Gather 'Round the Fire: On the Value of Fanfiction

[the_arc5]

Title: Gather 'Round the Fire: On the Value of Fanfiction
Author: the_arc5
Genre: Meta/essay

Comments

[dreamflower02]

Good, great, rant! And thank you for linking, dear. Here's a few more I've found you might like

[the_arc5]

Clearly. Because money is the only thing worth anything. Relationships? Who needs 'em? Heightened literacy? How ridiculous. The creation of useful and helpful social spaces? Darn hippies. If something's worth doing, it means you're getting paid for it. Which is why everyone should stop volunteering, all teachers should quit their jobs (because they may get paid, but not ENOUGH), and pastors, Sunday School teachers, volunteer fire fighters, library aides, suicide hotline operators, social work assistants, childcare volunteers, soup kitchen workers, and nice people who feed hungry college students should just give up now. Because THERE'S NO MONEY IN IT.

It's ridiculous. I have more hope in humanity than that. It's like telling me to stop cooking because I'm not a professional chef, or to stop singing because I don't have a record contract, or for little kids to stop drawing because nobody's buying their art. Sheesh, woman, get a life.

Ahem. Rant #2. My point was that I agree with you, and thanks for the shiny links.

[anivad]

<3

- a darn hippie

[the_arc5]

<3

-fellow darn hippie

[mullenkamp]

Just gotta say...

The thing is, it's difficult to think outside the box...without a box.

Thank you for providing a good way of phrasing why I have no interest in writing original fic, as much as people tell me I should. Writing original fic, you can do anything and it'll be "right" just because there's nothing to offer evidence that it's not. Fanfic, for me, is much more of a challenge, and thus more interesting.

[jalendavi_lady]

I write both.

I wouldn't be half as good as I am at writing original fiction if I hadn't 1) had the writing practice and 2) had the practice dealing with 'these are the differences between this fictional universe and the world you yourself live in - anything you write must respect these differences' that writing sci-fi and fantasy fanfic gave me for dealing with sci-fi and fantasy worlds I come up with.

Actually, I probably wouldn't have gotten through my master's 'thesis' writing project if I hadn't been a fanfic writer first...

[the_arc5]

I can't tell you how much fic writing has helped me. Fic writing is how I learned how to develop characters, come up with a workable storyline, how to plot things as opposed to just dash them off on the page... It's seriously a valuable creative exercise.

And I had a professor once who asked us to take a text we had read and rewrite it in a totally different style. It was the most fun I've ever had with a writing assignment.

[the_arc5]

It's how I've always thought of fanfic. To me, it takes a LOT of creativity to come up with a story that honors and breaks the rules at the same time. And like you say, it's a challenge, and that's what makes it fun.

You've been metafandomed...

[dharma_slut]

Yanno, on DG's problem with porn, thing?

The Lord John books are chock-full of graphic sex. Like, really graphic. Like, the sex scenes were what kept me reading after the series turned into Days of Our Time-Traveling Lives.

There's rape, and schmoop, and dub-con, and gay and het (don't remember any lesbian sex tho) adultery and committed sex.

So it isn't that she has a problem with Porn,just a problem with her characters having sex she isn't in on. She has a problem, in sum with her characters being in anyone else's hands for any activity.

Re: You've been metafandomed...

[the_arc5]

I've read a few of her books and enjoyed them...to an extent. I feel like she's not the best writer ever, and I kind of gave up on her after (as you so eloquently put it) the series became Days of Our Time-Traveling Lives.

And yeah, the sex is totally there. In graphic and sometimes disturbing detail. Honestly, I think she's a hypocrite with some serious control issues and a god complex.

I was just trying to say that it's fine not to like porn, but there is a space and purpose for it that tends to get glossed over. And if you don't like it? Then don't read it. Nobody's sitting with a gun to your head. And if they are, your porn-reading habits are a lot more exciting than mine.

Re: You've been metafandomed...

[dharma_slut]

but there is a space and purpose for it that tends to get glossed over.

True that. In fact, I just came from elspethdixon's recent post, which is positively poignant on the subject.

[celestialshade]

This is a really well thought out argument and a valuble contribution to writing on fanfiction. I especially like what you said about the value of erotica, because I agree with you but hadn't actually thought about it in that way before, so thank you for bringing that to my conscious attention.
What a lot of anti-ff people and their arguments about copyright don't seem to care about is the fact that fandom and fanfiction actually beings a lot more attention and thus money to the original author, as fans go out and buy the original 'texts' and associated merchandise. I've personally got into various fandoms through fanfiction and then spent money on them, when I may not have otherwise done. Moreover,I think creators would do well to take note of things that are common in ff/fandom as it shows what the fans want, what they feel are missing in that text.

[the_arc5]

Thanks! I have an entirely different essay on how women use fanfic to interpret sexuality, but that is for a different day. I do get aggravated, though, when people assume fanfic is porn and that's it.

And I totally agree with you on the money front. I cannot tell you how much money I've donated to the Lord of the Rings and Star Trek fandoms alone. And seriously, fandom is the only decent reason for me to own a Sonic Screwdriver. (Which should be a mixed drink, y/y?)

[rhapsody11]

*applauds*

*waves* I have read one of your stories a few months ago and that left me in awe of eloquently you wrote romance, but here, you worded everything that has been going around in my head immensely well. I especially loved how you presented Star Trek as an example not only what the original series brought, but it also is the example that how fans carried the series on during times when no new Star Trek (be it in movie or series format) was around. It says something about the power of Roddenberry's creations, but also how the communicty can keep something alive, show its worth to hollywood to think of continuation of it, be it in TNG, Voyager, DS9 or Enterprise.

[the_arc5]

Well, thank you for reading, both the essay and the story! (Do you mind me asking which one you liked so well?)

Fandom is such a community effort, and fanworks bring us together. You and I wouldn't even be talking otherwise! And from a purely materialistic viewpoint (which isn't my favorite, but it does mean something to these producers), fandom is what makes media mean something. If there weren't a group of people fanatically devoted to stories and storytelling, who would even care?