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"Real" Writing vs Fanfiction
Jan. 11th, 2004 12:16 amSo, I'm having this debate not only with my (published) Mom, but with myself as well. Is fanfiction "real" writing? Can you steal characters from someone else's universe, write your own stories about them, and still call yourself a writer?
And after doing some soul-searching and thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that, yes, you can. It's a genre of writing that I'm sure most authors will continue to hold in contempt (kind of like Romance writing), but...it's not necessarily easy to do, and do well.
It looks so basic from the outside. The argument goes that you've stolen the characters and thus this genre is "lesser" somehow because you didn't make them up yourself. However, keeping those characters IN CHARACTER, so that the rest of the fans don't rip your head off, is not so simple. Especially if you go off on wild tangents like I did in my first foray into fanfic (think Christian!Spike here). You think it was easy to not turn him into a fluffy bunny after having him convert to Christianity? Um....no. It wasn't. But I think I did okay. And Sane!Dru is a right bee-yotch to write, not because she's a horrible person, but because the show gave us so little to work with in that regard, so you basically have to wing it--but still work within the confines of the character. It's a very fine line to walk, especially when you make her sane and human. There's a huge fandom out there who will jump right down your throat if you get it wrong--and there's another segment of it that might just hate you for getting it right. LOL
See, we do have certain (largely self-imposed) rules that we have to work within. Canon is important to some of us. Good writing is too. Not just the basics, like punctuation and spelling and such, but good description, good action, good dialogue, etc. And for me, anyway, keeping the characters in character is a goal I always strive for. That's why Spike as I write him is a snarky Englishman with a tough exterior that melts around the women he loves, and why Angelus is such an unmitigated bastard. That's the way they are on the show. But if you think it's a simple matter to do that, think again. I'm constantly asking myself "Would this character say or do that?"--because I do care about consistent characterization. It has to be consistent not only within my own fic-verse that I've created and put them in, but within the Joss-verse as well. If my characters aren't reacting to events the way they would have reacted on the show, then I've failed. And this is true even when I've gone way the heck away from canon as we know it.
The other argument goes, why don't you write something you can actually get paid for? Well, gee....how many authors actually do get paid? Really? Especially novelists? Yup. That's what I thought. Not many. And how many years were you "real" authors scribbling stuff before you got anything published--if you ever have? Also, let's not forget that sometimes fanfic does get published. Those Han Solo novels I had, that took place before he got involved in the rebellion? Uh, yup. Those were fanfiction. Loads of Star Trek novels out there. Ditto Buffy novels, for that matter. So, hey. There's hope. Not that I have the chutzpah to think that any of mine will ever be published...but it does happen.
So. Before you say I'm not a "real" writer...try it yourself. Write a fic in a fandom you're very familiar with, be it a book, movie, TV show, whatever. Do it with minimal original characters, and make the canon characters the focal point if you do use an original character or two (no Mary Sues!). Then put it out there for the fandom. Skeery thought, no?
Walk a mile in my shoes before you make fun of my genre. Because, hey....then you're a mile away, and you have my shoes.
And after doing some soul-searching and thinking about it, I've come to the conclusion that, yes, you can. It's a genre of writing that I'm sure most authors will continue to hold in contempt (kind of like Romance writing), but...it's not necessarily easy to do, and do well.
It looks so basic from the outside. The argument goes that you've stolen the characters and thus this genre is "lesser" somehow because you didn't make them up yourself. However, keeping those characters IN CHARACTER, so that the rest of the fans don't rip your head off, is not so simple. Especially if you go off on wild tangents like I did in my first foray into fanfic (think Christian!Spike here). You think it was easy to not turn him into a fluffy bunny after having him convert to Christianity? Um....no. It wasn't. But I think I did okay. And Sane!Dru is a right bee-yotch to write, not because she's a horrible person, but because the show gave us so little to work with in that regard, so you basically have to wing it--but still work within the confines of the character. It's a very fine line to walk, especially when you make her sane and human. There's a huge fandom out there who will jump right down your throat if you get it wrong--and there's another segment of it that might just hate you for getting it right. LOL
See, we do have certain (largely self-imposed) rules that we have to work within. Canon is important to some of us. Good writing is too. Not just the basics, like punctuation and spelling and such, but good description, good action, good dialogue, etc. And for me, anyway, keeping the characters in character is a goal I always strive for. That's why Spike as I write him is a snarky Englishman with a tough exterior that melts around the women he loves, and why Angelus is such an unmitigated bastard. That's the way they are on the show. But if you think it's a simple matter to do that, think again. I'm constantly asking myself "Would this character say or do that?"--because I do care about consistent characterization. It has to be consistent not only within my own fic-verse that I've created and put them in, but within the Joss-verse as well. If my characters aren't reacting to events the way they would have reacted on the show, then I've failed. And this is true even when I've gone way the heck away from canon as we know it.
The other argument goes, why don't you write something you can actually get paid for? Well, gee....how many authors actually do get paid? Really? Especially novelists? Yup. That's what I thought. Not many. And how many years were you "real" authors scribbling stuff before you got anything published--if you ever have? Also, let's not forget that sometimes fanfic does get published. Those Han Solo novels I had, that took place before he got involved in the rebellion? Uh, yup. Those were fanfiction. Loads of Star Trek novels out there. Ditto Buffy novels, for that matter. So, hey. There's hope. Not that I have the chutzpah to think that any of mine will ever be published...but it does happen.
So. Before you say I'm not a "real" writer...try it yourself. Write a fic in a fandom you're very familiar with, be it a book, movie, TV show, whatever. Do it with minimal original characters, and make the canon characters the focal point if you do use an original character or two (no Mary Sues!). Then put it out there for the fandom. Skeery thought, no?
Walk a mile in my shoes before you make fun of my genre. Because, hey....then you're a mile away, and you have my shoes.
