The F-Word

Fanfiction

Depending who is in the room, saying you write fanfiction could get you applause or ridicule.

conrad

Fanfiction are stories written using characters and settings that were originally written by someone else. J.K Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series. Thousands of fans have written millions of words using Ms. Rowling’s characters. They have spent uncounted hours pouring their hearts into telling tales in a magical world that is not their own.

Is fan fiction good? Bad?

Different authors take difference stances on fanfiction. George R. R. Martin is against it. Catherynne M. Valente has the rule of “don’t make money off it and we’re cool”. Jim Butcher and Mercedes Lackey have gone Creative Commons on it.

Personally, I think of fanfiction as an expressive outlet of caring. People care about these characters, the setting, the world. They want to be part of the story, and in turn, add their stories to the mix. Playing is fun; it fills a need. It should not be warped into possession nor profit.

The common sense basics of fanfiction are:

• the author is not going to read it, don’t send it to them
• you do not own those characters, therefore you cannot sell them in any way, shape, or form
• be nice and credit the original author without whom you wouldn’t have any characters to put in that fanfic

I admit to writing fanfiction. Years ago. Not much, not often, but every now and then a story using someone else’s characters would get stuck in my head and not leave until I wrote it out. I wrote those short stories for myself, and if someone else happens to like them, well yay.

These days, I write my own characters in my own worlds. I own everything about them, which also means I can sell them off. The thought of someone writing fanfiction about one of my creations is so far away as to not even be a shimmer of a pinpoint of haze on a flat horizon.

But I think it would be kinda nifty.

Just don’t sell it.

Dr. Parnassus:: You can’t stop a story being told.
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

May 11, 2010

Tags: catherynne m valente  |  fanfiction  |  george r r martin  |  jim butcher  |  mercedes lackey

Categories: authors | writing