[ SECRET POST #2359 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2359 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 066 secrets from Secret Submission Post #336.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

20. http://i.imgur.com/gcmVFkt.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Well shit. now I wish he finished it and posted it on his blog :(

[deadtree]

I laughed xD I don't read Gaiman's blog but that kind of makes me want to.

And also that is a very good, rational opinion about fanfic... all writing IS just putting one word after another so who fucking cares if it's literary~ or not?

[(Anonymous)]

Seriously, I don't know if I ever actually will publish anything, since I chose an intense non-literary path for the day job, but when it comes time to write up a letter or a request or an application, I've got it nailed in minutes. All that practice at putting one word after another pays off whether you go pro at it or not.

[sabotabby]

That's marvellous.

[silverr]

Thank you, anon, for sharing such a wise and hilarious snippet.

[nightscale]

xD

Thank you OP.

[transcriptanon]

[Background is a screencap of text written by Neil Gaiman.]

Text from Neil Gaiman:

Er, no, I don't read fanfiction.

I think that all writing is useful for honing writing skills. I think you get better as a writer by writing, and whether that means that you're writing a singularly deep and moving novel about the pain or pleasure of modern existence or you're writing Smeagol-Gollum slash you're still putting one damn word after another and learning as a writer.

Text from Secret:

I love Neil Gaiman for his sensible opinions on fanfiction

But I love him even more for THIS [here there are arrows pointing at a particular paragraph of the text Neil Gaiman wrote]

Text from Neil Gaiman:

(I just made that up. I Imagine it would go something like: "Oh, the preciouss, we takes it our handssses and we rubs it and touchess it, gollum....no, Smeagol musst not touch the preciousss, the master said only he can touch the precioussss... bad masster, he doess not know the precious like we does, no, gollum, and we wants it, we wants it hard in our handses, yesss..." etc etc)

Text from Secret:

(Text is from his blog)

[(Anonymous)]

LOL. Now I want Smeagol/Gollum as written by him.

[lex_antonia]

This is wonderful. ♥

[(Anonymous)]

LOL Neil Gaiman is preciouss (heh)

[elaminator]

I know little about the man other than what I read here, but this is fantastic.

[(Anonymous)]

A) I too love when people are reasonable about and supportive of fanfic writers/readers (even though I do wish their explanations/reasoning would more often acknowledge that there are many fanfic writers who don't really care about honing skills or ~*improving our craft*~. It feels sometimes like they feel they can approve of it if it's about helping aspiring writers but not if it's about wanting to go off into a familiar fictional universe of beloved characters occasionally having sex after a long day of work or something. But anyway these are my own issues and have little if anything to do with the secret.)

B) Bwah! Sméagol/Gollum

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly, from what I've seen I think Gaimen does know that, but the post on his blog [or at least the one on tumblr] is a collection of stuff he's said about fanfiction in interviews, so that probably does effect his exact wording. In general the post makes it clear that, as long as they aren't making money off of someone else's work, he really doesn't see any problems with someone writing fanfic.

Also, he's got a pretty chill attitude towards people using plots/ideas for small writing competitions on accident. His whole thing towards that is basically 'LOL, it happens. I did it once on accident when I was a kid.'

tl;dr: Context means he probably was specifying it as 'honing' because of pr as much as anything, and he generally seems like a really chill guy when it comes to fandom.

[(Anonymous)]

Fair enough, but I was talking in general, not him specifically.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I think the authors who support fanfic bring up the whole "honing the craft" thing because that's one of the most common critiques of fanfic-- that it isn't "real" writing or that it doesn't help you improve because you're not building your own characters and world, you're using someone else's.

I say, so what? Some people don't have any intention of being published professional authors, they're just having fun. And the people who intend on becoming professional authors will have to learn the craft regardless, so who cares how they learn it or if their methods are good enough?

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting. I think that's a common critique, but not necessarily one brought up by the professional/creating authors. The critique I tend to see from them most is that, essentially, the characters are theirs and they don't want anyone else playing with them regardless of the fanfic writer's motivation.

My dream response would be something like: "Please respect that this is my livelihood so don't make any money off it and whenever possible keep obtaining my output in legal ways so I have the means to continue producing more of it for you. However, once something is out there for public consumption it no longer belongs solely to the creator. I'm flattered that of all the fictional worlds out there you could put your time and energy into, you felt strongly enough about mine to choose it."

But back to my original, OT comment, it just seems rather silly and frankly annoying that that's the bent so often taken even if I understand the PR and business reasons they can't just say whatever they want. The aspiring writers I know who write fanfic have a lot of complex reasons for it beyond just trying to develop skills. People like me, many of whom have worked hard towards a career in another direction? Well, our fanfic isn't somehow less worthy of approval or acceptance just because our intention isn't to become "real" writers.

[(Anonymous)]

I see that critique about using characters too, but believe me, the whole "but you're not really learning how to write properly!" argument comes up frequently. Google for "anti-fanfic bingo card" and it'll be on there.

[(Anonymous)]

I hope to eventually be published one day, and writing fic has improved my writing. When I got into creative writing classes in college, I largely already knew the basics thanks to reading and writing fic. I get that there are people who don't care about that stuff, but I like that there's at least one published author who realizes what I'm trying to do and thinks it's okay instead of thinking, "GET AWAY FROM MY CHARACTERS!!!"

Sméagol/Gollum is highly likely in a hate!sex sort of way...

[(Anonymous)]

That's cool. I didn't say it doesn't help (my fic writing is better now than it was five years ago, but that's a byproduct more than anything), and I didn't say there weren't people who use fic for those purposes, and I didn't say authors shouldn't be supportive of that. I just wished that support more often extended to all types of fanfic writers and purposes. Because to me, it still feels (whether that's the intention or not) like there's still a line drawn when people focus only on that, like: It's understandable for aspiring writers to practice their skills; it's creepy, weird and borderline-illegal for anyone else to use someone else's characters for their own sick purposes.

For what it's worth, I actually am published but trust me when I say my fanfic experience does not help in any way when I am writing up results for a scientific academic journal article!

[intrigueing]

This is one of the most priceless things I have ever read. :D

[artemis10002000]

OMG thank you for sharing this preciousssss snippet! I think I'm going to start following his blog XD