Why Do You Write Tolkien Fanfic?

[dawn_felagund]

My Mythmoot proposal is due in about one month (eeeeeeeeeek), and I have an idea, but I need to make sure that what I'm planning to write and reality actually bear some resemblance to each other. So I have a simple question for all my Tolkien fanfic writers out there:

Why do you write Tolkien fanfic?Thanks in advance to anyone with a moment to

Comments

[dreamflower02]

Not only do I write Tolkien fanfic, for the most part, Tolkien fanfic is the only fandom I write for. The only exceptions are a few challenges or exchanges, and a handful of crossovers with Tolkien.

There are a lot of reasons I write Tolkien fanfic, but most of it has to do with a need to explore his world and characters, to figure out the whys of some characters and hows of certain events.

While I sometimes write AU, that's also from a need to explore, in this case the "what ifs", unlike some people who are dissatisfied with Tolkien's canon, I'm not, at least not when it's The Hobbit or LotR. But I do want MORE of it than we were given.

Some of my other reasons have to do with my love for the Shire and for hobbits and a wish to figure out from the hints in canon what its culture might have been.

Also, there's the sense of community and belonging. I have friends I have known online for over ten years because of Tolkien fanfic, some of whom I subsequently met in RL. (And that's something else I've noticed; a lot of people will flit from fandom to fandom, but Tolkien fans are remarkably durable, and even when they may find a new shiny fandom, they never totally abandon Middle-earth, or they come back after a while. And I can name off the top of my head at least three other friends on my flist who have NEVER shown any interest in ANY other fandom, over the course of knowing them for nearly a decade.)

So, yeah, I'd say the Tolkien fandom, and the Tolkien fanfic writers are different than most other fandoms.

(BTW, Dawn, would you like me to link this post in my LJ, to see if I can get some of my friends to comment?)

[dawn_felagund]

Signal-boosting is much appreciated! I would like input from people from all corners of the fandom, not just people who hang out with (and tend to therefore see eye-to-eye with) me. :)

Thank you!

[dreamflower02]

Done! http://dreamflower02.livejournal.com/662404.html

I hope that I've sent some folks your way!