On Fanworks

[chubbyleng.livejournal.com]

This was on the LJ front page, and it got me thinking. How do you feel about fanfiction? How do you guys feel about authors disallowing fanfiction of their works? Is it really a "lazy way out"?

I understand the whole copyright issue behind it, and I think that authors have every right to control the way fans use the characters and world they've created, but when I really like a book and find out that the author doesn't like to have fanworks of it, I can't help but feel disappointed. I've been writing fanfiction for a long time, and I think it really helps with understanding characters or at least forming your perception of the characters. And it's always charming to see how other people perceive the characters you read about. And for people like me, I wonder why it has to be a "lazy way out" when I don't even have plans of becoming a published author. (I also don't understand the 'suing' part. Fanfiction writers don't make any money. What are they going to sue from you?)

With that said, for the writers here, or people who are planning to be writers, (or dreaming of becoming one), would you be offended if people write fanfiction of your works? 

How about fanarts? Do fanarts hold the same gravity of rights infringement as fanfictions do?

Comments

[helle-d.livejournal.com]

I found your first paragraph interesting, because my view is almost the opposite - that fanfiction works best when a world is detailed enough that an author couldn't hope to explore every aspect of it, and there are corners free to play with.

[imbecamiel.livejournal.com]

I actually had very much the same thoughts.

The truth is, oftentimes authors aren't free to explore every aspect of the characters or world that readers might find interesting, simply because of the constraints involved in crafting a good, tightly-knit plot. The fact that there may be some scene or reaction left out that readers would've enjoyed seeing doesn't mean that the author has failed in some aspect... most often it simply means that, while fun, that particular part wouldn't have driven the plot forward, and thus had to be left out. There are limits to the length a published novel can run to, and most editors tend to emphasize trimming "fluff" that's unnecessary/not contributing, because stories that don't move forward quickly enough can lose readers.

And really, sometimes the things that people really, really want to see more of aren't even huge unexplored aspects of character development. Sometimes it's just a matter of wanting more, period. In a number of fandoms, I actually love reading stories where the characters simply, say, go grocery shopping together. They're just being themselves, in a situation that may provide fun opportunities to highlight their quirkiness, or just a bit of banter and companionable hanging out. Done well, it can be a wonderfully enjoyable way of spending a bit more time with the characters - but it's not exactly the sort of thing that'd fit well in most books, because there's not really much point to it. :)

[chubbyleng.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's just a matter of wanting more, period. In a number of fandoms, I actually love reading stories where the characters simply, say, go grocery shopping together. They're just being themselves, in a situation that may provide fun opportunities to highlight their quirkiness, or just a bit of banter and companionable hanging out. Done well, it can be a wonderfully enjoyable way of spending a bit more time with the characters - but it's not exactly the sort of thing that'd fit well in most books, because there's not really much point to it. :)

Very true. Some of my most favourite fanfictions to write and read about are just the everyday-slice-of-life kind of stories. They don't even have to be very long. Sometimes, seeing characters do something or say something is enough to make you fall in love with them all over again.