This is not my beautiful fanfic

[mistraltoes]

Pursuant to a discussion with reveilles, I went looking for Thursday Next fanfiction, and stumbled across this (halfway down the page) in Jasper Fforde's FAQ:

"My thoughts on Fan Fiction are pretty much this: That it seems strange to want to copy or 'augment' someone else's work when you could expend just as much energy and have a lot more fun making up

Comments

[shimere277]

have a lot more fun making up your own

I have no idea how he feels he can presume to judge what is fun for other people.

My defense of fanfiction is that it is communal mythmaking. The idea that we must come up with stories that are individual and not shared is unique to the arrogance of modern western culture. Just think about how many of the currently recognized literary wunderkids are actually writing thinly disguised autobiographies. I suppose one critic's brilliance is another's Mary Sue.

However, I don't tend to get involved in this sort of argument because I really don't see the point. You're not too likely to convince someone who has morally condemned your lifestyle (for what is fiction but the expression of our dreams, hopes, fantasies) with logic. Their stance was probably not reached through reason - it's an emotionally defensive stance of superiority. If you want fanfic to be more widely accepted, don't defend it - write about it casually, as if everyone knew it was the greatest thing since buttered toast, and throw in a lot of academic jargon. The younger generation of scholars will then non-consciously absorb the attitude that critics of fanfic are lacking in sophistication.

[mistraltoes]

I'm not trying to convince people who are completely opposed to fanfic. I'm hoping to speak to people who are on the fence or confused by the arguments, and to give support to new fanfic writers starting out, since the latter is part of the eventual intended purpose of my site. But thank you for your thoughts.

[jomacmouse]

I'm not trying to convince people who are completely opposed to fanfic.

No, they're the ones who've forgotten they can't close off all the gaps and other fascinating little bits and pieces that might start off the seed of a fanfic piece. Unless an author is prepared to track down and triple-set in stone every character and situation in a book or story, someone is going to wonder what happened to minor character X and fill in the details for themselves. Either that, or be prepared to create dull characters and plots and hope feverishly that people will still buy it. On what, I don't know. A pretty cover, perhaps? ;)