Gather 'Round the Fire: On the Value of Fanfiction
Title: Gather 'Round the Fire: On the Value of Fanfiction
Author: the_arc5
Genre: Meta/essay
The Accusation
Over the past couple of weeks, I've read two articles (for lack of better term) about fanfiction. One of them defended it; one of them was virulently against the very concept. As a fanfiction writer myself, I suppose that I'm biased. However, I found the second article (more of a blog entry, but still,) both offensive and hurtful. I'd go so far as to classify the second as wank (which I can only imagine would do this woman's head in).
I try to avoid wank, but here, I think I'm going to participate a bit.
Diana Gabaldon makes her case against fanfiction on three basic principles: legality, creativity, and aesthetics. Specifically, fanfic is not legal, not creative, and not aesthetically pleasing. I know she's not the only one who's made these arguments; in fact, they seem to be fairly common in the anti-fanfic arsenal. Let's break those arguments down.
Legality -
The Internet is a crazy, crazy place. You can say anything here. Anything. It doesn't matter if you're offensive, politically incorrect, insane, or well-mannered and well-spelled. This is a forum without hard and fast rules. Now, there is an intense and long-running debate about the merits (or lack thereof) of censorship, and that is not a debate I'm trying to solve here. What I am saying is that regardless of how you feel about what someone says, they have a space to say it out on the interwebz. It's free speech in a raw and real form. It may not always be palatable, but people can and will say whatever they like.
And as far as copyright law goes, until the day I announce to the world that I am Gene Roddenberry, J.R.R. Tolkien, and/or J.K. Rowling, and deserve profit from their estates, I do not violate copyright law. In fact, J.K. Rowling proves a point here. A man (whose name I don't recall, my apologies) wrote a Harry Potter reference book. He was sued and his publication withdrawn. There are a number of books that reference Harry Potter and even use Harry Potter as the basis of their publication, like the seventh book speculations published by MuggleNet. The difference? Credit. The former gave no credit to Rowling for the publication and claimed that the material was his. Books like the ones published by MuggleNet gave Rowling credit. And these are publications that did make money. It's the same principle as citing authors in essays (or articles or books). Credit where credit is due. Furthermore, there is a strong argument that says fanfic falls under the "parody" heading of Fair Use laws.
It is legal, plain and simple, as long as you don't claim the characters as your own.
Creativity -
This section is a little more complex. Gabaldon argues that fanfic writers "steal" characters and use them for their own nefarious purposes. (She has a real problem with porn, but I'll get to that later.) She argues that fanfic interpretation is shallow, useless, and exploitative, and not of any value as a creative exercise.
Let me come at this, first of all, with the phrase "think outside the box." It's a catchphrase we've all heard that encourages creative thinking, right? The thing is, it's difficult to think outside the box...without a box. Established canon is the box, and fanfic represents a group of people thinking outside of it. Now, I'm not trying to say that published authors aren't creative. That's ludicrous. It is, however, equally ludicrous to say that fanfic writers are shallow and lacking in imagination. Established canon of any kind is a jungle gym for the mind: how it can be interpreted, twisted, reinvented, reimagined are all products of "thinking outside the box." By definition, fanfic is creative because it imagines an alternative to an accepted thought.
Not only does fanfic reinterpret and reimagine an established thought, also establishes an entirely new space in which to examine ideas. This is not only creative, it's important. Now, I'm going to preface this argument by saying not all fanfic is good, just as not all published fiction is good, in the sense that not all fanfic has intrinsic intelligence and what I classify as "literary intent." In this context, literary intent is the intention of exploring and examining literature to ask or answer questions, make a statement, or highlight a certain aspect of that literature. To put this into context: if a girl with violet eyes shows up in Middle Earth and seduces Legolas in two paragraphs of misspellings and grammatical atrocity, there is no literary intent. If someone satirizes the girl with violet eyes as a means of showing how ridiculous this convention is? That's literary intent. It's a little bit subjective, and as such, a little difficult to apply. Take PWPs, for instance. All fanfic writers know that those initials are code for explicit sex. Sometimes, PWP means explicit sex, period, with no other redeeming qualities. However, that doesn't mean all PWPs are without literary intent. If you, as a writer, use sex to explore facets of characterization...congrats, you have achieved literary intent.
Look at it this way: if you can change the names three times without an impact on the story, you're either writing original fiction or you have no literary intent. Does this make sense?
I hope so, because I'm moving on. Understanding that not all fic is good fic (just like not all published fiction is "good" fiction), I postulate that fanfic gives an audience a space where they can grapple with ideas presented by media, to interpret and examine them in unique and valuable way.
