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agilebritFrom the GAFF board. Background, someone posted a thread on GAFF about a mpreg "Diagnosis Murder" fic. And who shows up but the executive producer/writer for the show itself. And he immediately starts slagging on fanfic writers--not realizing that the majority of posters at GAFF are fanficcers ourselves. He leaves after a few posts with his tail between his legs, but continues the argument in his blog. I've added a little here and there to what I posted at GAFF.
I've now read through all three pages of this thread (now it's up to four pages) and gone about halfway down the first post of Mr. Goldberg's blog. And it's been very entertaining. Some pull quotes, not necessarily all his:
Quote:
It boggles my mind that anyone would want to waste their creative energies writing such derivative stories. Can anyone really be so obsessed with a television show?
Oh, honey, you have NO idea. ROFL Of course...no one's that obsessive about your shows. Because they sucked.
Quote:
Fanfic...teaches laziness and stupidity.
Erm. Yeah. Because that 35000-word AU futurefic I spent hours and hours researching, and months writing, was a result of laziness... Ya know, the first time I ever actually finished a story, it was a fanfic. I tried writing original fic in high school, and some a few years ago as well. It went nowhere. Now that I've cut my teeth on fanfic, I feel a lot more ready to jump into the world of original fic. Not sure I ever would have if I hadn't honed my skills first. And I can't create original characters because I'm stupid. Oh wait. *counting on fingers* Pastor Tom, Mandy, Dusty, Alicia, Cain, the Moab monsters, not to mention a sane version of Dru and a female Angelus... *sticks tongue out childishly*
Quote:
It doesn't matter whether you think you're doing it better or not. The people paid to write the books or episodes are approved BY THE CREATOR OF THE CHARACTERS...as are their stories. Whether you like it or not, those writers are reflecting the creative desires of the owners of the work.
Paraphrase: They may be crap, but they're *approved* crap. So, they're okay. This other, unapproved, stuff may have tight writing and excellent plot and characterization, but it's not *approved* by TPTB, so it's automatic garbage.
Quote:
When you are writing for a tv show, you are writing with the creative consent and direction of the author -- the creator or executive producer of the show.
Yeah. It's still glorified fanfiction. Just because it's "approved" or "original" is no guarantor of quality. Lord knows I've seen and snerked at enough bad movies, bad novels, and bad TV shows (and horridly crappy tie-in novels--the "Spiderman" tie-ins being a notable exception to the "crappy" rule; they're quite good. Angel and Buffy novels? Not so much) to know that sad little fact.
The dude has a serious arrogance problem. I'm not going to waste any more time on him, but hopefully he'll be willing to read some actual *good* fanfic (instead of the dreadful mpreg trash), and reform his opinion with a little more information. Jane Espenson, who has more talent in her little finger than this guy has in his entire body, has called us "real writers." And that's good enough for me.
And now there's wank about fanfic on the NaNoWriMo board as well. It's stealing, most of it sucks, blah blah blah. Well, Joss said it's okay, so I suppose as long as I hang out in the Buffyverse, I'm all right. And yes, most of it sucks. Most original stuff sucks as well, which is why only a tiny fraction of it is ever published. I'm not making any money off of it, it's a hobby I share and enjoy with my friends, and it's a way to get instant feedback from a built-in fandom--although I do wish I'd get more concrit than I do. Yes, flist, this means YOU. Hit me; I can take it. If it's crap, I need to know, mkay?
Not everyone can network with other original writers. I have no idea where to even start doing that. But writing Buffy/Angel fic, I have automatic critics who will tell me that my characterization is crap, or my pacing is off, or my description could use work. I don't have that for original stuff, except my my long-suffering (published) Mom.
Speaking of writing...I've gotten a drabble done today--that I started yesterday. How in the world am I going to get 1700 words a day written for NaNoWriMo? *headdesk*
I've now read through all three pages of this thread (now it's up to four pages) and gone about halfway down the first post of Mr. Goldberg's blog. And it's been very entertaining. Some pull quotes, not necessarily all his:
Quote:
It boggles my mind that anyone would want to waste their creative energies writing such derivative stories. Can anyone really be so obsessed with a television show?
Oh, honey, you have NO idea. ROFL Of course...no one's that obsessive about your shows. Because they sucked.
Quote:
Fanfic...teaches laziness and stupidity.
Erm. Yeah. Because that 35000-word AU futurefic I spent hours and hours researching, and months writing, was a result of laziness... Ya know, the first time I ever actually finished a story, it was a fanfic. I tried writing original fic in high school, and some a few years ago as well. It went nowhere. Now that I've cut my teeth on fanfic, I feel a lot more ready to jump into the world of original fic. Not sure I ever would have if I hadn't honed my skills first. And I can't create original characters because I'm stupid. Oh wait. *counting on fingers* Pastor Tom, Mandy, Dusty, Alicia, Cain, the Moab monsters, not to mention a sane version of Dru and a female Angelus... *sticks tongue out childishly*
Quote:
It doesn't matter whether you think you're doing it better or not. The people paid to write the books or episodes are approved BY THE CREATOR OF THE CHARACTERS...as are their stories. Whether you like it or not, those writers are reflecting the creative desires of the owners of the work.
Paraphrase: They may be crap, but they're *approved* crap. So, they're okay. This other, unapproved, stuff may have tight writing and excellent plot and characterization, but it's not *approved* by TPTB, so it's automatic garbage.
Quote:
When you are writing for a tv show, you are writing with the creative consent and direction of the author -- the creator or executive producer of the show.
Yeah. It's still glorified fanfiction. Just because it's "approved" or "original" is no guarantor of quality. Lord knows I've seen and snerked at enough bad movies, bad novels, and bad TV shows (and horridly crappy tie-in novels--the "Spiderman" tie-ins being a notable exception to the "crappy" rule; they're quite good. Angel and Buffy novels? Not so much) to know that sad little fact.
The dude has a serious arrogance problem. I'm not going to waste any more time on him, but hopefully he'll be willing to read some actual *good* fanfic (instead of the dreadful mpreg trash), and reform his opinion with a little more information. Jane Espenson, who has more talent in her little finger than this guy has in his entire body, has called us "real writers." And that's good enough for me.
And now there's wank about fanfic on the NaNoWriMo board as well. It's stealing, most of it sucks, blah blah blah. Well, Joss said it's okay, so I suppose as long as I hang out in the Buffyverse, I'm all right. And yes, most of it sucks. Most original stuff sucks as well, which is why only a tiny fraction of it is ever published. I'm not making any money off of it, it's a hobby I share and enjoy with my friends, and it's a way to get instant feedback from a built-in fandom--although I do wish I'd get more concrit than I do. Yes, flist, this means YOU. Hit me; I can take it. If it's crap, I need to know, mkay?
Not everyone can network with other original writers. I have no idea where to even start doing that. But writing Buffy/Angel fic, I have automatic critics who will tell me that my characterization is crap, or my pacing is off, or my description could use work. I don't have that for original stuff, except my my long-suffering (published) Mom.
Speaking of writing...I've gotten a drabble done today--that I started yesterday. How in the world am I going to get 1700 words a day written for NaNoWriMo? *headdesk*
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Date: 2004-10-21 06:29 am (UTC)I read a sample chapter of his and I'm also familiar with a couple of the shows he wrote for. I'll put it this way: The fact that LG "made it" is cause for hope to alight in the heart of even a badfic writer that s/he will one day be professionally published.