Fanfiction is basically stories about the characters in shows, films or books. Sometimes the stories are written in ‘the gaps’ to fill out scenes that weren’t shown or explained in the original. Sometimes the story is taken further, or down alternative paths. Sometimes the characters are transplanted to a different ‘universe’ e.g. a story about Starsky and Hutch set in Regency England. Sometimes their age or gender is altered. That's the brief explanation or definition. If you want to know more, and more about my opinions about this, read on... (this article was written about a year ago for my LiveJournal and I see no reason to change it other than to remove the interspersed personal comments).
1. I have been ‘writing’ fanfic in my head since before I could read or write for myself. You wouldn’t believe how many adventures Noddy had that weren’t courtesy of Enid Blyton. And later, my favourite scenarios were time travel (I didn’t look at the mechanics closely) where e.g. The Famous Five met and interacted with The Children of The New Forest. Now, either I am completely insane or this is a fairly common sort of daydreaming/reaction to fiction. I suspect the latter. I suspect it’s one of the reactions that makes fiction so enjoyable and memorable. Not all fiction, of course - there have to be ‘gaps’ or some lack of closure, so that the reader can continue or add to the story. Never-ending series are ideal for this but so are some apparently straightforward novels and plays. I read one article I have never been able to find again that said that at the end of favourite books it is as if the characters are carrying on their lives in another room and we would all simply like to open the door.
2. Some people do this professionally. There are Jane Austen sequels on the market. The BBC did a series of Shakespeare adapted for the 21st century. Shakespeare himself adapted The Jew of Malta. West Side Story is Romeo and Juliet. Neil Gaiman has given us a fabulous version of Snow-White for the horror genre. Look at all the series that are ‘based on characters by ...’. Everybody and anybody dips into Greek, Roman and Arthurian legend for material. And Russell Davies has reinvented Dr.Who. This is all fanfic, in my opinion. It only differs from ‘our’ version in that the authors get paid. So to say it is silly is in itself silly. The use of other people’s creations isn’t confined to stories, of course. Musical ‘variations on a theme’ or pieces like Debussy’s L’apres midi d’un faune, based on a poem, spring to mind, as do operas based on legends, dance (The firebird) ditto and poetry (Tennyson’s Morte d’Arthur). I’m sure five minutes would let us all come up with a long list.
3. What is wrong with the above examples? Easy - THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH OF THEM TO SATISFY THE DEMAND. Unfortunately, publishers and producers are understandably commercially cautious. This is not the same as saying that fanfic is not well written etc. As Firefly (which I haven’t seen) was considered a commercial disaster and taken off the screen, the marketing department are not going to throw money at new stories. Even Jane Austen has only a limited market - and books nowadays don’t make huge profits for the publishers. Even a popular TV series like Dr. Who has only a limited run, and only a few writers can share their version of events with the entire nation. Fans, in any genre, want more.
4. So people fill the gap in the market themselves. They DON’T do it for profit and they DON’T pretend that the stories are original fic. Some of them may go on to seek legitimate publication, still acknowledging the original stimulus/characters/world/whatever. This is what distinguishes them from plagiarists. Quite a big distinction in my opinion. Plagiarists LIE. Yes, fanfic is an infringement of copyright if it is ‘published’ and in the modern world of the internet a lot of it is ‘published’. But most human activities, with the possible exceptions of eating, breathing, sleeping and drinking have been illegitimate at some times and in some cultures. That doesn’t mean they are intrinsically wrong. It is perfectly arguable that it is the law that should be changed. It should also be pointed out that breach of copyright is a civil offence, and the owners of the copyright can sue, but plagiarism is a form of fraud, which most societies regard as criminal, particularly if the plagiarist makes a financial gain. It is also quite clear that the copyright laws are intended to protect financial rights and of course ‘amateur’fanfic rarely damages these; some fanfic actually increases the demand for the original, for example by drawing in new audiences for television series or new purchasers for books and films.
