Duty of Every Writer
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| Title: | Duty of Every Writer |
| Creator: | Theoria |
| Date(s): | August 27, 2001 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | Fanfiction, RPS |
| External Links: | Duty of Every Writer/WebCite |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Duty of Every Writer is a 2001 essay by Theoria.
It is part of the Fanfic Symposium series.
Excerpts
I am a peace loving person. I am also a loving person. It tears at my soul to see writers fight among themselves over the written word. There will always be subjects that I don't care to read, but I will defend the right for a writer to write about them. You see, I may be a peaceful and loving person, but I do fight for what I consider a basic right. A right to the truth, even if it lies under fiction.
So, having said that, I would like to share my thoughts. My thoughts on what is the duty of a writer. A duty that should lie in every writer's heart.
We are all writers. We all share a rich history the moment we started stringing words together into a story. In all our differences, whether we write slash, het, fiction, non-fiction or whatever, we share a common bond. The bond is simply the love of the written word.
Writers throughout history have been tossed from the deepest part of hell to the highest part of heaven, all depending on our words. Banned books, torture, ridicule, praise, stardom, and other such words make up our history. Every writer shares in this history, this legacy, from the ones that came before us. Every story we write spreads the legacy to the ones who will come after us. They will profit from our writing, as we have profited from the ones before us.
Now, we come to our last set of writers. The ones who write real person slash (RPS). The shame. The horror. The outcries of ridicule. The mentions of banning. The torture in the form of hiding what is written from other writers.
Yes, these writers write about real people. Most of the time they put two real people into situations that lies only in the realm of fiction. With the combination of the best from het fan fiction with the best of slash TV/movie fan fiction, they write their own brand of fiction.
Their truth lies in not just making gay people acceptable just in TV shows and on their movie screens. No, they want far more. They are greedy and will push the barriers until they can find a way for them to break. They want everyone who is gay to be socially acceptable, whether they be famous or not.
RPS writers write about the world of today, marking history and questioning the morals and values of everyone. No place else can you find more gay issues written in a way to draw the reader in. The reader is drawn in because they are familiar with the real person or persons. They know the public images. They have feelings for the real person or persons. How can the reader not feel something? How can they not rethink their morals and values concerning "gay" issues?
Now, I will let another fact be known. If I should happen to be sued or accused of any wrong doing, I will tell the judge exactly what I wrote here. I will tell the real person or persons that I used the same thing. I will not apologize for my words. I will make enough noise, if that day comes, to benefit all the writers who will come after me. They will know to never be ashamed of your work, if it is done out of love.
It is my duty and my privilege. I do it for those writers who came before me. I do it for all those writers who will come behind me. I do it for all the books and words that have been banned, shoved into the dark, hidden, and ridiculed. I know the history behind the written word. I know the power. I refuse to be ashamed.