Fanfic and flying under the radar

[msagara]

stakebait wrote
Been thinking more about this. What makes it [fanfic] not public is the attempt to fly under the radar of the Powers That Be, right? Or at least not actively draw their attention? Though how much that's done varies quite a bit from creator to creator. I know of at least one mailing list, read and posted to by the author, where fanfic is simply labeled "fanfic" so she can avoid reading it, but there's no attempt to pretend that it doesn't exist.

I've been thinking more about it as well. This is less an answer to your question than it started out being, but it is a more methodical examination of my own reaction.


What makes it less public is twofold, for me. Radar is part of it, but not by any means the whole. Let me try to express it. Let me take a whole new post to do it, because I've outrun my word limit. Again.

PART ONE

Fanfic is not a critique, nor is it a review of what exists; fanfic writers are certainly capable of doing book critiques/reviews or movie/tv critiques/reviews, but no one calls those fanfic. Both critique and review consider the text at hand (or the show at hand), assessing what's there, and giving their (hopefully but not always) informed opinion on it. There is a dialogue of sorts between some of these reviewers and the creative person(s) at the other end; there is a dialogue of sorts between some of these reviewers and the fans of the work in question. But if the review has some heat or love at its heart, it's still about the work as a whole. I don't consider this a dialogue in the standard sense; I'm now using dialogue in the sense that you used it originally, so if I stumble in that, bear with me.

In some instances, I think there are parodies or even satires -- but I don't consider those to be fanfic, and this could be because my definition is way the heck too narrow, i.e. I'm ignorant. Parody usually reflects the original work as a whole, and some understanding of the original is necessary in order for the parody to work at all; I consider parody a broad commentary, because that's the point of parody. Well, and also to make fun of the audience reaction. Digression.

Fanfic, rather than being a (theoretically) objective form of that dialogue or response, is much more of an emotional dialogue; it exists first between the reader and what they draw out of the primary work, and second, in the text they create. It explores other possibilities and permutations (if I understand what you've said correctly) that the original work did not -- or hasn't yet. Or never will.

But much of fanfic is essentially fiction, with serial numbers, and its aim is the aim, in many ways, of the original work, because if it didn't have some of that same feel or tone it wouldn't be fanfic. Because of the serial numbers, there is a need to fly under the radar. I would argue that it's that need that allows fanfic to thrive, although it does keep it out of the public eye to a greater or lesser extent. If you don't know anything about it, it's invisible; once you do, it's everywhere. Okay, I really have to stop with the digressions.

Having said that, let's go back to the need to fly under the radar. This is partly necessitated by legal convention, and as the copyright holder, I cannot outright decry it, for a variety of reasons, one being, I have some attachment to my copyright.

What happens under the radar is of less concern to me than what happens above the radar. There are things I would not want my characters to say or do. Obviously, when I'm writing, I have say in this (although, creative process being what it is, not 100% <wry g>). If someone is writing fanfic based on my characters or in my universe, what they want the characters to do is part of their emotional response. And -- beneath the radar -- this is a valid exploration; it's a little like daydreaming in public, which, in many ways, is where the heart of many stories start. The work comes after.

But if you remove the protective layer, which we'll call the radar level, I would feel a lot more ambivalent, because there are ways in which I would not want my characters to be represented to my readers, many of whom still don't own computers (I know, I always find this a bit shocking; it's stranger, to me, than not owning a telephone or a television but I digress, as always). In the public sense -- in the way my vision is present as my vision to the universe, or the small slice that reads my books <wry g>, and speaking with no delusions of grandeur (although I can't speak for other types of delusions), I can clearly state that I want my vision of my creation to be the canonical vision. I realize that's a lot of genetive use there.

Let me sum it up in a less unwieldy fashion: I do not want other writers defining canon in a universe I create.


PART TWO

But part of the difference in my reaction, part of the sense of "public" or "legitimate" stems, in part, from the medium through which the original property is first presented. Joss Whedon approves of fanfic, but he's doing Television, and I bet he'd be a lot less happy if fanfic writers were to get together and produce and air their own version of Buffy. A lot, as in lawsuits and really ugly things, and I don't think he'd be hands-off at that point.

