Another thing about fandom works vs. original works is the sense of intimacy. You leave a comment on the fic, you know the chances are good the author will see and appreciate it. With original, published work, you leave a review on sites like Amazon and such, but there's no interaction between you and the author. It feels more isolated. (Does that make sense?)
YES! There's so much more interaction with fanfic. Even with being able to see the number of hits you get, or kudos [on AO3 - i know some people hate it but I like it. It's a quick easy way to say "Hey! I liked this!"]
I have several friends who are too shy to leave comments, so kudos was a godsend for them. I think it's a great way to get those silent readers to show their presence! Fandom just feels so much closer :)
in general you can say that self-published work is free of the constraints of editors (for good or ill) and big publishers, I've seen fanfic that is bascially a script copy with self-inserted character, to fully formed novels that mention, oh and think of these characters as (dean and cas) even though I've given them other names in this story about ancient whatever.
Those are extremes that I don't see as fanfic because one isn't well formed, the other isn't recognisable, fan-fic falls in between, where we see and know the characters from canon, at least to start. Nowadays fan-fic seems to be a means to an end for writers, a way to draw an audience to their original work, or prepare a story to be made into original work, in many ways monetized, and apart from the fandom model even five years ago.
Nowadays fan-fic seems to be a means to an end for writers, a way to draw an audience to their original work, or prepare a story to be made into original work, in many ways monetized, and apart from the fandom model even five years ago
I agree but that makes me a little sad that it's just a jumping pad for some people. I think I'll always write fanfic. I just have so much fun and I love it so much.
I mean, they've made a bazillion dollars off the formula: boy meets girl, minor chaos ensues, boy and girl fall in love, some impediment happens, boy and girl get back together and live happily ever after.
In fan fic and in original fic, we get to start with boy meets boy and go from there but, well, it's the same thing.
That doesn't stop millions of folk from reading the 'newest' Harlequin release that comes out regularly.
And I've read stuff by Harlequin authors that have that same aspect you're talking about. Whether it's the living together, or the 'girl' is always a poor Nurse who falls for the rich Doctor or they always live out West or whatever... there are authors who churn those out and, I suspect, make a tidy living at it. And they're all the same.
But the immediacy (and intimacy is a good word) of fan fic and the personal contact with the author/reader just can't be compared... and the faintest "nice job" is treasured...
re: Harlequin - EXACTLY. In some ways I've often thought that Harlequin is the only big publisher that's sort of figured out the business of publishing. I find them very savvy as to what their market wants and they consistently deliver. So many people look down on harlequins [or romance in general] but Harlequin, to me, has proven to have a very sound business model and makes smart choices.
It's so true that fandom squee means so much! It's so much more... heartfelt in a way. Like when fans like my work, it makes me SO HAPPY.
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Those are extremes that I don't see as fanfic because one isn't well formed, the other isn't recognisable, fan-fic falls in between, where we see and know the characters from canon, at least to start. Nowadays fan-fic seems to be a means to an end for writers, a way to draw an audience to their original work, or prepare a story to be made into original work, in many ways monetized, and apart from the fandom model even five years ago.
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I agree but that makes me a little sad that it's just a jumping pad for some people. I think I'll always write fanfic. I just have so much fun and I love it so much.
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I mean, they've made a bazillion dollars off the formula: boy meets girl, minor chaos ensues, boy and girl fall in love, some impediment happens, boy and girl get back together and live happily ever after.
In fan fic and in original fic, we get to start with boy meets boy and go from there but, well, it's the same thing.
That doesn't stop millions of folk from reading the 'newest' Harlequin release that comes out regularly.
And I've read stuff by Harlequin authors that have that same aspect you're talking about. Whether it's the living together, or the 'girl' is always a poor Nurse who falls for the rich Doctor or they always live out West or whatever... there are authors who churn those out and, I suspect, make a tidy living at it. And they're all the same.
But the immediacy (and intimacy is a good word) of fan fic and the personal contact with the author/reader just can't be compared... and the faintest "nice job" is treasured...
Reply
It's so true that fandom squee means so much! It's so much more... heartfelt in a way. Like when fans like my work, it makes me SO HAPPY.
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