Further musings, HP and otherwise
A.S. Byatt, talking on BBC radio about Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen: "If you were really a good writer, you'd invent your own characters, and your own world, and your own scenes. I think it's the piggybacking I don't like. It's parasitical. It's like being a flea." (Reference from an article in the Spectrum section of the SMH on Saturday.)
Hmmm...applying this to all fanfiction (which is basically what Prime and Promiscuity is)...I've never been called a parasite before.
I don't think Byatt has a lot of credibility left when discussing popular culture after her demolition job on Harry Potter (see here for a superb rebuttal of her arguments), but I really resent the idea, also mentioned by Byatt, that parodies and further explorations are an insult to the imagination of readers.
As far as my own experience goes, I'd say it's the opposite. I'd have thought that works of fanfiction are the products of the readers' imagination; that pondering what might happen beyond the pages of the book (or patching plot holes, resurrecting characters etc) actually lets the mind wander rather than limiting its potential.
I've been imagining extra scenes, sequels, alternative plots and new characters as an adjunct to my favourite stories for years, long before I'd heard of anything as concrete as written fanfiction. I know there are certain legal implications, but in general terms I think the fact that I've been inspired by source material to go off on tangents indicate that I've got an active imagination and am able to step into another world, not that my visions are limited to mundanely ripping off other people's creations.
I suppose there is a certain degree of exploitation when you're blithely utilising characters that someone else has brought to life. But it provides a writerly safety net, because you're dealing with known people or incidents, while still allowing free reign as far as plots, relationships and styles are concerned. Besides, I've no real desire to write original fiction, and I like knowing that fanfic can slot into a known universe and find like-ish minded readers fairly easily. And no auther can really control the audience's reaction to their material - whether that invovles writing more about that story, or throwing the book into the rubbish bin because it's not appealing. Not to mention that there's a fair bit of published fanfiction around (Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen et al.), and no-one's burnt those authors at the stake in the name of the genre they're writing. (Although they'd certainly be entitled to do so based on the quality, or lack therof, in some cases. *cough* Emma Tennant *cough*.)
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Ever since I raced through the book, sitting on a bench at Central Station, I've been wondering what the Order of the Phoenix in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is actually doing. There's a lot of cleaning, and guarding of the prophecy, but that's about it. Which seems a ridiculous way to fight a war, because blind Freddy could have found out about the prophecy, and Voldemort must already have had a fair knowledge of its contents, given that he'd chosen to attack the Potters.
Tactically, the Order's machinations seem about as successful as the Battle of Arnhem. (Book Seven: Harry Potter and A Bridge Too Far.) Why aren't they working on ways to prove that Voldemort's returned? Pin specific crimes on his hench-folk? (Dumbledore made that very threat regarding Lucius Malfoy and what Arthur Weasely might do at the end of CoS.) Trying to lay false trails to force the Dark Lord into doing something rash? Training people who might have to face him in the future (hang on, that's left to a bunch of teenagers)? Protecting the students at Hogwarts (it seems that as long as they're alive, who cares)? Looking after the casualties of the past war? Gathering more intelligence? Openly confronting the Ministry? Setting up an alternative source of power in the wizarding world?
Instead, they spend all their time in thrall to a set of words that put all the burdens of the struggle on Harry and largely free the rest from the responsibility of action. It's one thing to say that a cause is worth dying for. It's another thing to give up one's life for a poorly organised, poorly informed and poorly led Order that lets a group of kids do their work for them. Hmph.
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Observation of the Day: As I was sorting the newspapers for recycling this morning, I noticed that some sort of reference to Steve Waugh has appeared on the cover of the Sydney Morning Herald at least seven times in the last fortnight. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I like sport, but this is ridiculous.
Hmmm...applying this to all fanfiction (which is basically what Prime and Promiscuity is)...I've never been called a parasite before.
I don't think Byatt has a lot of credibility left when discussing popular culture after her demolition job on Harry Potter (see here for a superb rebuttal of her arguments), but I really resent the idea, also mentioned by Byatt, that parodies and further explorations are an insult to the imagination of readers.
As far as my own experience goes, I'd say it's the opposite. I'd have thought that works of fanfiction are the products of the readers' imagination; that pondering what might happen beyond the pages of the book (or patching plot holes, resurrecting characters etc) actually lets the mind wander rather than limiting its potential.
I've been imagining extra scenes, sequels, alternative plots and new characters as an adjunct to my favourite stories for years, long before I'd heard of anything as concrete as written fanfiction. I know there are certain legal implications, but in general terms I think the fact that I've been inspired by source material to go off on tangents indicate that I've got an active imagination and am able to step into another world, not that my visions are limited to mundanely ripping off other people's creations.
I suppose there is a certain degree of exploitation when you're blithely utilising characters that someone else has brought to life. But it provides a writerly safety net, because you're dealing with known people or incidents, while still allowing free reign as far as plots, relationships and styles are concerned. Besides, I've no real desire to write original fiction, and I like knowing that fanfic can slot into a known universe and find like-ish minded readers fairly easily. And no auther can really control the audience's reaction to their material - whether that invovles writing more about that story, or throwing the book into the rubbish bin because it's not appealing. Not to mention that there's a fair bit of published fanfiction around (Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen et al.), and no-one's burnt those authors at the stake in the name of the genre they're writing. (Although they'd certainly be entitled to do so based on the quality, or lack therof, in some cases. *cough* Emma Tennant *cough*.)
---
Ever since I raced through the book, sitting on a bench at Central Station, I've been wondering what the Order of the Phoenix in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is actually doing. There's a lot of cleaning, and guarding of the prophecy, but that's about it. Which seems a ridiculous way to fight a war, because blind Freddy could have found out about the prophecy, and Voldemort must already have had a fair knowledge of its contents, given that he'd chosen to attack the Potters.
Tactically, the Order's machinations seem about as successful as the Battle of Arnhem. (Book Seven: Harry Potter and A Bridge Too Far.) Why aren't they working on ways to prove that Voldemort's returned? Pin specific crimes on his hench-folk? (Dumbledore made that very threat regarding Lucius Malfoy and what Arthur Weasely might do at the end of CoS.) Trying to lay false trails to force the Dark Lord into doing something rash? Training people who might have to face him in the future (hang on, that's left to a bunch of teenagers)? Protecting the students at Hogwarts (it seems that as long as they're alive, who cares)? Looking after the casualties of the past war? Gathering more intelligence? Openly confronting the Ministry? Setting up an alternative source of power in the wizarding world?
Instead, they spend all their time in thrall to a set of words that put all the burdens of the struggle on Harry and largely free the rest from the responsibility of action. It's one thing to say that a cause is worth dying for. It's another thing to give up one's life for a poorly organised, poorly informed and poorly led Order that lets a group of kids do their work for them. Hmph.
---
Observation of the Day: As I was sorting the newspapers for recycling this morning, I noticed that some sort of reference to Steve Waugh has appeared on the cover of the Sydney Morning Herald at least seven times in the last fortnight. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I like sport, but this is ridiculous.