Thoughts on fanfiction
Mar. 14th, 2002 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonwiseSo that those of you who really could care less about this subject can rest easy, I'm going to employ the ever-useful LJ cut tag.
I read the Aestheticism articles here and here, (actually I'd read the second one before) and it seems there are two camps in the Fanfiction World: those of who think that fanfiction should be somewhat in keeping with the fandom/canon/character about which it is written, and those who wonder why the first camp has such a collective bug up its ass about these issues. I, myself, fall into the first camp, but I will try not to let that get in the way of this discussion.
The writer at Aestheticism argues that people have no right to complain about fanfiction because it isn't created for the same reasons as normal fiction, meaning that it's less about the writing and more about the community surrounding the fandom. Because fanfic is free (as in free of cost) and freely posted, it is exempt from the rules surrounding normal writing, i.e. you didn't pay to read it so don't complain. The author likens those of us who get aggravated at cliche, grammar errors, and endless Mary Sue's as the metaphorical dissatisfied diner at a restaurant, griping "The food was so bad... and there wasn't enough of it!"
I do agree that writing fanfiction is a way to connect with other people who share the same interests as you. That makes a lot of sense. However, arguing that fanfic shouldn't be held to standards because it's not about the writing flies in the face of basic respect for the written word. Maybe I'm just a grammar nazi, but I believe that if you write something, it shouldn't have the "let's throw some shit at the wall and see what sticks" feel to it that so many fangirl fics have. It is those fics in which the community aspect of fanfiction comes through, in that the reviews that often pop up are the author's personal friends. Okay, that's fine, but do you think you could learn what a paragraph is while you're at it? Use the skills that your comp teacher has been begging you to learn. I'll never flame those fangirls - but I won't be leaving them any positive feedback either.
The people in the second camp, and there are many, have used fandoms as a jumping-off point for wild flights of fantasy, and an entire new world grows up around it. The thing that causes me the most puzzlement, and I admit that this may be an offshoot of a limited mind, is that if you're going to depart that radically from the character given to the fictional persona you are manipulating, why not go ahead and create your own characters and worlds? Why bother with fanfic? Perhaps this delves into the community aspect again, where people connect through a common love of a single character. To them, people like me must be a mortal pain in the rear end, refusing to let the characters break out of their shells and be what the author wants them to be.
I see the challenge a different way - how to write a story that retains the boundaries the character is given in the game/book/whatever and still explores his or her personality without making him/her into someone else. This doesn't necessarily mean that the AU fic where... oh heck, let me make something up... Squall as a vigilante in NYC can't be entertaining, but it's the most entertaining when the author keeps Squall as Squall. After all, if you want to make him so different from game-Squall, why not kick Squall out of the fic and insert George from Hoboken instead?
The authors who wonder why I'm such a narrow-minded priss would argue to me that what they want to see is Character X doing Y and Z, and they have their right to rework the world however they want. Okay. Fair enough. But I think the line between fanfiction and original fiction starts getting blurred at that point, and to those of us who aren't on that inside circle, the end product may ultimately be unsatisfying. It can be fun and surprising to see one's favorites act out of character once in a while, but if it's all the time, it doesn't make any sense.
*phew* I think I'll make another post for the "on maturity and yaoi" thoughts.
I read the Aestheticism articles here and here, (actually I'd read the second one before) and it seems there are two camps in the Fanfiction World: those of who think that fanfiction should be somewhat in keeping with the fandom/canon/character about which it is written, and those who wonder why the first camp has such a collective bug up its ass about these issues. I, myself, fall into the first camp, but I will try not to let that get in the way of this discussion.
The writer at Aestheticism argues that people have no right to complain about fanfiction because it isn't created for the same reasons as normal fiction, meaning that it's less about the writing and more about the community surrounding the fandom. Because fanfic is free (as in free of cost) and freely posted, it is exempt from the rules surrounding normal writing, i.e. you didn't pay to read it so don't complain. The author likens those of us who get aggravated at cliche, grammar errors, and endless Mary Sue's as the metaphorical dissatisfied diner at a restaurant, griping "The food was so bad... and there wasn't enough of it!"
I do agree that writing fanfiction is a way to connect with other people who share the same interests as you. That makes a lot of sense. However, arguing that fanfic shouldn't be held to standards because it's not about the writing flies in the face of basic respect for the written word. Maybe I'm just a grammar nazi, but I believe that if you write something, it shouldn't have the "let's throw some shit at the wall and see what sticks" feel to it that so many fangirl fics have. It is those fics in which the community aspect of fanfiction comes through, in that the reviews that often pop up are the author's personal friends. Okay, that's fine, but do you think you could learn what a paragraph is while you're at it? Use the skills that your comp teacher has been begging you to learn. I'll never flame those fangirls - but I won't be leaving them any positive feedback either.
The people in the second camp, and there are many, have used fandoms as a jumping-off point for wild flights of fantasy, and an entire new world grows up around it. The thing that causes me the most puzzlement, and I admit that this may be an offshoot of a limited mind, is that if you're going to depart that radically from the character given to the fictional persona you are manipulating, why not go ahead and create your own characters and worlds? Why bother with fanfic? Perhaps this delves into the community aspect again, where people connect through a common love of a single character. To them, people like me must be a mortal pain in the rear end, refusing to let the characters break out of their shells and be what the author wants them to be.
