oddsansend: [in the_studio] About protagonists. - Hi. Hey ... does anyone have trouble with protagonists? Whenever I try to write in my designated protagonist's point of view, they feel kinda bland and are just ... kinda present in the story. I know them, but it's facts and figures, and I can't seem to get into their head and write them the way I know they should be acting -
elspethdixon: lgbtfest is up and running. As usual, I - An article by Yvonne Keller that I read recently on the role of lesbian pulps in the formation of female queer identity in the 1950s and 60s* got me thinking about slash. Keller's thesis is that old school pulp novels, despite existing in a homophobic and sexist context, were valuable to lesbian readers because they provided them with some of the only available representations of themselves. -
hollow_echos: The Lingo - As a conglomerate fandom (all shows, all aspects of fan culture) our goal should be to maintain an inclusive atmosphere that doesn’t alienate newcomers. And that includes meta. I know there have been instances where I am just too shy to ask what an acronym means, especially when everyone else seems to be onboard with what the writer is trying to communicate and I’m the only one on the outs. It’s awkward and it’s not something that we should be making our readers do at all in my opinion. -
damned_colonial: Meta: War in the porn / porn in the war (for Marna) - Women writing about military history is kinda subversive. I like that. The idea that women would take SRS BZNS like the Battle of Waterloo and mix it all up with silly girly romance (like Heyer did) just makes me squee. I want to read that, and I want to write that. Furthermore, I also like taking the SRS BZNS of hawt pr0n and mixing it up with that boring stuff about battles and making it interesting, dammit. I want to push at those genre boundaries from both directions, and challenge "pink" readers as much as "blue" ones. Genrebending makes me happy. -
momebie: Art is amazing. - And the thing about art. The very best thing about art. Is that it never stays the same. Once it leaves your pen or your brush or your digital audio file creator thingamajig, it becomes a part of the world. It is out there to be manipulated and analyzed. And good art will be. Art that makes people think something or feel something will be taken and turned over and studied and changed. -
pandarus: Fanfic is Immoral! - The bottom line is, we are fascinated by story, and we want to know what happens after they live happily ever after, what would have happened if the prince arrived too late, what would have happened if the planet was not blown up after all. We aren’t empty vessels with no opinions or interests beyond the parameters of the story as given. We actively engage with the narrative, and we wonder what will happen next, what could have happened after that character walked away. -
bookshop: A note on fanfic and cultural capital - Personally, I think that the ultimate terrifying nature of fandom, for a lot of people, is that it functions as a thriving creative community entirely free from capitalist systems of value. It challenges the idea that to be a successful writer is to receive profit from writing, and that that profit is money. -
helens78: popsicle stick houses - People often argue over the definition of plagiarism when it comes to fanfic, but I think a more important target is the definition of theft. Theft involves denying the rightful owner of something the full and free use of that something: if you steal my bicycle, I can't ride my bicycle anymore.[...]//Fanfic doesn't prevent an original creator from doing anything she wants with her characters down the road. -
fan_eunice: when people SUCK - There was no need of a big whip around for my bills, but oh god do I know what it's like to sit and stare at over a hundred thousand dollars worth of medical bills in despair, and I know that if I had needed it, or did need it in the future, that y'all would come through. 'Cause you're awesome like that. And so I try to imagine what it would feel like if one of the creators of, say, Doctor Who had come along and chosen that hill to plant their flag in and rail about the grossness of fans and how awful and disgusting and illegal it all was. In public. -
sage_theory: Righteous!- I get weary when people pop up with justifications for fanfic from professional publishing. Yes, it technically fits the criteria for fanfiction, but I know it isn't. It's not our kind of fanfic. The works listed in [personal profile] bookshop's lists are those which got some kind of permission, either explicit or implicit from people in some kind of authority over the stories mentioned, either editors and publishers who sorted out copyright issues or the authors themselves. -
regann: Love, Fandom, Money - things that make the world go 'round - When you love something enough to immerse yourself in it, you love it enough to spend the bucks on it. This is a pretty simple concept to grasp, I think. If you love it enough to invest time and energy into it (writing fanfic) you like it. If you spend money to buy stuff to write more of the stuff you write for free…how can this be bad for the author? -
the_arc5: Gather 'Round the Fire: On the Value of Fanfiction - Diana Gabaldon makes her case against fanfiction on three basic principles: legality, creativity, and aesthetics. Specifically, fanfic is not legal, not creative, and not aesthetically pleasing. I know she's not the only one who's made these arguments; in fact, they seem to be fairly common in the anti-fanfic arsenal. Let's break those arguments dow -
dreamflower02: I’ve thought for a while abo - The fanfic writer is an amateur. Nowadays that has somehow come to have a bad connotation. But the real meaning of the word “amateur” is “someone who does something for the love of it, instead of for money”. At one time that was thought to be a Good Thing.//I may be hopelessly old-fashioned, but I still think it is a Good Thing. -
happydork: Fanworks and authors who dislike them - Fanworks are how I engage creatively, collaboratively, intelligently and emotionally with my favourite stories.If you really, honestly feel violated by fanworks of your work, I'll do my best to respect that. But -- with a very few honourable exceptions -- life is too short, and happiness too precious, for me to bother getting my joy on your terms. -
stinabat: Fan Fiction, Ethics and Authors - I don't read fanfic.* Personally, I don't care for it. Fanfic is about practicing the craft of writing. It's not an art form. It's practice with borrowed/stolen materials. Enjoy yourself. Sure. Learn, even better. But don't expect professional accolades for things created with stolen property. -
impertinence: She claims she'll be back with more, so maybe this post will become irrelevant. - It's been said before, but apparently it could do with being said again: fanfic isn't rape. (Neither is milk.) Rape is rape.And to me, that's the least forgivable part of the post. Be ignorant about fanfic all you want; at the end of the day, the internet's free content will keep on being distributed, whether it's pirated music, open source software, or fiction (original or transformative). But if you pirouette into my space telling me that your fictional characters being used like pervy Barbie dolls is the same thing as being stalked or sexually assaulted - or even being threatened with sexual assault - then you can go hang. -
acrimonyastraea: Serious comment on the DG wank - Ultimately, all creative people borrow from others: techniques, tropes, shared cultural understanding. This is not an option. Anyone who has read a translated book from another cultural context that they don't understand knows that while it may be enjoyable on one level, there is a lot that you are missing: cultural references, recognition glee, literary allusions.This is what a lot of passionate fans are interested in and trying to protect from the competing interests of industries that profit on controlling creative works. Shared participatory culture. Not in competition with writers, artists, and other creative people. But in support of them. -
kate_nepveu: An open letter to professionally-published authors who despise fanfic of their own works - So you despise fanfic of your own works. It revolts you on a visceral level. Okay. It would be rude and pointless of me to suggest that you shouldn't have a gut-level emotional reaction, because, after all, it's gut-level. And I may even sympathize or agree with you. // But because you are a thinking being, you get to choose what you do, as opposed to how you feel. -