'War Stories'
This thread is for fanfic recs, links, and discussion, but not for actual posting of fanfic.
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:
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.
Some believe fanfic sits in the folk tradition of participatory storytelling, a process responsible for The Iliad and the Arthurian legends, among others. Professor Henry Jenkins, director of media studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told The New York Times that "if you go back, the key stories we told ourselves were stories that were important to everyone and belonged to everyone. 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."
cheers
Others, the more commercially minded among us, see it as a straightforward copyright abuse. But the major entertainment conglomerates have not leant as heavily on fanfic as they have on fan sites that use copyrighted images of characters. If you're writing Simpsons stories you're far less likely to receive a lawyer's letter than if you're drawing Simpsons pictures, or using their images to enhance your site. A picture is apparently worth 1000 words, in dollar terms at least.
Okay, the bit in bold rankled, and the whole HP porn intro thing made me cringe, but it could have been worse. Hmph.
I hate that fanfic is so ridiculed, though; I mean, I know there's an awful lot of rubbish, and I know that the whole fandom thing is by its nature exclusive, but I'm still so bloody excited about this medium, and still thoroughly delighted by the proliferation of good writing that is out there. It pisses me off that the genre is looked down upon. I understand it, but it pisses me off. And ditto LJ/blog culture, actually - by its nature it's incredibly insular and specific, but it's also a really vibrant and fascinating form of communication, and within my limited experience it's shown itself a terrific forum for debate about literary style and technique and blahblahblah pretentiouscakes.
But then, I am living in my parents' basement, in the manner of NotSuave!Xander. So possibly I should just shut the fuck up. And get back to writing my assignment. Right. Fine.
grumblegrumblegrumble.
Oh! Before I go - did we ever find any Magneto/Wolverine?