Fan Fiction ~ My Road to Publication
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| Title: | Fan Fiction ~ My Road to Publication |
| Creator: | Jen |
| Date(s): | 2007 (posted to the internet in 2010) |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | multi |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Welcome to Fanfic 101: Where stories come to learn!, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Fan Fiction ~ My Road to Publication is a 2007 essay by "Professor Jen," one of the "lectures" at Fanfic 101.
"Whatever your feeling toward fan fiction, it is definitely a cultural phenomenon that is here to stay."
This essay was originally written in 2007 for the "Heart to Heart," the chapter newsletter of the North Texas chapter of Romance Writers of America (NTRWA).
Some Topics Discussed
- what is fanfic?
- some examples of TPTB and legal hassles for fans
- the supposed abundance of Dukes of Hazzard slash fic
- that someone's thesis stated that "most" fanfic is written by 17-year old girls, but this author does not find this to be true
- some erroneous statements, including that most Star Trek fic was written by men
- that even though the characters in shows such as Starsky & Hutch where the "the male leads were portrayed as your normal red-blooded American men and interested in women," fans write slash
- virtual seasons
- how the show Moonlighting stamped out TPTB's interest in pairing up romantic leads
- comments about The X-Files and MSR
Excerpts
Most people probably believe fan fiction originated in the late 1960s with the TV show Star Trek. But you might be surprised to know that fan fiction has been around for centuries. Yep, you read right. Centuries, not decades.
Unauthorized, published sequels to Don Quixote are some of the first instances of fan fiction that can be traced. Alice in Wonderland, and Sherlock Holmes have also been subject to fan-authored parodies, revisions, or sequels.
But what drives people to borrow someone else’s characters and their settings and create a new story? I think part of it depends on the genre or fandom you’re in.
Today, many creators and writers of TV shows fear, what is called by some, the ‘Moonlighting Syndrome.’ You remember that comedy detective show from the late 80s with Sybil [sic] Sheppard and Bruce Willis? The writers had the brilliant idea of allowing the lead characters to have a relationship. Well, the ratings went downhill quickly after that. The fans, who’d been lured in by the sexual tension, no longer had a reason to tune in. So now, male & female leads are rarely allowed to get together.
The X-Files is a classic example of this. It aired for nine wonderfully strange years. There was never any doubt that Mulder and Scully were meant only for each other, but Chris Carter and his team of writers kept them apart. The fans were reeled in week after week, hoping for some small tidbit of acknowledgement between the two. And they got it just often enough to keep ‘em coming back. For nine years. And their faithfulness paid off. Eventually, Mulder and Scully lived mysteriously ever after.
However, some fans didn’t want to wait who-knew-how-long, so they wrote their own stories. Some read like an episode with an X-File thrown in, but at the end of the day, Mulder and Scully went home together. Others went straight for the romance, conjuring up ways to get Mulder and Scully together. These ranged from sweet to quite erotic tales.
Sometimes, even the wait between seasons was just too long for die-hard fans. In one fandom, what was dubbed a 'virtual season’ was put together. A group of fan fic authors wrote, individually, at least one "episode" of the show for somewhere between 10-13 episodes. The episodes "aired" – were added to the virtual season web site – each week, usually the same day the show normally aired on TV. The first "episode" of the summer would start where the real writers left off. (Or not.) Then the authors of subsequent "episodes" would follow along. At least once, the VS authors of this particular fandom got together ahead of time and planned out the summer story arc.
Arguably, most people, especially the thousands, perhaps millions, of fan fic authors believe it’s okay to borrow someone else’s characters, if not legally, then ethically. Disclaimers usually precede the stories – something along the lines of ‘not mine, just borrowing, not making any money off this’ – thinking this will keep the lawsuits at bay. It seems though that most of the original authors or large studios/companies/creators find that fan fiction is a bonus. It creates buzz and further interest in their product.
Although, in 1999, Twentieth Century Fox actually contacted the owners of The Slayers FanFic Archive with cease and desist letters. Those people obediently took down their web site and removed their fic from the Web. And despite Gene Roddenberry’s enthusiasm, Paramount Pictures was not as keen on the fan fiction phenomenon, although I didn’t see any information that they actually forced the issue.
J.K. Rowling has said she is flattered by the fan fiction, although she definitely would prefer that sexually explicit stories not be written. Anne Rice, on the other hand, has gone to great lengths to keep people from writing, or at least posting, fan fiction that features her characters. She even requested that FanFiction.net remove any stories featuring her characters.
Robin Hobb, a fantasy author, in a rant on her web site, which has since been removed (the rant, not the web site), feels that not only is fan fiction a copyright violation, but that fan fic writers are second class, perhaps even forth class, citizens, in terms of talent and skill. That they write fan fiction because they lack the talent or skill to write anything original.
...I heard several years ago, that the subject of fan fiction came up on one of RWA’s specialty chapter loops, and even some published authors admitted to writing fan fiction. One reason cited was that it offered them a break from their own story, while still keeping them in writing mode. That blows the talent and skill theory. Obviously, published RWA members do have the ability and talent to create original works. And it probably takes just as much skill to keep someone else’s character true to form as it does to create an original one.
Because of the availability of the Internet, anyone can—and does—post fan fic to the Web. There are a lot of immensely talented fan fic writers out there. There are a lot of acceptable writers out there. And there’s a lot of crap out there. That’s one of the main pitfalls to reading it – trying to find the wheat in all the tares.
It might surprise you to know that these days it seems that most of the fan fiction is written by teenage girls. One woman, writing her thesis, conducted a poll, the results of which claimed that 17-year-old girls are the most prolific writers of fan fic. I think that, too, it depends on the fandom. JAG, for instance, appealed to a more mature audience, and from my personal experience, the writers tended to be adult women in their mid- to late-twenties to fifty-somethings. In the early days of fan fiction, i.e. the Star Trek reign, most of it was written by men, but these days, I’d wager more women than men are penning fan fiction in general.
The other thing that might shock a lot of people, parents especially, is the proliferation of X-rated fan fiction including slash fiction, which are stories about same sex relationships. And according to that same woman, much of it written by those same young ladies.
The writing of such homeo-erotic tales can sometimes be attributed to the fact that women tend look for the relationship factor in any pairing. And with the absence of any likely female character, they’ll pair up the two male protagonists, even if there is no likelihood what-so-ever in the original medium. Indeed, The Dukes of Hazzard and Starsky & Hutch slash fic abound, despite the fact that the male leads were portrayed as your normal red-blooded American men and interested in women. Not that I’ve read any Hazzard or S&H fic of any kind. Really. Another reason proposed as to why teenagers write erotic fic, whether between men and women or between same sex couples, is that they’re exploring their sexuality. I’m sure there are other factors.
Most people who do write fan fic tend to keep that fact a secret, especially if it’s X-rated, claiming that others wouldn’t understand and that they’d be viewed differently by their real friends and family. On the Net, however, one is protected by pseudonyms. People feel free to explore and experiment when they are anonymous.