nostalgia
Have been spending my days interning, sleeping on the train, writing papers for a summer class, attempting to write fic (again), meeting people (including the lovely
aphoenix2007, who is sometimes letting me crash with her in nyc!) and also generally having a blasted time trying to get my new website done. See, the new project was inspired by a layout that I imposed upon myself to finish as a supplement to a research paper I was writing last month, and now I am beginning to see that Javascript/DHTML is a lot more complicated than the non-working buttons that Frontpage usefully supplied me.
This is when I somehow meandered back to my early attempts at website designing and discovered -- much to my amusement -- that my eighth grade attempt at a Harry Potter fan site is still up. Hee.
I kind of wish I'd gone ahead with the updates. I had the idea for a whole HTML-based interactive wizarding world devised, complete with sorting polls and discussion boards and interactive i-fiction (so you could click your way to adventures). Of course, all this would've required at some point my discovery of the necessity of using slightly more complicated language codes, as well as the recruitment of some computer expert staff. 'Course, it's all too much for me to have the time or interest to pursue now (to the best of my knowledge, the amateur fansite making craze has passed; Mugglenet and TLC now dominate the field), but the prospect of creating a good website still sounds pretty awesome.
I've always been wondering lately about just how much a helpful impact fandom has on the aspiring writer. Common sense sort of indicates that an interest in fan fiction = good for young writers because they by default become interested in creating their own works, or at least in the process of creative writing (the drafting, the beta-ing, the revising, the reviewing) in general.
I can cite numerous cases of online fan fiction writers I've seen during my fandom lifetime who go on to become Real Published Authors; there are even some who go the avenue of publishing a work (usually entertaining) about their fandom experiences. [1] But I'm going to narrow in on the young prolific fic writers, I think, who often say how writing and receive feedback about their fics gave them the "confidence" to pursue "original" writing. ("Original" I leave in quotations because I think that in many cases fan fiction -- even though it is borrowing a world and its characters -- can never be less than original when one considers the plot, char. dev., and style of the derivate work.)
Prolific Fic Writer Turned Published Author #1: Cassandr-
Actually, I think I'll skip the lists and just admit the heart of my intention, which was to plug
mistful and her Demon Lexicon's series (2009!) and
ladyjaida/
danibennett, whose novel just came out!
Fandom, I am proud. But somehow I'm not sure anymore that you wouldn't have become Published Authors if you had not discovered fan fiction. [2]
[1] See Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? by Allyson Beatrice
[2] Gah, that was a lot of negatives in one sentence.
aphoenix2007, who is sometimes letting me crash with her in nyc!) and also generally having a blasted time trying to get my new website done. See, the new project was inspired by a layout that I imposed upon myself to finish as a supplement to a research paper I was writing last month, and now I am beginning to see that Javascript/DHTML is a lot more complicated than the non-working buttons that Frontpage usefully supplied me.
This is when I somehow meandered back to my early attempts at website designing and discovered -- much to my amusement -- that my eighth grade attempt at a Harry Potter fan site is still up. Hee.
I kind of wish I'd gone ahead with the updates. I had the idea for a whole HTML-based interactive wizarding world devised, complete with sorting polls and discussion boards and interactive i-fiction (so you could click your way to adventures). Of course, all this would've required at some point my discovery of the necessity of using slightly more complicated language codes, as well as the recruitment of some computer expert staff. 'Course, it's all too much for me to have the time or interest to pursue now (to the best of my knowledge, the amateur fansite making craze has passed; Mugglenet and TLC now dominate the field), but the prospect of creating a good website still sounds pretty awesome.
I've always been wondering lately about just how much a helpful impact fandom has on the aspiring writer. Common sense sort of indicates that an interest in fan fiction = good for young writers because they by default become interested in creating their own works, or at least in the process of creative writing (the drafting, the beta-ing, the revising, the reviewing) in general.
I can cite numerous cases of online fan fiction writers I've seen during my fandom lifetime who go on to become Real Published Authors; there are even some who go the avenue of publishing a work (usually entertaining) about their fandom experiences. [1] But I'm going to narrow in on the young prolific fic writers, I think, who often say how writing and receive feedback about their fics gave them the "confidence" to pursue "original" writing. ("Original" I leave in quotations because I think that in many cases fan fiction -- even though it is borrowing a world and its characters -- can never be less than original when one considers the plot, char. dev., and style of the derivate work.)
Prolific Fic Writer Turned Published Author #1: Cassandr-
Actually, I think I'll skip the lists and just admit the heart of my intention, which was to plug
mistful and her Demon Lexicon's series (2009!) and
ladyjaida/
danibennett, whose novel just came out!
Fandom, I am proud. But somehow I'm not sure anymore that you wouldn't have become Published Authors if you had not discovered fan fiction. [2]
[1] See Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? by Allyson Beatrice
[2] Gah, that was a lot of negatives in one sentence.