Fanfic Grumblings
Apr. 9th, 2007 07:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dunmurderinIf I hear one more person refer to fanfic as something that is only acceptable if it's a beginning writer using fanfic as a way to practice for 'real' writing, I'm gonna smack a bitch.
I'm 37 years old (as of last Thursday) and I've been writing since I was seventeen -- mostly original stuff. I didn't start writing fanfic until I was in my early 30s and I didn't *seriously* start writing fanfic until last May, when I was 36. I am not, in my honest opinion, a beginning writer. I'm also not writing fanfic as a way to practice so that one day the Blue Fairy will come and make me into a RealBoy Writer.
I write fanfic because I enjoy doing it. Yeah, I'd like to write something original again, but right now, I don't have any ideas I want to explore and I'm having fun writing fanfics. No, I can't sell what I write but I couldn't sell what I wrote when I was submitting original works either -- published fiction is a buyer's market, after all. Hell, my first fiction publication was in Con*Quest, a Decepticon fanzine back in 2000. I got paid in warm fuzzies.
Lately, I've been struggling with the nagging sensation that I'm wasting my time writing fanfics and I can't understand why fic-writing causes this feeling when other things like, say, roleplaying or reading comic books don't. I mean, it's not like pretending to be a giant transforming robot or a member of Cobra on a MU* is any less of a waste of time than writing stories about said giant transforming robots or members of Cobra. And it's not like I'm getting paid to play -- though if anyone out there is hiring MU* players, please contact me care of this journal entry.
I *like* writing fics. I'm having a lot of fun with the mystery I'm working on for Wayward's contest because I'm enjoying the mental exercise of trying to get around the fact that Autobot City does have security cameras everywhere. Not to mention trying to figure out how use rigor mortis and lividity to completely blow the initial theory that the murder victim's death was accidental. Will I ever be able to sell this story? No. Will it ever get more than a handful of readers? No. Am I having fun? Yes, but for some reason that's not enough for the nagging little voice at the very back of my brain.
Fanfic, it tells me, isn't 'real' writing. Which just annoys the hell out of me since I hate it when people use 'real' when what they mean is 'that thing that is acceptable to me' -- with the addition that not doing what they find acceptable means you are a disgraceful, horrible little person with no more right to live on God's green Earth than a weasle, so you'd better change Right Now or Else!
And if I'm not going to listen to these people when they tell me I'm not a 'real' fan because I like the DIC version of GI Joe or because I don't really give a flying fuck that Hugo Weaving got the job for Megatron's voice (beyond hoping that he'll say "Mr. Prime..." at least once), why the hell should I listen to people who tell me I'm not a real writer because I don't write what they like? I mean, I didn't listen to that kind of crap when I was writing fantasy and science fiction stories -- also not considered 'real' writing by a lot of people -- so why does that tiny part of my brain *care* what these people think?
What is it about writing that makes people think that the only acceptable time to do it is when you're getting paid for it? Anything else -- singing, handicrafts, sports -- people seem to be able to still enjoy without being nagged at to make money at it. Ok, sure, people will say "Man, you're a good singer/handicrafts person/athlete, you should try to make money at it" but nobody looks down at, say, the guy who plays pick-up basketball as not being a 'real' player because he's not in the NBA.
And yes, I know, fanfiction is illegal. It is a clear and obvious violation of copyright law -- but, at least in the case of Transformers and GI Joe, Hasbro doesn't seem to care that it's going on. And it's not like they don't know.
I don't know. I can't really think of an answer right now because it's 7:42am and I really should have gone to bed instead of sitting down at the computer. I think I am going to go to bed and think on this later.
Dun.
I'm 37 years old (as of last Thursday) and I've been writing since I was seventeen -- mostly original stuff. I didn't start writing fanfic until I was in my early 30s and I didn't *seriously* start writing fanfic until last May, when I was 36. I am not, in my honest opinion, a beginning writer. I'm also not writing fanfic as a way to practice so that one day the Blue Fairy will come and make me into a Real
I write fanfic because I enjoy doing it. Yeah, I'd like to write something original again, but right now, I don't have any ideas I want to explore and I'm having fun writing fanfics. No, I can't sell what I write but I couldn't sell what I wrote when I was submitting original works either -- published fiction is a buyer's market, after all. Hell, my first fiction publication was in Con*Quest, a Decepticon fanzine back in 2000. I got paid in warm fuzzies.
Lately, I've been struggling with the nagging sensation that I'm wasting my time writing fanfics and I can't understand why fic-writing causes this feeling when other things like, say, roleplaying or reading comic books don't. I mean, it's not like pretending to be a giant transforming robot or a member of Cobra on a MU* is any less of a waste of time than writing stories about said giant transforming robots or members of Cobra. And it's not like I'm getting paid to play -- though if anyone out there is hiring MU* players, please contact me care of this journal entry.
