Karen GoatKeeper's Blog - Posts Tagged "fangirl"
Writing Fan Fiction
Everyone’s seen a movie or read a book with an ending that grates, one not the one wanted or expected. If you write out the ending you want, you are writing fan fiction.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tried to kill Sherlock Holmes off. There was such a wave of protest, he brought the detective back to life. Even though he is long gone, new Holmes stories keep appearing. All of these are fan fiction.
There are countless examples of fan fiction. With the advent of the internet, hundreds of writers are busy writing stories for their favorite characters.
I’d never thought much about fan fiction. I do fantasize new endings from time to time. I prefer to write my own stories.
A young friend recommended a book to me. She has good taste in books, so I checked the book out.
“Fangirl” is about Cather, a girl starting her freshman year at college and an avid writer of fan fiction. Her fiction centers on two characters from a fictional series with the final book due out the next year. She has an outline, an idea, a plotline, all the things a regular writer would have. She has a deadline: the release date, the culmination of two years of writing.
Much of the book does center on college freshman problems. The parts on fan fiction explain what it is, how it works and the challenges it gives to a girl who loves to write, but is afraid she can’t create her own characters and settings.
This is one problem with fan fiction. It is based on someone else’s characters and settings. That author has the last word about these. This author can destroy whole reams of fan fiction with a single scene. And the fan fiction writers can do nothing about it.
Another problem is not being able to publish the results of writing these stories. Fan fiction, according to the novel, is only legit if the author of it does not sell it. Fan fiction novels can only be published if the author or estate gives permission.
Why write fan fiction?
Cather wrote her story because she loved the characters and wanted to create her own story revolving around them. She wrote her story because she felt safe using a known set of characters and setting. She loved to write and this gave her a chance to write and have other people read and comment on her work letting her improve her writing and find her voice all within this safe setting.
Cather’s English professor didn’t like fan fiction. In her opinion concentrating on fan fiction writing kept Cather from developing her own stories.
Lots of people find writing fan fiction rewarding. They don’t want to write their own stories except in the given framework.
For myself, I am glad to have a better understanding of fan fiction. I will continue to create my own stories.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tried to kill Sherlock Holmes off. There was such a wave of protest, he brought the detective back to life. Even though he is long gone, new Holmes stories keep appearing. All of these are fan fiction.
There are countless examples of fan fiction. With the advent of the internet, hundreds of writers are busy writing stories for their favorite characters.
I’d never thought much about fan fiction. I do fantasize new endings from time to time. I prefer to write my own stories.
A young friend recommended a book to me. She has good taste in books, so I checked the book out.
“Fangirl” is about Cather, a girl starting her freshman year at college and an avid writer of fan fiction. Her fiction centers on two characters from a fictional series with the final book due out the next year. She has an outline, an idea, a plotline, all the things a regular writer would have. She has a deadline: the release date, the culmination of two years of writing.
Much of the book does center on college freshman problems. The parts on fan fiction explain what it is, how it works and the challenges it gives to a girl who loves to write, but is afraid she can’t create her own characters and settings.
This is one problem with fan fiction. It is based on someone else’s characters and settings. That author has the last word about these. This author can destroy whole reams of fan fiction with a single scene. And the fan fiction writers can do nothing about it.
Another problem is not being able to publish the results of writing these stories. Fan fiction, according to the novel, is only legit if the author of it does not sell it. Fan fiction novels can only be published if the author or estate gives permission.
Why write fan fiction?
Cather wrote her story because she loved the characters and wanted to create her own story revolving around them. She wrote her story because she felt safe using a known set of characters and setting. She loved to write and this gave her a chance to write and have other people read and comment on her work letting her improve her writing and find her voice all within this safe setting.
Cather’s English professor didn’t like fan fiction. In her opinion concentrating on fan fiction writing kept Cather from developing her own stories.
Lots of people find writing fan fiction rewarding. They don’t want to write their own stories except in the given framework.
For myself, I am glad to have a better understanding of fan fiction. I will continue to create my own stories.
