Moki's Fanfiction Blog

Moki — let me just say that you are NOT the only one, though I feel your frustration as keenly as my own. I ran across a similar opinion on LiveJournal — a post in an “original” story community that just lit me up and prompted me to post this response: http://gaelicspirit.livejournal.com/112349.html (not to promote my journal on your blog…just wanted you to see you weren’t alone).

When you said, “Reading this author’s article I see nothing but hatred and derision for something that has literally changed my life,” I found myself nodding vigorously in agreement. It’s incredibly frustrating to repeatedly encounter opinions such as the casually slung ones in that article when it’s obvious to those of us who have been immersed in the fanfiction world that those opinions are uneducated, generic, and cater to the uninformed masses.

In my post, I said this:

If it weren’t for fanfiction, I would have no idea what I might be capable of writing-wise. I don’t have a Masters in anything writing or literature related. I don’t have the scholarly background that some writers have had the good fortune to invest in. I read and I have imagination, desire, instinct, and hope. That about covers it. And if it weren’t for the practice that fanfiction offers me, I wouldn’t be taking the chance on “original” writing.

That’s another thing — fanfiction, while grounded in the creation of another person’s characters, timeline and setting, is original. Or can be if done well. Some people even make money writing fanfiction. How many of us have wandered the shelves of Borders or Barnes & Noble and seen the scores of Star Trek novels? I myself have a shelf heavy with Star Wars hardback books that started from the moment Return of the Jedi ended. Just about every popular show out there has novelizations. The difference being that those writers were singled out, authorized, and paid to produce their work. But it’s still fanfiction.

And a good writer — one who cares about their character(s) and the reader’s experience — works just as hard writing a fanfiction story as they do writing an original story.

Yes, there can be some fanfiction that is rather “out there” in focus, genre, and quality — but the same can be said for anything in the entertainment industry. ANYTHING. Books, TV, movies, magazines, comics…you name it. The quality and subject matter runs the gamut.

I think that those who write articles such as the Cracked one do so because they are uninformed or unwilling to get informed and due to that handicap are unable to see the value behind an area of storytelling like this one.

Sorry for rambling all over your post. Guess I just feel strongly about this.

Apologies for the html code-fail. Missed an /italics in there somewhere. *blushes*

I think that you need to take into account the quality of the Cracked post – it’s written for the lowest possible denominator – look at the comments!

I accept that I may be classed as one who will “just shrug their shoulders”, but I think it’s also a case of needing to pick your battles. This isn’t a site I’ve frequented, but on the basis of this and other articles I flicked through, it’s just a series of sloppy journalism and poor humour. The comments are barely a step above the drivel you’d expect to see on YouTube. (Here’s a FanFic scenario for you: aliens arrive on Earth determined to exterminate the human race due to the comments on YouTube proving that we’re nothing more than a bunch of degenerate savages.)

I don’t see hate in the article- but I do see a complete absence of empath, and level of derision to rival any adolescent boy with an inferiority complex.

Ultimately it set out to be amuse – it failed, it wasn’t funny, and ironically I think you could argue that the articles on that site are also their own form of FanFic, conforming to a comedy list-format housestyle – which it also didn’t adhere to.

Respectfully,

TheYmp

As I know what a true advocate of fanfiction you are, I can imagine how disappointed you were to find this article. I share your frustration. But I agree with all the comments below…this is a classic example of the old saying, “consider the source.”

As a journalist yourself, you would most certainly know that a true journalist endeavours to report the facts in a informed and non-bias manner, allowing their readers to reach their own conclusions. This person has obviously trolled through the fanfiction world with only ridicule on their closed little mind. They have not even tried to offer a balanced argument. That is precisely why I will discount his/her opinion.

As others have said, it’s true that fanfiction has its share of below par stories but I have read some wonderfully entertaining and well-written stories from writers who are perfecting their craft, providing quality reading to others and not harming anyone in doing so. Can Cracked.com say the same?

Times are tough everywhere and whether you are a writer or a reader, fanfiction is a wonderful form of leisure – and it’s free. That’s incredibly important to someone like me with a young family and a very tight budget. Surely not even Cracked.com could begrudge that.

Thanks for commenting! You made some very good points about their style and the overall sloppiness of the site itself.

Ah yes, always the voice of reason. )

Yes you are right, my dear, I really should consider the source. One thing I can say is that I’m going to again try and not concentrate so much on the naysayers and just simply promote fanfiction the way that I want. I think my next article (look for it on Monday) will prove that.

Very good point about fanfic being free! You know, I’d never thought of that but there’s no doubt that, struggling from economic challenges as we all seem to be these days, I’ve turned to fanfic for entertainment when I couldn’t justify spending money on a DVD, etc.

My dear, *please* don’t even apologize for a long post! I LOVE hearing from other fanfic writers/readers and when I see a long post like this one, it makes me smile knowing that I generated such a response.

I just read your LJ post and when I finished it I wanted to stand up and clap…..except there’s no one here but me so that would be kind of odd. But I did want to tell you how much I agree with you (obviously) and though I do get those that are trying to tell us to calm down (and believe me, I *am* trying), it’s nice to know there are others out there who feel the way I do.

As I said to Liz above, I’m going to try and simply promote fanfiction in a positive light any way I can. Again, I think everyone will see that in my next post, which I think you will especially enjoy (now that I’ve seen your LJ post). Hopefully people will forward THAT around for all the world to see. (very subtle hint, wasn’t that? LOL)

Up on Facebook someone reminded me that fanfic writers are what all geeks used to be, the ones that everyone feels it’s okay to make fun of. Someday I hope to change that and that we get the same respect that belongs to any other art. Judged not by the whole, but by each individual’s work.

Thanks for commenting!!

I read the article and I varied between laughing at their stupidity and being disgusted at their stupidity.  First off, if you actually do the research (which several of us have been within the Hardy Boys fandom) fanfiction has been around since the 1700s, not the 1970s.  

Secondly, there is Gen fanfiction, a lot of Gen fanfiction.  Two of the most slashed fandoms I have seen within the TV categories are Supernatural and White Collar and both of them host incredible Gen fanfic.  You just have to wade through a lot of slash and for Supernatural, wincest.  

Anyway, the article was a fail.  A big fail.  

You can’t deny that most fanfiction is about people boning people. Only a fraction of fanfiction which isn’t about people boning people isn’t about people boning things that aren’t people or things that aren’t people boning things that aren’t people.

The point is, fanfiction is mostly about boning.

This article is fairly old now, but I felt the need to comment anyway. I’ve been writing fanfiction for two years now and I completely and totally agree with you about the stereotypes that fanfiction writers are labled with constantly. Nothing ticks me off like hearing or reading someone say that fanfiction is written entirely by silly teenage girls who just write awful, romantic perverted BS.

I have read the article on Cracked, however, and though it is incredibly stereotypical, that was sort of the point of it (and, really, all of their articles). It’s a humor/satire/parody website and really, nothing on it should or is truly meant to be taken seriously. I actually found the article humorous myself, although I do agree that some sections of the article had me shaking my head in anger.

I guess it’s because I’ve seen everything the article was talking about. There are far too many people on FanFiction that simply write complete and utter crap, but that doesn’t meant we all write that.

So, anyway, the random, satirical article on FanFiction writers didn’t bother me so much because, really, if we can’t laugh at ourselves on occaison, everyone else sure as well will do it for us. The articles that get under my skin are the serious ones. The ones written by people who honestly believe that fanfiction isn’t a legitimate form of writing or that fanfiction writers are ALL teenage girls with some seriously disturing imaginations.