Three arguments (about fanfic) that I'm sick of seeing

[tawg]

I was reading a blog last night written and maintained by Lee Goldberg (I initially didn't know who he is, but in reading I discovered that I've seen a lot of the shows he's worked on and heard of two of his novels before). I was cruising the fanfiction tag of his blog (spoiler: he's not a fan of it). While there were certainly posts that I agreed

Comments

[dark_dreymer]

Ugh, that last point so hard. I don't know why people translate "I write sometimes, for fun" into "Ka-Ching!" I try to explain to people by using their own hobbies as an example, "Oh you bake muffins, why aren't you selling them!?" "Oh you like to play video games, how is that gonna make you money!?" "Oh you volunteer at a charity shop, how much does that pay!?"

I still get it all the time from people though, I think it's partly a lack of understanding of how professional writing works. Everyone thinks you're gonna be the next Stephen King or JK Rowling.

I've found I get a lot less of the "Are you gonna get it published?" when I tell people I mostly write gay porn though XD

Can I also chip in an argument against fanfic that annoys me? "It's not a rounded writing experience so it's worthless." Yes, writing fanfic does mean you're working with a ready-built toolset as far as characters and the world go, but that doesn't mean you can't expand on it. The Star Wars universe is incredibly expansive and only a thin sliver of its lore has any base in the six movies, most of the details come from supplementary materials created by fans under the consent of the creators.

[tawg]

I have the same response with comic books and television shows. The argument that a text only has worth if it is completely original is one that is incredibly ignorant of the challenges and strengths of working within an existing framework, and also of the natural redundancy of concepts.