Fanfiction is a fascinating phenomenon. Yes, yes, I know that there’s still a huge argument going on between the people who think it’s all right to do and the people who consider it illegal, unethical, and unprofessional, but I think it’s a rather silly argument, on the whole, and I certainly don’t want to get into it here. What I want to talk about today are the ways fanfiction can be instructive for writers.
The first and most obvious use is as practice. Even if you don’t take seriously the old saw about having to write a million words of crap before you can write anything publishable, some amount of practice is generally a Good Thing, and it is ever so much easier to do the practice pieces if you’re doing something you can show to eager readers. Nowadays, you can even get actual feedback and responses from people you do not actually know, which is even better (at least, it is when the feedback is positive).
The value of fanfiction as practice has been tacitly recognized for a really long time. Even back in the 70s and early 80s, when fanfiction was about as acceptable as thirteen Hells Angels at a highbrow Southern garden party, it was quietly acknowledged that quite a few writers (and some editors) got their start in the business writing, editing, and publishing fanfiction. As fanfiction slowly inches toward respectability, more writers are willing to let people know that they started off writing fanfiction, and there are quite a few who are willing to admit that they still write the stuff for fun.
The thing that fascinates me about fanfiction, though, is the way that it models the decision tree that writers go through (whether consciously or unconsciously) to get to their final product. For those of us who do this part mostly unconsciously, it can be interesting and instructing to see the multitude of alternate paths that a story could have taken, all laid out more-or-less neatly in different authors’ fanfics. The main character’s horrible childhood could have been much worse, or much better, with interesting plot-consequences either way. The protagonist could have chosen to trust a different wise mentor figure or companion, or to go it completely alone. Different aspects of the background are brought forward or pushed back, sometimes changing the whole feel of a story even if the basic plot remains much the same. The main character’s decision to take – or ignore – a particular bit of advice, to provide – or not provide – a bit of crucial information to someone else a few chapters earlier, an impulsive or better-considered act by anyone at all results in the plot veering in a completely new direction. Friends become enemies; enemies become friends; goals and objectives and results shift and change.
The enormous number of alternatives are easiest to see in those fandoms that have a correspondingly enormous number of fanfics available – things like the Harry Potter books, or The Lord of the Rings. And if one can manage to mentally adjust for the wildly varying levels of skill that the different fan authors have, and their frequent obsession with romance, etc., it becomes even clearer just how many completely different stories one can get out of a single situation and set of characters.
I think the whole question of alternatives is key to understanding the mixed-to-lukewarm reception a lot of fanfiction gets from authors. I rarely read any of the fanfiction based on my own books (never, unless it’s been recommended by one of the five people I trust to screen for me), and a large part of the reason is that I, like most writers, know a whole lot more about my characters and my world than the stuff that gets into the books. I can’t let go of that when I read the fanfiction; consequently, there is about a 95% chance that even the best fan story will “feel wrong,” because the author has no way of getting the unpublished details right. I suspect this is a problem for a lot of writers who squirm uncomfortably when they’re asked about fanfiction.
My other problem is that if, by some miracle, the fan author does get it right, their story tends to slide into my head and take up residence as “what really happened.” Which creates all sorts of potential for legal problems if I ever hope to write anything else in whatever the base series is. It’s much simpler to just avoid the problem, and to be able to say truthfully that I don’t read it.
A good plan, it seems. I may have learned this lesson the hard way. I came up with a pairing, a crossover, that I thought was really interesting (precisely because of the alternatives idea, there were so many crisis points to play with, so many different ways to break them) and I wrote a ton. (I was out of college and unemployed. I had time.) Unexpectedly, I built a fanbase.
There were a few people who really liked my pairing, and wanted to try writing it. I was fine with that, and they sent me bits and pieces, and I enjoyed a lot of them, or just wondered ‘why shapeshifting dragons?’ ‘Why not?’ But then I read one that I wasn’t okay with. It was very much in character, pretty well written, and it was the most horrifying thing I had ever read. ‘How can you do that to my characters?’ was all I could think, ‘how could you leave them like that? All broken and hurt and unrecoverable.’
I suppose I never did like other people playing with my toys, because they didn’t know the stories, and they didn’t know what the toys would do, and what they wouldn’t.
Writing fic helped me learn to sustain my interest in a story, to go back to it with positivity rather than dutifulness, and it let me be less afraid of being funny. If it also taught me to not read fanfiction of my own writing, before I’ve published anything at all, that’s only a good thing.
