Why I Write Fanfic (2007 essay)
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| Title: | Why I Write Fanfic |
| Creator: | dodger_winslow |
| Date(s): | May 22, 2007 |
| Medium: | Livejournal post |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Why I Write Fanfic, Archived version |
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Why I Write Fanfic is a 2007 essay by dodger_winslow.
Excerpts
For me, fanfic is more than a fun way to participate in fandom or to let out pro-fic writing frustrations, it's a way to evolve as a writer... and have a blast doing so. And I say this because:
A) While it is great fun, I don't consider it just fun. I afford my fanfic the same level of attention and invest the same level of passion in it as I do my professional work. The fact that it's also fun is just a bonus. But then again, I consider pretty much any form of writing fun (even the analytical stuff), so I tend to consider Work=Fun to be the relevant equation in play without regard to whether or not money ever hits the chalkboard.
B) Don't hate me because I don't really have pro-fic frustrations to take out. Perhaps I would if I was writing media tie-ins, but I'm not writing those, in large part because why I don't have the stomach for someone giving me a two-inch patch of sand to play in when I'm looking for the whole sandbox ... and I can see the whole sandbox sitting RIGHT THERE so why can't I play in it? That would frusterate the hell out of me, which seems like a bit of a couterproductive excersize unless I'm getting paid a WHOLE LOT OF MONEY that I really need, and that only happens in fandom dreams, not in contracts that have anything to do with media tie-ins.
And (for the most part at least), I don't really have pro-fic frustrations to take out from non-fandom projecs either. Maybe I'm really lucky (or maybe I'm just spoiled as hell), but I'm not very good at compromising my writing in a way that makes me frustrated, so if that's part of the paying gig, I walk away and shop it elsewhere.
One of the primary advantages I see in writing fanfic is the vast array of ramification-free expermentation labs it provides, all of them peopled with a widely diverse focus group of very smart people (and some dumb ones, too) who are very deeply educated on the subject you are writing about and will usually tell you exactly what they think about what you say, no holds barred, once you prove to them you are worthy of the expenditure of their time to do so.
Another advantage I see is that, working within the limited structure of already created characters in an already created universe with already created character dynamics and backstories in place really forces (allows?) the writer to focus their attention on how to fine tune characterization, how to create (or match) mood and pacing, how to plot intriging stories ... and a whole buttload of other really important writery sort of things that often get overlooked just because creating characters is so time/work intensive and just so damn much more fun.
Probably the last advantage to writing fanfic that really appeals to me enough to detail it at length (other than, you know, it's FUN) is the luxury of writing into the skins of actors who have already put to flesh a characterization I find complex, fascinating and driving enough to want to write it. So in a way that most other forms of writing don't afford (unless you're scripting for an on-going, established series ... or doing media tie-ins, which I think I covered under the heading of "fuck no"), fanfiction allows a very tangible mental stage on which to set your stories, both in your own mind and in the minds of the reader.
There's an enormous short-hand advantage of commonality of experience with both the chatacters and the universe between reader and writer in fanfiction; and this translates, to me, not as a way to cut the amount of time I invest in a story; but rather to use the same amount of time to explore deeper, more complex characterizations (or issues) than I can in other foms. Not because the characters are deeper than what I create on my own, but rather because I don't have to use my story-telling time laying a foundation to get the reader on-board with me. That foundation has already been put to visual flesh by an actor and intellectual flesh by whoever created the show in the first place, and it is one hell of a time-savings without any compensatory loss of quality or complexity if you know how to use it properly.
The disadvantages? Well duh. No money, no respect (other than peer respect, of course), no sleep (in effect, two full-time job/passions to serve equally), no peace of mind (when the fanfic muse calls in a way that demands you to put the money job on hold the same way a spouse's call can sometimes bump the boss to the back burner) ... I could go on and on, but why? Everyone knows the downside of writing fanfic. That seems to be all most of the people who don't write fanfic talk about. And many of the ones who do write fanfic, too.
So for me? Not about it being an art form. Not about it being an outlet for frustrations. Not even, for the most part, about externalizing the inner fantasy life a really good show can plant in a creative person's head.
For me, it's about evolution as a writer. Practice in a responsive (and diverse, and educated) forum. An opportunity to experiment any way I want with new ideas or new styles or just old thing done a new way ... all with a tangible yardsick of measure by which to judge my success or failure in the eyes of my audience, if not myself.
Fanfiction is, for me, a living room full of friends who asks the professional musician to "sing a song for us." If I'm on tour at the time, I probably won't have the time or energy to do it. But if I'm not on tour, am I going to devote less time or less passion to singing for my friends than I would for strangers who pay me? Am I going to worry as much (or at all) if I hit a few bad notes because I'm tired or because I wanted to try a new change-up in the refrain I hadn't ever tried before than I would if I did the same thing in front of strangers who pay me?