The example that immediately springs to mind is Star Trek. Star Trek was (and is) a forum of ideas. The show was presented in such a way to give audiences a hypothetical version of the future, and it examined contemporary issues within that hypothetical context. Star Trek showed an image of the future that knew the appropriate response to prejudice, that used ingenuity and teamwork to solve problems, that encouraged exploration and understanding above violence. The show was certainly flawed, and didn't always succeed in portraying this glittering ideal of a future, but it did at least try. Star Trek also spawned fanfic as we know it. There are other historical precedents for fic, fairy tales being a notable example, but the Star Trek fandom was, to my knowledge, the first example of a unified and connected fandom, producing those short stories that we now accept as standard fic fare.
The stories Star Trek fandom produced in these early fandom days neatly illustrate the kind of literary space I'm talking about. Star Trek presented ideas, and fandom thought about them with fiction. Utilizing the framework that Star Trek afforded them, fans then examined ideas and questions, talking about them and analyzing them. It doesn't look like literary analysis, per se; but the things that Spock and Kirk talk about, the situations they play out, are a way of answering the questions Star Trek proposes. In no other space (at least that I know of) can people gather together to explore media presentations this thoroughly without devolving into academic lingo and, if we're being honest, bullshit. I could write you an essay on the significance of Samwise Gamgee in the heroic epic of Lord of the Rings, but it's much more meaningful (and interesting, I think) illustrated as a conversation between Sam and Frodo (or Aragorn or Rosie or whomever). I could examine the implications of a purely logical social framework, but political philosophy certainly sounds better when Spock says it. Not many people search out these questions as a matter of course, and the examples they find are often imbued with so much academic vernacular, they're hardly useful for anyone who doesn't live on a college campus. Fanfic deals with these exact issues, grapples with these problems, but does it in such a way that a general audience can participate and enjoy the conversation.
This isn't a space created by people who lack imagination or intelligence, and it's downright insulting to assume that it is.
Aesthetics -
On this score, let me first say this: aesthetics are purely subjective. Welcome to art. Your aesthetics are not my aesthetics, and none of us will agree absolutely on what is beautiful. It is unfair to say that something has no aesthetic value, regardless of how you feel about it. To you, maybe a poem, story, book, movie, song, or piece of visual art is utter crap. Fair enough. Go look at something else. But you can't make that statement for everyone, and you shouldn't try. It's a hard pill to swallow, but a necessary one. Get over it.
That being said, not all fic is good. I've read enough shallow, misspelled, out-of-character atrocities to know that. We all have. That doesn't negate the aesthetic value of all fic any more than my laughable attempts at drawing negate all art. Just because some things are bad doesn't make all things bad. And as TV Tropes asserts, 90% of everything is crud, but the other 10% is worth dying for.
And this may veer off of the original argument a little bit, but here's where I want to talk about the value of alternative aesthetics and why limiting interpretations to canon is not a good thing.
All of you with delicate constitutions: I'm going to talk about porn. Be forewarned.
Gabaldon has a real issue with porn, an issue I can't really bash her for. Lots of people have an issue with it. Lots of people have an issue with a certain kind of it, i.e., slash. The beauty of the internet is that cute little back button; if you don't like it, don't read it. Period.
But I also think there is a case to be made for alternative aesthetics, or placing value on things that don't have value to you personally. When we as an audience allow one kind of expression to overrule and dominate over all others, we destroy creativity, destroy beauty, destroy art. Some expressions might offend you. Some expressions might not be what you enjoy. Some expressions you may not understand. That doesn't negate them as expressions. This includes porn. You don't have to like it, write it, or endorse it, but that expression is still valid.
In addition (and here's where I veer off slightly), I think that fanfic erotica has a value that shouldn't be diminished, tasteful or not. Gabaldon admits that sex is something that's important to us as human beings. Looking at media...art, television, films, books, poetry...sex comes up a lot. But in the world we live in, right, wrong, or otherwise, sex tends to be viewed in a very specific way. (I'm writing this from an American perspective, but I feel like this extends to Western mainstream culture at the very least.) Most sex is portrayed from a very masculine perspective, is heteronormative, and is utilized as a cheap source of plot. Think about it: when two characters have sex on tv, it's typically to garner the "oh noez, how will they RELATE now??" reaction. Or to facilitate a pregnancy plot. Or as a broad joke, like Barney Stinson's character on How I Met Your Mother. Not that any of those things are wrong, necessarily; if two characters slept together, said, "how enjoyable," and moved on with their lives, there wouldn't be much of an addition to the story. But this kind of portrayal seriously limits artistic representations of sex, as well as how we as an audience can enjoy sex as art.
