Even if you never get around to the books, the blog is worth following. How many NYT Best-Selling authors will talk rationally about why fanfic is (a) not scary and (b) a good thing to see fans doing? As well as serving up much lovely ToughLove on writing in general.
With the last, the fanfic discussion is the second half of the column. A pet item therefrom:
I were the creator of a science fiction or fantasy media property (as opposed to a mere book author) and I didn’t find evidence of fanfic online, I would be very worried. People don’t write fanfic if they aren’t already so enthralled by your universe that they can’t handle the fact you’re not producing it any faster, and are thus compelled to make some of their own — the methadone, if you will, to your pure, sweet media property heroin. A fanfic writer will buy all your media-related product, will go to your conventions, will get the DVDs and will generally slog through sub-standard and lazy stretches of your work far longer than the average mortal because they are so damn invested. And if they’re writing slash (fanfic with sex!), chances are excellent that you’re sucking in all of their take home pay that doesn’t go to rent, food and cat products.
And in the comment thread:
I’m not saying there isn’t well-written fanfic or that writing fanfic can’t be useful in developing writing skills — again, as noted in the article. You’re clearly wanting acknowledgement that not all fanfic is unreadable crap, which I am cheerfully willing to grant; it’s amateur writing, but “amateur” in the sense of “doing it for the love of doing it,” not “not being good enough for professional publication.” It’s sometimes the latter, but always the former.
What also needs to be clear is that I’m not a snob about this sort of amateur writing, or indeed any other amateur pursuit. Not everything has to be crafted with an eye toward a paycheck at the end of it. As an example, I am an amateur musican; I have no ambitions to make money off it, ever, but I enjoy making music for the sake of doing it.
(Oh, LMAO -- that last post, which I bookmarked and have read aloud at panels, dates back to April 2005. In the very first comment on that post, there's a guy talking up a shiny new website called . . . Facebook.)
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-24 02:47 am (UTC)http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/16/writing-find-the-time-or-dont/
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2006/04/27/10-things-teenage-writers-should-know-about-writing/
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2007/06/18/on-teens-and-the-fact-their-writing-sucks/
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/04/11/reader-request-week-2005-creative-commons-and-fanfic/
With the last, the fanfic discussion is the second half of the column. A pet item therefrom:
I were the creator of a science fiction or fantasy media property (as opposed to a mere book author) and I didn’t find evidence of fanfic online, I would be very worried. People don’t write fanfic if they aren’t already so enthralled by your universe that they can’t handle the fact you’re not producing it any faster, and are thus compelled to make some of their own — the methadone, if you will, to your pure, sweet media property heroin. A fanfic writer will buy all your media-related product, will go to your conventions, will get the DVDs and will generally slog through sub-standard and lazy stretches of your work far longer than the average mortal because they are so damn invested. And if they’re writing slash (fanfic with sex!), chances are excellent that you’re sucking in all of their take home pay that doesn’t go to rent, food and cat products.
And in the comment thread:
I’m not saying there isn’t well-written fanfic or that writing fanfic can’t be useful in developing writing skills — again, as noted in the article. You’re clearly wanting acknowledgement that not all fanfic is unreadable crap, which I am cheerfully willing to grant; it’s amateur writing, but “amateur” in the sense of “doing it for the love of doing it,” not “not being good enough for professional publication.” It’s sometimes the latter, but always the former.
What also needs to be clear is that I’m not a snob about this sort of amateur writing, or indeed any other amateur pursuit. Not everything has to be crafted with an eye toward a paycheck at the end of it. As an example, I am an amateur musican; I have no ambitions to make money off it, ever, but I enjoy making music for the sake of doing it.
(Oh, LMAO -- that last post, which I bookmarked and have read aloud at panels, dates back to April 2005. In the very first comment on that post, there's a guy talking up a shiny new website called . . . Facebook.)