Fanfic writers - SHORT POLL QUESTION

[timepiececlock]

I've been reading some interesting stuff about fanfiction today. I read a great deal of stuff about the "Cassie Claire Is A Plaigarist" wank, and had to quit at part VIII of the timeline archive because it was just that long and messy. Right now I'm reading this article and its predecessor, and for the most part I'm finding them fair and enjoyable, if a bit on the shallow side information-wise.

In reading some of the CC wank stuff, which featured quotes about fanfic from various authors (particularly fantasy), I was left wondering if there was a giant list somewhere that maybe showed how a lot of the more famous authors feel about fanfic. I know the obvious ones like Anne Rice and JKR, but if the article I linked above is true and some professional authors are/have been fanfic writers themselves, I'd love to read various opinions present by them with regards to the issue.

The article I linked also says this about fanfic, which I admit applies to me as well:

"I was fifteen years old when I invented the genre of fan fiction, a form of writing where the author takes characters or universes created by someone else and writes stories about them. ... ... ... Fifteen was also the year I attended my first convention, where I learned that fan fiction had thrived for years before me."

Although for me it was more like 14 and I discovered fanfic through a Sailor Moon fan website and not a convention, the experience was basically identical: when I wrote my first fanfic I didn't even realize I was entering myself into a long-standing fandom tradition. I just had this mental image that I *had* to write down. That urge to write the next step after the credits closed. It wasn't until a while later that I stumbled upon internet fanfic and it clicked in my brain. In many ways I've never felt guilt about the "allure" of the internet and fandom because for me, fandom and fanfic was something, first and foremost, my own individual invention. Learning that there were thousands of others out there who made that same leap was, if anything, a massive rush.

So, I have a poll for you guys on my flist who write fanfic. And I'd like to ask you to link this poll to others if you want to, because I'd really love to see what a large sample will respond with. Most of my flist I've known originally from Jossverse fandom or anime fandom, so I'm sure it will be a far from legitimate sample of LJ fic writers. But I'd love to see, anyway.

[Poll #788168]

Comments

[blinkytreefrog.livejournal.com]

I was left wondering if there was a giant list somewhere that maybe showed how a lot of the more famous authors feel about fanfic.

Why yes (http://www.fanworks.org/writersresource/?tool=fanpolicy), yes there is :-).

Interesting poll, too. I suspect that most people would have written 'fanfic' as kids without knowing the meaning of the word. I know I did (http://www.livejournal.com/users/blinkytreefrog/24536.html) :-).

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

Huh. I see that while J.K. Rowling is okay with it, "Harry Potter" is not. Hahaha.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I guess you can't write movie fic for HP, then. :)

I was just browsing it: Good Charlotte the band tolerates RPS. That does surprise me, I admit.