Shady Thoughts: Why I Like Reading/Writing Fan Fiction
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| Title: | Shady Thoughts: Why I Like Reading/Writing Fan Fiction |
| Creator: | Misty Lackey |
| Date(s): | Winter 1985 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Wars is the focus, but it applies to all fandoms |
| Topic: | |
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Shady Thoughts: Why I Like Reading/Writing Fan Fiction is a 1985 essay by Misty Lackey. It has the subtitle: "(or, Stick It in Your Ears, People, MJ Holmes Does Good Stuff!)."
It was printed in Shadowstar #17 and is part of the Shady Thoughts essay series.
Some Topics Discussed
- Marion Zimmer Bradley and her encouragement of fanfiction
- fanfiction authors who've gone pro: Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Jean Lorrah, Diana Paxton, others
- why writing and reading fanfiction is so appealing
From the Essay
Marion Zimmer Bradley, who is an active encourager of fans who want to write fiction based in her world of Darkover, has said numerous times that she'd like to read more Darkover stories, and, by getting the fans to do it, she can do so without going through all the work of writing it herself!
Well, that's probably why we all do these weird things: we've fallen in love with a certain universe and world-view, but there just isn't enough of it around. You can only watch Star Wars a finite number of times before you can recite the dialogue with the sound turned off (which, by the by, is what happened recently at a theater I went to when the sound system failed for about ten minutes). When that happens, there's only one thing to do: you go out and build more detail into that universe yourself, or you read what others have done there. Since George Lucas won't create more magic for us (to the exclusion of eating, sleeping, and other pursuits), we have to fill the void, somehow.
Those who deride the medium of fan fiction — especially that centered around media fantasy — ought to take a good look at themselves, sometime. What is it they're complaining about? Is it that the fan writer is not using creations of his/her own imagination? What's the problem with that? Get thee out. Doubting Thomas, and seek thee the booksellers upon whose walls thou shalt find the names of Lichtenberg and Lorrah (who started out writing Trek fiction), Paxton (who wrote Trek and Darkover), Heydron (Darkover), Shwartz (Witch World) — I could go on at length, for there's still more. If thou hast doubts yet, I have in my collection a fan-fictional piece by MZB herself, based in Middle Earth! ("The Jewel of Arwen," The Year's Best Fantasy , edited by Lin Carter, DAW Books.)
What this translates to is this: a beginning author has to have something to start with.
There is nothing harder than creating your own universe; trust me. I have two fairly decent shorts sitting forlornly on disks, waiting for me to get a brainstorm, both rejected (and rightly so) because the universes they were set in were "too generic." It's too much to expect of someone who is just learning what this business is all about to have to come up with everything on his/her own. Fan-fiction/media-fiction is an excellent place to start; all your backgrounds and characterizations are there waiting for you. All you have to do is fill in a plot.
All. Well, not quite. You also have to remain true to the original universe. That is where the worst fan-fiction falls apart. The characterizations are not true; they're not even approximate. The things these authors have them saying/doing is not only out of character, it's not even consistent with anything chat's gone before. It's "authors" like these who give fan/media fiction a bad name — and why? Because they failed to follow the Writers' Golden Rule: Always, always, do your research. Mind you, these people aren't alone in their sin; I have seen plenty of stuff in real, live, "professional" print that failed the same rule. It's just that it's harder for Mr. D. Thomas to pick on those people; after all, they're legitimate; they're getting money for their schlock.
To the depths of Zandru's Nine Hells with Mr. Thomas and all his kin! I like the stuff! I like writing it, and partially because I have the freedom to interact my characters with the creations of other people, a chance that I would never have had, were I trying to sell what I was doing. And also because this is my own small way of paying tribute to the people whose works have touched/moved/changed me.