thinky thoughts
seems my flist has exploded.
um, hi. Mostly i lurk. might as well add my two cents
I freely admit that I was a fan of c_w. I read everything they ever posted, and I loved it.
Here’s what’s difficult about fiction: it’s how we see the world. Bear with me, a moment. Philosophers better than I have argued until they died about the existence of objective reality, and the objective reality is: you’re never going to know. All you have is your perception of the world-the stories we tell ourselves.
There are other kinds of stories, the stories we read in books. See on tv, in movies, play in videogames. And then there are the stories we base on those books and tvs and movies and videogames, which are in turn based on other stories, which are in turn based on what has always been told, which are in turn based on what’s real.
In the end, there is a conflation between reality, the telling of that reality, and the perception of that telling. And in the end that perception of the telling (fandom, if you will, but it is also so much more) in turn shapes reality, which shapes the telling, which shapes the perception. We are in an endless feedback loop of the real and the perceiving, so much so that the only thing that seems sacred sometimes is the in-between: the narrative.
So, c_w. I understand why it might have seemed acceptable, even laudable, to use real events to set your stories. I understand why you may have felt that fiction was a way to make the grief of those families-what they suffered-more real somehow, true for us in a way it wasn’t before you brought it to light. I understand that you may even have similar grief in your own life, or your own family, and that this is your way of dealing with it. I hope we can all try to understand this, and try to forgive.
But c_w, I also say to you that if you have recognized this power, this power that the narrative has, please use it carefully. Please use it well. Please don’t use it to trivialize the deaths of those who were loved-or who weren’t. Please don’t use it to dismiss those lives, because in doing so you are dismissing their stories, and their families’ stories. These stories were not yours to tell-not yet.
Wait, c_w. Wait until you have your own stories-and I do believe one can have ownership of a fanfic, though not the fandom-wait until you have your own story, and tell it. Tell it, because you are a good writer. Because it comes to you. Because it is important, because it is real.
Tell it, and I am sure it will be one of the greatest stories ever told.
that's all i have to say about that really
peace out
dean_lives
um, hi. Mostly i lurk. might as well add my two cents
I freely admit that I was a fan of c_w. I read everything they ever posted, and I loved it.
Here’s what’s difficult about fiction: it’s how we see the world. Bear with me, a moment. Philosophers better than I have argued until they died about the existence of objective reality, and the objective reality is: you’re never going to know. All you have is your perception of the world-the stories we tell ourselves.
There are other kinds of stories, the stories we read in books. See on tv, in movies, play in videogames. And then there are the stories we base on those books and tvs and movies and videogames, which are in turn based on other stories, which are in turn based on what has always been told, which are in turn based on what’s real.
In the end, there is a conflation between reality, the telling of that reality, and the perception of that telling. And in the end that perception of the telling (fandom, if you will, but it is also so much more) in turn shapes reality, which shapes the telling, which shapes the perception. We are in an endless feedback loop of the real and the perceiving, so much so that the only thing that seems sacred sometimes is the in-between: the narrative.
So, c_w. I understand why it might have seemed acceptable, even laudable, to use real events to set your stories. I understand why you may have felt that fiction was a way to make the grief of those families-what they suffered-more real somehow, true for us in a way it wasn’t before you brought it to light. I understand that you may even have similar grief in your own life, or your own family, and that this is your way of dealing with it. I hope we can all try to understand this, and try to forgive.
But c_w, I also say to you that if you have recognized this power, this power that the narrative has, please use it carefully. Please use it well. Please don’t use it to trivialize the deaths of those who were loved-or who weren’t. Please don’t use it to dismiss those lives, because in doing so you are dismissing their stories, and their families’ stories. These stories were not yours to tell-not yet.
Wait, c_w. Wait until you have your own stories-and I do believe one can have ownership of a fanfic, though not the fandom-wait until you have your own story, and tell it. Tell it, because you are a good writer. Because it comes to you. Because it is important, because it is real.
Tell it, and I am sure it will be one of the greatest stories ever told.
that's all i have to say about that really
peace out
dean_lives