astridv: (Default)
astridv ([personal profile] astridv) wrote2006-04-30 08:18 pm

links... on fanfic and pro fic

Teresa Nielsen Hayden: “Fanfic”: force of nature
Good fiction gets under our skin. It can change the way we see the world. But whatever its effect, it’s a significant experience. It would be a bizarre thing—unnatural, even—for writers to not engage with that experience. They always have. I could show you stuff centuries old—heck, some of it’s millennia old—that’s fanfic by any modern definition.

Of course, it would have to be a modern definition. In a purely literary sense, fanfic doesn’t exist. There is only fiction. Fanfic is a legal category created by the modern system of trademarks and copyrights. Putting that label on a work of fiction says nothing about its quality, its creativity, or the intent of the writer who created it.


Interesting discussion in the comments on fanfic and profic, and the relationship between the two. It's good to see this topic discussed in a hospitable environment, free of ad hominems.

Also, I noted that John M. Ford commented in this thread. I'm this close to writing him an embarassing mail full of fangirlish squee about his Star Trek Novel How Much For Just The Planet?... which, if you're unfamiliar with, is the ultimate proof that tie-ins don't have to be boring, that they can even be brilliant, and crazy, and feature captains going down laundry chutes, and contain hidden jabs at Paramount. It's farce and Ford has done a great job to make it work. Go, read, laugh your ass off.
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John Scalzi: 10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing
Good advice, not just for the teenage writer.
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Today I read [livejournal.com profile] rahirah's What Happens In Vegas. Like I said on bbf (for lazyness's sake): ... A witty, plotty, clever ghost story with a very quotable Buffy. Not to be missed, particularly if you like your fic with a generous dash of humour.

Beware that this story comes with a spoiler warning for Parliament Of Monsters. I'm no longer unspoiled for POM. But I regret nothing ;)
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Whew, two posts in one day. This won't become a habit, I'm just waiting for feedback on two projects, which is not gonna happen before tuesday.

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