Robin Hobb skewers fan fiction:
http://www.robinhobb.com/rant.html

quote:

That's not flattering. That's insulting. Every fan fiction I've read to date, based on my world or any other writer's world, had focused on changing the writer's careful work to suit the foible of the fan writer.

Personally, I think she's missing a point. Fan fiction (slash fiction and normal fan fic) is about our private phantasies, realised. Something in a story strikes a chord in us and if only this or that were changed, it would resonate even more - so we do it ourselves.
I haven't written fan fic yet, though I have taken elements and character types I encountered in stories and used them for myself.

I can see that as the original author she might not want these bastardisations of her stories out on the internet, but otoh I understand that people might want to share their stories...
I dunno, what do you think?

She also posts this link about the legal implications of writing fan fiction:
http://www.chillingeffects.org/fanfic/faq.cgi#QID15

Oooh. Yeah. Its all a bit fuzzy, legally.

On the other hand, I see no hurt in fan fiction about TV and audio sources. Even comics, to a point. Fan fiction of novels throws me though. There is no good reason, it just does.

But, and its a massive massive but, it has to be written very very well. I've read some fantasticly lovely fanfic and some that makes me actually want to tear my eyes out. Because its ok to take up the ideas you've found while watching something and run with them, but to inflict them on the general internet, you should at least make sure its good. Especially when you're playing with someone else's toys.

A friend of mine once got duped by a fan fiction novel of Harry Potter (though, that's his fault for downloaded a book instead of buying).

It was only when we were discussing the book, that he started saying things like:

"But I still don't get why Dumbledore's neice had to run away."

or

"I think that making Snape gay was a real push for JK Rowling."

That he realised that he was reading the wrong book. Poor fella!


I've only ever been drawn to reading Fan fiction when they've been about continuations of programmes or books that never had sequals.

I've written some fan fiction when I was young, putting me in as the main protagonist. I've not written any, but I do have the urge to re-write the X-Men films as I think they should be.


I can understand where the authors are coming from, but really, if it's labled as fan fiction then why be worried (unless authors are worried that it might be better then their stuff?!!)

But then, I'm not a published author.....actuall, I can imagine I'd be a bit miffed..

Many writers equate their characters with their children. I can see how Slash would make them unhappy.
That said, I have nothing against fanfiction, but I don't want to read it.

I've been reading quite a lot of fanfiction for one particular tv show - and the only reason for it is that the show ended and there's no way they're going to do any more of it ever. It's mostly the fans not wanting it to be over.

Some of it was so good that I wished those people would write real literature. Some of it was bad. But the portion of it that was of really low quality was rather small.

One thing you have to be aware of - is that a lot of it has to do with sex, mostly between characters that didn't get to do it but the fans wanted them to. It's maybe the most common theme. Like Mulder - Scully, Jared - Sarah, and so on.

Ive only written two fanfics, one was of the Punsher, in which the Punisher doesnt acctually appear(its a story about fear/paranoia) and the other is Stargate: Atlantis, which - while a completely different story - was very similar to an episode they made a season or two after I wrote it.

quote:

Personally, I think she's missing a point. Fan fiction (slash fiction and normal fan fic) is about our private phantasies, realised. Something in a story strikes a chord in us and if only this or that were changed, it would resonate even more - so we do it ourselves.

personally, i think youre missing the point. fiction is about the authors vision, their private fantasies. something in their life or in idea they get strikes a chord in them and if only they could express themselves, it would be an accomplishment - so they do it. then someone comes along, disregards all the character/plot development, and shits all over everything.

as for fanfiction that stays true to the source material and ADDS SOMETHING NEW AND MEANINGFUL to it, then its good. nothing wrong with that, youre furthering what you like, exploring things youre curious about, and not just doing something because youre a fangirl who thinks that itd just be, like, so totally amazing if cutie luke and hottie han hooked up in the, say, cockpit of the millennium falcon.

like everything else, its all situational. in this case, the situation being the mental stability of whoevers doing the fanfic.

