Hello,
Thursday, January 29, 2004, 6:01:13 PM, Jennifer wrote:
Well, my two cents on this one is that it is a shame to see an excellent
writer stagnate in somebody else's creation. LS is my example - knowing he
has come up with things like the Darkstarr Chronicles, I see him waste (IMO)
HOURS UPON HOURS writing Tears of a Dragon, drawing anime for it, doing
research on its different characters... When so many hours and so much
effort goes into a story, or any type of project for that matter, "it's just
for fun" is no longer a viable reason. If it were just for fun, why so much
work?
*Because* it's for fun. In fact, spending more time on a hobby (and
enjoying it) is more indicative of the activity actually being a real
hobby rather than a fad or a diversion. At most, it's indicative of
the spectrum between diversion and obsession, but it's still a hobby.
I've spent days on end doing research into assembly programming in order
to optimize a video-processing tool I wrote, for a hobby. I've spent
weeks (a few hours a day, after work) working on a four-minute music video,
because I enjoy it as a hobby. I've even spent a fair bit of time
writing, though the stories never reached a public level; in fanfic, I
generally prefer reading and critiquing, and have spent innumerable hours
on both.
The fact is, I consider it a waste of talent for someone to write
exclusively fanfic. Sure, write fanfic - heck, sometimes fanfic goes
places. Examples: the Stargate series on Sci-Fi channel, the multitude of
books published about Forgotten Realms, Star Wars, Star Trek, and a thousand
other on-going series that have hundreds of books. Those people were
fanficcers before asked to write their original fanfics. Those authors make
tons of money writing what is, in essence, fanfiction.
Critiquing can be work, but it's work I enjoy. As long as I enjoy it,
it's a hobby, and I'll continue doing it. When I no longer enjoy it, I
won't do it, and it will no longer be a hobby. At no point do I think,
"Hey, I'm pretty good at this critiquing stuff. I should do it For Real.
Get a job as an editor, help people out professionally, and get paid for
it!" Does that mean I'm wasting my talent, since I'm only critiquing
fanfic? That I'm wasting my talent because I don't try to make videos
professionally? That I'm wasting my talent because I don't program...
wait, I do program professionally.
The point is, if the only thing in the world that a person enjoys and is
good at is writing, then sure, they should probably look into writing
professionally. However, most people I know have much more varied
interests, and just because they're good at something doesn't mean they
want to make that their job. It also doesn't mean they should give up
their hobby just because they're really good at it. (I assume you can
work out the various other combinations of these choices; please don't
respond pointing them out.)
On the topic that is off-topic (sort of):
It's her story, she can do what she wants with it. Just because you
don't like her choice doesn't make her wrong. The same is evident in a
myriad of ways within the fanfic community, including the current
discussion. No writer is obligated to write (or continue) any given
story, no matter how many of his fans would like him (or her) to, and
likewise they are not obligated to write original fiction despite any
demand.
And on the original topic, I tend to C&C off the list (I unfortunately
feel like I'm trying to air someone's dirty laundry if I post a
comprehensive C&C on the list), when I'm not being a lazy SOB. However,
for the sake of trying to help turn things around, I'll join Roehl in
trying to do some consistant public C&C.