McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Fanfiction - Good or Evil?
recentcoin:
I suppose that what we write could technically be termed as fanfic. We work in the D20 world, so no, we haven't created our own universe. I've found that most of the fantasy genre consists of doing thinly veiled ripoffs of preceding works - mostly of D&D. I doubt that you can go to the book store and pick up a novel from the genre and find something where some part of the novel hasn't been taken from D&D. Does that stop them from being enjoyable to read? Does it seem to stifle the author's creativity? No, on both counts. What usually happens is that the author has to be more creative. It's often quite challenging to stay within the lore of a given framework. At other times, the canon lore is sadly lacking, in which case, we take that be full creative license to dream something up that a) fits with rest of lore (e.g. no giant mechanical robots in a magical setting) and b) works for the story.
I've noticed that there seems to be a lot of hating of MS's/GS's as well. Please, allow me to pop your bubble on this. Most all of the Anne Rice books are MS's. Wesley Crusher, from StarTrek, is a GS. Jack Ryan is a classic GS and I cannot help but think that you've all read at least one Tom Clancy book. A great many novels that we all know and love are really MS's or GS's. Let's be honest here, what you really hate is the poorly written and often near-psychotic ramblings of the 14 year old emo crowd that flood ff.net and it's sister site, fp.com. FF has a lot of trash, I agree but I also agree that there are some gems. It doesn't matter what you do, you always have to dig through a lot of dirt to find a diamond.
I've already said that what we write could well be classes as fanfic. Do we suck? We like to think that we do not. I'll even invite you over to read and decide for yourself. Our site is at http://www.rpg-gamerz.com/sd. Feel free to leave comments. We started our own site because we found several problems with the existing sites. Firstly, we're set up to allow collaborative writing and editing. We've yet to see an existing site that allows this. Secondly, we work by invitation only mainly because we hope to avoid the 14 year old illiterate (lack of grammar and spelling) emo crowd. They genereally annoy all of us to the point that tasering starts to sound like a viable option. Thirdly, the entire world is not meant to be "kid safe". Adults are entitled to some fun too. Some times, sex, drugs, etc. are a necessary part of plot development. You can't really do that when you have to be PG-13 all the time. Fifth, posting anything which actually required a disclaimer on it would be cause for me to whip out my voodoo doll and hex you ;P.
We've only got 4 authors and 3 stories, but if you'd like to send a writing sample, I'll be happy to let the members vote. If approved we'll extend and invitation, set you up with an account, etc.
Courser:
--- Quote from: recentcoin on May 12, 2007, 06:19:49 PM ---
I've noticed that there seems to be a lot of hating of MS's/GS's as well. Please, allow me to pop your bubble on this. Most all of the Anne Rice books are MS's. Wesley Crusher, from StarTrek, is a GS. Jack Ryan is a classic GS and I cannot help but think that you've all read at least one Tom Clancy book. A great many novels that we all know and love are really MS's or GS's. Let's be honest here, what you really hate is to poorly written and often near-psychotic ramblings of the 14 year old emo crowd that flood ff.net and it's sister site, fp.com.
--- End quote ---
Thank you! I'm not sure it's my cup of tea, but I'll try to take a look and wish you luck.
You're absolutely right. I'd add Laurell K. Hamilton's books to the list as well. I enjoyed the early ones, but they've gotten pretty over the top lately. Hey, I like smut as much as the next gal, but... I prefer a bit more perspective and context.
I also applaud your idea that limiting yourself to PG-13 content is unneccesarily limiting. I tend to like more 'adult' themes myself. That doesn't always mean actual sex, per se, but adult concepts and treatment.
I'd probably ramble more, but I have a story due... soonish ;)
firegazer:
Fanfic is like anything else in the world - dependent on the person behind it. Unfortunately, we have a rather large amount of stupid in the world, so the vast majority of the people behind it are going to show through badly.
In short, as in the Harry Dresden universe: magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool. (Yes, I am that geeky. No comments on that, please.)
As for the major arguments against it...
You can't be a writing elitest and say 'why not write something of your own' because not everyone wants to be a full-fledged author. Some people just watch a tv show or read a book and say "hey, I wonder what would happen if..." And if they later make the transition over to writing their own stuff because of this, that's all right as well. After all, we probably wouldn't have new writers if we didn't also have old writers for them to be inspired by. Fanfiction, though, is a hobby - and just like reading, or roleplaying, or even horseback riding, it doesn't need to have a purpose other than fun. That's what hobbies are for.
On the author's right to ban fanfiction: I agree. If you don't want people writing fanfiction, they shouldn't do it. But people shouldn't download music illegally either, and they do it anyway. Some things, you just can't help, and it's honestly not worth the expense it would take to track down one of your own fans and tell them off. And why alienate someone who loves your work that much anyway? (Then again, I happen to be terribly non-confrontational.) J.K. Rowling doesn't mind fanfiction, for example, as long as it isn't explicit - she's even mentioned that she looked through it some to see what the fans liked and didn't like about her books so far.
My personal opinion of fanfiction is positive. I've used it as an opportunity to develop random background characters, create new plots, and even try out very different writing styles and techniques. The best constructive criticism I've ever received has been from fanfiction, as I was lucky enough to find a very literary-minded group of 'ficcers' to help out. The difference between fanfiction and published material here is not to be understated - there's more people willing to read your fiction, as they already know they're interested in at least part of it, and there's less paranoia about ideas being 'stolen' (a ridiculous thought, but I suppose it's happened before). There's less stress, fewer deadlines, and the certainty of encouragement in the form of regular reviews.
In closing, I'd like to add that in my case, my fanfiction has not been a wasted effort at all. I have a very large, loyal base of readers begging me to tell them when my original book will be out so that they can buy it. If and when that book comes out (it's finished, and currently going through the submission long-haul), I will already have a convenient way to advertise it: on the next chapter of my story.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: recentcoin on May 12, 2007, 06:19:49 PM ---I've noticed that there seems to be a lot of hating of MS's/GS's as well. Please, allow me to pop your bubble on this. Most all of the Anne Rice books are MS's. Wesley Crusher, from StarTrek, is a GS. Jack Ryan is a classic GS and I cannot help but think that you've all read at least one Tom Clancy book.
--- End quote ---
I do not think this makes the point you may want it to make, in that what this says to me is that Anne Rice and Tom Clancy are complete rubbish, which does actually concur with my experience of reading same. [ I think Interview with the Vampire has flashes of potential and I kind of wish she'd got a decent editor who had encouraged those flashes instead of allowing her to turn into the ego-monster she now is. ]
I mean, really, did anyone watching TNG not hate Wesley Crusher and want him to die ?
I'm not saying that there aren't people to whom MS/GS are an appealing fantasy. I just don't think I've ever seen an example of MS/GS fiction that's actually been any good or had any lasting success. The closest I can think of is the Count of Monte Cristo, and the uncut text of that, and the better film versions, do make it very clear that while he is getting to be very wealthy and exact intricate revenge on his enemies, he's also completely deranged and not being presented as a sympathetic figure.
Yeratel:
--- Quote from: firegazer on May 23, 2007, 12:50:23 AM ---Fanfic is like anything else in the world - dependent on the person behind it. Unfortunately, we have a rather large amount of stupid in the world, so the vast majority of the people behind it are going to show through badly.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, that's been my experience with most of it I've read. OTOH, the first piece of fiction writing I actually got paid for ($50) was a Sherlock Holmes pastiche short story in a magazine.
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