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Fanfic- Blessing or Bane?

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Rous



Joined: 20 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:25 pm    Post subject: Fanfic- Blessing or Bane? Reply with quote

Just thought this might be of interest. An article I was e-mailed through a groups. Kind of an answer to all the authors trying to sue and stop fanfic.


http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1336775,00.html

Edited by Robbie: Link doth now work.
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MaglorRedeemed



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm... link doth not work. Neutral
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DarkElfChilde



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the link didn't work, go here: http://books.guardian.co.uk/

Click news, and then go down to "work in progress". That's what I had to do. Smile Really interesting article.[/url]

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Kendra



Joined: 30 Jun 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 12:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting article. Thanks for the link! I'd never thought of fanfic in this way but it does make a great deal of sense since we more or less, are no longer of an oral society of storytellers sitting about family and fire, but have gone to a high-tech society of words on a screen.

Kendra
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inglor



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is an interesting article. Though in defense of the authors, I imagine it is hurtful to see how some writers portray the characters they gave birth, breathed life into. Some of the stuff is downright BENT. I know if my characters were portayed as child beating rapists (Like I've seen Gil-Galad, Thranduil, Thingol, Maedhros, etc.), I'd be enraged.

I shudder to think what the Professor would say to some of the butchery some of us have done. I turned Galadriel into a philandering tramp and Finrod into an incestuous uncle and I don't think I could look him in the eye if he read them. Even though they redeemed themselves, I still feel a little guilty for doing that to the characters that, IMHO, are two of his favorites. (And mine too by the way.)

But I continue to write...

Inglor

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Thuriniel



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can understand the writer's point of view when it comes to fanfiction. For example, JK Rowlings writes for children and to read a fanfic where Hermione and Snape have wild, hot sex, would be, to put it mildly, traumatizing. If I were JK Rowlings, I would especially worry that children that follow the books would find this in the internet and read it. I must add, though, that I've read articles in which JK has said that she does read HP fanfic and that some of the writers have come very close to guessing the finale of the seven books.

As I see it, when you publish your characters for the public to love (or to hate), they're out of your hands. They're your creations, yes, but they become part of other people's lives when you turn them over to them through your writing ... it's the price you pay. I was shocked one day when I received a review and the reviewer's screen name was the name of my OFC. I was surprised when one of my reviewers mentioned to me that she had come up with AUs to my own fiction ... but what are you going to do about it? Just enjoy the fact that your writing has other readers imaginations going Laughing !

And let's be realistic ... I'm sure the Tolkien state has realized by now that fanfic writers need their resources, even the ones that don't follow canon. If it weren't because I write fanfic, I would have never bothered to ask for HoME for my birthday or add Morgoth's Ring and Atlas of ME to my Christmas list. Fanfiction makes them money, plain and simple, and I don't see them complaining too loudly about that "little" fact.

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Rous



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MaglorRedeemed wrote:
Hmm... link doth not work. Neutral


Hmmmm...I tried it and it works. Maybe you just caught it at a bad time.

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inglor



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thuriniel wrote:

As I see it, when you publish your characters for the public to love (or to hate), they're out of your hands. They're your creations, yes, but they become part of other people's lives when you turn them over to them through your writing ... it's the price you pay. I was shocked one day when I received a review and the reviewer's screen name was the name of my OFC. I was surprised when one of my reviewers mentioned to me that she had come up with AUs to my own fiction ... but what are you going to do about it? Just enjoy the fact that your writing has other readers imaginations going Laughing !



I equate it to letting your daughter leave for college. You give her the best you can and hope you have instilled good morals and judgement in her. And then your friend tells you he's seen your daughter on the internet getting it from four guys who have certain anatomy that would be better suited to draft animals. She's her own person now and has free will, but that doesn't make you fell any better. She is something that you helped create and fashion. Part of your heart is in her. And though she is no longer under your control, you still ache when she is hurt or misused. Some authors feel this way about thier writing.

I'm not saying don't write fan fiction, I'm not saying don't write fan fiction where we alter the characters for our own fantasies. I'm just saying don't get too upset or think the authors are being snotty when they read their characters and plot lines being perverted into something not intended. If they feel strongly enough, like Anne McAffery and Anne Rice, they as creators and owners of thier work, will take measures that they see fit.

Unlike Rowling and the Tolkien Estate, Anne and Anne decided to yank their wayward child back home and throw her into a convent.


Inglor

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Rous



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

inglor wrote:

Unlike Rowling and the Tolkien Estate, Anne and Anne decided to yank their wayward child back home and throw her into a convent.
Inglor


Where their little child will continue to be a little child, and never learn to socialize with others. Sad

I for one am happy that those authors that are secure enough in their own minds let us play in their backyards. Anne McCaffery was one of my all time favorite authors, until she yanked her nod. I spent many an afternoon immersed in her dragon world, wishing I could be there. Now, nada. On the other hand, André Norton opened up her Witch World to other, allbeit published, authors. That shows a lot of confidence in one's self. And I always look for her books when I am needing something from my local bookstore. It is like the music world. If people did not like your songs, would they be singing and playing them? I look at it as a tribute. But I do agree with you on the perverted twists that some of them take. A nice romance is one thing. Some of what I read makes me mad. I am not above reading a little smut, where there are no parameters to guide the character, but OCC for the sake of mindless sex just drives me crazy. Just my little rant.

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SpaceWeavil



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PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been asked a couple of times if other fanfic writers could borrow some of my OCs from different things, to use in their stories. I've always said okay, as those writers have been friends who I know wouldn't, say, stick my male OCs into a slash story or something, but it still feels a bit weird. In the same breath though, I do agree with Rous. I see it as a tribute to an author, if people want to play in their universe. I'd noticed Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice on the 'do not touch' list on FF.Net, but I never knew any details about that.
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Thuriniel



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PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

inglor wrote:
Unlike Rowling and the Tolkien Estate, Anne and Anne decided to yank their wayward child back home and throw her into a convent.


Inglor


Good analogy Wink ! Free will and children ... hard to accept sometimes but necessary in order for your kids to grow up.

I don't know what their reasons are for not allowing fanfiction. In the case of Anne Rice, however, I know that some of her characters are heavily drawn on her personal life. Claudia is based on the daughter she lost to cancer - I think she was five, Louis is based on herself, and Lestat is based on her late husband. When your characters are so close to home ... I can see one becoming incredibly protective of them

I, for one, love Anne Rice. I have many of her books ... and will keep reading. Strangely, I've never had the urge of writing Vampire Chronicles or Mayfair Witches fanfic simply because Anne takes care of every little bit of detail I can think of Cool !

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