I had to pop back on to Livejournal; where else can I be assured that my fellow fanfic writers will rant about a certain author's opinions on our beloved creative scribblings.
First I must say I have long enjoyed Diana Gabaldon's works; still do, matter of fact. I appreciate her style of writing, her extensive research, her complex characters, and more. I even understand the gut reaction of 'hey, these are MY creations; stop playing with my stuff!'--the lack of control an author has over their creations is going to be frustrating, especially if you encounter writing that is offensive to you. HOWEVER, it is inexcusable to put fanfic writers in the same category as pedophiles and adulterers. The very idea that she considers fanfic writing to be amoral is to me to be extremely judgmental and downright ignorant, but she can have whatever opinion and moral stance she likes. As a survivor of molestation, I am VERY offended that anyone would have the audacity to draw a parallel between fans creatively expressing their interest in their fandom [through writing, poetry, video, filking or any other creative outlet] and the perverted fantasies of criminals. It's sickening.
I have long held the opinion--and it is an OPINION, folks, not LAW--that fanfic writers must police themselves. There are several rules I choose to live by as a fanfic writer and I suggest to other writers, too:
1) Know your fandom and the originators of your fandom. Make it EXPLICIT on your writing that the characters, terms, and situations are copyrighted to the original author and that you are in NO WAY claiming them as your own. If the author has made it clear that they don't want to find published fanfic involving their work on the Net [or anywhere else], DON'T publish it. Period.
2) NEVER, EVER, associate your fanfic with money. In any form. Not even to cover the cost of hard-copy publishing to hand out at cons, not even to pay for your website, not for auctions or raffles. NO PROFIT, period. Don't even ask for donations for your fanfic costs. If you can't cover any costs yourself, don't involve your fanfic. Trust me on this one: IT AIN'T WORTH THE PRICE.
3) Stay anonymous, especially to the authors. Do not ask the authors for feedback on your writing, don't slip them your website address or photo manips at book signings or conventions, do not ask for endorsements, don't even bring it up to them. Ever. Some authors feel required to take legal action if they become aware of the fanfic, and at the very least, some feel that reading such writing could influence their own writing. Keep it in the fandom, by fans for fans.
The entire situation with Diana could have been avoided if the woman arguing her point had just taken the time to realize she was talking about a fanfic she had read, not the canon of the author RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. It would have been far easier for Diana to simply say, 'I didn't write that; if you'd read my books, you'd know that, and that was probably a fanfic--take your issue up with them. I don't wanna know about it.'
Fanfic writing is NOT illegal, despite what Diana asserted in her rant. Much of it is poor quality, I agree, but then again, it is by definition FAN generated, and not every fan is a good writer; in fact, I daresay MOST fans are not. We write because we love the fandom and perhaps because we like writing and sharing with other fans; it's an expression of fandom, folks. And it ain't going away. Live with it.
Okay, that being said, my header was my reaction to scrolling back to catch up a bit with my LJ friends, and being amazed that I seem to have traveled in time yet again. Wow! I haven't aged, have I? Yet it seems that time has passed and we've all been living our lives. It's a most disconcerting feeling, really, especially reading back over some of my own posts. Ah, well. Lots of memories, anyway. Wonder when I'll check back on LJ next...
melancholy
sad
nostalgic
thoughtful
shocked
happy