Discussion Cory Doctorow: "In Praise of Fanfic"

I was reading the May issue of Locus Magazine and Cory Doctorow has a column praising fanfiction. I found it on their website and thought I'd share it with you:

Locus Online

3/21/2011: Unlocking per user request.

 

That is an amazing article. Thank you for sharing!

 

That was an excellent article highlighting the positives of fan fiction (something rarely heard) as well as pointing out some of fan fiction's faults. Thanks for posting the link.

 

Definitely a sweet article

 

I thought you'd enjoy it when I read it.

 

I haven't read anything so positive and encouraging in a long time. Thank you.

 

That was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing.

It's so nice to see fan fic and it's writers truly appreciated and defended for a change.

 

What a wonderful read! Nice to hear that someone out there does appreciate us.

 

Thanks for sharing. It was enjoyable to read and a nice change of tune.

 

Very interesting article - thanks for posting the link!

 

Nice to read something so balanced and fairly written.


What I like best is that how the article points out that despite the extremes of disrespect by both writers and fanficcers, at the core it's really an homage to the creators by legions of extremely devoted fans.

 

Wonderful article. Really expresses the joy and need of writing fanfic.

 

A question I've been asked and asked myself, very many times, is what would we do, were we best-selling published authors and we learned that there was fan fic written about our characters?

While most of us think the answer of "I think it'd be brilliant" or something in a positive light would be a certainty, I have come across people who have turned "traitor" and said that they wouldn't like it and would shut it down.

I'm not really sure how many of us will ever find ourselves in a situation like that. But I have to say that reading the article just made me smile. It's nice to hear good things about fan fiction and have it actually encouraged, for once.

Yes, seeing your character, who you fully intended to be straight, in a homosexual relationship with a minor, is going to be squicky and you're not going to be happy. But, even though you might not agree with the portrayal, at least you know that the author of said work read and enjoyed your work to the extent that they were driven to write about it, even if it's in a rather...unintended way.

So thanks, Cory, for putting fan fic in a positive light and while pointing out the problems (and yes, there are certainly problems), not letting them overshadow the greatness that we call fan fic.

 

That was a truly fantastic piece. Great find!

 

THANKS for letting me share this article

 

Awesome article! Thanks for sharing!

 

Indeed, it was an excellent read - Fellow fan fiction writers, I encourage you to post a comment, let the author know his words were heard and appreciated!

 

Great article!

I went to a signing by author Dan Wallace who does the New Essential Guide to Characters (as well as Droids and Planets). His advice to children there was to write Fan Fic. He said if writing about your favorite characters kept a person writing, then it served its purpose. He was discovered writing small stories about his fave characters.

 

I'm glad you're all enjoying it!

 

My two favorite parts:

On the other hand, this business of telling writers that they've given their characters the wrong words and deeds can feel obnoxious or insulting.


Writers can't ask readers not to interpret their work. You can't enjoy a novel that you haven't interpreted ? unless you model the author's characters in your head, you can't care about what they do and why they do it. And once readers model a character, it's only natural that readers will take pleasure in imagining what that character might do offstage, to noodle around with it. This isn't disrespect: it's active reading.


They're both extremes, and they're both so true. And even though Doctorow's in favor of fanfic, he gave good representation of the other side. It's nice to see a level-headed article.

 

What a refreshing article!
Bravo!!!

 

Great article! It's a rare point of view, indeed (well from the pros anyways!).

Thanks for sharing!

Take Care,
C1-J2

 

This is the comment I have attempted to add.

I don't know if it will all go up, though.

I always try to start an argument these days by agreeing with my opponent. So, let's do that. Let's take this premise as fact: Writing isn't real writing unless it's your own original, made-up story, in your own original, made-up world, with your own original, made-up characters. People who don't do that aren't real writers. People who don't do that have no talent.

Okay.

My husband, who by this criteria is a real writer -- an award-winning real writer -- has it straight from novelist Lenore Hart that her next book will feature the Mark Twain character Becky Sharp. Huck Finn from a woman's point of view. Huck Finn fan fiction, dignified by the fact that Huck Finn is no longer under copyright.

Does that mean that Lenore Hart is now taking a step down?

Did Sena Jeter Naslund, who has an MFA and three other books on the shelf -- one novel about Marie Antoinette and the other about Dr. Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame -- step down when she wrote _Ahab's Wife?_ And two of her other books besides?

For that matter, did Marion Zimmer Bradley step down when she wrote _The Mists of Avalon?_ Was _The Once and Future King_ , perhaps, a step down for T. H. White?

Oh, and we *know* _Yesterday's Son_ was a big dip down for A. C. Crispin. It was the first ever Star Trek bestseller, and it started out life as ... you guessed it ... a piece of Star Trek fan fiction. Without it, she wouldn't have had a professional writing career.


I posted more but this is all I will put up here.