I *like* writing fics. I'm having a lot of fun with the mystery I'm working on for Wayward's contest because I'm enjoying the mental exercise of trying to get around the fact that Autobot City does have security cameras everywhere. Not to mention trying to figure out how use rigor mortis and lividity to completely blow the initial theory that the murder victim's death was accidental. Will I ever be able to sell this story? No. Will it ever get more than a handful of readers? No. Am I having fun? Yes, but for some reason that's not enough for the nagging little voice at the very back of my brain.
Fanfic, it tells me, isn't 'real' writing. Which just annoys the hell out of me since I hate it when people use 'real' when what they mean is 'that thing that is acceptable to me' -- with the addition that not doing what they find acceptable means you are a disgraceful, horrible little person with no more right to live on God's green Earth than a weasle, so you'd better change Right Now or Else!
And if I'm not going to listen to these people when they tell me I'm not a 'real' fan because I like the DIC version of GI Joe or because I don't really give a flying fuck that Hugo Weaving got the job for Megatron's voice (beyond hoping that he'll say "Mr. Prime..." at least once), why the hell should I listen to people who tell me I'm not a real writer because I don't write what they like? I mean, I didn't listen to that kind of crap when I was writing fantasy and science fiction stories -- also not considered 'real' writing by a lot of people -- so why does that tiny part of my brain *care* what these people think?
What is it about writing that makes people think that the only acceptable time to do it is when you're getting paid for it? Anything else -- singing, handicrafts, sports -- people seem to be able to still enjoy without being nagged at to make money at it. Ok, sure, people will say "Man, you're a good singer/handicrafts person/athlete, you should try to make money at it" but nobody looks down at, say, the guy who plays pick-up basketball as not being a 'real' player because he's not in the NBA.
And yes, I know, fanfiction is illegal. It is a clear and obvious violation of copyright law -- but, at least in the case of Transformers and GI Joe, Hasbro doesn't seem to care that it's going on. And it's not like they don't know.
I don't know. I can't really think of an answer right now because it's 7:42am and I really should have gone to bed instead of sitting down at the computer. I think I am going to go to bed and think on this later.
Dun.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-09 04:51 pm (UTC)And I know the nagging feeling. It's strong for me because time I spend on fanfic is time not spent on original fiction, and I want to get published. I won't get published if I never write something original and submit it. I may still not get published, but my chances of getting published are higher than zero if I actually submit something.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-09 09:25 pm (UTC)See, right now, I don't want to try and get published. I have no problem with *other people* wanting to get published -- more power to 'em! But what pisses me off is the idea that because I like to write, I must ONLY be writing if I'm trying to get published otherwise I'm wasting my time/not a 'real' writer/etc.
What also pisses me off is that it seems like most of the anti-fanfic folks out there have no clue about fanfic as a whole. Like most people who dismiss things, they've given it a cursory glance, seen what they wanted and ignored any and all evidence that conflicts with their worldview.
See, the thing that inspired this whole rant was a comment (http://kradical.livejournal.com/868712.html?thread=5466728&format=light#t5466728) in this article (http://kradical.livejournal.com/868712.html?format=light). The main article, I pretty much agree with and I agree with what others have said elsewhere, it's nice to see a prowriter who can talk about fanfic without frothing at the mouth.
The commentor, on the other hand, strikes me as one of those people I talked about above. They don't really know much more about fanfic than the surface but they expect me and other fanfic authors to listen to them. And...gahhh! That bugs the crap out of me! If you're going to insult me, at least know what you're talking about first.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-10 07:02 am (UTC)Good luck with your fics. I look forward to reading them.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-09 05:39 pm (UTC)For me, writing is a hobby. It wasn't always that way; I used to say that I would be a famous writer when I grew up. And I was published a few times in various short story anthologies when I was in high school and college...but, really, I'm not interested in being published anymore. I'm not interested in being A Writer. I enjoy writing far too much to make it my career. Seriously, there's no easier way to destroy your love for something than to turn it into something that you do in order to make money, particularly if you try to make it your primary source of income.
So, writing will remain my hobby, and accounting will likely remain my career. (How I ended up doing that as a career is beyond me, but there it is. :) ) So, since it's a hobby...yeah, I'm going to write fanfic. Because I enjoy it. Because it's fun. Because compared to coming up with something completely original, it doesn't take much brainpower. Why devote all of my brainpower to a hobby, no? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-09 09:37 pm (UTC)'Course, some details I'm willing to wave the wand of "Sunbow Effect!" and let it pass, but for other things, I want to be *right*.
Case in point: for my mystery fic, I'm researching forensics, specifically determining the cause of death. For "Skyline Ridge" (http://dunmurderin.livejournal.com/40592.html), I spent nearly an hour and a half trying to find out when the American Guadalcanal memorial was built. Heck, for one of my GI Joe fics, I looked up the character's home town (and was begogglesmacked that it was real) and used events from their online newspaper for color.
But, to me, that is half the fun. The other half is having Combaticons play DDR or Gears giving Huffer relationship advice.