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I'm still following the fic debate on Goldberg's blog (rerun #2047). No, I won't get into the usual conflating of legalities/ethics/morals and the invocation of Godwin's law - I've come to expect nothing less from that blog. No... I'm stumped on what a fundamental level the anti-fic crowd don't get us.
They do not get the basic motivation for writing fanfic. They don't even seem to realize that there's a whole group of people who love to read it, that there's an actual eager audience for it, that fic is - among other things - an act of communication. That it fills a need. In fact, the group of fic readers has been continually glossed over as long as I'm following this debate, as if they don't factor in.
It becomes crystal-clear each time someone suggests that it's okay to write it for practice as long as you don't post it (*head/desk*)... or to write it and then change characters and settings to turn it into an original work before posting it. Every time I read the arguments, I sit there staring at the screen, bewildered by the gulf between the two mindsets.
It's like two races of aliens trying to communicate.
Kind of exasperating but fascinating nonetheless.
Here's my crazy hypothesis - feel free to disagree: I've come to suspect there are two sorts of people... those who daydream and those who don't. There're those who watch a show, only to have the characters take on a life of their own in their heads, who can't help making up little tales: when I was a kid, I spent hours on end walking through the forest with the dog, making up little stories in a weird crossover 'verse made up of Star Trek and Star Wars and my favourite young adult novel series (complete with Mary Sue and boy, am I glad the internet wasn't around back then). I couldn't get enough of that, and I always kind of assumed that everyone does that. (I still write fic in my head nowadays, except sans Mary Sue.)
But I'm no longer so sure everyone does it, otherwise how do folks like the commenters on Lee's blog don't realize, no matter how often rational people like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lost_erizo and lexin tell them, that for the vast majority of fic writers, fic is not the means to an end (which would be becoming a rich, famous writer, I suppose). There're pleasant side benefits, like improving your writing skills and making friends, getting feedback... but fanfic is what it's about - the sharing of stories about characters you love with likeminded people. Doesn't get much simpler than that, one should think.
Well, maybe those folks do daydream strictly original szenarios, who knows. In any case, this debate will go round and round and round and never ever be resolved. But from a cultural viewpoint, I find it interesting.
They do not get the basic motivation for writing fanfic. They don't even seem to realize that there's a whole group of people who love to read it, that there's an actual eager audience for it, that fic is - among other things - an act of communication. That it fills a need. In fact, the group of fic readers has been continually glossed over as long as I'm following this debate, as if they don't factor in.
It becomes crystal-clear each time someone suggests that it's okay to write it for practice as long as you don't post it (*head/desk*)... or to write it and then change characters and settings to turn it into an original work before posting it. Every time I read the arguments, I sit there staring at the screen, bewildered by the gulf between the two mindsets.
It's like two races of aliens trying to communicate.
Kind of exasperating but fascinating nonetheless.
Here's my crazy hypothesis - feel free to disagree: I've come to suspect there are two sorts of people... those who daydream and those who don't. There're those who watch a show, only to have the characters take on a life of their own in their heads, who can't help making up little tales: when I was a kid, I spent hours on end walking through the forest with the dog, making up little stories in a weird crossover 'verse made up of Star Trek and Star Wars and my favourite young adult novel series (complete with Mary Sue and boy, am I glad the internet wasn't around back then). I couldn't get enough of that, and I always kind of assumed that everyone does that. (I still write fic in my head nowadays, except sans Mary Sue.)
But I'm no longer so sure everyone does it, otherwise how do folks like the commenters on Lee's blog don't realize, no matter how often rational people like
lost_erizo and lexin tell them, that for the vast majority of fic writers, fic is not the means to an end (which would be becoming a rich, famous writer, I suppose). There're pleasant side benefits, like improving your writing skills and making friends, getting feedback... but fanfic is what it's about - the sharing of stories about characters you love with likeminded people. Doesn't get much simpler than that, one should think.Well, maybe those folks do daydream strictly original szenarios, who knows. In any case, this debate will go round and round and round and never ever be resolved. But from a cultural viewpoint, I find it interesting.
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It's tempting to describe it as a masculine/feminine divide, and there's much to be said for that, even though there are females in ProVerse and males in Fanworld.
Another thing the ProVerse people tend to forget is that what emerges as published fiction is, of course, selected. And polished and finished. Fanfic on the internet runs the entire gamut from prizewinners to the dregs of the slush pile, because there isn't any limitation at the publishing end. If we looked at *all* the fiction that is submitted to publishers, rather than just the stuff that has made it through the process and been published, there wouldn't be quite such a quality issue, would there?
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It is tempting. I've always been wary to go there, for the reasons you say. But after seing Mark A. York spout off one misogynistic phrase after the other...
I'm telling ya, it's become even more tempting than before to reduce this whole conflict to a gender issue. (I'm not saying it is. That would be way too easy. But I think it's a factor.)
If we looked at *all* the fiction that is submitted to publishers, rather than just the stuff that has made it through the process and been published, there wouldn't be quite such a quality issue, would there?
Exactly!