The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Naomi Novik:

colleen:

Somehow, I really can't see this, at least with American Culture and the publishing process.

Really, I can't either, at least not at present. But then, I also remember back when Star Trek books were the only kind of tie-in novels on the shelves and had only a tiny sliver of space. The profile of fanfiction has certainly increased, also. So things may be changing.

Steve Eley:

The premise makes the unfounded assumption that the "caliber" of a work is what drives readers to it

Yes, you've got me! *g*

But really, all I meant with that example was to set up the hypothetical situation where a fanfic writer had a practical effect on the ability of an author to publish. Which turns out not to be what Jo was aiming at, from her posts in lj, but I think is still an interesting question to consider.

Naa-Dei:

Fanfic doesn't mean that a work is good....I'm not saying that if your work generates fanfic it's incomplete or poorly-written, but it does mean that it has a certain something to it that encourages people to explore it and that something isn't necessarily related to writing quality.

I agree, but I do wonder if this might not vary between literary and media inspirations for fanfic. It's hard to imagine a literary source that's poorly written that could also create a deep-enough attachment to the characters and universe to inspire fanfic writing. In media sources, you have so much else happening: the visuals, the performance of the actors, the multiple writers. (I would range series like Dragonlance, etc in the 'media' camp rather than the literary, myself.)

Jo Walton:

Naomi: Would it make any difference if you knew that by writing fanfic you'd make the original author unable to write (or at least publish) any more?

Mitch Wagner:

Can you describe any specific examples of that happening?

For purposes of discussion, I can imagine a case where someone was posting fanfic of so high a caliber that the original author's work compared unfavorably, with the result that fans deserted the original author and started only reading the fanfic writer's work.

Personally, I think my core principle is still to come down on the side of the reader. If what the fanfic writer is doing is at least in the opinion of the wide body of readers so much more satisfying than what the original author is doing -- it just doesn't feel right to me that the author should be able to shut them down *because* they're doing something so successful and pleasing to the readers.

As I was writing this, it turned very long, so I've put the long rambly version in my lj instead.

Cease-and-desist letters also won't work unless the letter alone successfully intimidates the writer. The question of fanfic as fair use has never been tested in court; it's hard to imagine someone lawyering up to pursue someone who has cost them nothing, potentially discouraging and offending a part of the hard-core fanbase for their work in the process.

My sentiments remain that fanfic is a valid form of reader response, and is and should be entirely beyond the author's control. Once you've written the text, what the reader gets out of it is out of your hands -- and will inevitably be filtered through the lens of the reader's past experience and desires. That goes for fanfic as much as for other kinds of fannish discussion.

Personally, I'd be enthusiastic to see fanfic written about my soon-to-be-published pro work. I don't think that it's a coincidence that Star Trek both has extreme longevity and success, and was the first inspiration of fanfic and slash. As Naa-Dei says, a work that inspires fanfic is a work that's getting hold of the reader's gut in some way.

And this comes back to the Id Vortex idea that Ellen is talking about. I think that fanfic and slash fanfic in particular do often hit the lizard brain, so to speak, because the shared source that they are starting from has already tapped into the id on some level, and the fanfic is following that tap down (sometimes to the completely illogical conclusion).

Elizabeth, I might be wrong, but my interpretation is that the shame Ellen is referring to is not shame at putting the writing out there necessarily, but shame at *feeling* the underlying visceral pull of kink, so it may be the same discomfort that you're describing.

Comment statistics for Naomi Novik on the Making Light blog

Total: 5 comments. View all these comments on a single page.