I'm done explaining why fanfic is okay.

[bookshop]

Edit, October 2013: here's the rebloggable version of this post on Tumblr. You have open permission to link/cite/reblog this post. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this post and shared suggestions and corrections. Thank you all, and thanks everyone for reading! Edit, March 20, 2012: This post has been updated with new additions to the

Comments

[maribella008]

Bonus points for having been willing to do it all this time to date.

Though I'm not sure about the quoting of TNH, even though I freely admit that's another discussion altogether.

[bookshop]

I don't at all intend for my quoting of her to be taken as a justification of her participation in Racefail, ack. If anyone else reads it that way I will remove that link, but I think that quote is honestly a really important one in terms of highlighting the link between fandom culture, fanfic, and sci-fi. D:

[maribella008]

I'm thinking some of her commentary made her views clear, whether she intended it or not, as to who is entitled to participate as an author of sci-fi, which, of course, as she is a prominent editor, is going to shape how the field appears -- which, I believe, has bearing on the discussion here as it talks about points of view which are excluded from the work and from discourse.

I certainly wouldn't want to take the discussion too far afield from your principal focus, but there's been some additional wide discussion in other news about how similar internal viewpoints can impact, negatively and substantially, on professional activities that similarly affect, exclude, and harm large groups of people.

I'm also thinking *your* principal point is strong enough that you could have made it without her quote.
:D

[2naonh3_cl2]

Thank you.

[musikologie]

I love that Lerner quote about Freddy. I always thought he was a schmuck, and yay, my opinion has been validated! <3

Also just a big WORD to this whole post.

[yeats]

NOOOOOOO, TEAM FREDDIE 4LYFE.
*goes off to write pulitzer prize winning my fair lady au where eliza and freddie live happily ever after*

[bookshop]

GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN AND FINISH YOUR PULITZER-PRIZE-WINNING LION IN WINTER SLASH

[yeats]

I'LL DO IT
DON'T MAKE ME DO IT

[kagyakusha]

most literary theory is based on the principle that ALL literature is in some way linked to everything the author has read before -- whether they acknowledge it or not. Ergo -- all literature is "fanfiction," because nothing is completely original. The originality is in how the work changes reader perceptions, thought, and retells old stories.

[kiyakotari]

Which is often summarized as, "No one writes in a vacuum." ^_~

[kagyakusha]

:D Precisely. I've always been a little long winded. Lol.

[naidaildri]

Oh and Eliot's essay, Tradition and the Individual Talent is something that brings this out beautifully.

[mepatra]

Hallelujah! Thank you for pointing out all those other works. As soon as I read her entry I thought to myself, "Uh, hello? My Fair Lady, what?"

On a random side note, I can't take things serious when people emphasize words by using underscores lol It really loses the whole feeling of trying to express some sort of emotion through text when I keep reading it as, "Write anything you want, using Jamie Fraser, Edward Cullen, Harry Potter blank and blank Dr. Who..." instead of, "Write anything you want, using Jamie Fraser, Edward Cullen, Harry Potter _and_ Dr. Who..."

I kept on thinking, "Harry Potter and who? You're shipping who...?"

Just sayin' ;]

edit: Besides, fanfic at least lets the author know they have fans who actually enjoy their works...

[bethbethbeth]

In defense of the old geezer brigade, I just wanted to note that _this_ was the standard way to show emphasis back in the text-only email list days. And yes, the AotW could have moved with the times, but...change is hard! I'll bet you'll still be using emoticons long after your juniors have moved on to something else. :)

(apart from that, though, the AotW really needs to educate herself more about current issues in intellectual property law *g*)

[eeyore9990]

Ah, thank you for the clarity with the underscores. My first (and only) response (besides a massive eye-roll) to the person who linked me to this was:
Well, here's one thing: if she had started in fanfic, she'd know the html code for italicizing those places she wants _italicized_.

[mepatra]

True! I must agree, change is hard. Thank you for that interesting fact. I had no idea that that was why people used it. But I suppose it is a hell of a lot easier than typing <"i"> and for every word ;] I see people using asterisks for as emphasis as well. This even confuses me seeing as I used to use them for showing actions.

As for emoticons, I'm amazed at the new ones that some of the younger people I know use. Oh the internet language...