The "Other" Writing: A Writer's Guide to Fan Fiction
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| Title: | The "Other" Writing: A Writer's Guide to Fan Fiction |
| Creator: | Roxanne Longstreet Conrad |
| Date(s): | April 1999 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | online here [offline] |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The "Other" Writing: A Writer's Guide to Fan Fiction is a 1999 essay by Roxanne Longstreet Conrad.
It was published in Tarriel Cell v.12 n.4.
It includes the top ten things fanfic readers should be aware of, addresses fanfiction as a "training wheels" for authors, discusses the quality of official tie-in books, and assures fans that writing fanfic is "time well spent."
The Top Ten Suggestions
- Obey the Rules
- Resist Mary Sue
- Nail the Voices
- Plot Something
- Give Up Ownership
- Stop Flinching
- Get a Dictionary
- Sweat the Details
- Ask the Next Question
- Read
Excerpt
Fan fiction: The thought sends shudders up the some of those in the professional writing world. Editors and pro writers alike regularly turn up their noses at the idea -- writing fan fiction is at best an embarrassing habit, at worst outright theft of intellectual property. And, these same experts will tell you, it's terrible. Awful. Not worth the trees that died for it. Not that they'd actually read it in the first place.
Excuse me for calling the kettle black, but a lot of these same editors are offering work-for-hire jobs to authors to write the next Star Trek novel or movie tie-in. and a lot of those same writers are leaping for the big checks. The professional world hasn't cornered the market on hypocrisy, but it's certainly bought a few shares.
Are they right about fan fiction? Sometimes. But they're working from a somewhat prejudiced point of view. Professionals in the publishing industry, after all, have a native aversion to the whole idea of fan writing Why? Think about it. If you were a writer, your business would depend on coming up with original ideas, compelling characters, and - ergo - on the proceeds of writing those compelling ideas and characters. Having amateurs threaten to take your characters away and do it (or free) is disconcerting at best. I understand that feeling. Heck, I've had that feeling. But I took a deep breath, and stepped back, and looked at the big picture.