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[Rose]

A friend tweeted this to me. It doesn't really delve into RPG fanfic, like what most of us here write...but I found it really interesting.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2081784,00.html

[julilly]

I loved that article, particularly this passage:

Naomi Novik, whose Temeraire novels are best sellers and have been optioned by Peter Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings movies, writes fan fiction. "Fanfic writing isn't work, it's joyful play," she says. "The problem is that for most people, any kind of writing looks like work to them, so they get confused why anyone would want to write fanfic instead of original professional material, even though they don't have any problem understanding why someone would want to mess around on a guitar playing Simon and Garfunkel."

[Rose]

I love that too. People don't get that we write just for the love of writing. We do it because it's fun, and it makes us happy.

[Purpura Lipstick]

What a fantastic article.

[mare]

I agree, that was a great article, really explained fanfic perfectly.

[RokofAges75]

Great article!  I like how it cleared up some misconceptions about fanfic and its writers.  It's also interesting to consider how many published novels there are that are essentially works of fanfic, but for profit.

Also, this part made me laugh:

The same site also has 87 examples of Tetris fan fiction, which are a showcase for the resourcefulnes s of writers spinning stories from the thinnest of threads: "L-block has just found out that his life partner, Square block, was cheating on him with his brother, Inverse L-block ..."

[Mellz Bellz]

Great quote that sums it all up:

"I've been in fandom since early 2005, when I was getting ready to turn 12," says Kelli Joyce. "For me, starting so young, fanfic became my English teacher, my sex-ed class, my favorite hobby and the source of some of my dearest friends. It also provided me with a crash course in social justice and how to respect and celebrate diversity, both of characters and fic writers."

Not so sure about the social justice part, but English and grammar? Check! Sex-ed? Double Check! (LOL I often joke that I've learned everything I needed to know about sex from reading Forever by Judy Blume and BSB fan fiction.) A favorite hobby? Definitely! Meeting close friends? I think forums like this speak for themselves.

[RokofAges75]

I liked that quote too; it's so true!!  I've learned so much about writing from fanfic and made friends from all over the world.  Hell, even the sex ed thing is true for me too LOL.  My high school didn't teach sex ed, but I made up for it reading visuals and YM.

[Carter-Orange]

Great article!

[Sakabelle]

Really interesting article! I especially liked this quote:

"It's also an intensely social, communal activity. Like punk rock, fan fiction is inherently inclusive, and people spend as much time hanging out talking to one another about it as they do reading and writing it."

[Rose]

Really interesting article! I especially liked this quote:

"It's also an intensely social, communal activity. Like punk rock, fan fiction is inherently inclusive, and people spend as much time hanging out talking to one another about it as they do reading and writing it."

That article really summed up what fanfic and the community that comes from it. I also love that JK Rowling supports it.

[RokofAges75]

There was a brief segment on Harry Potter fanfic on the CBS Evening News last night.  Fanfic's going mainstream; I love it! LOL

I had never heard of fanfic before discovering my first BSB story, so it's nice that the media is starting to get the word out a little bit and explaining it so it doesn't sound quite so weird LOL.

Like the article said, it does seem like the kind of nerdy hobby you'd expect a guy in his late thirties who lives in his mom's basement to be doing; I had to laugh at this quote:
"Fan-fiction writers aren't guys who live in their parents' basements. They aren't even all guys. If anything, anecdotal evidence suggests that most fan fiction is written by women."

It's great to show that a lot (maybe not all) of fanfic writers are normal adults with actual lives - families, friends, careers, other interests and hobbies.  I still won't go shouting to the world that I write Backstreet Boys fanfic, but it does help explain it for the people in my life who DO know - and think it's weird LOL.

[mare]

I thought I heard the word fanfic when I was switching channels last night. LOL I usually watch NBC nightly news but changed to CBS at the very ending. Must have just missed it!

[RokofAges75]

Yeah, it was at the very end, the last segment.  It was pretty short, nothing super interesting; it just mentioned how, even though Harry Potter's ending, fans will keep it alive through fanfic, and it explained what fanfic was and had interviews with a HP fanfic writer and the creator of Mugglenet.com.

[Rose]

I kinda wish RPG fanfic would get mentioned lmao, cause it seems to be the section fanfiction writers find weird haha. But I love that it's getting more mainstream. We DO have lives. It also sounds weird and I remember trying to explain it to my parents when my mom saw me writing it on my computer lmao. Awkward conversation as a teen. It's just nice seeing it get defined better.