The Fan Fiction Rant - Fanlore

Science-fiction author Robin Hobb, (Farseer, Liveship Traders, and Tawny Man trilogies), is outspoken in her dislike and disapproval of fanfiction. In this essay, she explores why, pointing out what she's been told in favor of fanfic, and what she finds wrong with each of those points. She defines fanfiction as "fiction written by a ‘fan’ or reader, without the consent of the original author, yet using that author’s characters and world," and claims it is:

• identity theft
• saying, "the original author really screwed up the story, so I’m going to fix it"^[1]
• to writing what a cake mix is to gourmet cooking
• infringing on copyright

Fan Reactions

Several fans have been outspoken in their disagreement of Hobb's definition, examples, and conclusions.

• If Hobb doesn't want my "impression" to be changed, she should ban reviews. Hell, she should even ban me from blogging my impressions and interpretations, because *gasp* they might affect the ideas of others! ...there's nothing really wrong with writing masturbation fantasies, being an Elvis impersonator, or making things out of cake mix.^[2]

• I don't think it's at all unreasonable to assume that a reader can simultaneously value the original story and wish to indulge in "what-if" games with it. Fanfic writers who have the Fellowship pause for a brief man-on-elf orgy before setting out from Rivendell aren't insisting that Tolkien fucked up his own work by not including such a scene-- they're just mixing the mental flavors of two things that appeal to them. Buying into Hobb's presumption here strikes me as akin to saying that writers of alternate history are dishonoring real historical events with their conjectures....^[3]

• Oh, and let me say that yes, writing fanfiction *can* be used as a way to improve one's fiction writing abilities. It's all to do with how you take advantages of the particular challenges and opportunities it provides, in addition to other ways of practicing writing. The statement that "You will learn more from writing one story of your own, no matter how bad it is, than the most polished Inuyasha fan fiction that you write" is very, very false.^[4]

• There's a very capitalist, very Protestant mindset behind this: even if they're not making money off 'my' characters, they shouldn't be able to have that much fun with them, dammit! They're MINE! ^[5]

References

1. ↑ Some fans (ie, me, Betty) speculate Hobbs' aversion to fanfiction may stem partly from critical fan reaction to the ending of her Tawney Man series.
2. ↑ Robin Hobb on Fanfiction by worldserpent
3. ↑ On Fanfic and the Ownership of Imaginary Experience by scott_lynch
4. ↑ Robin Hobb by sigelphoenix
5. ↑ In Defense of Fanfiction by Guestblogger Justin