Subject: [FFML] on What Kind of FanFic to write? {CSY}
From: collidingsymphonies@juno.com (Allan P Zilinsik)
Date: 3/18/1998, 9:00 PM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com

        "What kind of fanfic should an author create,
          and how true to the original should it be?"
_______________________________________________________________________

by Richard Lawson

The art of writing is one of self-expression.  Something moves us,
something interests us, we become intrigued and even fascinated by an
idea, and we write it on paper (metaphorical or not).  

Some of us still prefer pen and quill to 1's and 0's.

No longer do we have to create the shy ESPer or the irreverent 
spaceship captain - this has been done for us.  We don't have to 
spend time and effort to develop these things before plunging right 
into the plot - our readers already know these things.

Anyone who's ever been into any form of role playing can familiarise
with 
this idea. Defining and developing a character proves to be one of the
most 
tedious, and un-rewarding experience without a reader to follow it.
Ask any American comic artist who only got 4 issues of his life work to 
circulate. . . and why X-men is still going. . . .

My answer:  there *are* no rules.

It goes back to what I said right at the beginning:  writing is an art
of self-expression.  We want to express something, and even if we use
other people's characters to express it, we shouldn't limit ourselves.
Only by experimenting with your writing will you grow as a writer.

When writing a particular fanfiction with a particular series, it is
assumed
that one is trying to express something similar along the lines of the
series of
choice.
If you want to express a violent tendency, and gore with something as
regularly comical as Ranma1/2, then you are no longer expressing the
same
thing that the series was. That's why there is Fist Of the North Star.
Lemons and limes are the same. There is much sexual humor implied in
Ranma1/2, but by far is it a DragonKnight, or Overfiend.

You have a dark vision. . . different from the visions that
the manga or anime artists had of the characters, but - and this is
important - they are *no less valid*.

No Less Valid.

In their own field.

In fanfiction however, fields are so much harder to define without 
being able to interact with the series creator.
How many American or Japanese comic artists read fanfiction on
their works regularly? I only can think of two off the top of my head:
Takada Yuzo, and Todd McFarlane. And without their insight, fields
are subject to everyone's point of view.

And until that standard is set on paper by the author, fanfiction
remains formless.

Some people claim that the drawings and the canon -are- what
define those fields. This simply isn't true. No author with publication
(except maybe dean koontz) goes into their writing with a specific
thought
along the lines of: "I want the fanfiction community to know that this
is the
way it is and will be, and that is that."

That is simply unrealistic.

_-----------
By Joseph Palmer

  The best kind of fanfic for an author to write is not a fanfic at all,
but a work with original themes, settings and characters. Original works
are free from the entanglements that cause us to place 'legal
disclaimers' within our fanfictions, and come with economic rights and
copyright protections recognized throughout the world.

There is merit to this, however, I feel anyone into Fandom for money
needs to be drug out into the street and shot.

  We are uninvited guests.

Essentially.

  My gut reaction to the question: "What Kind of fanfiction Should an
Author Create?" is that we are guests, and we should act like guests.

  To me, this means we should strive to make our stories true to the
'nature' of the original.

Here I disagree. Though I am very traditional, and parallel Mr. Palmer
on many levels, here is the difference.
When I (rarely) write a fanfiction, I read every side note by the
original 
author in order to get the clearest idea from them about the series.
Then, as a guest, I try to approach the series with the same seriousness
and -respect- for the work that the author holds. This does not always
equate to sticking close to the 'original flavour' as it says in an
anime
fanfic archive, yet they coincide frequently.

Absurd?

Try this. 

I have no particular liking to Ranma1/2 and have seen a good
deal of anime and manga on it because of TJ and GT.
I read Seasons, Mr.Palmer. I like your stories and your approach to
Ranma1/2.
You cannot realistically say that this is written in the Original
Flavour Style, yet
Mr.Palmer, I can say, without a doubt, approaches the same series with
the
same level of seriousness, respect, and professionalism that is
implied, even 
though many aspects of the series are overlooked. (Martial Arts,
supporting 
characters, the wackiness, etc.)

  To do so protects the artistic rights of the creator, for if we remain
true to the nature of the series, we are unlikely to dilute the
essential qualities that drew us to the series.  We also protect the
creator's economic rights, since we are unlikely to affect our readers
feelings in a way that would tilt them away from future purchases of the
artists works.

I can honestly say that this is ludicrous in most cases. If anything, 
the example above drew me back a bit towards Ranma1/2 instead
of repulsing me, where I would not have approached it to begin with.
Anyone who would read a poorly written, or out of style fanfiction and 
then damn the series its based on shows little common sense.

So any attempt to ask people to act like "guests" and stay within the
"nature" of the series is doomed to failure from the beginning.
Certainly we can't - and shouldn't - try to enforce any standards on
what topics can be used in fanfiction.  And since opinions can vary so
widely on what's acceptable in writing fanfiction, asking for voluntary
compliance will not result in any noticeable change in the way
fanfiction is written.

In short, the battle is unwinnable.  So why fight it?

To show respect for the original work. The effort is noted, and
appreciated
fandom.


  I do not claim that I can mount my favorite series (Ranma 1/2) in the
center of target, fix a bulls-eye around it and declare that an arrow
which falls outside the boundary, by even the slightest fraction, is
"out of nature", but I reject as patently absurd the notion that we
cannot see when that arrow has completely missed the target.

Precisely. Yet again, this doesn't necessarily mean the story content
itself, but the authors subjective approach to the work.

  My first real twinge of conscience came when I was writing "Autumn",
since it grew to contain a real kiss between Ranma and Akane.  That's
all, just a kiss, but Takahashi had never  allowed that kiss,
either in the Manga she wrote, or in the anime written under strict
license.  I knew at that time I was stepping outside the canonical
bounds of Ranma 1/2, and that since the Manga had not ended ("Autumn"
was written when the stories of volume 36 were running in Shonen Sunday)
I was mindful and hesitant that Takahashi might end the series with a
kiss, and that I was writing a story that a number of people might read
before they saw her version, and that their appreciation of her scene
might be in some way tainted by my work.

That is a very arrogant assumption, not to mention somewhat drawn 
on by here-say.


  When Lawson-san offered to co-write this article, I felt it might be a
good opportunity to present my views before the fanfic authors, and to
provide argument for my view of what we should write.  It isn't a matter
of enforcement (A power I reject as too repulsive to consider), it is a
matter of persuasion. Fanfic authors need to know that any act of
fanfiction carries the ethical burdens of copyright violation, and the
possibility of economic damages to the copyright holder. They should
also be mindful of their effect on the readers feelings for a series.

And only one can use the 'enforcement.' The Author(ess).

---
  Lawson points out that Takahashi has herself created stories "from
purely humorous to horrific". The fact that the "horrific" so evident in
her other works is conspicuously missing from Ranma 1/2, both in the
manga and licensed anime, is irrefutable proof of her intentions that it
not be there.

Such is the point above: A time and a Series.


Fanfiction- 

Fan- n- a device for agitating the air

. . {AHEM}

fan-n- slang, or INFORMAL- an enthusiastic supporter or devotee 
of a sport, diversion, ETC.

This begins the duality, or dichotomy, on the lines between 
having the fun, and still approaching with the level of seriousness. 
Above all else, we do it because we love the series, and until the
author comes from on-high and show us the light, we lambs 
continue to stray.

-Allan Zillinsik
-Colliding SYmphonies comic artist

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