Because I already love THESE characters
Although I haven't published much fanfiction that I can point my finger at, I have been fairly open about the fact that I'm working on a long Glee fanfiction with people who are not in fandom.
My mom knows, as do a few other members of my family (including a cousin who I hope might actually read it once posted). So do a couple of my co-workers, including one who is trying to understand more about fandom, even if she seems uninterested in being part of it (so far).
Sometimes when people learn that I've invested a 20k word count already, their reaction is, "Why don't you write some actual/real/original fiction?"
Is there a canned short response that can be given to such questions?
"Because this is the story that I want to tell right now" ?
"To me, this is valuable fiction. I like reading it and I want to contribute and write something too" ?
It's important to me to not just brush off the question because it would be cool for people to know how important fanfiction can be, but it's hard to summarize it in a way that doesn't lose people's interest, I think.
So far, though, I'm a lot better at talking this way about politics than I am about fandom - in a way that answers the question but doesn't mock people for not being part of it, or for giving a fuck, which is totally valid.
What do you say?
My mom knows, as do a few other members of my family (including a cousin who I hope might actually read it once posted). So do a couple of my co-workers, including one who is trying to understand more about fandom, even if she seems uninterested in being part of it (so far).
Sometimes when people learn that I've invested a 20k word count already, their reaction is, "Why don't you write some actual/real/original fiction?"
Is there a canned short response that can be given to such questions?
"Because this is the story that I want to tell right now" ?
"To me, this is valuable fiction. I like reading it and I want to contribute and write something too" ?
It's important to me to not just brush off the question because it would be cool for people to know how important fanfiction can be, but it's hard to summarize it in a way that doesn't lose people's interest, I think.
So far, though, I'm a lot better at talking this way about politics than I am about fandom - in a way that answers the question but doesn't mock people for not being part of it, or for giving a fuck, which is totally valid.
What do you say?