Take the masculinity angle, for example. Most fanfic writers are women. Straight, bi, lesbian, married, single, whatever...the majority of fic writers have lady parts. And I think that the patriarchal history we have with literature has a lot to do with that. Mainstream media doesn't allow for female sexual expression. That in and of itself is an essay for another date, but whereas Barney Stinson's love-em-and-leave-em ways are a joke, the same antics from a women get a slut label. Lesbians are used to get a male-fueled jump in the ratings. Female sexuality is constantly used to objectify and demean women, even passively. Let me be clear: I'm not saying that all portrayals of sex at all times fall into this trap. But by and large, the portrayals of sex we receive are heavily influenced by the patriarchal perspective, and that perspective is rarely considerate. Furthermore, this history of male domination means that there aren't very many safe places for women to talk about and experience (not necessarily in a physical way, but through any medium, like we experience things through movies) sex without judgment or fear. Fanfic offers that security, and in doing so, an alternative way to view sex.
Anti-fanfic bingo offers this counterargument (with sarcasm, with a tip of the hat to anti-fanfic people): THINK OF THE CHILDREN. I am. I was thirteen when I first discovered fanfic, and I'll be very open and honest: fanfic was a much gentler and safer introduction to sex, what sex means, and how sex operates than was the abusive boyfriend I dated less than a year later. To be fair, very little about fanfic sex is realistic, at least most of the time, and I don't advocate a course in PWPs in place of Sex Ed. What I'm saying is that fanfic offered me a space where I could experience sex in a safe way. If I was uncomfortable with something, I clicked the back button. If I liked it, I looked for more. Along the way, I became more open and understanding of other people's preferences and kinks, two words that I had been taught all my life were filthy and repulsive. I don't have to participate or advocate everything I read; it just taught me to understand that not everyone looks at sex the way I do, and that they are entitled to their opinions as much as I am. I cannot say that I have been irrevocably scarred by any fictional sex I've ever read. Most authors are very careful to put up warnings and ratings so people aren't subjected to anything against their will. And in the rare case I found myself getting into something I didn't quite like? Back button. Easy peasy. My point is, even when fanfic is porn, there is an intrinsic value. Is all fanfic porn awesome? No. Is some of it creepy? Yes. Do I like all of it? No. But that porn does serve a purpose, if only to explore facets of sexuality that wouldn't or couldn't otherwise be explored. The basis of fanfic is rooted in community, after all: fic writers and readers are there because of a commonality they all share. And that sense of community provides a space that published media doesn't in terms of support, understanding, and interaction. When fic writers share a story about sex, other people are there to read it, enjoy it, comment on it, and affirm it. How many other forums do you know of where someone can say, "I'm really into such-and-such kink" and have other people say, "good for you, you enjoy that"? Women especially are subject to judgment when it comes to sex, from what they look like to how they enjoy it (and if they enjoy it, and with whom, and how often); fanfic eliminates a lot of that judgment and opens up sex as something to be both talked about and simply enjoyed, something I think mainstream media typically fails to do. Whether you like an interpretation or not, the value of the space fanfic creates cannot be ignored.
The Bottom Line
This isn't all I could say in defense of fanfic, or even the most eloquent way I could say what I have. I'll finish, though, with this thought.
Storytelling is an art as old as humanity itself. We need stories. Stories keep our history, capture our humanity, teach us lessons, share our griefs, reiterate our joy, embody our hope. Stories show us something about ourselves and about other people. To me, fanfic is a marvelous return to the best part of storytelling: it brings people together. Fanfic writers do more than explore ideas, interpret media, and create space for dialogue; it creates a community. Through the telling and re-telling of stories, sharing the products of imagination, we come together. We learn to understand each other. We learn to accept each other. We even learn to love each other.
And I can't imagine that ever being a bad thing.
Links
Diana Gabaldon Talks About Fanfic (and Inspires This Rant)
In Defense of Fanfiction
Excellent Response to Gabaldon's Blog Entry, also in defense of fanfiction Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this entry; there's some great ones, including the anti-ff bingo card I referenced.
TV Tropes, or Everybody Uses the Same Thing, Really Source of that 90/10 ration I quoted, as well as a staple for any and all fandoms. Beware, it will devour your free and not-free time.
