Fanfiction, criticism, kerkuffles

[moscow_watcher]

Recent kerkuffle made me think. About fanfiction. About fandom. About myself.



The more I read the arguments and counter-arguments of the last 10 days the more depressing the whole thing sounds. I abstained from comments in other people's LJs, and I'm glad I did. Instead I'm trying to put my thoughts in order. I'm not as eloquent and erudite as other fans, but I'm afraid I can't keep my mouth shut.

I think the essence of the kerkuffle boils down to 2 debatable questions.

1. Should fanfics follow in official art's footsteps re: characterization or they may argue, develop or just plain ignore it?
2. Should fans critisize other fans or just ignore the stuff they don't like?

I'd love to read people's opinions. Here are mine.

1. I don't have a definitive answer if ficwriters should follow in official art's footsteps or ignore it. I have a friend who is a big Harry Potter fan. And she had never read a single HP book and had never seen a single HP film. She reads fanfics. Her OTP is Harry\Draco, she has enough fics to satisfy her kink and she's blissfully unaware of other stories (including canonical ones) where Harry and Draco are written "in character". Is she right? Is she wrong? I don't know.

Professional writers often write about things they don't care about - they get the assignment, find the information, write a good story and get money for their work.

Should fandom activity be fun or an effort? Or both? I think the rules of the game in fanfiction are a bit different than in professional entertainment. Professional art has certain requirements and to meet them writer has to make a lot of efforts. Fanfiction is about feeding one's own kinks. Sometimes ficwriters find other people who share their tastes, and they become friends. Sometimes it doesn't happen. Should ficwriter try to write differently to please other fans? I don't think so.

Ficwriting isn't work. It's a hobby. Ficwriters produce great stuff only when they write what they're passionate about. (To be fair, they also produce a lot of crap). But usually people who write fanfiction are somewhat unhappy with the canon and want to change it. You have to hanker for happy reunion, or a character escaping the clutches of death or proving himself worthy - you have to yearn for it really hard to start writing your own version of events.

Or your version of a character.

Each fan has his\her own perception of a character. For the majority of TWoPers "the Scoobie in character" is a heroic, selfless, person who never does anything wrong and "the Spike in character" is evil Spike. In Spuffy camp it's pretty much the opposite. Force Spuffy ficwriter compose a fic about happy Buffy\Angel reunion - the result will be either parody or honest failure. Force canon-respecting ficwriter create an AU story with Fairy!Spike, Witch!Buffy and Cinderella!Angel - the result will be the same.

Now, I don't like AUs. I don't read stories where Angel is a famous basketball player, Spike is a rock-musician and Buffy is a budding movie star. They're just not my cup of tea. But I know a lot of people who enjoy these stories with "out-of-character" characters. God bless them. Fanfics are about changing canon. Is it OK to change characters and to adjust them to one's particular needs? If yes, how far you may go? Again, I don't know. It's up to writer's taste, I suppose.

2. The second question is even more delicate. Should fans critisize other fans or just ignore the stuff they don't like?

I read a lot of film reviews for my work - in Russian, in French, in English - and I know that the harshest filmcritics and reviewers are Americans. And, curiously, the best films are also made in America. Partly - because filmmakers know that nobody will cut them some slack. No matter how famous they are and what their previous achievements are, they're as good as their last film is. Cruel? Yes. But effective.

On the other hand, should amateur art stick to these rules? You don't pay to read fanfiction. It's a gift to you from another fan. When a person gives you a gift in real life - could you say to him that his gift is wrong?

I'm really, really torn about this. I usually leave positive feedback when I like the story, or no feedback when I dislike it. Am I afraid to critisize? In a way, I am. I don't want to discourage writers. Even if they write something I don't like. One person's disaster is another person's masterpiece.

Recently I read a story by a new author, loved it a lot, and recommended it on my home board. The author quickly started the next story and I recommended her as soon as I read the first chapter because the premise is great (although I know other stories with the same premise). But in the next chapters the development of the plot slowed down and they don't add anything to the stuff we learned in the first chapter. I still enjoy the story but I start to get impatient. Should I write about it in feedback? But maybe that's exactly the writer's intention - to make me impatient?

Another example. Recently I read a story by a very good writer who wrote Buffy\Angel dynamics as a clone of Buffy\Spike dynamics. Really. They fight, they snark and they are horny. If you change the name of the vamp, the fic makes more sense. I was tempted to point it out to her but decided against it. And I don't know if I was right.

The problem is that I don't know how this or that writer will react. I've never been critisized for my fanfiction, although I've often been mocked and attacked for my shipping preferences. I think I developed pretty thick skin during shipping wars, and after several accusations of being a "rapist lover" who "shouldn't be allowed to have children" I'd just snicker if somebody says my fics are crappy. I know they're not masterpieces. I know they're are fluffy and out-of-character. I tried to write serious stories but I quickly realised that I suck at being a serious writer. And I'm OK with it. But many people are sensitive to criticism.

Just a thought. Maybe people who don' mind criticism should create a community where they could cross-post their fics and discuss them without reservations?

Anyway, I'm open to any criticism. If you disagree, it's OK.

And I want people to read awesome post by shadowscast 5 Reasons Why Writing Fanfic Is Good For Me. She rocks. She's my hero.

Comments

[moscow-watcher.livejournal.com]

Thanks for a detailed reply. The more I read the more interesting it sounds.

God...fandom was so much easier back in the day, you know. Everybody in the fandom (which consisted of writers on ff.net) were really great fans of the show. Now, there's just no telling anymore.

Interestingly, my impressions are quite the opposite. I started dabbling in online fandom in 2002, when the season 7 had started. I witnessed epic battles with mutual accusations, threats and insults. I was told that I was a pervert and a rapist lover.

Then I discovered fanfiction and was amazed by ficwriters' nice and relaxed attitude to the show, its creators and other fans. Instead of crying out loud that everything is wrong, these people did what they considered right and were absolutely happy with it.

I mean, I understand how it's difficult--it is a community after all. We have to learn to co-exist with one another and no one really likes to make enemies. So a lot of people just don't leave criticisms, especially if they know the writer can't handle it. But, to me, if the writers claim their works as art...doesn't that mean that they're automatically open to criticism?

Yes - but we may look at the situation from a different standpoint. When you're served a burned cake in a cafe you definitely make a scandal. But when you visit your friend or your mother and her cake gets burned, your reaction is certainly different.

Um... Not a good comparison, so I stop playing devil's advocate. :)

So, no, I don't think a place like that would work because it would only be critics and the writers on there.

What about a rule: before starting to critisize one has to post his own fic so that the others could dissect it?