I see the challenge a different way - how to write a story that retains the boundaries the character is given in the game/book/whatever and still explores his or her personality without making him/her into someone else. This doesn't necessarily mean that the AU fic where... oh heck, let me make something up... Squall as a vigilante in NYC can't be entertaining, but it's the most entertaining when the author keeps Squall as Squall. After all, if you want to make him so different from game-Squall, why not kick Squall out of the fic and insert George from Hoboken instead?
The authors who wonder why I'm such a narrow-minded priss would argue to me that what they want to see is Character X doing Y and Z, and they have their right to rework the world however they want. Okay. Fair enough. But I think the line between fanfiction and original fiction starts getting blurred at that point, and to those of us who aren't on that inside circle, the end product may ultimately be unsatisfying. It can be fun and surprising to see one's favorites act out of character once in a while, but if it's all the time, it doesn't make any sense.
*phew* I think I'll make another post for the "on maturity and yaoi" thoughts.
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no subject
Date: 2002-03-14 03:19 pm (UTC)But... I will admit, that the most compelling and convincing fanfics, are those that are true to the original story--which then the new material becomes an extension of this, and adds/enhances, rather than detracts. When you go off the target, then you are required to rebuild that world, in your new form, and that can take more than one fan fic story to do it. Some people suceed, many don't, in doing this.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-03-14 03:37 pm (UTC)Since both camps will always exist, I suppose the challenge is finding (or creating) a fanfic community comprised mainly of people who share your philosophy.
As for the writing, I don't take the time to read something unless it's at least had a quick spelling/grammar check. I hate spending more time sorting out what a person was trying to say than they spent thinking about how to say it.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:37 am (UTC)I couldn't had said it better. It's the whole "shit-sticks" argument that gets on my nerves more than anything else.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-14 06:08 pm (UTC)A-freakin'-men. That right there is why I don't bother reading hardly any fanfic anymore.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-14 06:18 pm (UTC)for the sake of getting an orgasmbeing just a few reasons...)Besides, where can you find good fanfiction these days that isn't a) slash/yaoi or b)anything remotley stupid?And Arafel, I can't wait to hear your 'On maturity and yaoi' discussion. (I'm being honest there)
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:35 am (UTC)I'm very interested in this fanficrecs system when it's up and running. Word of mouth is the best defense against wading through junk.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-14 08:32 pm (UTC)However, my private joy and delight is that when all my writing ends, and all that wild flight of fantasy is over, it will be seen that I never really left canon at all.
It's just gonna take a while for me to get that far.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:32 am (UTC)Cliche though it is, writing a long story feels like an endless journey - you know you want to finish it, but there are so many twists in the road ahead.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 03:28 am (UTC)I think that the connecting thing, the wish to receive praise for your writing and the wish to be in a community and to have fun is what motivates 90% of ppl and they are in camp 2. These are all strong motivators, the wish to connect and be loved (did you read Mooncalf's post in her blog about her reasons for writing fanfiction? She simply states she does it to be praised by her readers and feel that she's loved. The entry was made about an month and a half ago.)
Until another and stronger motivator comes around and working inside a world you didn't create on your own or with characters you didn't create yourself starts to feel limiting, unsatisfying and annoying, authors will either write in camp 1 and be good at it or write in camp 2 and do shameless appropriation... for the fans' pleasure only... (we know which ones I speak of)
Some ppl take an extreme view against fanfiction, summed up as: "if you're not good enough to write original fiction, don't write anything at all." And lots of ppl don't write fanfiction ever and don't want to do it, for various reasons.
I think that the only way to champion one's own view on what is good fanfiction or good fanfiction overall, is to provide it yourself and write the kind of stories you want to see yourself. Other ppl are always gonna do what they want, whether x, y or z likes it or not (and objectively may be better writers as well), so to me the result ends in letting a strong sense of unsatisfaction grow and writing what I want to see written.
I still think someone could have written that mafia Turk action piece I want to see though, but 99.99% of all Turk fiction out there is NOT what I want to see. Mwaah ! I wanna see Tseng and Reno in The Usual Suspects macho action ! Someone please write it !
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 03:34 am (UTC)Oh btw, since we had the Mary Sue discussion, I've thought I should write a real Mary Sue and show what would happen if I were in any of the games we know and love, and show exactly why it wouldn't work. :))
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:14 am (UTC)FC and Arafel go to Garden! LOL!
no subject
Date: 2002-03-15 07:22 am (UTC)I'm happy to write fanfic, myself - I think it fills a need for fans to hear more stories about their idols. Didn't we both read that article that likened the phenomenon of fanfic to expanding on folk stories?
Oh go take a whack at the Mafia Turk story! *grin*
I is Good Writing Yes
Date: 2002-03-15 07:15 am (UTC)And I know I suck at spelling for the most part, and grammar isn't even an issue I like to think about, but... at least I try. Quite hard. And there's a dictionary and a thesaurus at my side most times. But then, I'm a little... passionate about my writing. I think it becomes way too obvious when people are not, and the stories really suffer.
But then... I don't have much of an audience, so who the hell am I to talk? *grin*
Re: I is Good Writing Yes
Date: 2002-03-15 07:25 am (UTC)Sometimes the vastly different from the canon personality can be fun, if it's a parody fic and is presented in that way. There's a fic by Thorne describing something of a Day in the Life of Cloud, Zax, and Cloud, and it's done in a tongue-in-cheek manner and is very funny.
Re: I is Good Writing Yes
Date: 2002-03-20 07:04 am (UTC)That sounds like a good story already. If I ever get the computer up to speed, I'm gonna have to read it. Oh hell, I'll probably read it way before then, anyway. *grin*
It never fails, however... I own haunted thesauruses... They tend to disappear for days at a time every few weeks...