All communication is two way communication. Writing is no exception. Once you put something down on paper, it isn't wholly yours anymore, because the reader is going to put his own expirience and creativity into the peice when he reads it. I can understand authors being upset about what other people have done to their characters, but the characters belong to the reader as much as the author.

Fantfiction, like all other forms of ...art... is entirely subjective, as well. It is difficult to say what is "new and meaningful" in it.
That said, Mary-Sue must die a thousand deaths!

Pretty much what I was thinking Phoenix. I'd only add that if one of my novels were to be published and I was surfing the net and found some Krylyr Blade fanfiction...I'd be kind of flattered. Surprised for sure, but flattered.

It's kind of like tribute bands for musicians, if you ask me. Or groupies. Minus the whole sex thing.

I write the occasional CSI fanfiction, so I suppose I'm a little bias on the subject. However, I like to think that I write fiction that's respectful of the orginal intent and characters. I don't change genders, and I don't (usually) write slash..

That said, I can totally see where authors that are against FF are coming from. And, like someone else mentioned, for some reason fiction based on novels throws me. I don't know why it should seem more 'wrong' than others...it just does.

For the most part, until recently, Fan Fic I wrote stayed on my computer - where it remains quite harmless and invisible.

I will definitely agree that much of the stuff that's written in the name of FF *is* horrendous...not only content wise, but writing wise. Many fan fiction writers can't even string a sentence together properly.

I've never written for profit, but one of the greatest moments in my writing career was when I found a website where a guy had written up a bunch of stuff for a campaign world that I and a bunch of buddies had put together.

The worst moment was when I discovered that he'd claimed he'd created it and was charging people for the information.

One of the most mixed moments was when TSR found out about it . . .

Like Lady J, I write fan fiction, but no one else ever reads it. If the authors object, I really don't much care.

I'm afraid I can't really say that about myself anymore...as some of my CSI stories *have* been archived on two specific fansites as of late...

I'm still not really sure how I feel about that though, even though it was done with my permission/blessing at the time

I've read some that wasn't bad at all. And some that was really appalling. It's true that some people really warp the characters around to fit their own secret needs, and that can be perfectly awful. I've read some things based on favorites of mine (P.C. Hodgell's "Kencyrath" books come to mind) that I really wish I hadn't read!

That said, it was really a great moment for me when I discovered that the private no-more-than PG-rated stories that I'd made up as a teen about the original Star Trek characters were not some weird, singular aberration of my own ... that there were dozens, nay hundreds of people who were doing more or less the same. (And sometimes much more oddly than I was.)

I'm continually surprised by what can inspire fan fiction. Cho Girl was really getting into the musical Cats these past few months, and online she discovered a huge fan-fic work based on the characters from it!

- Cho

In the end, if you read a work of fanfic and you like it, then let it be part of your personal universe for that show/novel/movie/whatever. If you hate it, then ignore it and there is no reason why it should effect your ideas or feelings about the original work. Same if your the one writing the fanfic.

Quite frankly, I sometimes apply the same logic to things the writer has done with a world if I don't like it. In my mind, the whole Robert Jordan universe was just one rather good fantasy book and nothing more.

Question:

Neil Gaiman is a fan of the eternals and is writing a new Eternals book for Marvel, is this "fanfic"?

no, because hes now a creator of it as well, being paid to write official continuity, and not just a fan with a hard-on that wont go away.

Dweller, same here. I have tried hard to forget the word "Midichlorians" was ever created. Once the story is written, the ideas are no longer the creators in the realm of our imaginations and can be used/abused at the whim of the fan. That is why a word like "canon" is often precarious in fandom.

quote:

Originally posted by LONDON:
no, because hes now a creator of it as well, being paid to write official continuity, and not just a fan with a hard-on that wont go away.

Then what about the jack in the green script he wrote and gave to Alan Moore just to see if he could write a good script?

I think what bugs me is basically this concept that because someone does it for THEMSELVES its fan fiction, but if someone pays you its okay.

In a sense, yes, but that's how it works. Once something becomes inellectual property that material goods have exchanged hands for, it has to enter into a different category than something you made up because you enjoy it.