Many of the people who watch the show will never read the licensed spinoffs, and they'll also never read the fanfic. Both the spinoffs and the fanfic fill a smaller role than the original broadcast did. It's accepted that what happens in the textual presentations or the comic books or the fanfic, etc, licensed or not., are not canonical; they can be ignored or changed or overturned at the whim of the licensor. In a sense, the spirit of generosity that allows the fanfic to exist can only be generous, in my view, because of that -- the other works are not canonical. They don't change anything. They don't touch or mark or move the original, and they don't open or close the avenues the original series can move in. The creator feels free to ignore them entirely.

When you're dealing with fanfic based on written work, you're suddenly dealing with the exact same medium, which is why I think more tension exists.

I don't know any writers who hate filksongs inspired by their works. I don't know any writers who hate art inspired by their work. Or costumes. Many would be perfectly happy to have RPGs or Television shows based on their works (if they were paid <g>).

But none of these media are the primary medium for the creator -- the text, in the case of books, is.

Knowing that canon is decided by me (and knowing that some people won't always be happy with the decisions I make) gives me the same comfort zone that someone producing television shows would have. Reviews, critiques-- these don't really change the way people view the original. Are they public? Yes. But in some sense they relate to the canonical work.

They make no attempt to change the work; they can savage it, they can praise it, they can dissect it for meaning -- but they're not there to rework to it; at most, they can shift the way we view what's already there. In this sense, the work is the point of the discourse. And as all writers know, once something is published, it's public, and people can say whatever the want about it. We're prepared for that. That's the sense of "public" I assume when I see the word.

In the case of fanfic, the work is the stepping stone, the foundation, the thing people stand on while they branch out; the anchor to which they tie their own skills, developing their own voices and abilities. At this point in time, one can sort of assume that readers and writers of fanfic have read or watched the originals, so there's a certainty of informed creation, even if the creation is not canon.

But were the fanfic based on novels to be published as novels in their own right -- without any vetting or interference from the original author -- there's no guarantee that new readers would be so informed, and the canonical understanding of a creation that originated elsewhere -- like, say, me -- could shift radically. A book, after all, is a book, and it sits on the shelf, like other books.

And I'm sorry if it makes me sound hideously selfish -- and I'm aware that it probably does -- but the right to set canon is incredibly important to me.

Comments

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not boring you. :) And I'll look for the book, thanks.

The request was from an individual -- though there *is* a thriving fanfic community for that author's books, due in part to her encouragement/tolerance. But I don't take part in it, partly because I don't like mailing lists and partly because it weirds me out that it's posted to a list that she reads. Even with a warning, that's a little more in your face than I'm comfortable getting.

However due to fannish interest convergence, people I've met through Buffy also tend to like many of the same books I do, and one of them asked for this.

In the fanfic community we don't talk about the specifics of our work as much as I may have implied -- though more than what you describe, since we don't have pro editors and must edit each other or go without. But since our friends and fellow writers are the same as our audience are the same as our fellow fans of the source material, a discussion of Buffy in season six can prompt me to write about Buffy in season six.

If you think that sounds incestuous, you're not wrong. And that's in a large fandom like Buffy, which has many different subgroups.

It's not universally true -- I have fannish friends who aren't into what I write and don't read it, and vice versa -- but it's more true than not.

Plus I just like to take requests, because writing to a known audience is easier for me than writing into the void. (It's no accident that two of the three short stories I've actually finished and submitted were written to anthology specs.)

And the challenge aspect is welcome -- when you're using a limited universe, and can't get too many steps away from it without losing your readers, if you're not going to just retread the same old ground, I find it helpful to have an outside goad to trying a new angle.

[msagara.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not boring you. :) And I'll look for the book, thanks.

Feel free to comment; I can talk about what I had to change in order to meet the licensor requests.

The request was from an individual -- though there *is* a thriving fanfic community for that author's books, due in part to her encouragement/tolerance. But I don't take part in it, partly because I don't like mailing lists and partly because it weirds me out that it's posted to a list that she reads. Even with a warning, that's a little more in your face than I'm comfortable getting.