5. With regard to the last point, I personally feel that it is quite reasonable for some writers to object to their characters and worlds being used by others. I would never write fanfic for Anne Rice’s vampires (though I might do it in my head), and if I ‘played’ on Pern I would use my own characters, in keeping with Anne McCaffrey’s wishes. I would not feel comfortable reading fanfic that did not observe these known limits. On a personal level, I would be only too flattered if anyone, even a less than competent writer, felt sufficiently inspired by my writing to produce fanfic! Publishers are known to advise authors not to read fanfic - this is to protect them from accusations of plagiarism in the other direction!
6. I cannot personally see any great difference in setting a story in Manchester, UK, which I know well, and setting a story in Atlantis, which I am coming to know well or a New York police precinct which I have observed for some time on television. All are places I am familiar with and where my imagination can run free. Likewise, if I write about Napoleon and do some serious historical research, or about my mother, relying on my own memories and observations, I am ‘using’ a familiar character. Harry Potter is also familiar, by now, to most of us. He has the added advantage that he is familiar to the reader as well, and the reader wants to hear more about him.
7. This brings me to the amount of effort needed to write good fanfic. About the same, I think, as that needed to write anything well. The writer needs to be familiar with their subject, do their research, hone their writing skills, and use editors/betas/spell checkers to iron out everything from anachronisms to typos. The fanfic writer has to get inside the characters or scenarios of another writer. This is quite a skill. S/he must also be careful about canon - veering from it must be for a reason, and should be explained. Crossover stories, AUs etc. all veer wildly from canon but a story about a team that went through a rectangular door to different planets would no longer be Stargate(though it might be AU), and the writer usually makes this clear in the ‘author’s notes/warning’. Similarly, a story where Harry Potter was stupid might be presented as a satire. Furthermore, I find The Merchant of Venice infinitely more satisfying than any number of one act plays written mainly for amateur actors to try their skills, and I find West Side Story a more powerful musical than South Pacific. So to suggest that fanfic writers should, if they are any good, be inventing their own original stories, is totally beside the point. Also, of course, many of them do! If I truly enjoy a fic I usually ask the author what else they have written and whether they have any published work I can look out for. And as a hopeful writer myself, I write both fanfic and original fic and can’t see much difference. With one, I probably can’t publish because I haven’t been ‘commissioned’ to write it; with the other, I probably can’t publish because of the budgetary constraints on publishers. Neither is inherently better or worse than the other. I read in a number of fandoms, and also read a large number of published works. Some fanfic is of an exceptionally high standard. At times, it can even (in my head, anyway) replace the canon it is based on. It can certainly outclass a lot of printed books.
8. We encourage children to develop their skills through close observation and emulation of ‘great’ artists in various fields. Most of you will have seen the primary school walls covered in thirty versions of Van Gogh’s sunflowers. Homework may ask the student to rewrite a scene from a play or novel in a modern idiom or from a different character’s point of view. Can we be surprised that people grow up wanting to see and do more of this? And can we be surprised that many aspiring writers use fanfic to improve their writing skills? Instant feedback, lots of advice, no going out on a dark cold night to classes at the local college! That’s not to say that they write the best fanfic, though some of them might, but there are published writers whose first works are, in a sense, ‘practising’ on the public. Some writers, encouraged by the feedback on their fanfic, ‘file off the serial numbers’ and submit it for publication. Some succeed. I can think of some acclaimed fiction where the discerning fanfic writer can see which fandom the writer was coming from - which is only really to say that whatever we do and see affects our writing in some way.
9. I deliberately haven’t mentioned either slash or real person fic. There are, of course, arguments for and against both, although these are not the arguments put forward in the article, which mentions neither. However, as sub-genres, I think they both share the same characteristics as any other fanfic; as any other fic; as any other work that claims artistic merit. There are good and bad writers out there. No doubt some of them are silly. No doubt some of them lack imagination. This is common to all writing. My own thoughts about slash are here.
10. The above views are my own, but I was helped to articulate them by a wonderful book which I have reviewed elsewhere on this site: The Democratic Genre by Sheenagh Pugh.
I’d love to hear your views!
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