Another Excellent Response to Gabaldon, beautiful defense of fanfiction
Author: the_arc5
Genre: Meta/essay
The Accusation
Over the past couple of weeks, I've read two articles (for lack of better term) about fanfiction. One of them defended it; one of them was virulently against the very concept. As a fanfiction writer myself, I suppose that I'm biased. However, I found the second article (more of a blog entry, but still,) both offensive and hurtful. I'd go so far as to classify the second as wank (which I can only imagine would do this woman's head in).
I try to avoid wank, but here, I think I'm going to participate a bit.
Diana Gabaldon makes her case against fanfiction on three basic principles: legality, creativity, and aesthetics. Specifically, fanfic is not legal, not creative, and not aesthetically pleasing. I know she's not the only one who's made these arguments; in fact, they seem to be fairly common in the anti-fanfic arsenal. Let's break those arguments down.
Legality -
The Internet is a crazy, crazy place. You can say anything here. Anything. It doesn't matter if you're offensive, politically incorrect, insane, or well-mannered and well-spelled. This is a forum without hard and fast rules. Now, there is an intense and long-running debate about the merits (or lack thereof) of censorship, and that is not a debate I'm trying to solve here. What I am saying is that regardless of how you feel about what someone says, they have a space to say it out on the interwebz. It's free speech in a raw and real form. It may not always be palatable, but people can and will say whatever they like.
And as far as copyright law goes, until the day I announce to the world that I am Gene Roddenberry, J.R.R. Tolkien, and/or J.K. Rowling, and deserve profit from their estates, I do not violate copyright law. In fact, J.K. Rowling proves a point here. A man (whose name I don't recall, my apologies) wrote a Harry Potter reference book. He was sued and his publication withdrawn. There are a number of books that reference Harry Potter and even use Harry Potter as the basis of their publication, like the seventh book speculations published by MuggleNet. The difference? Credit. The former gave no credit to Rowling for the publication and claimed that the material was his. Books like the ones published by MuggleNet gave Rowling credit. And these are publications that did make money. It's the same principle as citing authors in essays (or articles or books). Credit where credit is due. Furthermore, there is a strong argument that says fanfic falls under the "parody" heading of Fair Use laws.
It is legal, plain and simple, as long as you don't claim the characters as your own.
Creativity -
This section is a little more complex. Gabaldon argues that fanfic writers "steal" characters and use them for their own nefarious purposes. (She has a real problem with porn, but I'll get to that later.) She argues that fanfic interpretation is shallow, useless, and exploitative, and not of any value as a creative exercise.
Let me come at this, first of all, with the phrase "think outside the box." It's a catchphrase we've all heard that encourages creative thinking, right? The thing is, it's difficult to think outside the box...without a box. Established canon is the box, and fanfic represents a group of people thinking outside of it. Now, I'm not trying to say that published authors aren't creative. That's ludicrous. It is, however, equally ludicrous to say that fanfic writers are shallow and lacking in imagination. Established canon of any kind is a jungle gym for the mind: how it can be interpreted, twisted, reinvented, reimagined are all products of "thinking outside the box." By definition, fanfic is creative because it imagines an alternative to an accepted thought.
Not only does fanfic reinterpret and reimagine an established thought, also establishes an entirely new space in which to examine ideas. This is not only creative, it's important. Now, I'm going to preface this argument by saying not all fanfic is good, just as not all published fiction is good, in the sense that not all fanfic has intrinsic intelligence and what I classify as "literary intent." In this context, literary intent is the intention of exploring and examining literature to ask or answer questions, make a statement, or highlight a certain aspect of that literature. To put this into context: if a girl with violet eyes shows up in Middle Earth and seduces Legolas in two paragraphs of misspellings and grammatical atrocity, there is no literary intent. If someone satirizes the girl with violet eyes as a means of showing how ridiculous this convention is? That's literary intent. It's a little bit subjective, and as such, a little difficult to apply. Take PWPs, for instance. All fanfic writers know that those initials are code for explicit sex. Sometimes, PWP means explicit sex, period, with no other redeeming qualities. However, that doesn't mean all PWPs are without literary intent. If you, as a writer, use sex to explore facets of characterization...congrats, you have achieved literary intent.
Look at it this way: if you can change the names three times without an impact on the story, you're either writing original fiction or you have no literary intent. Does this make sense?
I hope so, because I'm moving on. Understanding that not all fic is good fic (just like not all published fiction is "good" fiction), I postulate that fanfic gives an audience a space where they can grapple with ideas presented by media, to interpret and examine them in unique and valuable way.
