Fun vs. good
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| Title: | fun vs. good |
| Creator: | Alexfandra |
| Date(s): | January 7, 1994 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | |
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| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
fun vs. good is a 1994 essay by Alexfandra.
It was posted to Virgule-L.
Some Topics Discussed
- fanfiction and quality
- fanfiction and expectations, enjoyment
- Sturgeon's Law
- this fan really, really liked the Professionals story November
From the Essay
I do tend to think the general level of taste is low, and mediocre writing is certainly popular. As far as I can tell, that's the way it is in all fields of writing, and it doesn't surprise me, and it doesn't even upset me much, for one simple reason. I read mediocre writing all the time myself, and most of the time I enjoy it. One person's crap is another person's filet mignon. I am not, believe it if you will, an elitist snob. Just because I occasionally make some sort of literary discernment, e.g., "this pile of fanfic is better written, better thought out, and contains more depth than that pile of fanfic over there which is fairly standard stuff", doesn't mean that all I want to read is Sebastian's "November" over and over.
I want both. Just because I say that 90% of fanfic is crap doesn't mean I don't enjoy reading it. I do. I enjoy reading it for what it is-- stories written by amateur writers about characters I happen to enjoy spending time with.
The only thing I don't want is truly vile fanfic. So far, I think that sort of thing is a small part of fanfic. The majority falls into that middle range, neither "high quality" nor "bottom of the barrel", but into simply "readable".
Fanfic, for the most part, is amateur writing. Because of its very nature (i.e., writers can't make money off it), slash fandom is never going to be anything else, and frankly, I don't think it should be. There are a few professional-level writers in fandom -- by that, I mean that "real" magazine or book publishers will pay them for their work.
And if those writers eventually succeed at that, many, if not most, of them, will abandon slash writing. Some of the potential "pro" writers have no interest in "regular" publishing, and thus will keep their talents firmly in the slash field. And then there are your "average" slash writers -- most of them haven't written any other kind of fiction before, and are simply inspired by their particular fandom to turn out a story, for fun. Others may have professional aspirations, and are using slash fandom's openness to beginning writers as a "proving" ground. It's good practice. And I think that's a good thing. And no, I don't mind reading their efforts. The only writers I tend to be disappointed in are those few "top" ones, from whom I've come to expect more.
Amateur, beginning writers make up the bulk of fandom. The majority are doing it for fun, and I think the majority of readers are fully aware of this situation and, if they've been around more than six months, they pretty much know what they're getting when they buy a particular zine.
And to be even more frank (but not Frank), I'll tell you right here and now that for the most part, so-called "literary" slash usually does absolutely zilch for me. More often than not, in the name of Character Psychology, Analysis of Motivation and Emotions, experimentation, and "Depth", it loses sight of things like Captivating Plot and Dialogue. Not to mention the overall level of depressing stories that tend to emerge. I read slash for escapist entertainment, and I make no excuses for that. Recently I made a list of my top 50 favorite pieces of fanfic for a newbie, and there was ONE zine on it ("Unprofessional Conduct 1"), and ONE zine story ("November"), and the rest was circuit stuff. Good stuff. Not top "quality", but entertaining.
In the long run, 90% of everything is crap. There is Escapist Entertainment Crap, and there is Thought-Provoking "Realistic" Crap. I happen to prefer the former.
And yes, I DO prefer to write slash without having to agonize over rewrites on editorial demand (though so far the editors I've worked with have been excellent), and without having my will to write sucked dry by over-analysis. Yeah, I'm in it for the fun of it. I always try to do a good job, but sometimes I just want to get a story down on paper and then not think about it anymore, and move on to the next thing. Fandom has always been a very open place that allows people to explore their ideas without a lot of censure, criticism, or competitiveness, and why not encourage that kind of creativity?
I rarely feel ripped off when buying the products of this sort of creativity, either. It didn't take me long to figure out which publishers to absolutely avoid. Sometimes I still make a mistake, but that's ok. There are plenty of fans who DO buy those "bad" zines, and who enjoy the contents, and many of them are eager to try their own stories out in those zines. Fandom has a variety of markets, and zine publishers cater to those different markets, just as in any other business. I don't buy Harlequin romances; plenty of other people do. I think they're crap, but I don't think anybody should ever discourage anyone from printing it or reading it, or even enjoying it.
[...]
I can't see consciously churning out "adequate" fanfic because it's "faster to write" than the "good" stuff. I turn out escapist entertainment because that's what I like to read, and that's what I enjoy writing, not because it's easier.