Meme: Reasons I Write Fanfic
Snatched from my friends' list.
Highlight any reasons that apply to you, strike out any that don't (if you feel like it), and add three reasons of your own to the bottom.
1. To explore themes that I don't get to see in mass media using characters I love.
2. Because it's fun.
3. Because mass media does a crappy job of representing my race and sexual orientation gender.
4. Because I can get more people aboard my ship writing a story than a manifesto.
5. Because TV science-fiction doesn't explore its science-fiction premises in enough depth.
6. Because it's a gift I can give a stranger and know they will enjoy it.
7. Because I resonate emotionally with the characters what I read and watch, and want to find out why by writing about it.
8. Because every tale is a universe, often with fascinating nooks and crannies that the original author never explored.
9. Because I've made some of my best and dearest friends through this very wacky hobby.
10. Because the world the creator made is vast, and I want to see more of it.
11. Because writing as a communal experience is amazing.
12. Because I can.
13. Because I get so much enjoyment from reading fan fiction that I want to contribute to the community by providing enjoyment for other fans.
14. When I become interested in particular actors and/or characters, sometimes I want to explore them in different contexts than their canons would ever allow.
15. I enjoy writing but I feel ambivalent about trying to get published; writing fan fiction frees me by removing the pressure to sell from consideration. -- Very true for me. Even if I am a published writer, it got very tiring. Fanfiction is currently a way of being involved with literary production without the hassles of actual publication. I don't have to worry about issues of authorship or the ideological underpinnings of my work or Serious Business like that.
16. Because of 'tribbers copies (I didn't have a lot of money so I contributed drawings and stories to zines I wanted free copies of.)
17. Because I had a talent for writing humor, even for not-very-humorous shows, and I loved it when people laughed.
18. Because I was once part of a fun fannish clique of talented women who encouraged me to write, talked story with me, and applauded what I wrote.
19. Because my ship will never be canon, no matter how much I might like it to be, and therefore if I want to see it I'll just have to write it myself. For my crack Byakuya-Yachiru pairing, YES.
20. Because the writers are not going to devote a chapter or an episode or an entire movie scene to my favorite character's hobbies and pastimes, and I like writing that sort of thing.
21. Because it's writing which is fun and relaxing for me to do in the free time when I'm not working on my original fiction and/or trying to get published. Nope. Totally untrue in my case. I devote the same amount of energy and thought into my fanfiction as I do my original work.
22. Because sometimes, when I'm waiting for a new episode or book or whatever, all my ideas about what will happen next keep running around in my head, and I have to get them out somehow.
23. Because these characters grab a hold of me and make me want to know them as best I can.
24. Because I am a creative person who is inspired by other creative people.
25. Because it's a way of exploring the aspects of a canon that I love while ignoring, critiquing, or undermining the ones that I find offensive, boring, or unimaginative.
26. Because I love the idea of perpetuating a community in which love and gifts and critical-thinking and fun and community are the driving forces, not money, fame, or power.
27. Because the original writers told me to. LOL! I wish. But it seems like most of my favorite writers -- the ones that are still alive -- are totally against fanfiction, so nope. This won't ever happen.
My additional three:
28. Because I don't have to worry about authorship and attribution and whether people will quote these stories at my funeral. Another writer once advised, "never write anything that would embarrass you at your own funeral" and I'm like FUCKING SHIT that's going to bite me in the ass once I'm gone.
29. Because I have a dirty mind.
30. Because sometimes I just want to escape from the world.
. . .
Since we're on the topic, did I ever mention that my first fanfic was an original story full of original characters, but set in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island? I absolutely LOVED L.M. Montgomery as a kid. By high school I read about 80% of her work. LOL everything I knew about Canada back then was from reading those books! The concept of fanfic wasn't mainstream back then -- I sincerely believed what I wrote was a pastiche. Why doesn't anyone use that word anymore?!
Anyway, one of my friends who actually read the wretched thing asked me why I set the story there. It was about this guy and this girl about to get married, and they had to deal with all her nosy relations during the announcement of their engagement. It's a fairly simple story, it could have been set in any time or any place, which was probably the point of the question.
I was uncomfortable and I couldn't answer. Why, indeed? Why did I have to make the main character a niece (or cousin, I forget) of Gilbert Blythe? He doesn't actually appear in the story, he is simply mentioned in passing as Uncle Gilbert.
I just couldn't say Fuck, I don't know.
