What this place is about
Marian Crane
> What wouldn't be allowable would be fanfic. At present, there's no
>way to control fan fiction, and without posting some sort of guideline of
>what is allowable, and the fact that you would have to sign a release form
>a la GEnie's "Modems of the Queen" area, it's something I wouldn't want to
>see. Fanfic is in a sense similar to the MU* controversy... it's taking
>the work of Misty and using it for your own purposes without considering
>her rights and wishes.
I agree. There is a place for fanfic -- in fanzines. Even though I've helped
illo fanzines, and even done some fanfic myself, I can't help feeling that it's
a dangerous exercise. A long time ago, I still had the mindset of wanting to
burrow into another writer's world and use that setting to tell my own stories.
Why? It was easier. I loved Pern, and Star Wars, and Tolkien, and my small
efforts were more flattery than solid literature. And then something really
odd happened -- I got bored with other people's worlds, as setting for fanfic.
I found out I LIKED putting years of effort into my own universe. Then I
found out I had some marginally-good stories...and then I found an agent who
thought the same way. I'll let you know if this has a happy ending in a
publishing house, but my point is simply this:
If I'd stayed writing fanfic, I'd never have known how much fun originality
was. I think a lot of fan writers have the fantasy that they'll get
'discovered' writing fanfic. It happens, but not so often as they'd believe.
Misty is one writer whose innate talent lifted her very quickly out of the
fanfic markets -- she had her own stories to tell, and DAW liked her
originality and verve. Too many people who copy her work lack her fire and
skill.
If fanfic is just a labor of love, that's great, and it has a real purpose.
If people treat it like a springboard to pro status, they may only be spinning
their wheels. Just my $.02 worth -- I'd like to hear how other people feel
about fanfic -- Lackey-based or in general.
Tal Greywolf
There's been some speculations here as far as what's allowable here
and what isn't allowable. I'm going to state what I think should be allowed,
and what I know for a fact Misty and Larry would NOT like to see here.
First off, I do think we should discuss the books. Not just the
Valdemar series but all of the works that Misty and Co. have created over
the last few years. There's been a lot of work involved in creating her
universe and discussions about it, and where the books are heading are
more than welcomed by her.
What wouldn't be allowable would be fanfic. At present, there's no
way to control fan fiction, and without posting some sort of guideline of
what is allowable, and the fact that you would have to sign a release form
a la GEnie's "Modems of the Queen" area, it's something I wouldn't want to
see. Fanfic is in a sense similar to the MU* controversy... it's taking
the work of Misty and using it for your own purposes without considering
her rights and wishes.
Occasionally I will try to post here things like hints of what's to
come in the books, what's in the pipeline at the printers for what to look
forward to, and the rare statement from Misty and Co. I do have contact with
them on a moderate basis, and can treat some of this as 'business'... as I am
her eyes and ears here in this group. What's posted here does eventually
get back to her. The only problem is that she's not Internet savvy, so you
won't see any posts from her anytime in the future.
To be honest, we've been doing well enough here. The addition of
sites reading this group and folks finding us here is a good thing. It
means more folks can participate here in discussing Misty's works. And that's
what I'd like to see, and I know Misty wants to see. But at the same time
we have to protect her works and accept what she says on things.
I will discuss with Misty the idea of some fanfic being posted...
it's possible that what might happen is before it's posted you have to
send it in for review, just like submitting any other kind of work. But
don't hold your breath on this one.
-Tal Greywolf
Jennifer L Wade
Sorry, but I don't know how to cut text on this. Please bear with me. I read
the following message, and would like to get the address for the genie group, I just forgot the name. If you could email it to me, I would appreciate it.
Thanks a lot.
Tal Greywolf (grey...@new-orleans.NeoSoft.com) wrote:
: There's been some speculations here as far as what's allowable here
Tal Greywolf
: I agree. There is a place for fanfic -- in fanzines. Even though I've helped
: illo fanzines, and even done some fanfic myself, I can't help feeling that
: it's a dangerous exercise. A long time ago, I still had the mindset of
: wanting to burrow into another writer's world and use that setting to tell
: my own stories.
: Why? It was easier. I loved Pern, and Star Wars, and Tolkien, and my small
: efforts were more flattery than solid literature. And then something really
: odd happened -- I got bored with other people's worlds, as setting for fanfic.
: I found out I LIKED putting years of effort into my own universe. Then I
: found out I had some marginally-good stories...and then I found an agent who
: thought the same way. I'll let you know if this has a happy ending in a
: publishing house, but my point is simply this:
: If I'd stayed writing fanfic, I'd never have known how much fun originality
: was. I think a lot of fan writers have the fantasy that they'll get
: 'discovered' writing fanfic. It happens, but not so often as they'd believe.
: Misty is one writer whose innate talent lifted her very quickly out of the
: fanfic markets -- she had her own stories to tell, and DAW liked her
: originality and verve. Too many people who copy her work lack her fire and
: skill.
Since I seem to have started a thread here, let me add my thoughts
on this to the discussions.
I have written some fanfic in the past. When I was very much the
young fan, I was into Pern and Darkover and all of those worlds... and
fanfic was fairly common at that point. There wasn't the sort of controls
that exist now with fanfic, and the controls that do exist came about because
of several abuses of the fanfic 'unwritten rules' over what you could do,
what wasn't allowable and such.
Misty as a fan has encouraged folks to 'play' in her world. But
that play has to be in spots where she can see it, comment about it and even
say NO when necessary. The only online area where a person can play is on
GEnie in her 'Modems of the Queen' place, and the Queen's Own 'zines. And
even there, the ground rules are that you can't use her characters (with the
exception of Herald Chronicler Myste) and that you can't alter the events
that have occurred. But inside of those guidelines you can play quite a
bit.
But the originality question does come into play. I do write, and
while none of my stuff is 'ready for prime time' I do occasionally post on
the net what I've come up with so far, just to get feedback. The stuff I
tend to do is more hard SF than anything else. But that doesn't mean that
when I'm feeling like playing a bit I won't try to do something in Misty's
world.
Fanfic is a touchy subject nowadays for many writers. In a sense
we should be glad that Misty is willing to give us an area to play in, even
if it's not something we can directly link to here on the net.
-Tal Greywolf