Anti-fan fiction criticism, and how it hurts writers.
By now, I suspect just about everyone has heard about Diana Gabaldon's rant about fanfic.
A lot of people have addressed the issues with her arguments: the way she states as fact that fanfic is illegal and compares it to breaking an entering. Or the way she likens porn about her characters to someone writing porn about her daughter, even though Gabaldon herself has apparently written her characters in plenty of sexual situations. Or the way she suggests that fanfic writers should just change the names of the characters, because apparently she publishing/posting a fic that was clearly based in her world with her characters, but with different names. Or the way she unfortunately chooses to address fandom fundraisers in her post (because the best way to convince people that something is immoral is to point out some philanthropy!). I'm not going to get into that, because everyone has already said everything I could say about it.
But what bothers me the most isn't the flimsy arguments against fan fiction, but the assumptions about its quality and the writers. It doesn't just insult fans and fandom to equate us with burglars and creepy stalkers -- it hurts young writers by perpetuating stereotypes about what it means to be a writer.
First of all, this is what Gabaldon says about pornographic fan fiction:
While not all fan-fic is pornographic by any means, enough of it _is_ that it constitutes an aesthetic argument against the whole notion.
I've seen similar sentiments before. I've come across writers who are sorta okay with fic, but ewww! That porny stuff creeps them out!
What's wrong with porn? No, seriously. If you're generally anti-porn, well, then I guess that answers that question. And there are some fandoms that I won't read porn in. But I don't believe porn is a bad thing, so why should it count against an entire type of writing? From what I've heard, Gabaldon writes a lot of sexually explicit material. In her post, she even says it's okay for people to write sexually explicit fic about works that are in the public domain.
Gabaldon also makes assumptions about why people write fic in the first place.
She writes:
I have a lot of sympathy for people who want to write. I used to want to write, and I had no idea how to develop characters. Oddly enough, the notion of using someone else’s characters never occurred to me. I just tried to do it on my own. Surprise! It worked.
Suck it up, guys. If you want to write, write-and write your own stuff. It _does_ take courage, but that’s the only way to learn how, believe me.
I've seen this assumption before: fanfic writers just don't know how to write! We're scared to develop our own characters and stories, so we use fan fiction as a crutch.
In the comments, some people wonder why we just don't write our own stories.
I've come across the notion that fanfic is only good as "training wheels." You're supposed to graduate from it and start writing original fiction exclusively.
I've seen the argument (often well-intended) that fanfic writers aren't really writers (whatever that means). We don't care about writing as a craft. We're "just having fun" (again, whatever that means). I've seen this echoed in fandom, sometimes, too.
What these people are missing is that a lot of different people write fic, and with different motivations. Some fic writers don't see themselves as writers, necessarily, but some do. And criticism such as voiced by Gabaldon isn't just disrespectful to fans, but also to other writers.
I write both original fiction and fan fiction. I certainly know how to make my own characters (plotting, now that's a hard one).
Original fiction and fanfic are two different beasts, to an extent. I write fanfic for somewhat different reasons than I write original fic. Is fanfic easier? That's hard to say. In some ways, perhaps, though I think it depends on your strengths as a writer.
I got in a discussion, once, with someone on fandomsecrets. They thought fanfic was a waste of time. I told them that the time I'd spent writing fanfic has been any less valuable than my time writing original fiction. They found that sad. I couldn't possibly see why. After all, I wasted a lot of time when I was younger working on novels that weren't working and that I didn't even like. Now, that's sad.
Today, I think one of my biggest problems as a writer is that, when I was young, I was far too quick to follow advice. I believed in the idea that writing for publication is the golden standard, and that fanfic was a waste of time, so I put aside projects that had been fun for me and started trying to write the Great American Novel. It was returning to fandom that helped me finally get it and enjoy my writing again.
People like Gabaldon, who judge other writers and judge writing they don't like to be immoral, are not helping writers. People like the woman I found on one writing forum, who said she wouldn't critique someone's fanfic only because it would be a "waste of her time" to critique something that wouldn't be published, are not helping writers. People who suggest that "real writers" write as a career are not helping writers.