The example that immediately springs to mind is Star Trek. Star Trek was (and is) a forum of ideas. The show was presented in such a way to give audiences a hypothetical version of the future, and it examined contemporary issues within that hypothetical context. Star Trek showed an image of the future that knew the appropriate response to prejudice, that used ingenuity and teamwork to solve problems, that encouraged exploration and understanding above violence. The show was certainly flawed, and didn't always succeed in portraying this glittering ideal of a future, but it did at least try. Star Trek also spawned fanfic as we know it. There are other historical precedents for fic, fairy tales being a notable example, but the Star Trek fandom was, to my knowledge, the first example of a unified and connected fandom, producing those short stories that we now accept as standard fic fare.
The stories Star Trek fandom produced in these early fandom days neatly illustrate the kind of literary space I'm talking about. Star Trek presented ideas, and fandom thought about them with fiction. Utilizing the framework that Star Trek afforded them, fans then examined ideas and questions, talking about them and analyzing them. It doesn't look like literary analysis, per se; but the things that Spock and Kirk talk about, the situations they play out, are a way of answering the questions Star Trek proposes. In no other space (at least that I know of) can people gather together to explore media presentations this thoroughly without devolving into academic lingo and, if we're being honest, bullshit. I could write you an essay on the significance of Samwise Gamgee in the heroic epic of Lord of the Rings, but it's much more meaningful (and interesting, I think) illustrated as a conversation between Sam and Frodo (or Aragorn or Rosie or whomever). I could examine the implications of a purely logical social framework, but political philosophy certainly sounds better when Spock says it. Not many people search out these questions as a matter of course, and the examples they find are often imbued with so much academic vernacular, they're hardly useful for anyone who doesn't live on a college campus. Fanfic deals with these exact issues, grapples with these problems, but does it in such a way that a general audience can participate and enjoy the conversation.
This isn't a space created by people who lack imagination or intelligence, and it's downright insulting to assume that it is.
Aesthetics -
On this score, let me first say this: aesthetics are purely subjective. Welcome to art. Your aesthetics are not my aesthetics, and none of us will agree absolutely on what is beautiful. It is unfair to say that something has no aesthetic value, regardless of how you feel about it. To you, maybe a poem, story, book, movie, song, or piece of visual art is utter crap. Fair enough. Go look at something else. But you can't make that statement for everyone, and you shouldn't try. It's a hard pill to swallow, but a necessary one. Get over it.
That being said, not all fic is good. I've read enough shallow, misspelled, out-of-character atrocities to know that. We all have. That doesn't negate the aesthetic value of all fic any more than my laughable attempts at drawing negate all art. Just because some things are bad doesn't make all things bad. And as TV Tropes asserts, 90% of everything is crud, but the other 10% is worth dying for.
And this may veer off of the original argument a little bit, but here's where I want to talk about the value of alternative aesthetics and why limiting interpretations to canon is not a good thing.
All of you with delicate constitutions: I'm going to talk about porn. Be forewarned.
Gabaldon has a real issue with porn, an issue I can't really bash her for. Lots of people have an issue with it. Lots of people have an issue with a certain kind of it, i.e., slash. The beauty of the internet is that cute little back button; if you don't like it, don't read it. Period.
But I also think there is a case to be made for alternative aesthetics, or placing value on things that don't have value to you personally. When we as an audience allow one kind of expression to overrule and dominate over all others, we destroy creativity, destroy beauty, destroy art. Some expressions might offend you. Some expressions might not be what you enjoy. Some expressions you may not understand. That doesn't negate them as expressions. This includes porn. You don't have to like it, write it, or endorse it, but that expression is still valid.
In addition (and here's where I veer off slightly), I think that fanfic erotica has a value that shouldn't be diminished, tasteful or not. Gabaldon admits that sex is something that's important to us as human beings. Looking at media...art, television, films, books, poetry...sex comes up a lot. But in the world we live in, right, wrong, or otherwise, sex tends to be viewed in a very specific way. (I'm writing this from an American perspective, but I feel like this extends to Western mainstream culture at the very least.) Most sex is portrayed from a very masculine perspective, is heteronormative, and is utilized as a cheap source of plot. Think about it: when two characters have sex on tv, it's typically to garner the "oh noez, how will they RELATE now??" reaction. Or to facilitate a pregnancy plot. Or as a broad joke, like Barney Stinson's character on How I Met Your Mother. Not that any of those things are wrong, necessarily; if two characters slept together, said, "how enjoyable," and moved on with their lives, there wouldn't be much of an addition to the story. But this kind of portrayal seriously limits artistic representations of sex, as well as how we as an audience can enjoy sex as art.
