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skysailorFound a meme that was going around a month ago - "Why do you write fanfic?" It's a good question for pondering, and for continuing my sudden trend of regular emblogginating.
I'll start first with saying I don't really write that much fanfic. I used to. I have a couple hundred pages of really badly written (but decently well-characterized) Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic from my halcyon days of youth. And I can tell you right now that I'm glad I wrote it because it helped me develop my writing ability.
But I don't think developing writing ability is the only purpose - or is the purpose at all - of writing fanfic.
These days, I rarely delve into fandom realms in my own writing. I mainly write "fanfic" of my own work (playing with different universes and possibilities and versions of the characters), which helps me develop my characters and verse concepts and helps me see them in new and interesting ways. I also write fanfic of my friends' work, which is not only fun, but helps them see their characters and verse concepts in new and interesting ways.
But more than writing fanfiction, I read fanfiction. And why do I read fanfiction?
Because it's good.
I spent my early days of fanfic-reading going through shitty works and telling myself "well, it's fanfic, you can't expect much." But nowadays I'm fortunate enough to have a great fanfic reccer for a close friend, and she kind of opened my horizons on the whole fanfiction idea. And some of the fics I've read since have been the most meaningful pieces of literature I've ever read in my life.
Take, for example, Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose by synecdochic (http://www.kekkai.org/synecdochic/sga/freedoms_just_another_word.html ). Every several months, I go back and reread that fic, and every time it gives me a new perspective on the world.
Fanfic is, in its way, the essence of writing. Fanfic is made by people who know they can never get their fanfic published, who do it not in the hopes of making money or winning their fortune, but simply because they love writing. Fanficcers write because they love the characters, they love the universes, they love the spinning-out of "what if?" "and then what happened?"
The good fanfics are often better than the works they take their characters from. They add development and reaction where development and reaction were lacking. They experiment with bizarre pairings and make them work. They point out subtext, the stuff going on in the background. They add richness to the tapestry of the original work. Through fanfic, the characters live a million different lives in a million different ways.
I can't stand seeing professional writers misunderstand it, mischaracterize it, and trashtalk fanfiction. Because, no, writing fanfic doesn't mean a writer has no sense of originality. No, writing fanfic does not mean a writer isn't any good at writing. And no, not everything that can't be published is lesser than what can be.
So there.
--
A Note on Romance:
In published fiction, there seems to either be a lot of pressure to do things or characterize characters in a certain way, or simply a trend of doing it. I love published fiction, I have hundreds of volumes, but I sit down and keep finding myself reading the same characters over and over. The hardboiled middle-aged guy doing an investigation of something. The tough but sexy female who's smoking hot and has a self-esteem complex. The romances are poorly done to the point of being painful - I'm sick and tired of "smoking hot female lead with low self-esteem meets this smoking hot male lead who's obsessive and domineering, argues with him until they fall in sudden love, which is so strong it's so going to last forever and they're each others' first loves, and forget the whole idea of having anything like a realistic relationship that doesn't smack faintly and not-so-faintly of abuse."
This happens in fanfic, too (though in the stuff my friend recs, it's more like "smoking hot male lead has a serious and unexpected hard-on for smoking hot male lead he thinks he hates"), but somewhere in the myriad of fic I still manage to find one hell of a lot more well-written romantic pairings. Characters that have actually talked to one another. Characters who develop their relationship and have remotely realistic (as well as definitely odd) relationship problems. Characters who go beyond that first kiss, that first fuck, and continue into "and then what?" It's something I'd like to see more often in published work, honestly.
I'll start first with saying I don't really write that much fanfic. I used to. I have a couple hundred pages of really badly written (but decently well-characterized) Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic from my halcyon days of youth. And I can tell you right now that I'm glad I wrote it because it helped me develop my writing ability.
But I don't think developing writing ability is the only purpose - or is the purpose at all - of writing fanfic.
These days, I rarely delve into fandom realms in my own writing. I mainly write "fanfic" of my own work (playing with different universes and possibilities and versions of the characters), which helps me develop my characters and verse concepts and helps me see them in new and interesting ways. I also write fanfic of my friends' work, which is not only fun, but helps them see their characters and verse concepts in new and interesting ways.
But more than writing fanfiction, I read fanfiction. And why do I read fanfiction?
Because it's good.
I spent my early days of fanfic-reading going through shitty works and telling myself "well, it's fanfic, you can't expect much." But nowadays I'm fortunate enough to have a great fanfic reccer for a close friend, and she kind of opened my horizons on the whole fanfiction idea. And some of the fics I've read since have been the most meaningful pieces of literature I've ever read in my life.
Take, for example, Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose by synecdochic (http://www.kekkai.org/synecdochic/sga/freedoms_just_another_word.html ). Every several months, I go back and reread that fic, and every time it gives me a new perspective on the world.
Fanfic is, in its way, the essence of writing. Fanfic is made by people who know they can never get their fanfic published, who do it not in the hopes of making money or winning their fortune, but simply because they love writing. Fanficcers write because they love the characters, they love the universes, they love the spinning-out of "what if?" "and then what happened?"
The good fanfics are often better than the works they take their characters from. They add development and reaction where development and reaction were lacking. They experiment with bizarre pairings and make them work. They point out subtext, the stuff going on in the background. They add richness to the tapestry of the original work. Through fanfic, the characters live a million different lives in a million different ways.
I can't stand seeing professional writers misunderstand it, mischaracterize it, and trashtalk fanfiction. Because, no, writing fanfic doesn't mean a writer has no sense of originality. No, writing fanfic does not mean a writer isn't any good at writing. And no, not everything that can't be published is lesser than what can be.
So there.
--
A Note on Romance:
In published fiction, there seems to either be a lot of pressure to do things or characterize characters in a certain way, or simply a trend of doing it. I love published fiction, I have hundreds of volumes, but I sit down and keep finding myself reading the same characters over and over. The hardboiled middle-aged guy doing an investigation of something. The tough but sexy female who's smoking hot and has a self-esteem complex. The romances are poorly done to the point of being painful - I'm sick and tired of "smoking hot female lead with low self-esteem meets this smoking hot male lead who's obsessive and domineering, argues with him until they fall in sudden love, which is so strong it's so going to last forever and they're each others' first loves, and forget the whole idea of having anything like a realistic relationship that doesn't smack faintly and not-so-faintly of abuse."
This happens in fanfic, too (though in the stuff my friend recs, it's more like "smoking hot male lead has a serious and unexpected hard-on for smoking hot male lead he thinks he hates"), but somewhere in the myriad of fic I still manage to find one hell of a lot more well-written romantic pairings. Characters that have actually talked to one another. Characters who develop their relationship and have remotely realistic (as well as definitely odd) relationship problems. Characters who go beyond that first kiss, that first fuck, and continue into "and then what?" It's something I'd like to see more often in published work, honestly.
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Date: 2010-06-23 02:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-23 10:53 pm (UTC)