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Rhapsody
Joined: 11 Apr 2004
Posts: 1153
Location: Maglor's Lap
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 Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| RobinKa wrote: | | ghettoelleth wrote: | | The issues that some people have with their husbands makes me very sad. That the person who is supposed to stand by you in life would put their wife down, belittle her or make her feel less than valuable is truly tragic. |
I'm beginning to understand I don't need my husband's support if he doesn't want to give me any. I just wish he stopped making me feel guilty for what I'm doing because I find nothing wrong in writing fan fiction. He doesn't seem to understand it, and he expresses his attitude in a rather rude way. Needless to say such actions only make me want to quit writing, but on the other hand I don't want to fail my friends and their faith in me.
Just my 2 euro cents.
Binka |
I raise you with 2 euro cents  I think I told you before, just as long if I know someone likes you and others, stand besides me, supports me when 'it happens again' or when I have to apologise for it, I can hold on and get the best out of it. But when the battle is on two fronts, it's hard to keep hanging on and wondering for yourself for what purpose you're doing it. Because when the scale gets unbalanced, it's easier to let it go. And I often felt like letting go and only felt safe with a few here to express that. 
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NeumeIndil
Joined: 06 Jun 2005
Posts: 1084
Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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| Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:01 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | If I understood correctly what you, NeumeIndil, said then you wouldn’t have a problem with shedding your anonymity to the people you have come to know in the forum (my interpretation: because you know they share your interest in fanwriting/you know you won’t be prejudiced/you will be accepted for who you are?), but you would like to keep your fanwriting activities a secret to people in real life, because you don’t find the same tolerance for your interests there.(?) |
That's correct. I am a college student with majors in literature and theatre, so the issue of copyright infringement becomes a bit more involved in my case. The main question or comment I get when talking about fan fic is that it's illegal [true, technically speaking] and stupid [an opinion that I don't happen to share] and "You don't have anything to do with that crap, right?" How is one to answer that question without starting an argument? I'd rather not argue about it; there are more important issues to discuss than whether or not something I pursue as a hobby meets someone else's ideas of "worth", so I keep it a little known fact. Put shortly, yes, the attitude that it's bad to play with someone else's toys is a prevailing reason I separate this particular hobby and the rest of my life. I don't see fan fic as disrespecting the original author's work or "writing someone else's stories", though others I know do. Truthfully, as a writer, I would be pretty proud to create a fictional world or story that other people would like to participate in and I see nothing wrong with enjoying some one else's intellectual property in that way as long as no financial gain is made from the use. If the work isn't meant for other people to enjoy, why write it in the first place?
| Quote: | | If someone comes up to you at a social gathering and asks you about your hobbies, do you say that you write fanfiction? Do people respond positively? Would it be different if you said that you wrote fiction? |
I usually just say "I write" as part of the list of hobbies and leave the genre etc. out of the conversation. In my area, emphasis is placed on tangible output, what one can make or what skill one has that will benefit the rest of the community. Essentially, people only want to know how they can use someone else. Unfortunately, writers, performers and artists here find the reception rather chilly. I'm very selective about who reads my mainstream work, so if a casual conversation turns to what I write, I go through it knowing that the person I'm speaking with isn't likely to read anything I've done, fan fic or mainstream, and may have only a minimal understanding of or interest in literature, art or performance. The fact that I write period is frowned upon by many in this part of the world; writing for pleasure with characters and settings someone else created is completely useless.
| Quote: | | To those of you who expressed a need to keep your fanwritings a secret: do you feel that it is frustrating to have to keep it a secret, or do you feel that it is nice to keep this side of you to yourself? |
No, but mostly because I'm very private about anything I write, regardless of genre or medium. It isn't a strain on me to keep it private because I keep almost everything I write to myself except for editing situations or when classes require that the work be shared. Writing is, and always has been, my release and I had several unfortunate experiences with journals or manuscripts being stolen or "found" and read without my consent that have made me very cautious about who sees what I write. The anonymity of the Internet allows me to share what I feel are the better parts of my fan writing while still keeping me safe in a sense from the pain I remember from those journals of years ago. I put a lot of myself into everything I write, and while I have met several people on line who I would love to befriend in person, the idea that most don't know me in real life makes it safe for me to share what I enjoy.
| Quote: | | Did any of you write fanfiction before you joined a fanfiction forum? If yes, how did you feel about writing, when you didn’t have like-minded people to share it with? |
I began writing it before I began reading it in earnest and joined this particular forum because people here know Tolkien well. My own works required information I simply didn't know where or how to find and my desire to be as true to Tolkien as possible while still indulging in fic led me to find people who understand the world he created. Before I found the forums I was quite apprehensive about the enormity of Tolkien's universe and trying to find a way to play in it without violating its structure. That part, at least, has become easier now.
