I read a lot of junk on the internet. I can waste more time than I care to consider while surfing. Sometimes I have been known to laugh out loud at my desk and quickly think up a reason when someone walks by and asks me "what's funny". I can't very well tell them I was reading about a 6 year old girl, who I don't know, asking for ice for her hand because she was practicing Kung Fu on the chair, and was surprised that they chair "has skills!". Nope, I couldn't say that so I made something up about the time.
Anyway....ever since I read Harry Potter and discovered that there are web site run by fans specifically for those book I have been fascinated with the idea of "fan fiction" . There are fan fic writers for everything! All the book series that I enjoy as well as many that I don't. From HP and Outlander to Star Trek and Twilight. I haven't read any fan fiction other than a few blurbs that show up on some of those websites. I see some forum posts from people who are writing it as their Nano this year.
I don't get it. I'm the first to admit that I can be so attached to good characters and stories that I dream about them and long for the next story. But I'm not about to write that story. That isn't my place. Those stories were shared by the authors not given to us to manipulate. The story and the characters still belong to those authors. We are fortunate enough to have a chance to enjoy those stories, but it isn't our place to write them. I've heard that some fan fiction is fantastic. It is written in the same tone as the original author and feels like an extension of the story (I can't believe it all is though). So my question is this: If these people are talented enough to write wonderful fan fiction, why can't they write their own stories?
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I suppose some authors are flattered by the fan fic written about their own stories. But I think I'd be offended. That might not be where I want my character to go. I may want certain couples to stay broken up, no matter how good readers thought they were together. I might want the spaceship to crash into the moon and kill everyone but the antagonist, and not have the white mice survive and save the day. I certainly don't want to see my innocent characters doing dirty things to each other, while the racy characters watch from the background. I'm with DG of Outlander fame on this one. The author of the Outlander series has asked her fans NOT to write fan fic, or at least not post it online. I say "don't write it". Write your own story. You're talented and creative and you want to write.
Go write! Make it YOURS!!!
I love how you think, but somethimes things are not so black and white. And while i like to live in the grey area as much as possible, sometimes people are only capable of expounding on a good idea as apposed to having a good idea. Im sure there has to be a hundred different reason for fan fiction, but surely the formost reason has to be name recognition. If someone is addicted to a story as the author willing to rewrite the fiction, then they might be certainly willing to read a cheap knock off to get there fix. bottom line my dear... money, I think it all boils down to money in the end. Perhaps I shouldn't talk like that in public places. hmmm, what's that!! Shiny!!
ReplyDeleteI see your point Allen, but from my understanding most of the people who write fanfic and publish it online do so just to have their story out there. Fanzines are making money on advertizing, I guess, but the authors are just writing it to write it. I could be wrong, but that's what I've come up with so far...
ReplyDelete