Opinions on fanfic genre
Tim & Christine Morgan
I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
hobby. Do you feel that it is a waste of time that might otherwise be put
towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
practice and fun?
Christine
Leigh R Hidell
: > I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
: >towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
: >practice and fun?
I think that the friends of mine who write fan fiction
are still unpaid. One of them has been a very hard-working,
reliable writer for the fanzines for almost 15 years. It's
apparently worthless as a "clip," because he simply cannot
get paid for his stories. I would almost be willing to think
that when he mentions his fanzine activities that pro editors
automatically assume it's junk & don't read his stuff. (Or
maybe it is junk, I dunno, I don't read it either.)
If you need the "exercise," OK. But I think you can
get the exercise just as well by writing fiction
that can be sold w/out violating someone else's trademark.
YMMV.
Oops, I take it back...another friend did benefit
from the writing "exercise," I believe, because
when she finally got serious about getting paid,
she was able to sell. However, her novels are in
romance, not SF, & I don't recall if she even
bothered to mention the fanzine work. Sorry if
this is less than helpful....
--Leigh
M. Seabury
In article <E94L8...@eskimo.com>, ve...@eskimo.com (Tim & Christine
Morgan) wrote:
> I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
> hobby. Do you feel that it is a waste of time that might otherwise be put
> towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
> practice and fun?
I think it is definitely a help, like an exercise. While I haven't written
any, my wife has. And this has gotten her interested in writing as well
giving her the time to practice her craft. Meanwhile by reading fanfic,
you can examine othre aspects of writing to help your own without having
to invest in a new story/setting (i.e. how does this person vary word
style or choice). Occasionally, you can find someone who is particularly
good in a specific area of writing, like dialogue. This can help then help
you in your own writing.
Actually, I read someone's work who and e-mailed them and got a few
pointers that were most helpful.
-----------------
MS
ira...@ibm.net
Dan Goodman
In article <E94L8...@eskimo.com>,
Tim & Christine Morgan <ve...@eskimo.com> wrote:
> I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
>hobby. Do you feel that it is a waste of time that might otherwise be put
>towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
>practice and fun?
Both. I think it's more useful to put that time and effort into writing
about your own characters and background. But some people find it much
easier to get themselves started on fanfiction. It's like exercise --
something you'll actually get around to doing beats something which would
be better but which you'll never get around to doing.
--
Dan Goodman
dsg...@visi.com
http://www.visi.com/~dsgood/index.html
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.
MMM
Leigh R Hidell wrote:
> If you need the "exercise," OK. But I think you can
> get the exercise just as well by writing fiction
> that can be sold w/out violating someone else's trademark.
> YMMV.
I recall a story reported in the Novelist Ink newsletter (told to me
by my wife, who is a member) about a Fantasy writer who was forced to sue
another writer who used her characters in a fanzine story. She had no
choice, otherwise she would lose all rights to the world and characters
she created. The publisher of the fanzine couldn't understand what
the suit was about and pretty much ignored it until she realized they
were serious and finally settled out of court. The publisher had to
collect and distroy as many issues as she had/could find and had to buy
an apology ad in PW. The writer was out several thousand in legal
fees. All this over a "tribute" to the writer and her characters.
MMM
--
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Note: Do not use the email address listed above to reply.
Dorothy J Heydt
In article <335FFB...@device.nul>, MMM <junk...@device.nul> wrote:
>I recall a story reported in the Novelist Ink newsletter (told to me
>by my wife, who is a member) about a Fantasy writer who was forced to sue
Actually, the genre is Horror, specifically Vampires. The writer
was Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
>another writer who used her characters in a fanzine story. She had no
>choice, otherwise she would lose all rights to the world and characters
>she created.
And not only that... she was in the midst of negotiations over
the film rights. If she didn't make her ownership of the character
plain and unmistakeable, the film company could write their own
script with her character and not pay her beans.
The publisher of the fanzine couldn't understand what
>the suit was about and pretty much ignored it until she realized they
>were serious and finally settled out of court. The publisher had to
>collect and distroy as many issues as she had/could find
In fact, she turned them over to Quinn and her agent, who
arranged to have them pulped and formed into a papier-mache'
statue.