Please feel free to quote any of my posts that may benefit your research. Thank you for taking an objective and thorough look at what it is we do. The answers and discussions I've read here have made me wonder if perhaps the perception of fan fic is less harsh than I believe or perhaps varies on a locational basis. I am a female college student, 24 years old, in the midwestern United States. If you have any other questions or concerns that you wish to discuss with me specifically, feel free to PM me or use the email address in my profile. I am happy to help in any way I can.
Thanks again,
Neume
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NancyBrooke
Challenge Admin
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 160
Location: In a motel 6 by the airport
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| Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 9:11 am Post subject: |
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Okie Dokie ... my turn (rolls up sleaves, cracks knuckles):
| Quote: | | You feel that it is necessary to keep your fanwriting identity a secret in real life, because you have experienced/expect that people, who don’t share your interest in fanfiction will not take you seriously? |
Not to be taken seriously is also to be taken as 'other,' 'different,' 'lesser.'
We toss the word "geek" around here pretty lightly (look at Inglor's signature, e.g.), but it remains a pejorative term, taken up by those it has been applied to as a joke/defense/celebration whatever. And I've been several types of geek along the way, membership packages all coming complete with a sense of isolation and ostracization. Not to lie down on the couch or anything, but when you play D&D in highschool and read SciFi you're not likely to be voted "most likely to" just about anything. And in high school that kind of thing tends to make a difference in how one feels about one's self.
| Quote: | | And if this is true, why do you think people will react like that – is it because they don’t really know what fanfiction is, or do you think it is because they know what it is, but they think ill of it (or a completely different reason)? |
It's because they think they know what fanfiction is - an abnormal obsession with something unreal - fictional - fantasy-like.
| Quote: | | Does anyone else feel like this (that anonymity to the other forum members doesn’t mean that much to you)? |
Well ... I'm leary of 'revealing' myself to those I've come to know here though I've had opportunity  and you all could probably pick me out of a lineup by now though sight-unseen (that's her! I'd know her anywhere officer - her hands all red like that ... with correction pencil!!!  ). No rational reason.
| Quote: | | If someone comes up to you at a social gathering and asks you about your hobbies, do you say that you write fanfiction? |
Like Ghetto, I don't get asked that question. People say "what do you do?" meaning a job, and I answer that I stay at home with my daughter. That carries prejudices of its own, of course. That question could very well be followed up with "yes, but what do you do?"  If pressed, I might say I dabble in writing fiction, but not fanfiction.
| Quote: | | Would it be different if you said that you wrote fiction? |
Yes, as above.
| Quote: | | To those of you who expressed a need to keep your fanwritings a secret: do you feel that it is frustrating to have to keep it a secret, or do you feel that it is nice to keep this side of you to yourself? |
Yes, and no. Now that my daughter wants to learn how to take showers it's nice to have something that's still mine just mine.
| Quote: | | Did any of you write fanfiction before you joined a fanfiction forum? |
No, not really. I wrote when I was young, i.e. middle school, but that was just teenage fantasy stuff and angsty poetry. Crapola. I studied writing (of others, that is), and became convinced (not incorrectly, I think), that critical writing is more my strength. Even now, I've been asked if I enjoy this so much, why aren't I trying to write a novel? but the idea of inventing all those people and circumstances from scratch! just seems beyond me.
| Quote: | | From the survey I can see that most of you are very happy to be part of a community. Could you elaborate a bit on that? Does it give you something which your social network in real life cannot give you? |
Yes - besides folks to bounce Tolkien questions off of -- you all are just like a talking library reference desk, you know that don't you? - -- I treasure being able both to get feedback for my work and to be able to give it. I'm a naturally critical person  OK, maybe evaluatory is a better word, and it's nice to be able to do what I'm good at. Completing a story - or even a good paragraph (ok, sentence) - or writing a review that's helpful is a very concrete sense of accomplishment for me when my full time job is the ineffably rewarding one of child-rearing.
I've been happy to tell my husband I got some awards, and just as happy to say to him "I wrote a good paragraph today"  and I heard from so-and-so at OSA today and they were really glad for the review I gave their work ...
And you can quote me on that
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ZeeDrippyVessel
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 144
Location: deep south
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| Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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| ghettoelleth wrote: | | My husband, my 18 year old son, and my husband's friend Aaron are all in love with Al...I don't even want to know, lol. |
I thought your husband was in love with me.
Now I shall pout. 
The survey was gone when I got to it. What were the questions? I don't mind answering here...
