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Author who encourages publishing fan fic of his work

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Monika:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 04, 2013, 04:08:42 pm ---Some people think that I am against fan fiction. I really have no opinion about it one way or another. I've read two Brokeback fan fictions, Leslie's and another friend's. They were interesting, but I wasn't inspired to read further. When fan fiction becomes pornography, I think the two genres should be kept apart. Some authors like fan fiction but others, like Annie Proulx, don't. It's important to respect an author's wishes. IMO, most fan fiction is an exercise in self-therapy and that's a good thing.

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I wouldn´t call fan fiction a "genre" in itself. The term is usually used more broadly. All "fan fiction" really indicates is that it is fiction based on pre-existing fictional characters. Fan fiction can be anyting from haikus to  porn, really.

What if no one would have written Brokeback Mountain fan fiction? Just think on how much so many of us would have missed out on. To me, all the fan fiction out there is part of the BM legacy and testifies to the story´s impact.

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 04, 2013, 04:08:42 pm ---IMO, most fan fiction is an exercise in self-therapy and that's a good thing.

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Writing it certainly was for me.

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: Monika on March 04, 2013, 06:48:24 pm --- All "fan fiction" really indicates is that it is fiction based on pre-existing fictional characters.
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Right. As I understand it, many of the TV shows and movies featuring Sherlock Holmes are fan fiction. The upcoming movie in which James Franco plays the Wizard of Oz is fan fic, as are the novel and Broadway play "Wicked" (and the bleak but interesting 1990s novel "Oz.")  Every version of Star Trek aside from the 1960s original (even if it doesn't include Kirk and Spock, etc.) is fan fic.

Monika:

--- Quote from: serious crayons on March 06, 2013, 11:26:01 am ---Right. As I understand it, many of the TV shows and movies featuring Sherlock Holmes are fan fiction. The upcoming movie in which James Franco plays the Wizard of Oz is fan fic, as are the novel and Broadway play "Wicked" (and the bleak but interesting 1990s novel "Oz.")  Every version of Star Trek aside from the 1960s original (even if it doesn't include Kirk and Spock, etc.) is fan fic.






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I don´t know if your examples are really called fan fiction. I don´t know well-defined the term is really, but it is usually used for stuff written by non-professionals.

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: Monika on March 06, 2013, 12:45:50 pm ---I don´t know if your examples are really called fan fiction. I don´t know well-defined the term is really, but it is usually used for stuff written by non-professionals.



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Well, that's a point. But your previous post said "All 'fan fiction' really indicates is that it is fiction based on pre-existing fictional characters" [emphasis mine].

So by your own previous definition, my examples totally qualify. But sure, if you want to change that definition and add other characteristics that the term also really indicates, then they may not be.

But who really cares about setting some sort of specific rigid boundaries around what is or isn't fan fic? We all kind of get it. The point is, some characters are so compelling that some people who like to write, professionally or otherwise, are moved to keep their stories going, imagining the characters in other scenarios.

In the United States, the characters of Sherlock Holmes books, the Wizard of Oz and Star Trek (whose characters, of course, were the original subjects of slash fiction, at least according to legend) have attained in the public mind almost the status of fairy tale characters like Snow White or Red Riding Hood.

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