That's interesting, though. I know a number of writers who are less than willing to say they don't care about fanfic one way or the other in a public forum -- but they don't care if people do write it. I think fanfic is one of those political issues. A lot of professional writers loathe it, for a variety of reasons. Many refer to legal difficulties down the road, and I've read the cases for and against said legal difficulties.

Having said that, I don't think I know of anyone who would read fanfic based on their original fiction. There's a yahoo group that more or less talks about my novels. When I joined it, it was very small. As it's grown, I find that a) it's harder to keep up with and b) I feel that my presence in the discussion would stifle the discussion or kill it. Why? Because some of it is speculation, and obviously, were I not afraid of the whole Spoiler thing, I would be the authority.

In some ways, having any reaction at all to what was written would essentially have the same effect. Or I would think it would; I don't know. If fanfic is like writing with a net -- in that the world and canon is already established, and all that remains is to pour your own imagination into it -- having the author preside over it seems almost beside the point. Or possibly detrimental to it.

However due to fannish interest convergence, people I've met through Buffy also tend to like many of the same books I do, and one of them asked for this.

I'm assuming that in this case you've read and liked the original work. If you went ahead and did the reading research required otherwise, you're dedicated <g>.

In the fanfic community we don't talk about the specifics of our work as much as I may have implied -- though more than what you describe, since we don't have pro editors and must edit each other or go without. But since our friends and fellow writers are the same as our audience are the same as our fellow fans of the source material, a discussion of Buffy in season six can prompt me to write about Buffy in season six.

If you can have a discussion about season six that doesn't end in a meltdown, I'm impressed <g>. Fan editors have partial say in the final story? Or do they serve the function of a workshop?

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

Feel free to comment; I can talk about what I had to change in order to meet the licensor requests.

Ooh, that would be fascinating. Though it may take a while for me to get to it, as the to-read pile has filled the top of the fridge and must now be whittled before I have a tragic head bopping accident.

That's interesting, though. I know a number of writers who are less than willing to say they don't care about fanfic one way or the other in a public forum -- but they don't care if people do write it.

*nods* this is partly the frustrating part about the under the radar thing -- if I take silence as permission, I risk offending someone; if I take silence as refusal, I am missing out on all the people like this (and I know a few myself).

Having said that, I don't think I know of anyone who would read fanfic based on their original fiction.

I'm told some people did back before the Yarbro thing. Now it's too risky that someone will claim you stole an idea.

I feel that my presence in the discussion would stifle the discussion or kill it.

I get that. Heck, I stay out of a fanfic mailing list discussion in part because I'm one of many authors occasionally discussed there, and I don't want people to be inhibited about saying bad stuff if they want. Though if the fandom's big enough I think there's some utility to having one forum where the PTB hang out and one where they don't.

If fanfic is like writing with a net -- in that the world and canon is already established, and all that remains is to pour your own imagination into it -- having the author preside over it seems almost beside the point. Or possibly detrimental to it.

It'd certainly have something of a stifling effect -- I think that's the reason that most of the fic from that mailing list's archive is about minor character or missing scenes, and G rated. There's not that same freedom to do the wacky with the material.

On the other hand, if an author doesn't want the wacky done with their characters but doesn't want to say so outright -- or knows that would be ineffective -- presiding over it is a pretty effective way to both make fans feel happy and valued and keep a choke chain on the stuff that makes them uncomfortable.

I'm assuming that in this case you've read and liked the original work.

Oh yes. I'm not that dedicated. I did reread one volume of the series for research purposes, but it was not exactly a hardship. :)

If you can have a discussion about season six that doesn't end in a meltdown, I'm impressed .

Only with the choir, I'm afraid. We've had enough meltdowns by now to know who shares our basic opinions.

Fan editors have partial say in the final story? Or do they serve the function of a workshop?

Some of each. The most common is a "beta reader" who serves the function of a workshop, with the writer having final say.

There are edited zines where the editor has a partial say -- and a couple where the editor has made unilateral changes, although that's frowned on. But Buffy is mostly an online fandom, so I don't have much experience of that.

I'm more accustomed to juried sites, which are more like the acquistion editor of an understaffed publisher -- they have final say on what gets posted there, but they don't do much line editing if any. It's mostly in or out. Some of them you can submit to, but many host fic only by invitation.