Sometimes it's still like that.
Highlight any reasons that apply to you, strike out any that don't (if you feel like it), and add three reasons of your own to the bottom.
1. To explore themes that I don't get to see in mass media using characters I love.
2. Because it's fun.
3. Because mass media does a crappy job of representing my race and sexual orientation gender.
4. Because I can get more people aboard my ship writing a story than a manifesto.
5. Because TV science-fiction doesn't explore its science-fiction premises in enough depth.
6. Because it's a gift I can give a stranger and know they will enjoy it.
7. Because I resonate emotionally with the characters what I read and watch, and want to find out why by writing about it.
8. Because every tale is a universe, often with fascinating nooks and crannies that the original author never explored.
9. Because I've made some of my best and dearest friends through this very wacky hobby.
10. Because the world the creator made is vast, and I want to see more of it.
11. Because writing as a communal experience is amazing.
12. Because I can.
13. Because I get so much enjoyment from reading fan fiction that I want to contribute to the community by providing enjoyment for other fans.
14. When I become interested in particular actors and/or characters, sometimes I want to explore them in different contexts than their canons would ever allow.
15. I enjoy writing but I feel ambivalent about trying to get published; writing fan fiction frees me by removing the pressure to sell from consideration. -- Very true for me. Even if I am a published writer, it got very tiring. Fanfiction is currently a way of being involved with literary production without the hassles of actual publication. I don't have to worry about issues of authorship or the ideological underpinnings of my work or Serious Business like that.
16. Because of 'tribbers copies (I didn't have a lot of money so I contributed drawings and stories to zines I wanted free copies of.)
17. Because I had a talent for writing humor, even for not-very-humorous shows, and I loved it when people laughed.
18. Because I was once part of a fun fannish clique of talented women who encouraged me to write, talked story with me, and applauded what I wrote.
19. Because my ship will never be canon, no matter how much I might like it to be, and therefore if I want to see it I'll just have to write it myself. For my crack Byakuya-Yachiru pairing, YES.
20. Because the writers are not going to devote a chapter or an episode or an entire movie scene to my favorite character's hobbies and pastimes, and I like writing that sort of thing.
21. Because it's writing which is fun and relaxing for me to do in the free time when I'm not working on my original fiction and/or trying to get published. Nope. Totally untrue in my case. I devote the same amount of energy and thought into my fanfiction as I do my original work.
22. Because sometimes, when I'm waiting for a new episode or book or whatever, all my ideas about what will happen next keep running around in my head, and I have to get them out somehow.
23. Because these characters grab a hold of me and make me want to know them as best I can.
24. Because I am a creative person who is inspired by other creative people.
25. Because it's a way of exploring the aspects of a canon that I love while ignoring, critiquing, or undermining the ones that I find offensive, boring, or unimaginative.
26. Because I love the idea of perpetuating a community in which love and gifts and critical-thinking and fun and community are the driving forces, not money, fame, or power.
27. Because the original writers told me to. LOL! I wish. But it seems like most of my favorite writers -- the ones that are still alive -- are totally against fanfiction, so nope. This won't ever happen.
My additional three:
28. Because I don't have to worry about authorship and attribution and whether people will quote these stories at my funeral. Another writer once advised, "never write anything that would embarrass you at your own funeral" and I'm like FUCKING SHIT that's going to bite me in the ass once I'm gone.
29. Because I have a dirty mind.
30. Because sometimes I just want to escape from the world.
. . .
Since we're on the topic, did I ever mention that my first fanfic was an original story full of original characters, but set in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island? I absolutely LOVED L.M. Montgomery as a kid. By high school I read about 80% of her work. LOL everything I knew about Canada back then was from reading those books! The concept of fanfic wasn't mainstream back then -- I sincerely believed what I wrote was a pastiche. Why doesn't anyone use that word anymore?!
Anyway, one of my friends who actually read the wretched thing asked me why I set the story there. It was about this guy and this girl about to get married, and they had to deal with all her nosy relations during the announcement of their engagement. It's a fairly simple story, it could have been set in any time or any place, which was probably the point of the question.
I was uncomfortable and I couldn't answer. Why, indeed? Why did I have to make the main character a niece (or cousin, I forget) of Gilbert Blythe? He doesn't actually appear in the story, he is simply mentioned in passing as Uncle Gilbert.
I just couldn't say Fuck, I don't know.
Sometimes it's still like that.