| An Author's Responsibility |
[Oct. 20th, 2007|03:28 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
As an author, what exactly are your responsibilities to your readers? As a fanfic writer, are your responsibilities different than if you're writing original fic?
What brought on this question? It seems someone wrote a Brian/Justin fic that magically "turned" into a death!fic and the author didn't put a warning on it because she'd built up "too much tension" in the first 2 parts. (Although how she managed to do that without knowing it was going to be a death!fic, I've no clue.)
Personally, I think that if you're writing fanfic (and posting in a public forum) that you have a responsibility to warn your readers about what they'd be getting into when they click on your link. However, I also think you should have some idea of the story you're actually TELLING (but that's a different topic).
I don't appreciate being manipulated into reading something I'd otherwise avoid like the plague...nor do I like feeling as though I had ZERO choice in the matter.
You have a greater responsibility to your audience when you write fanfic than when you write original fic because you're dealing with characters that are already REAL to so many of us. Not everyone wants to read fics wherein their favorite major characters die...or are raped or are turned into little girls are turned evil or whatever.
Thoughts? |
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