So, Fanfic then...

[f4f3]

Fanfic, what is it good for? No, no, it's a serious question (well, about as serious as any question about a neologism written at 6.40 because I can't be bothered filling in my expenses could be.

It occasionally bothers me that I don't get Fanfic. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a fan. And of roughly the right things, too. Not Harry Potter, obviously, but Jennings. Doctor Who. Firefly. Various incarnations of Star Trek.

And also I can get very into my fandom - I've gone to Cons, even a meejacon (Hitchercon, back when the continents were in a very different shape). I know more about mid-'70s Marvel Comics than anyone has a right to, but I've never been tempted to do a Deathlok the Demolisher meets Killraven story. Or even, to be slightly less obscure, Jack Aubrey meets Harry Flashman. I once considered putting Flashman into War of the Worlds, but it never got beyond a standing joke with one of my mates. Suffice to say that the Martians would have died of an easily transmitable earthly disease, but not the common cold.

It may be because writing is what I do for a living. However I've dressed up and disguised the fact in my job titles (Consultant, Relationship Manager, Proposal Manager, er, Writer) I write stuff and people pay me. When I write fiction, it's always with a view to having it published professionally. Although, when I think of what some of the semi-prozines of my cyberpunky youth paid (i.e. £Nothing) that's stretching the point a bit. Using someone else's copyrighted characters guarantees that no one will pay you to publish your stories.

So why do people do it? Most of the fan-fic I've read has been of at least a competent level (this is high praise from someone who believes as firmly in Sturgeon's Law as I do). Obviously the writers get something out of it, the readers got something out of it.

I'm not someone who thinks fan-fic is beneath him - hello, I'm the guy who cackled in glee when he found out that The Essential Moon Knight contained back up stories from The Rampaging Hulk which I hadn't read before, and who stayed up till 2 a.m. to read them.

SO WHAT AM I MISSING HERE, GUYS?

Comments

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Here through a mutual friend.

I write fanfiction and have done for a while now. I think you were close to the main point when you point out that writing with an eye to publication is a business. And to do it successfully takes quite a bit of time and effort. I, and nearly all my co-writers, don't want to take that extra step. We all have other jobs, mostly.

It's easy for some people to assume (and I notice you steer clear of this assumption quite well) that the quality of writing suffers because of this. Having read hundreds - yeah, probably thousands - of stories, I have to disagree. There are stories I could show you that would amaze and astound you with their quality and impact.

I'd say people connect through writing common characters and settings. In a small way, it can be a form of shorthand. All in all, it's just a form of expression that many writers find suits them. And a few people (not you) who may not know much about it find easy to mock.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Welcome in - pull up a beanbag. I think my mistake in this post was not expressing clearly enough that I was looking for pointers - at the moment Fan-fic (fanfic?) is a new genre to me, and as an SF (NOT Sci-Fi) fan I know how much of anything is crap, and how easy it is to be put off by grabbing the first story and deciding it's representative of the genre as a whole. So all recomendations greatfully received.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I'm choosing this HP one for you to try because it's unusual in several respects and shows what a fanfic author can do outside the box. It was written for a challenge - Marry Harry. Although I can't find the original conditions, I suspect the premise is something like: Harry Potter has to marry someone. Challenges are one of the many treats of fandom - they get us writers outside our comfort zones.

The Chosen (http://allecto.livejournal.com/421688.html) by allecto.

This story takes a minor HP character and makes him the central figure. It also invents new magic and a new tradition. But for me what stands out is the characterization.

Warnings for slash, serious themes, etc. Also, it was written before Half Blood Prince, so it's not canon-compliant anymore.

I also have three very unusual fanfiction stories I could add: one about real-life spies Guy Burgess and Kim Philby, one about Cain and Abel, and one about The Breakfast Club. In case you are still searching.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I'm always searching, thanks!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought of another one; this one's not at all explicit or even slashy, really.

Kailash, When It Rises (http://theguestroom.houseofhobbits.com/hp/Kailash.html) by mirabellawotr

I like this for its compelling sense of dread and anticipation, for the characterization, the level of detail, and because of the use of the terrific adjective "jesuitical."

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Do you think that your understanding and appreciation of fanfic deepened when you started to write it, and if so how?

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

What a great question!

My first foray into fanfic writing happened over 20 years ago with Star Trek. And there (and in Star Wars as well), fanfic can be published - not only through novilizations of episodes and movies, but with bona fide new plots. These are copyright-sanctioned, printed books. So I didn't start out with feeling as though I was writing for no one. But I lost interest when I made the mistake of trying to write for money - it wasn't for me and the writing itself became a burden and a source of guilt.

