Yup. What Dana said. It was better than most, but really. I honestly don't think anyone but someone who's been in fandom longer than a day could write a really good article on fanfiction and slash. There is simply too much people who are not in fandom don't understand, things that come from just being in fandom for a period of time.

I was impressed with the lack of mocking. And it seemed to me that the author of the article didn't try to say "These are the 8 reasons that people write fanfic." It seemed more like the author said "These are *some of* the reasons people write fanfic."

I didn't think it was bad, as far as articles about fanfic go.

I didn't think it was bad, as far as articles about fanfic go.

No, it wasn't. Believe me, I'm glad about the general lack of mocking (although now it's apparently the rage to focus on HP slash, which isn't a great thing for many reasons). But just *once*, I'd like an article that didn't contain at least one factual error.

Fan fiction is a way of the culture repairing the damage done in a system where contemporary myths are owned by corporations instead of owned by the folk.

I like this statement, even if I don't agree with it 100%. I think there is some truth to it--look at the Buffista rewrite of "Spiral," for example.

The article seemed pretty positive, for the most part. I noticed many of the same errors that Dana did, but they're the sort of errors that show that the author at least tried to do his/her research thoroughly.

On edit: That said, I also agree that it would be nice to see an article without those sort of errors. I wonder if we could talk erinaceous into writing a piece?

..and yeah, if that's not a direct quote from Textual Poachers, it's a direct quote from Henry Jenkins paraphrasing himself.

I don't know. By its very nature, any article on fanfic will be couched as a [perhaps gentle, often mildly erroneous] expose. A news article about people with a passion for miniature trains probably get the same treatment and the hobbyists feel the same way.

Not that there's such a thing as train porn. And if there were, it would be totally okay and not open to psychoanalysis and I'd get my terms right before I went to press.

I think that fanfiction gets a bad rap for several reasons. First of all there are the popular misconceptions about fic and fic writers:

• all fic writers are 40 year old nerds living in their parents' basements and holding down meaningless McJobs

• fic is necessarily of poorer quality than 'professional' fiction

• most fic is smut and/or wish-fulfillment

• fic authors need to 'get a life'

Then, there are other issues, such as the sticky ones about copyright, intellectual property, etc. and so forth. Also, I think that the fact that most fic is read from the internet vs. from a printed book makes it seem less legitimate to many people. I think it's also hard for Americans to understand why someone would write something that couldn't be copyrighted or generate royalties.

In Japan, IIRC, fan written and drawn manga (doujinshi) are permitted by the publishing companies. These things are bought and sold at conventions and in comic shops. The owners of the original series apparently look at these things as a form of free marketing. I know that I've gotten hooked on several anime and television series thanks to fanfiction and fan sites.

On edit: That said, I also agree that it would be nice to see an article without those sort of errors.

I tried to interest Salon in such a thing. The tech editor pointed me to an article he had written FIVE YEARS ago about Xena and Gabrielle, and said they didn't need anything else.

Well, it's probably mushroomed greatly since.I thought at one time I would write an article, but the ideas didn't jell properly. Plus, I see now I didn't "get it".Not that I understand it all now, but my view has shifted.

Fanfic lore has it that every time a new writer comes to the hobby, the first thing she does is write herself into the plot.

No, that's only the bad writers.

I'm standing right here.

I love yours, Ita. Cause Willow or someone else doesn't act like Ita. You are just having some fun with wish-fulfillment,and that's cool, imo.