The people who have helped me most as a writer are the writers I've met in fandom. I'll take them over people like Gabaldon any day.
A lot of people have addressed the issues with her arguments: the way she states as fact that fanfic is illegal and compares it to breaking an entering. Or the way she likens porn about her characters to someone writing porn about her daughter, even though Gabaldon herself has apparently written her characters in plenty of sexual situations. Or the way she suggests that fanfic writers should just change the names of the characters, because apparently she publishing/posting a fic that was clearly based in her world with her characters, but with different names. Or the way she unfortunately chooses to address fandom fundraisers in her post (because the best way to convince people that something is immoral is to point out some philanthropy!). I'm not going to get into that, because everyone has already said everything I could say about it.
But what bothers me the most isn't the flimsy arguments against fan fiction, but the assumptions about its quality and the writers. It doesn't just insult fans and fandom to equate us with burglars and creepy stalkers -- it hurts young writers by perpetuating stereotypes about what it means to be a writer.
First of all, this is what Gabaldon says about pornographic fan fiction:
While not all fan-fic is pornographic by any means, enough of it _is_ that it constitutes an aesthetic argument against the whole notion.
I've seen similar sentiments before. I've come across writers who are sorta okay with fic, but ewww! That porny stuff creeps them out!
What's wrong with porn? No, seriously. If you're generally anti-porn, well, then I guess that answers that question. And there are some fandoms that I won't read porn in. But I don't believe porn is a bad thing, so why should it count against an entire type of writing? From what I've heard, Gabaldon writes a lot of sexually explicit material. In her post, she even says it's okay for people to write sexually explicit fic about works that are in the public domain.
Gabaldon also makes assumptions about why people write fic in the first place.
She writes:
I have a lot of sympathy for people who want to write. I used to want to write, and I had no idea how to develop characters. Oddly enough, the notion of using someone else’s characters never occurred to me. I just tried to do it on my own. Surprise! It worked.
Suck it up, guys. If you want to write, write-and write your own stuff. It _does_ take courage, but that’s the only way to learn how, believe me.
I've seen this assumption before: fanfic writers just don't know how to write! We're scared to develop our own characters and stories, so we use fan fiction as a crutch.
In the comments, some people wonder why we just don't write our own stories.
I've come across the notion that fanfic is only good as "training wheels." You're supposed to graduate from it and start writing original fiction exclusively.
I've seen the argument (often well-intended) that fanfic writers aren't really writers (whatever that means). We don't care about writing as a craft. We're "just having fun" (again, whatever that means). I've seen this echoed in fandom, sometimes, too.
What these people are missing is that a lot of different people write fic, and with different motivations. Some fic writers don't see themselves as writers, necessarily, but some do. And criticism such as voiced by Gabaldon isn't just disrespectful to fans, but also to other writers.
I write both original fiction and fan fiction. I certainly know how to make my own characters (plotting, now that's a hard one).
Original fiction and fanfic are two different beasts, to an extent. I write fanfic for somewhat different reasons than I write original fic. Is fanfic easier? That's hard to say. In some ways, perhaps, though I think it depends on your strengths as a writer.
I got in a discussion, once, with someone on fandomsecrets. They thought fanfic was a waste of time. I told them that the time I'd spent writing fanfic has been any less valuable than my time writing original fiction. They found that sad. I couldn't possibly see why. After all, I wasted a lot of time when I was younger working on novels that weren't working and that I didn't even like. Now, that's sad.
Today, I think one of my biggest problems as a writer is that, when I was young, I was far too quick to follow advice. I believed in the idea that writing for publication is the golden standard, and that fanfic was a waste of time, so I put aside projects that had been fun for me and started trying to write the Great American Novel. It was returning to fandom that helped me finally get it and enjoy my writing again.
People like Gabaldon, who judge other writers and judge writing they don't like to be immoral, are not helping writers. People like the woman I found on one writing forum, who said she wouldn't critique someone's fanfic only because it would be a "waste of her time" to critique something that wouldn't be published, are not helping writers. People who suggest that "real writers" write as a career are not helping writers.
The people who have helped me most as a writer are the writers I've met in fandom. I'll take them over people like Gabaldon any day.