the immorality of fanfiction!!

[tielan]

Diana Gabaldon thinks fanfiction is immoral and makes her want to barf.

I'm just thinking of all those retellings of Homer and Ovid, Roman historians, Greek poets, Egyptian gods, taking the names and situations of someone else's story and creating new versions of it...

What does that remind me of? It couldn't possibly be...fanfiction, could it?

I understand that some authors don't like fanfiction about their characters - either because they see these characters one way and dislike it that other people see them any other way. Some couch it in positive terms ("I'd like to see your stories with your characters, not your stories about my characters"), and some couch it in negative. ("Fanfiction is immoral and wrong and the reason society is falling apart at the seams!")

Whatever a pro author's personal preference regarding fanfiction for their writing, it's probably going to happen anyway. They can forbid it, but forbidding only makes the fruit seem sweeter. They can rage against it, but fans won't care. They like an author's stories and an author's characters, and they want to see them in new and exciting ways, because, let's face it, professional publishing is restricted by format, rating, societal permissiveness, and what the publishing companies think people will pay for (which isn't necessarily the same as what people will pay for).

And no author can singlehandedly write all the stories their fans will want to read. Hell, I bet an author can't singlehandedly write all the stories they want to write! So fans will fill the gap themselves. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, etc., etc.

Admittedly, telling these authors "it's a compliment" isn't going to make them change their minds. Actually, Gabaldon's outburst is probably just going to spawn fanficcers who'll do exactly what she hates to her characters. It's definitely going to lose her fans.

--

Of course, you've seen synedochic's post: Modesty is a dirty word. Fuck imposter syndrome. Own your awesome.

Comments

[mara]

Note to self: Do not purchase another book by Gabaldon.

I have a rule to not read books by authors who say really really obnoxious things about fic. ::shrug::

[tielan]

Never got into her writing. I didn't mind her stories, although I think she had a thing for whumping the major male character.

Admittedly, I couldn't quite convince myself that Claire wasn't a self-insert on the part of the author: "Modern woman gets time-slipped and meets her true love, who happens to be a handsome virgin Scottish chieftain."

And...well, around the time Jamie and Claire got involved in the American Revolution, I stopped reading the series. I've read a few too many stories where the main characters have a finger in every major political pie of their period, no matter how far-flung.

[mara]

::nods:: Yeah, that's when I stopped reading too.

I like the Lord John books a lot better, but not so much that I can't give them up. If I find a used copy, I'll read the books then.

[tielan]

I didn't even read the Lord John books. Was there canonical homosexuality in it or something?

Lately, I've started to go back to the library for my reading matter. Mostly because I couldn't find enough good fanfiction of the type and kind I wanted to read to keep me afloat...

Except that some of the published fiction out there is pretty bad, too...

[mara]

Yup, canonical homosexuality. And I found Lord John to be a muuuuch more interesting character than anyone in the main series.

Oh yes, some published stuff is pretty bad. Ugh. I would do more library but with the kids and work, I find it easier to just pick stuff up on the Kindle. No deadline to return it and no need to stand in line.

[tielan]

British spy guy? *racks her brain* I have vague memories of the character in the main series (I lost track after a while of all the plots and counter plots) and I think I picked up the first of the Lord John series to read the blurb but it didn't really grab me.

I do have a tendency to only go once every few weeks - I once forgot I had books out and ended up with about $20 in fines. :/

Do you find the Kindle any good? Electronic books aren't something I've ever really seen myself getting into. There's something to be said for not reading off a screen for at least part of my day, and I like the comfort of holding a book up and turning pages...

[mara]

I like the Kindle because of the "e-ink" thing, so it doesn't strain my eyes like the computer screen. Personally, I found that after a few days it was just as comfortable as turning pages, although YMMV :)

I have a friend who loves the Nook too.

[tielan]

Hm. I might see how the parental budgets stretch for my birthday. Do you have an opinion on the e-book selection available?