I am one who has enthusiastically embraced the fanfiction trend. I have found it a tremendous help to my writing in general, a fantastic way to meet other like-minded writers, and, quite frankly, a lot of fun. I love creating my own worlds and characters, but sometimes it’s great just to play in someone else’s world for a change.
Although I don’t write, this is the major reason I don’t care for the concept of fanfic.
If you have a whole host of alternate choices/roads not traveled/additional endings I think that’s fabulous to discuss and consider because it enriches your understanding of the book. But writing it all down and saying “This is what happens next” or “If X hadn’t happened, this would be the outcome” seems to me like encroachment. You are making a definitive statement based on incomplete information. Only the author truly knows the characters and no matter how many times you re-read the book that’s not additional research.
One of the things I really like is when I find a fanfiction that re-tells events from another character’s viewpoint. It’s so much fun to see how a story would play out with a different protagonist.
I wrote my first fanfic this year. It got me over a nasty writer’s block and showed me exactly what I was doing wrong with one of my regular stories, which I could then go back and fix. Definitely a helpful exercise.
Cara – So, this was fanfiction based on a fanfic? I think you just broke my brain… 🙂 It’s kind of a different situation, too; with fanfiction, the fic writers are often deeply involved with their community of readers, which makes backing off from this kind of situation a whole lot more difficult.
Louise – I can see where it would be very relaxing not to have to worry about building up the setting or characters for a change… 😉
LyraJayne – When an author has said publicly that they don’t like the idea of fanfiction being written based on their work, I think that should be respected. There are quite a few authors, however, who have stated publicly that they DO like the idea of fanfiction based on their work, and I can’t see anyone objecting if the actual author is OK with it. So it comes down to one’s position with regard to the vast majority of authors who haven’t said, one way or another…and different people draw their lines in different places.
It also depends on whether you think fanfiction is attempting to extend canon – to be “what the author would have written if she/he had time” – or whether you think it’s an homage via a series of alternate universe possibilities. If what you want are the characters and setting that the original author would have written…well, no, you are highly unlikely to get that anywhere other than in the author’s own works. A lot of folks, however, are capable of enjoying multiple versions of characters and stories, and so would have a different attitude toward those sorts of fanfics.
Chicory – One of my friends, years ago, told me that fanfiction was “fiction with training wheels.” She meant it as “you don’t have to make decisions about the characters or setting if you don’t want to, so you can just concentrate on the story part and add the other stuff in when you feel ready,” but it works as “it’s a nice way to do some fun, non-serious writing practice,” too.
Aside from the purely writing-craft related benefits (getting your million words of trash out of the way), there’s the benefits of interacting with reviewers.
I have two personal examples.
A few months ago, I got my first “bad” review on one of my fanfic stories set on Anne McCaffrey’s Pern. They disliked that I chose to use an actual cussword rather than a euphemism in one spot. It’s not that my mind didn’t know some folks don’t like swear words, but the review came as a shock regardless to the heart. I actually ended up sitting down with myself, so to speak, to figure out where the reviewer was coming from, why I was so surprised, and my own stance. Eventually I concluded that I don’t like euphemisms because they feel “dishonest”, and that it was fairly clear in story context that I don’t just go around dropping cusswords like candy…I use them in specific contexts, from specific characters only. I was also amazed this person chose to ding me on a single cussword when there are themes and ideas in the story itself that, to my mind, are far, FAR more worthy of being called out on. I put in at least three other jokes that in content were harsher than the one word I used. So it kind of highlighted something interesting about bluntness vs. subtlety…making things obvious vs. making things shadowed.
So, anyway, my point is…encountering a negative review like this for a fanfic really did make me think in a way I hadn’t before, and come to conclusions about my original work as well…what I was and wasn’t willing to do, and why. That single “bad” review provoked more writing development (at least from a moral/ethical standpoint) than the hundred or so positive reviews I’ve had.
Another very peculiar (but different) thing to encounter was reviewers indirectly commenting on my handling of the characters. And by indirectly, I mean they actually reacted to the characters as people, regardless of the fact that I was pulling the strings all along. They weren’t saying, “Yeah, I agree with your theory that canon-character-one might do that.” They were reacting to events I put forth in the story–NOT things from canon–and theorizing from there.
