We're still authors!

[a1y_puff]

"IF fanfic authors were real authors they'd write their own books. But writing your own stuff is pretty difficult and incredibly daunting. So, I understand the attraction of wanting to borrow someone else's characters - the hard work is already done."


Okay, I know this is not a fresh-from-the-oven issue, but duuuuuuuuuudeee, I just get to read at least enough discussions about the so-called storm that Diana Gabaldon had started some time ago.

So Gabaldon has already deleted her THREE entries regarding her view of all-fanfics-are-immoral-and-illegal, but I kinda got a screencap of her blog before the entries were deleted. And you know what? I read up to the third entry but couldn't finish or else I would have actually acquainted my head with my plate on the desk since I was eating.

So okay, I wouldn't even touch the copyright laws or those heavy stuff because bookshop had already brilliantly rebutted all of Gabaldon's arguments regarding those stuff. Check it out, btw, it's really awesome and DETAILED.

I'm not going to say much about Gabaldon and those anti-fanfic posts because I think a lot of you have already known about this, yeah? But if you do want to know more, just go HERE.

Anyway, back to the quote I posted up there. It was originally a comment posted by someone named Chip Michael in response to A Challenge for Fanfics Authors posted by a yet-to-be-published author, Eddie Louise.

So Chip Michael said that fanfic authors aren't real authors because they don't write their own book? I beg to differ. I had already published two books before I even set foot in the world of fanfic-writing back in mid-2007, and now that I LOVE writing fanfics, does it make me less of an author than I was before?

I don't think so. I know there are a lot of published authors who love writing fanfics. It's not that we are stupid or not creative enough to create our own characters. It's just that we happen to LOVE
a series and its characters so friggin' much. Fanfics aren't a form of plagiarism; it's a creativity of its own. It's a form of love that the fans have for certain fandoms and characters, right? And the fandoms that we're in, don't they kind of feel like home?

At least, it is to me. As this particular post said, I grew up here.. This is where I found myself, where I learn to understand myself, my quirks, my defense-mechanism. This is where I learn to love myself as I am, to be a better person, to want to understand others. Fandoms gave me knowledge and wisdoms that I don't get from RL. Fandoms gave me great friends and family.

And as isumi_ilde so eloquently put in this entry about what fandom is to her, and maybe to a lot of us too, "It shapes me in a way, along with my own real life. It's part of my identity, where I belong."

True, that I have already published my own works before I started writing fanfictions, but the fanfic world is where I really grew, matured, and got better in writing. There's a significant difference in my writings before and after I started writing fanfics. Ask isumi_ilde, she's read my very first novel and compared it to my third, which I wrote after months of writing fanfictions, and the third, she said, was much, MUCH better. Hell, I even love my recent fanfics better than my first two published novels >.>;;

I became a better author thanks to reading and writing a lot of fanfics.

So you CAN'T say that fanfics authors aren't real authors. I admit that some fanfic authors are still immature and not much of a writer, but you can't just generalize us like that! Many of us are as much as an author as those published authors. Some of us are even both, right? :)

And if some people out there think I'm ridiculous and obsessive for saying all these things? Well they just have to suck it up that we have different kinds of lives.

That aside! Today’s works were a bit hectic. We just got a big client who will work with us for the next six month, and it’s an international company too! So I’ve been translating documents after documents and damn my lack of vocabs for official/formal stuff.

Thus, I want to thank metacifer and vierblith_tefu who are such lifesavers for helping me. I’m sorry I’ve been bugging you guys, but thanks sooo much! <333

ETA: Just when I thought I was finally free, my boss gave me another batch of articles to translate. Holy shit I haven’t even eaten lunch! *wails*

ETA 2: My flirty co-worker bought me a chocolate bread and a box of tea because I wouldn't be able to get my lunch anytime soon. Hmm... flirting has its benefits? XD;; *shot*

Comments

[a1y-puff.livejournal.com]

But writing fanfic most certainly doesn't make us less writers... <-- my point exactly. Writing is still writing, and in a sense, writing fanfiction, when you want to do it right can be more difficult. Because there's an established settings, characterization, etc etc, yeah?

And yeah, I can see that the comment set you on fire, if your icon is any indication. XDD *shot*

Thanks, btw <3

[dark-kana.livejournal.com]

Yes, writing is still writing. And it shouldn't matter if you write original or fanfic... Because they both have their difficulties and I love to write them both.. And yes, original might be harder, because you have to think out characters and their traits and everything around them and stuff like that. But fanfic can be harder because you know the characters and their traits and everything, and when you write about them you have to keep them in character...

*grins* Well, that icon is my 'I'm angry'-icon ... XD