Take the masculinity angle, for example. Most fanfic writers are women. Straight, bi, lesbian, married, single, whatever...the majority of fic writers have lady parts. And I think that the patriarchal history we have with literature has a lot to do with that. Mainstream media doesn't allow for female sexual expression. That in and of itself is an essay for another date, but whereas Barney Stinson's love-em-and-leave-em ways are a joke, the same antics from a women get a slut label. Lesbians are used to get a male-fueled jump in the ratings. Female sexuality is constantly used to objectify and demean women, even passively. Let me be clear: I'm not saying that all portrayals of sex at all times fall into this trap. But by and large, the portrayals of sex we receive are heavily influenced by the patriarchal perspective, and that perspective is rarely considerate. Furthermore, this history of male domination means that there aren't very many safe places for women to talk about and experience (not necessarily in a physical way, but through any medium, like we experience things through movies) sex without judgment or fear. Fanfic offers that security, and in doing so, an alternative way to view sex.
Anti-fanfic bingo offers this counterargument (with sarcasm, with a tip of the hat to anti-fanfic people): THINK OF THE CHILDREN. I am. I was thirteen when I first discovered fanfic, and I'll be very open and honest: fanfic was a much gentler and safer introduction to sex, what sex means, and how sex operates than was the abusive boyfriend I dated less than a year later. To be fair, very little about fanfic sex is realistic, at least most of the time, and I don't advocate a course in PWPs in place of Sex Ed. What I'm saying is that fanfic offered me a space where I could experience sex in a safe way. If I was uncomfortable with something, I clicked the back button. If I liked it, I looked for more. Along the way, I became more open and understanding of other people's preferences and kinks, two words that I had been taught all my life were filthy and repulsive. I don't have to participate or advocate everything I read; it just taught me to understand that not everyone looks at sex the way I do, and that they are entitled to their opinions as much as I am. I cannot say that I have been irrevocably scarred by any fictional sex I've ever read. Most authors are very careful to put up warnings and ratings so people aren't subjected to anything against their will. And in the rare case I found myself getting into something I didn't quite like? Back button. Easy peasy. My point is, even when fanfic is porn, there is an intrinsic value. Is all fanfic porn awesome? No. Is some of it creepy? Yes. Do I like all of it? No. But that porn does serve a purpose, if only to explore facets of sexuality that wouldn't or couldn't otherwise be explored. The basis of fanfic is rooted in community, after all: fic writers and readers are there because of a commonality they all share. And that sense of community provides a space that published media doesn't in terms of support, understanding, and interaction. When fic writers share a story about sex, other people are there to read it, enjoy it, comment on it, and affirm it. How many other forums do you know of where someone can say, "I'm really into such-and-such kink" and have other people say, "good for you, you enjoy that"? Women especially are subject to judgment when it comes to sex, from what they look like to how they enjoy it (and if they enjoy it, and with whom, and how often); fanfic eliminates a lot of that judgment and opens up sex as something to be both talked about and simply enjoyed, something I think mainstream media typically fails to do. Whether you like an interpretation or not, the value of the space fanfic creates cannot be ignored.
The Bottom Line
This isn't all I could say in defense of fanfic, or even the most eloquent way I could say what I have. I'll finish, though, with this thought.
Storytelling is an art as old as humanity itself. We need stories. Stories keep our history, capture our humanity, teach us lessons, share our griefs, reiterate our joy, embody our hope. Stories show us something about ourselves and about other people. To me, fanfic is a marvelous return to the best part of storytelling: it brings people together. Fanfic writers do more than explore ideas, interpret media, and create space for dialogue; it creates a community. Through the telling and re-telling of stories, sharing the products of imagination, we come together. We learn to understand each other. We learn to accept each other. We even learn to love each other.
And I can't imagine that ever being a bad thing.
Links
Diana Gabaldon Talks About Fanfic (and Inspires This Rant)
In Defense of Fanfiction
Excellent Response to Gabaldon's Blog Entry, also in defense of fanfiction Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of this entry; there's some great ones, including the anti-ff bingo card I referenced.
TV Tropes, or Everybody Uses the Same Thing, Really Source of that 90/10 ration I quoted, as well as a staple for any and all fandoms. Beware, it will devour your free and not-free time.
Another Excellent Response to Gabaldon, beautiful defense of fanfiction