Aw, crap.

[agilebrit]

I have a deep and abiding inability to just let things goAs I may have mentioned in a previous post, I got into a small argument with the writer GoH, Michael Stackpole, during a CONduit panel this weekend. The argument was whether you can learn anything by writing fanfic. I, of course, am firmly in the camp that you do. I maintain that I would

Comments

[speakr2customrs]

Almost all the writers who speak disparagingly about fanfic *cough*LeeGoldberg*cough* are really fanfic writers who get paid for it. Possibly they feel threatened by people who do the same thing without getting paid - if the networks/studios ever looked at fanfic, rather than just instantly firing off cease and desist letters whenever it comes to their attention, they'd realise that it's a huge pool of free resources that would enable them to fire Lee Goldberg (well, perhaps not him, I don't think that anyone can be arsed to write Monk fanfic), Michael Stackpole, et al.

[agilebrit]

There's got to be something to explain the frothing hatred these guys have for fanfic, and I think you just nailed it. They're afraid the amateurs will do better than they do.

Not that Stackpole was frothing, but he was...rather adamant. "You shouldn't need training wheels." "Well, sir, some of us do." It was a lively panel.

[curiouswombat]

I was going to comment then realised that my husband has said more or less what I would have, already! You can see why we are married....

[lady_moriel]

Y'know, I'm all for people writing OF--well, heck, except for a select few lucky stiffs who literally write published fanfic and another select few who get noticed and published because of their fanfic, the vast majority of us will never get paid for it. But saying that a writer can't learn anything from fanfic is--well, pretty much like saying that a writer didn't learn anything from anything he didn't publish, which is patently ridiculous. Besides, good fanfic is almost exactly like historical fiction--you already have a predefined world in which you must work, but you still have to develop characterization, plot, etc

[agilebrit]

Exactly.

And it's hilarious how personally affronted these guys seem to get, that people dare to write fanfic in universes that they write in themselves but didn't create. They act like we walk into their houses and steal food directly from their children's mouths.

[agilebrit]

Some people don't get that fanfic, for lots of writers, is a hobby. It's something we do for fun, like other people collect stamps or climb rocks or train dogs or...whatever it is that people do with no expectation of profit, for relaxation. Of course, banging your head on a keyboard on a daily basis is a funny way to "relax," but the finished product can be so satisfying that it's worth the blood, sweat, tears, and angst we pour into it.

[neo_prodigy]

In regards to rejections reflecting your skills as a writer, read this essay from Dee Rimbaud: http://www.rimbaud.org.uk/aaipg2.html... )

[agilebrit]

The same problems I've found with bad fanfic are the same problems I've found in the novelizations of many of my favorite fandoms.

OMG, exactly. I can't tell you how many tie-in novels I've read that are phoned-in pieces of crap* that would be better off lining a birdcage than a bookshelf. And for a tie-in writer to say that "you can't learn anything by writing fanfic" strikes me as the height of silliness.

I will freely admit that I picked up some bad habits writing fanfic. My description is weak, my death scenes frequently lack punch (until I rewrite them), and I can't seem to do "long" to save my life.

On the other hand, my characterization is consistent--I've had plenty of practice writing many different characters from many walks of life, and with many points of view that I don't necessarily share. I learned how to finish a story--and while my endings sometime suck like big sucking things, at least there's an END at the bottom and I have words on the page to work with

Why some writers do not recommend you write fanfic

[anonymous]

I don't know a thing about the person you are directly talking about who thinks fanfic is bad. But as a writer who has met some fanfic writers in the past, and who wants to encourage writers, one reason I don't recommend it is that so few fanfic writers break out into the mainstream and get their stuff published. And some of them ARE really good writers who should do so. Fanfic can become addictive, a crutch and an on-line love fest. I met two woman who were writing fanfic back when Prodigy and AOL were the ONLY internet providers (or seemed to be), and the "bulletin boards" were where people "met." I so wished those two gals would get as enthusiastic about writing their own stuff as they were about writing interactive fanfic. One did finally progress and got a book published. The other, over ten years later, has not

Re: Why some writers do not recommend you write fanfic

[agilebrit]

Apparently, you're still not signed in. Argh.

I'm speaking from my own experience in writing, when I say it's a good learning tool. I'm not sure I would have ever put hand to keyboard in the first place if it hadn't been for fanfiction--and I wrote what I was inspired (or prompted) to write, which is a huge part of the process: Getting the plot bunny, and finishing...sometimes on a deadline.

And naturally, not everyone learns the same way. I, personally, needed to get my feet wet writing fanfic first, but my experience certainly isn't the be-all and end-all of writing. Would I have learned faster had I started writing original fiction first? Eh, maybe. But who's to say I would have ever started at all?

The people who say that you can't learn anything from writing fanfic are demonstrably wrong. Can it be a crutch? You betcha. But it can also be a springboard. You know two other women and me who got started writing fanfic. Two-thirds of them are now published, paid writers. That's an admittedly small pool to draw from,