Why fanfic?

[elfwreck]

Why don't we write our own stories, if we've got the talent?

Once we set aside the legal issues (which are complex, and plenty worthy of discussion on their own), and the ethics issues (wac, apwodoto), we're left with the key question of why do we do this--why write (or draw or vid or game or whatever we do) in someone else's universe, with

Comments

[gessatrude]

*applause*

I have to say, I don't game, I don't read or really even understand all the fuss about fanfic. Hell, didn't even know it existed till people started getting banned for it. (I live under a rock.)

But in saying that, having read this essay, I can definately understand your point of view, and whole heartedly agree with you that, no matter anyone elses feelings of the thing, it definately falls under your rights of free speech. And, if as you point out, that it is commentary in literary format, perhaps I should start reading some of it. :-)

[elfwreck]

I should also point out that a lot of the commentary, being in story form, is often less than obvious, and some of it draws heavily on fanon ("Those conventions and extrapolations from canon which become so popular and widespread in a fannish community, that they turn up in much fanfic")--ideas like Draco's penchant for wearing tight leather pants, or Sirius and Lupin being lovers before Sirius went to prison, or Voldemort's tendency to Crucio whoever shows up last at his meetings, or the Death Eaters' orgy-and-torture fests.

That said...
What's yer poison? Got a favorite fandom that you'd like to see explored in text?

[gessatrude]

Hmm.

I'm trying to think if there are any stories I've read that would even have spawned the interest to create that kind of thing. The only one I've ever really heard of is the HP stuff.

Though I suppose that's probably a good enough place to start as any. The only other 2 series that are coming to mind that I enjoyed enough to probably get into it are john sanford's Prey series, and the MZBradley Avalon stuff.

there's another one that's escaping me. My brain is gone today.

(I followed that link after I finished typing this. According to that site, most fanfic is about TV shows? Interesting. In which case I'd be at a total loss, cause other than Law and Order, I don't really watch all that much tv. hmm... Law and Order fanfic?

[elfwreck]

There's a lot more about tv shows than books; they're shared more widely. TV shows count viewers in the millions; books count sales by the thousands. (There's possibly room for an essay about HP being the first literary fandom to compete with TV fandom because it had that much shared popularity.)

The good news is that fanfic isn't limited to currently popular shows. You must know there's seven hundred bazillion Star Trek fics, ranging from the original series through Enterprise. There's Due South fic archives. Lots of comic book fics, which I'm barely aware of but have read a few incredible stories. (There's a lot of Smallville fic, and while I've never watched the show, I know enough about "teenage Superman" to read the fic.)

Since I haven't found any good L&O resources (I've read one or two good fics, but can't find them again today), I'm gonna point you at something else: Yuletide is an "obscure fandom" fic exchange that's been running for several years; they get entries in hundreds of fandoms that are too small to have their own

[slashpervert]

I originally read fanfic in Star Trek fanzines in the 70s. Still own a large box of them in fact. I have some of the original ones that spawned the "slash" title that were the Kirk/Spock zines.

There are fanfic on just about every book and show you can imagine. My current favourites also include Harry Potter, Pirates of the Carribean, Doctor Who, and Torchwood. I actually think "serialised" fiction, movies or shows get the most fanfic. It is something about being part of an ongoing process. There was a lot of Sherlock Holmes fiction when it was originally being published and still is, for example. So there is also the wanting the process to continue for that and shows like the original Star Trek where we were writing so much during the time after the first show was canceled and before the new ones. Fandom is what pushed the return. People wanted more. Many of the Star Trek novels that came out were essentially fanfic that was authorised.

[elfwreck]

Are you familiar with the Foresmutter's Project? (I'd give links, but they seem to have evaporated with the sale of eclipse.com to netcarrier.com. Gah.) There's a group that tries to put together digital archives of 70's and early 80's slashfic.