I’m not sure if I’m explaining it correctly. I guess the relationship of me and my reviewers shifts from me writing as one-fan-to-another, to this different relationship where the reader is just…GIVING me their trust. And it’s…bemusing and freaky and thought-provoking and so much more to see that *actually happening*, that someone got so caught up in it that they forgot it was just a fanfic. It’s…scary…that this real person online just believed the story you told them, because you wrote it down in a believable fashion.
I didn’t expect it to be weird, because I’m used to geeking out myself over books from a reader’s side. I’ve done that for years. I had no clue how odd I’d find it from the receiving side of things. But that…shift in tone, where readers responded to me less as a fellow fan and more as a creator was unsettling, and something I’m (still) learning to deal with/accept/think about.
Wouldn’t have encountered that without having written fanfiction. If I’m ever lucky enough to publish my original stuff, though, I’ll already be prepared for this. 🙂
Lots of people enjoy reading and writing fanfic – the fact I haven’t creates inherent bias. If it’s cool with the author and you enjoy it, knock yourself out.
When a position isn’t stated, I feel uncomfortable mucking about and planting a flag in someone else’s world. But, that’s strictly my personal opinion. I’m more open to gaming fanfic than I am to Lions of Al-Rassam fanfic (and I’ve no clue Guy Gavriel Kay’s position on fanfic it just happens to be sitting on my desk at work) so how deeply the creator has defined the world makes a difference in my mind.
And I wish there was an edit button because I’m really off the main point of this post by now…
I consider fan-fiction whenever I really love ANY story, but I agree…save rare exceptions, no one but the AUTHOR can do the story and the characters justice. I’ve never written a fan-fic, except in my head :). Good post!
I suspect that fan-fiction has been around as long as story-telling itself. People tend to project their own experiences into creative works, often in ways the creator never expected, nor intended. To my mind, fan-fiction is an expression of that.
Too, I’ve always considered my fan-fiction writing as part of my apprenticeship. There came a point where I had to stop so that I could focus on my original work, but I’ll never be sorry I did it.
😀 Deborah – Have you read Ovid’s Heroides? They’re pretty awesome fanfics of the Greek classics, from the woman’s point of view. So, definitely, fanfic has been around for a long time.
@Cara: No, but now I’m going to have to. Sounds right up my alley.
Deborah and Cara – And the Arthurian legends are a whole fandom, with writers picking their favorite knight (or inventing one; there were 100 seats at the Round Table, and not all of them were ever names) and writing adventures or backstory for him. There are a whole string of knightly adventure stories for Arthur before he became king, for instance. And the stories are from all over Europe…and those are just the ones that date from before 1400.
I agree with the whole ‘training wheels’ viewpoint and I consider fan-fiction to be an excellent training method under certain conditions. Having a ready-made environment–characters, setting, situation– all laid out and ready for you to play with, makes it easier for the inexperienced writer to get into the writing mindset.
That being said, it only makes sense that you will eventually ‘set aside childish things’ and move on to make use of the skills learned while playing with someone else’s toys by creating your own original works.
The beginning writer must always remember that these toys do belong to someone else, even if that person says they don’t mind, and that ownership must be respected.
I have always written (or imagined) my own fanfic for my stuff, ever since I was telling myself Mary Sue self-insert stories (into totally made-up books, which is probably the best twist I can say for them). I also would frequently break my characters horribly in these side-stories — it’s a fairly “safe” sort of thing to think about when one is feeling a bit depressed for some reason. (Hormones, bah.)
I even did an entire drabble-series of a *totally different* set-up for my current Grand Unpublished.
For even weirder stuff… I’ve done gaming fanfic of a certain esoteric niche tabletop RPG, and I read other people’s fanfic of it, and I tend to hold at least two to four different interpretations of the major characters in my head. “Oh, look, there’s Evil!D, okay.” “And here we have Misunderstood!L.” “This is a notveryevil!N.” Heck, I *wrote* different twists of my favorite character, in two long-running fic-series! One of them generated fanfic of its own, some of which I linked to, as “canon” for the shared-world fanfic, and some of which I decreed to be AU of my AU.
Hopefully all that will let me, should I ever be so fortunate as to have my own originalfic get fanficced, go, “That is so totally non-canon, but have fun with your AU.”
Wow, I wish I’d jumped in on this discussion earlier…drat busy weeks. I wrote a lot of fanfiction during high school. The first serious novel I ever wrote was fanfiction. I’m sure I learned a lot from that writing, and I met some wonderful people in the fanfiction writing community. I gave it up mostly because I wanted to be able to take my writing further than I can go with someone else’s copywrighted material.
