it's always thinking of plot bunnies, of undeveloped plots, of unloved characters who need a day in the limelight, of deleted scenes I want to see and a long etc. some people read a story and are happy with it. those people are not in fandom. those people do not write fic. those are the kind of people that watch tv shows that allow them to shut down their brains. the kind of programme you forget until the next episode is on. when a story is complex,interesting,engaging, it gets fans who won't just read it. it gets fans who are interested in the story, who'll discuss the story and who'll write fic for it. people don't write fanfic for boring stories. or stories with no little threads hanging off them, which is essentially the same. we want to engage with our favourite stories, we can't help it. often fics go to places the authors never ever thought of, and that's the wonder of it.
now, if an author says they don't want to see fanfic of their works, I respect that. I won't write it. but I admit it colours my opinion of the author and the work. I have no interest in say,Anne Rice's work. I won't read Diana Gabaldon's work either. I am interested in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series or George RR Martin's Song of ice and fire, but where I would bought the books if I could've, now I won't. cause if I'm gonna support somebody, it'll be the author that won't act as if they are doing me a favour just by letting me read their books.
oh, I nearly forgot. I was thinking the other day how in fandom, what we do is our currency. we trade in fics and icons and vids and headers and layouts and what not. people can find something to do and improve it and that's just amazing.