Fast forward to 2003. I'd just finished Order of the Phoenix and discovered online HP fandom. I was immediately inspired to write, because of my earlier experience in a fandom. It's the way I respond, it seems. It's fun to compare an internet-less fandom with one that is sustained and driven through the internet. I like this state of affairs much better.

My appreciation deepened not so much through my own writing, but from reading other writers. I had this horribly naive view that I was going to be noticed right away amid the dross I'd noticed in the first month of surfing ff.net (aka the Pit of Voles). And the more I read, the more I discovered writers who are stunningly good. (And I see you know some of them, too). And yeah, 90% of fanfiction is crap, but then 90% of everything is crap, right? :-)

When I attended my first HP con last fall, I was further impressed by the caliber of smart, witty, clever people I met -- who were just like me! Well, a little younger, but not nearly as young as I'd imagined. I met MDs, professors, scientists, businesswomen, poets, musicians.... It was eye-opening.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

You just widened my definition of fan-fic again: I hadn't classed any of the ST/Buffy/SW tie ins as fanfic, when they clearly are.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Oh, and yes, Frankie does have a habit of asking very interesting questions. Even when drunk. Espescially when drunk.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Fortunately I do not remember what I asked you when I was drunk.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

And neither do I, of course.

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Makes perfect sense.

Separately, I was asked by someone else earlier in the week what was the attraction of fanfic for me. My answer was as follows:

Much fanfic is writing in genres I like. Once you've adjusted for Sturgeon's law, it means there's more good writing out there in the genres I like. What's not to be attracted to?

Sometimes I think a lot of fanfic would not lose anything if the serial numbers were to be filed off, and I do find myself thinking 'why is this person writing about someone else's characters rather than their own, when they have so much talent?'. But it's not for me to argue about what ought to stimulate someone's creative imagination, and I ain't looking no gift horses in the mouth.

In general, the characteristics that I admire about the fanfic that I read and the authors that I go back to are subversiveness, creativity, lyrical prose (often much more beautiful than the original author) and complicated twisty plots.

So there's quite a lot of overlap, I think.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I think we're definitely on the same page in our thinking!

I fear certain authors leaving off writing fanfic, because they're so good and I love their stuff.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a similarity to the early days of SF, when the boundary between fan and author was more blurred, and the feeling of community greater. To some degree I think SF has lost this due to its commercial success. While I wouldn't swap the one for 'tother, it's good to know that fanfic seems to have retained that link.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of following up on recommendations!

[widgetfox.livejournal.com]

And I should also say that I really enjoyed ATBT very much indeed.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

And finally my ~groups~ have intersected *gazes in awe*

While I don't usually do more than lurk here, [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] is a friend of [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] where I do post... so what am I getting at?

I have enjoyed fan/fic/slash for way more years than decent for all sorts of obscure reasons and in backtracking your LJ now see several LJ friends of my own there...

And finally, yes I am old enough to still be impressed with the wonders of technology and worldwide communications... or maybe as I get even older, I am more easily entertained.

So, I'll just be wandering off now... singing to myself. Simple pleasure for simple minds and all that...

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

Oh and forgot this bit I found but can't remember where so can't properly credit:

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year went to March, a novel by Geraldine Brooks, published by Viking. It’s a re-imagining of the life of the father of the four March girls in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Can you see a particle of difference between that and a work of declared fanfiction? I can’t. I can only see two differences: first, Louisa May Alcott is out of copyright; and second, Louisa May Alcott, Geraldine Brooks, and Viking are dreadfully respectable.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Yes, I noticed March as well, and someone referred to an adult Tiny Tim novel on the Guardian's list of undiscovered novels.

What I'm pondering over is if there is any real distinction between fanfic and what used to be called Sharecropping books, licenced and set in the Star Wars/Star Trek/Buffyverses, apart from the official endorsement.

I'm also starting to wonder when fanfic was christened, and if it predated licenced books. I know the Start Trek books go back to the late sixties, and the first time I was aware of fanfic was the orginal (I assume) Kirk/Spock slashes of the mid seventies.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Glad to have you even as a wanderer passing through. Any friend of Morgaine's is a friend of mine.

I've already been amazed at the links I'm seeing between LJ and RL friends. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the connectives - Six Degrees of Separation and all that - but it still gives me a start (and makes keeping this LJ anonymous a bit problematic!).

I'm disapointed that I couldn't read much over the weekend, but intend to make up for that ASAP.