I do write fanfic and I agree, the books that lend themselves most to fanfic are the ones with wide open story spaces to fill in. But that said, most books have wide open gaps before and after the action, if not during, and almost all books have the might have beens of what could have gone a different way. So there's room for fanfic in most things if you're looking for it.
The texts -- books or plays or TV shows or what have you -- that I'm most interested in looking for room for fanfic tend to be character driven, because it's the characters that carry over. They tend to have relatively transparent writing styles, because if what I love the books for is the narrative tone (as with Pratchett or Austen) I'm unlikely to capture it to my satisfaction, or to be happy without it.
They tend to have large worlds that derive their sense of reality from our seeing hints of more complexity than we ever can see fulfilled, because even if there's no space in the story per se, there's space in the universe for other stories.
They tend to have a largish cast of characters, because that increases the number of conversations, conflicts, and relationships that could have happened but didn't.
And they tend to have themes that resonate with what moves me to write. There are many, many books I love reading but have no desire to write in, because I have nothing to say with those tools.
I'm also more likely to write fanfic for an ongoing series, because there's something about that waiting for the next installment that stimulates what-ifs. If it's a stand alone book, or a series that's complete before I come to it, I may still want something more or something different, but not as often.
I'm also more likely to write fanfic for something with an active fan community, because I know someone will want to read it, and because their comments and ideas spark my own.
I don't, personally, write fanfic in any universe where the creator has asked that fanfic not be written. (I have once written in a fandom where as far as I know the author has expressed no opinion.) For me this is a question of manners. I would, however, be fine with writing in a fandom where the actual creator is fine with it, but the rights holder (TV or movie studio, or publishing company) was not.
I don't, however, go quite so far as to say no one else should defy an author's stated wishes. I can think of situations where the drive to create works aligned with a world would come not from love of the world but with frustration at a good idea with its potential wasted, or a driving desire to show what is, in your opinion, missing or wrong with the original story, or where one's initial love of a world is equaled or exceeded by one's grief at what has been done with it afterwards.
I agree that the creator of the world deserves some deference, but I don't necessarily think that deference trumps all other considerations. To me fanfiction is a form of artistic conversation, as parody is, or retellings like the Wind Done Gone or Wicked. As such I think this is one of those situations, as with academia, or book reviews, or politics, where good manners may be not always be more important than a robust dialogue.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2004-10-19 01:11 pm (UTC)The texts -- books or plays or TV shows or what have you -- that I'm most interested in looking for room for fanfic tend to be character driven, because it's the characters that carry over. They tend to have relatively transparent writing styles, because if what I love the books for is the narrative tone (as with Pratchett or Austen) I'm unlikely to capture it to my satisfaction, or to be happy without it.
They tend to have large worlds that derive their sense of reality from our seeing hints of more complexity than we ever can see fulfilled, because even if there's no space in the story per se, there's space in the universe for other stories.
They tend to have a largish cast of characters, because that increases the number of conversations, conflicts, and relationships that could have happened but didn't.
And they tend to have themes that resonate with what moves me to write. There are many, many books I love reading but have no desire to write in, because I have nothing to say with those tools.
I'm also more likely to write fanfic for an ongoing series, because there's something about that waiting for the next installment that stimulates what-ifs. If it's a stand alone book, or a series that's complete before I come to it, I may still want something more or something different, but not as often.
I'm also more likely to write fanfic for something with an active fan community, because I know someone will want to read it, and because their comments and ideas spark my own.
I don't, personally, write fanfic in any universe where the creator has asked that fanfic not be written. (I have once written in a fandom where as far as I know the author has expressed no opinion.) For me this is a question of manners. I would, however, be fine with writing in a fandom where the actual creator is fine with it, but the rights holder (TV or movie studio, or publishing company) was not.
I don't, however, go quite so far as to say no one else should defy an author's stated wishes. I can think of situations where the drive to create works aligned with a world would come not from love of the world but with frustration at a good idea with its potential wasted, or a driving desire to show what is, in your opinion, missing or wrong with the original story, or where one's initial love of a world is equaled or exceeded by one's grief at what has been done with it afterwards.
I agree that the creator of the world deserves some deference, but I don't necessarily think that deference trumps all other considerations. To me fanfiction is a form of artistic conversation, as parody is, or retellings like the Wind Done Gone or Wicked. As such I think this is one of those situations, as with academia, or book reviews, or politics, where good manners may be not always be more important than a robust dialogue.