RAKtheUndead said:
Dectilon said:
It goes like this: If you actually CAN write you're wasting your talent. If you CAN'T write then you're giving writers in general a bad rep. There's no way to win.
Precisely what I suggested in the discussion for The Art of Fandom. The only way to win is not to play.
In the words of someone more versed in Fanfic than I, you're missing the point. Fanfiction is social, sharing stories and skills with other people of a similar frame of mind. You aren't writing for an audience of potential readers, and hence 'wasting talent', you're writing for an established audience within accepted constraints. That's why they get posted on sites like Fanfiction.net, so the established audience and those who wish to read such stories can find them. The writer does not seek the reader in Fanfiction, the reader seeks the writer. People make friends, write reviews of other stories and help each other to rise in ability inside the community.
Fanfiction is inherently personal in it's rewards, and when people try to apply the standards of 'original' literature (That's a laugh) to it, they inevitably reach an incorrect conclusion about the motivations that drive the community.
And most importantly, Fanfiction doesn't want you. This isn't an insult, it's just the nature of Fanfiction (as discussed) to not actively seek readers outside of a narrow demographic. They post what they have for people they often know to read, or for other fans of that 'universe' to find. If you wander into their community, and seek out their stories, don't go complaining about what you find. Fanfiction writers are not exclusively writers of only Fanfiction, they just enjoy the challenge and community of that subsection of literature while they pursue their own stories.
Think of it like lawn bowls, amateur pottery or pigeon breeding. From the outside, very unfulfilling. But people involved in such communities only ever do what they do for the opinion of others
in that community. The nuances of it may put off outsiders, but they don't mind because they are only competing against other bowlers, other potters or breeders. And most importantly, while these people choose to spend their time on such activities, they aren't
defined by them. Steve is the finance manager of a large production company, he has two children and likes to fish. His favorite meal is nachos, and he often eats them while writing the occasional 40K fanfiction. Fanfiction isn't all consuming, it's a hobby, a pastime or often a way to explore the depths of a larger network like the aforementioned 40K.
Sure, articles like this highlight the shit that comes out of the community, but can you say the average 'original' story is any better? Can you say the creative process behind that two page masterpiece about a lost and magic race of mystic ancients with tri-bladed swords called 'vrudrungs' was any more professional than the mind behind 'Full-life consequences?'. Fanfiction has it's creative sins magnified by the fact that it is dealing with known characters, and thus it is easier to identify as find as pure shit. But those sins are hardly exclusive to it's members, because every such culture is full of hacks and idiots.
Penultimately, the article gets the motivations behind fanfiction wrong. The process doesn't go [Adoration/Devotion/Fanfiction] as a huge fan of 'Twilight' decides that the world needs to know just how much she loves the movie. No, often it comes from genuine inspiration. What if? What if the imperials had won and the empire had ruled the galaxy? They think, they imagine, they have a creative impulse as genuine and pure as the minds that came up with the original material, and then they are inspired to write about it. Just like Lucas did when he watched a western or samurai film and thought 'Fuck, this would be
great in space!'. To say they think [mario] and then add plot and setting is inflammatory and ignorant of how sich things come to be. Inspiration or curiosity strikes, and a story is born.
Finally, i'd argue that writing
well within the constraints of another persons vision is a hell of a lot harder than with your own setting.
I could go on for much longer, but i feel like i'm pissing into a hole of faux-justified prejudice here. I would have thought a community of gamers, who constantly whine about how mainstream society keeps misunderstanding their motivations and desires, would have a bit more maturity when looking on a very similar community.