[mara]

I don't really know how much is available for the Nook vs. the Kindle. However, I generally find that the majority of the books I want to read on the Kindle are available. Not all, but many of them. I think the same would be true for the Nook. And there are lots of older books available for free or very cheap. (Project Gutenberg FTW!)

I think the Nook *might* have fewer annoying rights/formats issues, so if you feel strongly about that, you might check on that.

[mirageofmae]

I thought the point in the article where she says it's one thing if you date red-headed Scottish men and another if you try to seduce her husband... For me this confirms Claire as self-insert, even if she didn't mean it that way. I wonder if some of her revulsion about people writing her characters is just from plain ol' jealously that anyone else would get to play in her fantasy.

[tielan]

I wonder if some of her revulsion about people writing her characters is just from plain ol' jealously that anyone else would get to play in her fantasy.

It might be. In which case, she'd see fanfiction as essentially RPF.

[copracat]

It reminds me a little of those male Blake's 7 fans who objected to slash because Avon couldn't be gay: I'm Avon, they would exclaim.

[ninja007]

I used to have people rec her books, but they never grabbed me. And I usually love time travel, Scottish books. I adored Karen Marie Moning Scottish time travel series.

I never wanted to read the "Twilight" books either...

[mara]

Yeah, no desire to read Twilight! But I did enjoy a number of Gabaldon's books. ::sigh:: But now even if I were willing to buy them, my enjoyment would be dimmed. I hate when writers are dumb.

[(Anonymous)]

I assume this is more meaningful if one knows who Diana Galawhatsit is :)

- Alli

[tielan]

Probably. Published author, wrote a series called 'Outlander' back in the 90s about a woman who stepped back from the present day to 18th Century Scotland.

More recently, wrote a 'spinoff' series about one of the side characters in the Outlander series - Lord John Grey.

ps. You should be able to log into Dreamwidth in via OpenId, using your LJ username...

I really don't care what the authors think....

[ninja007]

The way I feel about it, they don't like it because they aren't making money off it. They feel it's one way to steal their stuff.

I disagree and don't care what they think. I even know of two authors who went on to write their own characters and were published, Martha Wells (scifi fiction) and Teri White (who had been writing mystery and doesn't write any longer). I know one who went to work for George Lucas.

So, these authors can bite my ass....

Re: I really don't care what the authors think....

[tielan]

Actually, I'd say that fanfiction tends to make the original more popular...assuming the original is good enough to hold the second-wave of readers, who tend to be more critical than the first-wave of "ooh, cool idea, I like these characters/situation - let's write fanfic!"

[thothmes]

I've said this elsewhere, but basically I found her outburst very hypocritical in view of the fact that the entire historical romance genre is largely a rip-off homage to Jane Austen, sometimes with added sex. And yes, there is a significant Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre component to them as well. And her own inspirations (Dr. Who is one she herself admits to) are still under copyright.

The only argument that she made that gained some sympathy for her is the problem of constantly being contacted by her agent about the necessity to defend the copyrighted characters. I imagine that this must be draining and take time and energy from writing. But I also think that this is analogous to the celebrities who spend years working, struggling, and auditioning unsuccesfully - with all of the toll this takes on self-esteem - to make it big, and then complain that they have no privacy because people are interested in what they do. Boo-hoo! Comes with the territory, and if you were even a little reflective about the way this world works, you would have been able to predict this. Now are you going to whine about it, or laugh about it, and which will lead to a better quality of life?

That said, I have great sympathy for any celebrity who has to deal with stalkers or worries about the safety of their family members. That is above and beyond, and we should all condemn that side effect of celebrity and success.

[tielan]

Yes, I think that's one of the reasons it made a big splash - since she hasn't really folllowed her own rules.

I've found one very good response to fanfiction from author Jim Butcher, actually. He allows it as Creative Commons licence, whereby the fanficcer agrees not to make a profit from it, and also waives any right to sue Jim if he writes a similar idea in a subsequent book.

It's sensible, it deals with fanfiction while still covering the author's ass and allowing the fans to have their sandbox...

Sanity prevails.

At least, until the next pro-author starts frothing at the mouth...