Time to make the donuts...
Hey folks, Disagreeable Jim here, but I'm not here to disagree with the
viewpoint of the person who started this thread. I already did that
off-list. Instead, I'm here to relay a message on behalf of a guy who's
every bit as disagreeable as myself, regarding this whole mess, as he's
heard about it from various folks and...well...
Anyway, here's a take on the 'fan' in 'fanfiction', in the words of the
Eternal Lost Lurker.
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You know, when I heard about this whole "fanfic shouldn't be written by
fans" crap, I could not believe my ears. Eyes. Whatever.
I have to wonder about the mental process of the individual who dreamed this
bullshit up. There's a reason we call it FANfic, folks. If it were meant to
be written by people who weren't fans, we'd call it
Authordoesn'tgiveashitfic.
But I'm sure the list has heard numerous variations on that by now, so I'll
move on.
Let's pause for a moment to take a look at Improfanfic, a fun little
community which has grown beyond the bounds of conventional fanfic, and has
developed fans in its own right.
First, we'll look at Ultra. Ultra has lots of fans. Lots of people want to
write for Ultra. I've written for Ultra twice and enjoyed it, being a big
fan of Ultra. Hell, I've even pitched scene ideas to other writers and
volunteered myself for writing fight scenes other authors ask for help with,
just to be writing for Ultra even when I'm not officially writing for Ultra.
Because dammit, I love Ultra.
Of course, there are some people who don't like Ultra. They get annoyed when
people start discussing Ultra in chat. They don't go within ten feet of
Ultra if they can help it.
Do those people write for Ultra? Hell no.
The same goes for other Impros at Improfanfic. Fans of an Impro write for
it. Casual readers may try to write for it; people who don't even read it
don't bother.
Conventional fanfic is, or at least should be, the same way. With exceptions
in the shape and form of people who are bent on spoofing a genre or series
to make fun of it and/or its fans, and of course the exception fof Mark
Page, writers who don't care for a series and get into it in some level that
makes them a 'fan' usually don't bother coming up with fanfic ideas and
trying to spin a story out of them. What's the point, if you're not going to
enjoy doing it because you enjoy the series and want to play with your
favorite characters/universe?
Fanfiction is fiction by fans, for fans. That's why it's called FAN FICTION.
Now sit down, shut up, and drink your Goddamn Tea.