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RoxieRxChicago
Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 0
Location: Kentucky
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| Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 11:01 am Post subject: |
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| What is interesting to me about fanfiction communities is how there are many people who, for whatever reason, wish to remain anonymous, and on the other end there are those who don't care whether people know who they are or not. I for one, am somewhere in the middle. As far as reading fanfic goes I freely admit that I do it, and that I enjoy it. My friends just kind of shake their heads and laugh and chalk it up as being another one of my eccentricities. I have to agree with Neume though that coming out of the proverbial fanfic closet was even harder than come out of the broom closet. It's funny (not really haha funny, but funny none the less) to me that there's not as much of a stigma surrounding being a pagan as there is around reading and/or writing fanfiction (and I live in Ohio so that's saying something). It doesn't bother me to tell you all where I live and what I do. I wouldn't care if all of you knew my real name either. The thing I am completely closeted about is writing fanfic (or anything for that matter). I'm very self critical, and while I have started several things, I haven't finished them because I get frustrated long about the 12th chapter or so. I start second guessing my characters, the plot line, the dialogue, what have you, so I abandon it with the attention of coming back and fixing things, but then they end up just staying as is and taking up space on my hard drive. I imagine finding a good beta would alleviate alot of my misgivings as they would have some ideas as to how to tweak and fix things, but even getting to the point of asking someone to read what I've written in order to beta it for me is something that, to this point, I haven't been able to convince myself to do. Most of the fic that I have read on this sight is so well-written that I'm intimidated (and I'm not easily intimidated in general). I don't want to suck, and while my sister (who has read most of what I've written, and is an incredible writer herself) tells me she thinks my writing is good, she's my sister and I'm not sure she'd have the balls to tell me if my writing blows. So up to this point I have kept my writing to myself and been content to enjoy other people's writing. |
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Alassante
Virtual Village Mod
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 20
Location: Hitchhiking to Rivendell
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| Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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| ZeeDrippyVessel wrote: | | ghettoelleth wrote: | | My husband, my 18 year old son, and my husband's friend Aaron are all in love with Al...I don't even want to know, lol. |
I thought your husband was in love with me.
Now I shall pout. |
Don't be a playah hater! hehe Actually her husband is so in love with her the two of them are like Beren and Luthien. Its so damn cute, I want one like him!
I am a closet fan fiction person. My husband and son know. As does my sister who introduced me to reading it. But my husband doesn't get to see anything I write. He'd probably laugh at the romance aspect. In fact, I have shown him some non-romance drabbles and he has made little comments that annoyed me. When I talk about it, his eyes glaze over and I get the lectures at 4am when I stay up writing with G. Luckily I have a great support group of friends. G even warns me when its getting close to 'curfew' and no one of my friends ever questions if I suddenly have to bolt to argue with him about being online or writing. Alot of my friends are going through stuff with their husband and their writing as well so we're in the same boat. Hopefully its not a sinking one! My sister, the only one I was willing to let read them, said, I don't read WIPs when I gave her my story list.
I'm not embarassed by my writing (any more) or think ill of fan fiction. But every one of my non-writing friends kinda give me that look of 'how weird' when they realize how obsessed I am with LOTR. I got a tattoo a few years ago and had a dedication to my father on it who died in '98. I had it done in elvish because I thought elvish was beautiful and magical. When people see it, they comment how beautiful it is then I tell them its elvish and they look at me like I'm insane for tattooing it on me. Yet its okay to get a Mickey Mouse tattoo but Elvish is weird. Whatever. If I didn't have my friends network on here, I probably would have quit writing because of the fights at home due to my time dedicated to it. But my husband will play video games for hours and its okay. No, I'm not bitter about being called internet obsessed!  At least my teenage son isn't ashamed that I write it. Although he hasn't read any (he's too young and its too old), he thinks its cool that I like LOTR this much and encourages the habit. But I cannot get him to read the books. He says - why? They're out on movies now.
As far as whether or not fan fiction is a 'lesser' art than original fiction, some is, some isn't. There are some stories that are just written so a writer can self insert herself/himself into an OC and have sex with elves/men/hobbits/etc. There are some on other sites that the characters are so OOC you wonder if people even read the books. I know this because a few of my first stories (now safely hidden on my hard drive) were like that! But when I came here, I discovered good writers who just happened to be writing fan fiction vs. original fiction. Alot of the writers here could write original fic and I would buy the book in a heartbeat. They just love the world of Tolkien so much, they play in his world rather than recreating their own. Some of the stories on here and a couple of other quality sites are so complex in plot and so well written, I know the writer could easily write original. I'm kinda glad they don't though!  Will I ever quit to write original? probably not Even if I were that good, I don't know if I could create a whole world like he did on my own. I have never had dreams of being a professional writer - its just something I enjoy.
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MetteBL
Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:22 am Post subject: |
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Dear all of you,
We have finally finished our paper. It was a stressful period leading up to deadline on December 20th, but we managed. Both Heidi and I are very grateful for your participation in this discussion. We found that many of the things you mentioned were so important that they ended up being our primary focus – leaving the original survey to function primarily as background information. In other words: We couldn’t have done it without you!
I include a link to a translated version of the paper’s conclusion, and I hope that it will not let you down. It is indeed very difficult to sum up a paper of 60 pages in a conclusion of just one page, and I hope that you will bear that in mind when reading it. I also include a link to the paper, should some of you like to practice your Danish a bit. 
Thanks again, and a merry Christmas to all of you,
Mette
The conclusion in English:
http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mettebl/P3/Conclusion.pdf
The paper in Danish:
http://www.hum.aau.dk/~mettebl/P3/Fanfiction%20og%20identitet.pdf |
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