One of the annoying things about writing fan fiction is that people keep asking, "Why don't you write a story of your own? You're so good, you could be published
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I may have some strong feelings about this issue. And I may be about to rant about them at length. Sorry.
Fanfic is writing, but it's not quite the same kind of writing as mainstream professional authorship. It is no better or worse, just different. Okay, yes, I do both, and I know that the professional world on the whole does not agree with me. But hey, the professional writing world can get a bit snotty sometimes. Fellow poets, for instance, get really snide with me if I mention that I sometimes write *gasp* so-called genre fiction. They act like it pollutes, or even invalidates, my other work. I shudder to think how they'd respond if I mentioned fanfic at all
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Sweet Mother of Pearl, I love you. My favorite part is the "modern myth" part, but all of this is beautifully reasoned and put, dearheart, and I think you.
And this: We do not need to be commodified. We do not need to follow the recent fetish for the mainstream publication machine. We do not need to make our creative impulses fit into someone else's narrow ideas of what they should be with no regard for what and why we ourselves want to create.
Right now, I want to rewrite The Hobbit with Bilbo paired with Thorin, sometimes as a slash pairing, sometimes as a male/female. That's what I want to explore. That's what I want to use to hone my craft. I'm HAPPY.
Yes. Thank you. I try explaining this to my parents sometimes and it's difficult because first you have to make sure they understand what fanfic is and what it can be. My mom finally gets it after some of those very definitely fanfic flavored Jane Austen productions
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Also the rampant versions of Sherlock Holmes at the moment are helpful examples, explaining, "they are just fanfiction with backing, and a big budget, BUT...they can't write whatever they want like I can."
And then I could use your argument! Thank you! <3
We don't have to make it "commercial," we just have to make it for us.
My most popular fic at the moment (the one with the most hits/subscriptions on AO3) is a romance from the male protagonist's POV. I am writing it because he's one of those repressed blokes whose head is very interesting to get into. But romance novels are universally from the female's point of view unless it's same sex.
Good point! One of the things I do love about my fannish work is that I can get away with writing things that I dearly want to bring to life, but that I know I can't sell. What's marketable and what's good aren't necessarily the same thing, alas.
Fanfic is writing, but it's not quite the same kind of writing as mainstream professional authorship. It is no better or worse, just different. Okay, yes, I do both, and I know that the professional world on the whole does not agree with me. But hey, the professional writing world can get a bit snotty sometimes. Fellow poets, for instance, get really snide with me if I mention that I sometimes write *gasp* so-called genre fiction. They act like it pollutes, or even invalidates, my other work. I shudder to think how they'd respond if I mentioned fanfic at all ( ... )
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Wow.
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And this:
We do not need to be commodified. We do not need to follow the recent fetish for the mainstream publication machine. We do not need to make our creative impulses fit into someone else's narrow ideas of what they should be with no regard for what and why we ourselves want to create.
Right now, I want to rewrite The Hobbit with Bilbo paired with Thorin, sometimes as a slash pairing, sometimes as a male/female. That's what I want to explore. That's what I want to use to hone my craft. I'm HAPPY.
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I am glad you're happy and making things that delight you. What good is creativity if it doesn't feed our souls like that?
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And then I could use your argument! Thank you! <3
We don't have to make it "commercial," we just have to make it for us.
My most popular fic at the moment (the one with the most hits/subscriptions on AO3) is a romance from the male protagonist's POV. I am writing it because he's one of those repressed blokes whose head is very interesting to get into. But romance novels are universally from the female's point of view unless it's same sex.
A guy falling in love? Who would publish that?
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