But I still go back to fanfiction occasionally when I have writer’s block on a main project. I find it to be very pressure-free writing. Besides not needing to create a world and characters and so on, I also know I’m never going to trot this writing past a literary agent…so I can write things I wouldn’t write if I had a public audience in mind!
So–in a lot of ways I’m very pro-fanfiction. But I also can easily imagine that it would be disturbing to read someone else’s writing about my characters, to look at it from the other angle. As it is, some of my fanfiction is about classic characters, and I sometimes freak out when a new version comes out telling them a radically different way!
My daughter, who just finished her first year of college, began writing fanfic in high school. She wrote intensively for a while and still does as time permits. She has, at least at this point, no intention of ever becoming a published writer. She just likes to write. At first I thought that she should spend her time on something more “productive” but I rapidly concluded that there was value in any kind of practice putting words in order and getting feedback on whether you had successfully communicated the thought behind them. Not to mention that any kind of nondestructive teenage fun is perfectly worthwhile, as summed up in her t-shirt from Cafe Press that says “fanfic – my antidrug.”
Also, I fell off my high horse on remembering with great fondness my own longstanding Star Trek fanfic from high school, written interactively with several friends. 🙂
She does understand and respect author’s choice on whether it should be done or not, which is in my mind the main limitation.
Wow! What a lot of discussion this topic has generated.
I was going to say that I never write fanfic but then realized that my third novel is fanfic – it’s a sequel to Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass and while the characters are public domain, the story I wrote is basically fanfic.
It sneaks in even when you least expect it!
Marion Zimmer Bradley used to publish anthologies of Darkover fanfic. She paid quite respectable rates for it, too. My first paid fiction publication was in one of them.
Alas, MZB had to stop this generous sharing when someone threatened to sue her, claiming that she’d stolen her (as I recall) idea. There’s always some bozo who just has to get greedy. Maybe these fools are Murphy’s evil cousins.
It’s fun to play in someone else’s yard sometimes. Fictional worlds can become so real to their readers that writing something set in that world is more like writing historical fiction than infringement. If an author doesn’t want fanfiction written in that author’s world, then of course people ought to respect that.
The story about Marion Zimmer Bradley being threatened with a lawsuit is not actually true, but has reached the level of urban myth. No fan threatened to sue her. When Marion Zimmer Bradley offered a fan $500 to incorporate parts of the fan’s story into her new novel, the fan asked for a byline, Marion Zimmer Bradley refused, and the book was never published. You can read all the details of the case here. It’s too bad this one very complicated situation, that includes a lot of collaboration, published fanfiction anthologies, ghostwriting, and the tragic ill health on the part of a beloved and nurturing author has become the anti-fanfiction policy-generating incident for so many others. But isn’t as simple as “if you read fanfiction, you will accidentally copy it and fans will sue you.” There’s probably something interesting to be said about how the power, participation, and autonomy of the pro writer was completely stripped out of the story as it became an urban myth. I don’t know why that happened. Fear? Bogeyman?
In any case, there is no evidence whatsoever that any fan ever attempted to sue Marion Zimmer Bradley. As fanfiction becomes more acceptable, maybe we’ll see some of those terror policies change.
Sorry to be so incredibly late in adding this comment. But…I couldn’t help myself. 😉
I have never, in my memory, written fanfiction. Certainly my writing draws from the experiences of reading I have had, and something like this goes on:
Brain: Wow! That was a great story I just read. Wish I could do something like that.
Imagination: Yep, it was. Hmm. She used XYZ technique here. Hey! That would work perfectly for my current writer’s block! Aha! (Hyperactivity mode) Okay, I’ve got it. Next chapter, written. Get typing, brain.
Brain: That’s nice. You used the a variation technique she did, I see. It worked really well.
Imagination: Yes. I just formatted the tequnique that I saw another writer use to my own story and made it my own. It’s not the same technique anymore– it’s a new one!
That makes sense, I hope. Anyways, notice I said I never *wrote* fanfic. I often dream up complicated fanfic stuff with my new character (often me. Well, hey! I like the stories! What’s wrong with being an imaginary part of them?). Three cheers for imagination!
What are these alternate paths you speak of? Fics I’ve seen are usually just retellings.
I think *retellings* is the word your looking for by the way.