> and had to buy
>an apology ad in PW. The writer was out several thousand in legal
>fees. All this over a "tribute" to the writer and her characters.
The details are covered in a couple of articles by Quinn in
the SFWA Bulletin (reprinted from the HWA Bulletin), Summer and
Fall 1992 (assuming you have access to someone who collects them).
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djheydt@uclink
(My account might go away at any moment; if I disappear, I
haven't died.)
Cathy Krusberg
In <335FFB...@device.nul> MMM <junk...@device.nul> writes:
>I recall a story reported in the Novelist Ink newsletter (told to me
>by my wife, who is a member) about a Fantasy writer who was forced to
>sue another writer who used her characters in a fanzine story. She
>had no choice, otherwise she would lose all rights to the world and
>characters she created.
Which is why fanfic is generally written in media universes
(movies, TV) rather than universes in which only books
exist. It's novelists who have these kinds of legal worries,
generally.
>The publisher of the fanzine couldn't understand what
>the suit was about and pretty much ignored it until she realized they
>were serious and finally settled out of court.
The fanfic author had asked permission; the novel author told
her "no"; the fanfic author wrote and the publisher published
*regardless*.
If that isn't asking for it, I don't know what is.
>The publisher had to collect and distroy as many issues as she
>had/could find and had to buy an apology ad in PW.
As Dorothy J. Heydt says elsewhere in this thead, the unsold issues
of the mag were delivered to the author (Chelsea Quinn Yarbro).
Did Yarbro in fact carry through on her plan to have them
pulped and sculpted? (Last I saw, it was a plan only.)
Is anybody else bothered by the thought that when these issues
were destroyed *in* *toto* (nothing to to with Dorothy and
Kansas), it meant destruction not only of the unsanctioned
story but of stories that nobody was ready to start a lawsuit
over? I for one would be *extremely* annoyed if my story in
effect went unpublished because it shared a mag with a story
that had to be pulled from publication. Wouldn't it have been
feasible to razor out the offending pages and ship just *them*
to Yarbro? Or something?
Yeah, yeah, water under the bridge, and I wasn't in the 'zine.
But still.
>The writer was out several thousand in legal
>fees. All this over a "tribute" to the writer and her characters.
Thanks for putting "tribute" in quotes.
Cathy Krusberg (yeah, I write fanfic)
Internet: ckb...@ix.netcom.com (in a media universe)
Chuck Rothman
In article , ve...@eskimo.com says...
>
> I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
>hobby. Do you feel that it is a waste of time that might otherwise be put
>towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
>practice and fun?
A bit of both. If you're interested in writing as a career, you have to move on
from fanfic. Most importantly, you have to learn to create your own characters,
not use already existing ones. Still, you go get some practice at plotting and
other elements.
If you're just doing it for fun, go ahead. If you want to be published in other
venues, you have to leave it behind at some point and write your own stories.
---
Chuck Rothman
http://www.sff.net/people/rothman
Jo Davidsmeyer
In article <5jnvcn$9...@junkie.gnofn.org>,
Leigh R Hidell <lr...@gnofn.org> wrote:
>: > I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
>: >towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
>: >practice and fun?
If you're aggressive, it can lead to opportunity. Because of my fanfic, I
contacted the actors from the show. That lead to some wonderful exchange
of information, which I was able to turn into non-fiction articles that I
sold to various publications. And when a small-press publisher wanted a
book about the making of the series, I was just enough known as a
published "authority" on the subject, that they approached me with an
offer. So, indirectly, fanfic earned me my first non-fiction book sale.
I'm happy!
But, in the meantime, I've been writing in my own universe.
Cathy Krusberg
>If you want to be published in other venues, you have to leave it
[fanfic]
>behind at some point and write your own stories.
Actually, you don't *have* to leave it behind. Ace had published
several novels by P. N. Elrod in her Vampire Files series when
Elrod published a Quantum Leap/Vampire Files crossover fanfic in _Good
Guys Wear Fangs_ #1.
Yes, pros can write fanfic!!
