Case (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
case) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomsecrets2012-06-15 06:50 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2012-06-15 06:50 pm
[ SECRET POST #1991 ]
⌈ Secret Post #1991 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]
15. [SPOILERS for Legend of Korra]
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16. [SPOILERS for Cabin in the Woods]
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17.[SPOILERS for Mass Effect 3]
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18. [SPOILERS for Game of Thrones]
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19. [SPOILERS for ASOIAF]
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[ ----- TRIGGERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]
20. [TRIGGER WARNING for rape]
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21. [TRIGGER WARNING for stalking/harassment]
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22. [TRIGGER WARNING for mentions of suicide/self-harm]
[SPOILERS for Mad Men]
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #284.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - unreadable ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
My rambling thoughts on the issue
(Anonymous) 2012-06-16 06:27 am (UTC)(link)I don't mind people playing in my sandbox, as long as I don't have to read it. I think the sandbox metaphor is apt for describing what becoming published means. By [the writer] opening up their sandbox to other people, they are inviting people to play with their characters, whether it be through fanfic, fanart, discussion, or just in the readers mind. As an author you can't control how your readers interpret your characters, lines of dialogue, or descriptions. Every person that reads your story is going to interpret it in a completely different way,and that's the thing I love about stories. That's what makes me want to improve my writing so that I can one day be published. I see my stories in a more fluid/evolving way, as in each person who reads it (my stories) can potentially bring something new to a discussion/fan related thing about my stories. However, not all authors see it that way, and I respect that. Some authors are very strict on how they want their characters to be seen. I don't personally understand it, but I can live with it.
The only time it bothers me is when the author is disrespectful to the fans who write fanfiction. Several of the authors I've seen who disprove of it have said horrible things about fanfic writers that I just can't get behind that. I don't think an author needs to demonize the fans who do write fanfiction to get their point across ("cough"DianaGobaldon"cough"). I think that sort of behavior is inexcusable. They are public figures now, and shouldn't act like children throwing a tantrum. It's fine to not like fanfiction, but I don't think authors need to be rude about it.
Besides, a lot of older authors who dislike fanfiction, dislike it because they don't understand it, and have been told the potential risks by publishers who also don't understand it. I have seen countless authors say they were told not to accept fanfiction because of legal issues. Most of those concerns are unfounded for the most part.
Also, a lot of authors don't see fanfiction in a positive way at all. We (I'm assuming most of us on Fandom Secrets) see fanfiction as a stepping stone to writing our own characters/worlds, they see it as a crutch. These authors see fanfiction as lazy writing because the fanfic writers are not creating their own characters/worlds. They are seriously baffled when you tell them that there are fanfic writers who don't want to be published. These authors don't understand the appeal of writing fanfiction, because they spent most of their lives writing their own worlds and characters. I can understand this to a certain extent. Give me a story idea and I can run with it, give me a fanfic idea and it sits on my computer forever. I'm not interested in writing fanfiction (I love reading it though). I'm much more interested in writing my own stories. Basically, every writer is different, and they all have different goals and different reasons for writing.
The truth of the matter is, I don't think we'll see most writers supporting/being comfortable with fanfiction for another decade. I know I'm 24 and I know a lot of writers (some younger) my age who are against fanfiction.
Re: My rambling thoughts on the issue
I actually really object to this mentality. I do write original fiction as well as fanfiction, but I don't view one as superior to the other, or a stepping stone to the other, or practice for the other. They're both arts that I treasure for being what they are, not as a means to an end.
I twitch when people see fandom and its resources as something to be exploited in the pursuit of becoming a paid, published writer. I have no problem with fandom people publishing original fiction, in fact, I cheer them on, but it's incredibly disingenuous to participate in fandom for any reason but a love of fandom. When people only want to use fandom to hone their writing, and want to throw us away like used tissue once they've got their publishing deal, I get angry.
I don't see creating your own characters/worlds as some kind of "graduating" as a writer, either. Some professional writing is essentially fanfiction. Want to write for Marvel or DC comics? Doctor Who? Be an assistant writer in most TV shows or movies? Do a screen adaptation of a book? Congratulations, you're writing with someone else's characters and worlds. And besides that, it isn't like my fanfiction is entirely without invention. I've brought new characters and new character interpretations to my fic, and added a fair bit of worldbuilding. The two skills aren't mutually exclusive.
Sorry for this ramble, I just get annoyed at the whole "hierarchy of writing" idea where writers step on the heads of fandom to get to their paycheck.