Comments | herongale: Oh, GRRM. Why must you cantanker on so?

herongale

Oh, GRRM. Why must you cantanker on so?

May 08, 2010 04:18

Okay, so George R.R. Martin has written a post defending his decision to forbid fanfiction of his works. You can read it here.

Here is my reply. I posted it in the comments section of his post but will also reproduce it here, because it's two damn pages long and because I can.

( Dear GRRM )

opinion, writing, fanfiction

Comments 12

flo_nelja May 8 2010, 08:32:34 UTC

I love your argumentation a lot. Thank you. I could use some parts in the classic fanfic debate in French, if it doesn't bother you.

By the way, typo : it's Neil Gaiman, not Neal.

herongale May 8 2010, 09:18:24 UTC

Doesn't bother me at all!

And I'll go fix that typo right now. :)

kutsuwamushi May 8 2010, 10:50:52 UTC

*clap*

Nicely put.

cofie May 8 2010, 12:28:41 UTC

He is silly. He is just worried kids will wrte better than him or something. Or he is just bitching. :/ I must admit I don1t have much idea who he is but eh whatever.

Your writing here is a gem. I love it.

But this sadly will not change his mind. As I look on teh photo and read a bit of his "not lj blog" he seems to have done a final decision. And that's it.

herongale May 9 2010, 08:28:27 UTC

Thank you.

GRRM is actually a really good writer. Don't let this put you off his books; he's super slow in terms of output, but if you like realistic fantasy stories with a strong, well characterized cast of characters, and a complex, highly political plot... he's your man.

vikki May 8 2010, 12:40:19 UTC

Hear hear! *claps*

mirage_shinkiro May 8 2010, 16:23:39 UTC

I find your argument to be extremely well-written and logical. And although modern fan fiction may be the result of Trek in the 1970s, or arguably Sherlock Holmes prior to that, in truth fan fiction is ancient, as I'm sure you know. As you say, it is a core human right to use one's imagination and a basic human response to use it on texts one has read/watched/heard. Only since the advent of concept of intellectual property rights has this even been an issue, and as you pointed out, if the monetary rewards of the author are not being stolen or infringed upon, there is no offense truly being committed. (Assuming it is not a case of plagiarism, by which I specifically mean the fan steals the material and claims s/he created it ( ... )

herongale May 9 2010, 08:40:21 UTC

There is a part of his argument I sympathize with, and I suspect you do too: the idea that it can be very painful to see characters one loves being put into scenarios you feel are inappropriate for them, especially if those loved characters are being needlessly and casually tortured or, maybe even worse, turned into sadistic monsters, when the reality is far different ( ... )