Cathy Krusberg (I read too much vampire stuff)
Internet: ckb...@ix.netcom.com
James Milton
On Thu, 24 Apr 1997 17:32:58 -0700, MMM <junk...@device.nul> wrote:
>Leigh R Hidell wrote:
>> If you need the "exercise," OK. But I think you can
>> get the exercise just as well by writing fiction
>> that can be sold w/out violating someone else's trademark.
>> YMMV.
>> --Leigh
>
>I recall a story reported in the Novelist Ink newsletter (told to me
>by my wife, who is a member) about a Fantasy writer who was forced to sue
>another writer who used her characters in a fanzine story.
[snip]
Didn't something similar happen to Marion Zimmer Bradley? I seem to
recall reading an article by her withdrawing her permission for people
to use her Darkover world. Apparently someone produced fanfic too
similar to the book she had in development, and she had to abandon the
project...
James Milton
milt...@bigpond.com
StoryTeller
I found fan-fic a great way to practice my writing, and also a good way to
get feedback. Interestingly enough, it's the response I got from my fanfic
that emboldened me to try my first novel--granted, it stank (stunk? eek!)
but I got better and now my writing has taken that "great leap forward"
(many apologies to Mao-Tse T'ung or however you spell his name). In fact,
one of my "fans" from the newsgroups where I posted fanfic sent me a copy
of the Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents and told me to get an
agent. I did--and now I'm writing my third novel.
I think if you're writing something that is okay with the originator (a lot
of the Trek stuff, for instance, or Anne Rice, who openly applauds fan-fic,
believe it or not) it can give you good practice. However, it also helps to
know when to move on and create your own characters.
Chuck Rothman <rot...@sff.net> wrote in article
<5jqc88$1...@lori.zippo.com>...
> In article , ve...@eskimo.com says...
> >
> > I was just curious what the rest of you thought of this little
> >hobby. Do you feel that it is a waste of time that might otherwise be
put
> >towards creating publishable works, or is it valuable because it allows
> >practice and fun?
>
> A bit of both. If you're interested in writing as a career, you have to
move on
> from fanfic. Most importantly, you have to learn to create your own
characters,
> not use already existing ones. Still, you go get some practice at
plotting and
> other elements.
>
> If you're just doing it for fun, go ahead. If you want to be published
in other
> venues, you have to leave it behind at some point and write your own
stories.
>
Celia Malm
dsg...@visi.com (Dan Goodman) wrote:
>Both. I think it's more useful to put that time and effort into writing
>about your own characters and background. But some people find it much
>easier to get themselves started on fanfiction. It's like exercise --
>something you'll actually get around to doing beats something which would
>be better but which you'll never get around to doing.
For me, when I started out as a writer, fan-fic was a way to practice
the craft of writing that (from an emotional standpoint) I COULD NOT
then do with my original work. My fan-fic has been something I've
cared enough about to work on, but not something I've cared about so
much that I felt crippled every time I've had to edit/re-write.
Fortunately I've gotten past that with my original work (though it
took years.) And fortunately, all the skills I learned over years of
writing fan-fic translated very well once I worked myself up to
writing stories of my own. Frankly, I'm glad my earliest "awful
efforts" were not something that came purely out of my own soul--that
would be too painful.
One caveat here, however. My fanfic has not been of the "umpteenth
adventures of so-and-so" variety. I've created multutinous new
characters and poured a tremendous amount of my own ideas into my
fanfic. And I've continously gone back and edited/re-written stories
that were not "up to snuff" as my writing skills have improved. I have
literally used fan-fic for "exercise". I've concentrated my efforts.
I'm not sure that if I had used a shotgun approach (a Star Wars story
here, a couple of Star Treks there) that I would have gotten anywhere,
as far as improving my writing. (The previous should not be construed
to mean that I write media fan-fic--I don't; that was just an example
of the sort of fanfic I would not have found useful to write. YMMV)
Even though no one but my friends will ever see my fan-fic efforts,
and even though I'll never be paid a dime for them, (and hopefully I
will never be asked to out-and-out destroy them <fingers crossed>),
they have been more than worthwhile to me. But then, I write because I
want to, not because I'm waiting for the check.
Cee
------------------------------------------------
"If I must be this...this thing they have made of me,
I shall at least give it my voice and my heart."
Walker Boh