talentless, creativeless fanfic...
Mar. 1st, 2012 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1So, after spending last week immersed in a debate about whether fanfic is ethical or at all legitimate, I'm spending this week... in another debate about whether fanfic is ethical or at all legitimate.
*sighs*
This time, it's a discussion on reworked fanfic being published as original fiction. An interesting topic - but the anti-fanficcers are mainly arguing that "you're taking someone else's plot/characters/setting rather than putting in the effort of coming up with your own!"
...using someone else's PLOT. By reworking my own fanfic.
*sighs again*
My dear arguers,
It may have escaped your notice, but fanfic does not consist purely of finding a transcript of a tv episode, and putting "she said" in between all the dialogue.
Supposing I go crazy and decide, for some reason, to rework a fanfic as original fiction. Say... hmm... this one here.
I change some names, alter a few words, and I have... an epistolary short story about two roommates getting on each other's nerves and an escalating prank war.
Or what about this one? I'd end up with a short story about a ghost and his friendship with two women.
It may have escaped your notice, ranting people, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer never featured stories about a woman falling in love with a coat-rack, or someone deliberately sabotaging dinner with his girlfriend's sister, or a vengeful army of trained drop-bears. And, tragically, Angel and Illyria never got it on.
Heck, half the time my fanfic doesn't even include anyone else's characters, let alone plot.
And yes, I can see you opening your mouths, about to say "Ah, but I didn't mean that kind of fanfic..." Yeah, but - you kinda did. You said "fanfic", and then promptly showed the whole world that you had no idea what "fanfic" tends to involve. Hence I will go forth and ignore your opinion.
(Actually - first I'll post a short rant on the subject. But then I'm going to ignore your opinion. Just you watch me.)
*sighs*
This time, it's a discussion on reworked fanfic being published as original fiction. An interesting topic - but the anti-fanficcers are mainly arguing that "you're taking someone else's plot/characters/setting rather than putting in the effort of coming up with your own!"
...using someone else's PLOT. By reworking my own fanfic.
*sighs again*
My dear arguers,
It may have escaped your notice, but fanfic does not consist purely of finding a transcript of a tv episode, and putting "she said" in between all the dialogue.
Supposing I go crazy and decide, for some reason, to rework a fanfic as original fiction. Say... hmm... this one here.
I change some names, alter a few words, and I have... an epistolary short story about two roommates getting on each other's nerves and an escalating prank war.
Or what about this one? I'd end up with a short story about a ghost and his friendship with two women.
It may have escaped your notice, ranting people, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer never featured stories about a woman falling in love with a coat-rack, or someone deliberately sabotaging dinner with his girlfriend's sister, or a vengeful army of trained drop-bears. And, tragically, Angel and Illyria never got it on.
Heck, half the time my fanfic doesn't even include anyone else's characters, let alone plot.
And yes, I can see you opening your mouths, about to say "Ah, but I didn't mean that kind of fanfic..." Yeah, but - you kinda did. You said "fanfic", and then promptly showed the whole world that you had no idea what "fanfic" tends to involve. Hence I will go forth and ignore your opinion.
(Actually - first I'll post a short rant on the subject. But then I'm going to ignore your opinion. Just you watch me.)
no subject
Date: 2012-03-01 08:47 am (UTC)Actually I was just thinking, the other day, that it would take only some minor tweaks and changes of name for my Pure Morning to be completely unrecognisable as having any links to Middle Earth. In effect most good fanfic writers are writing original plots.
I could think of submitting it somewhere as a short story if I could be bothered - except that I would have to change the name as it is a tribute to a Placebo song...