author_by_night | (no subject)

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Five Reasons

1. It's completely natural for me. When I was five, I'd make my Mom play Strawberry Shortcake with me - and would be very specific about character. Nothing changed until I got much older; until I was about thirteen, I'd play with dolls - only instead of them being Ken, Barbie and Midge, their names were Logan, Dawn and Mallory. I'd also act stuff out, as though I was in a play, only I'd be more than one person.

Then I started writing about them. I gave it a try with Full House, and it worked. In 7th and 8th grades, I wrote about book characters we'd read in class. By 8th, I was writing fanfic, and by 9th grade, I was in the HP fandom. (And I definitely had ideas I "acted out" before then - no, I'm not insane, a lot of writers do this).

So, yes, fanfic has always been an impulse.

2. I love to speculate. Writing has always been a way of speculating, of "what ifs" and "I wonder ifs".

3. I love to think about what could be, even when I know JKR doesn't intend it. Its unlikely that Umbridge and Olive Hornby are the same person, but it was fun to write. And it's fun to give Remus a little sister, even though I have a feeling he's an only child. It is sometimes all in the fun.

4. It helps me write original stuff. Being made to learn about someone's characters helps me write my own; I realized that I need to decide what I want to be clear to the reader.

5. Fanfic is a wonderful community. We wank, we bicker, we have ship wars, we have miscommunications. But at the end of the day, if one of us has lost a child, has found out a child is sick, or is in a crisis and needs immediate attention, there's always someone there. And we have a strong identity between one another; fic writers, no matter how different, always seem to have something in common besides the fandom.

Five refutations (Statements people have made about fanfic/fanfic writers, and my countering of them).

1. Fanfic is plagarism. It can be; but as long as you don't go around saying "I wrote the books", it's not. And while not crediting stuff you've used is plagarism, crediting isn't.

2. Fanfic writers think themselves mightier than the writers. Not so. Oh, yes, there are some like that, but the majority of us feel very relieved that we're even allowed to write fanfic. And if someone thinks they are better... I say "so what"? As long as they're not selling their work or anything, it's an opinion. Opinions aren't illegal.

3. Fanfic writers are fangirls. Well, some of us are. Got a problem with that? Besides, half the time, "fangirling" isn't serious. Not to mention all the guy fanficwriters out there.

4. The Harry Potter books are PG; PG-13 and above is an insult, and makes it impossible for parents to leave seven year olds unmonitored. Yes, it does, but that's not my fault. I have a right to enjoy the books too, and to enjoy fanfiction. I won't deny that it's hard - I wouldn't even let my four and six year old cousins look up "Scooby Doo" on google alone. But there are ways to research safe sites. And as I stated before - don't blame us.

5. Fanfic writers aren't real writers. I read that from someone who is the scriptwriter of a tv show, and could easily have said "writing a tv show is nowhere near as good as writing a book." But I didn't, because that's not true. There's different forms of writing.

And that is the rant of the day from yours truly.

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I really enjoyed reading that! I don't have anything intelligent to add, just that I liked reading it. :P

> 3. Fanfic writers are fangirls. Well, some of us are.

HEY WAIT A ROOTIN' TOOTIN' SECOND.

But what if they're fangirling YOU? :)

Disclaimer: KO is not a fanfiction writer, and so is not included in the above points. She's just sayin'. Hee!

(MFF, note that my Pistons love is still strong.)

Okay Amy, you can have your comments back, now!

*Looks down one comment* I'm with Elsha as far as ratings, I think, but you made excellent points -- thanks for sharing them!

On the fourth refutation. I don't think writing PG-13 and above is an insult. I think the books are getting darker, and certainly in sixth and seventh year they will be far more PG-13, at least for violence. Sex is another issue, but, frankly, as long as it's clearly marked with its rating, and you are writing about the characters as older teenagers/adults, no, I don't think it's insulting. I think, when part of the plot, it's covering another part of that world. JKR writes a young adults' universe, but outside that focus is an adult world, as well. I don't write above PG, myself, but I do read it.

Er. Sorry. Pet peeve.

Oh, its okay, I agree. Parents need to realize that all age groups enjoy the books.

The Harry Potter books are PG; PG-13 and above is an insult, and makes it impossible for parents to leave seven year olds unmonitored.

I disagree. Ron's "Uranus" comment plus "Aberforth's illegal charms on a goat" are enough to make HP PG-13 alone, and there are many more comments of this nature that I fail to remember at the current moment. PoA, GoF, and OotP follow this pattern and so far, we have no proof that HBP isn't going to either. (IMO, I think that HBP is going to have far more things in it of this kind than the other books. Remember, Harry and Co. are now 16.)

I think maybe I was misunderstood - a refutation is when you counter something someone says. I was saying what I have heard been said. And you're right, the books are PG-13 in that way (though I still don't think there was supposed to be anything sexual about the charms).

...though I still don't think there was supposed to be anything sexual about the charms...

I agree, and I've yet to meet a second-grader who didn't make Uranus jokes. I don't think either of those things is anywhere near PG-13 territory. (And frankly, I'd strongly dispute the claim that the HP books are "not really children's books" in general. Children's literature has always included violence and serious themes, and I can think of plenty of far darker children's books than the HP series.)

That said, there's no earthly reason why fanfic writers should feel obligated to keep their stuff kid-friendly, as long as they put on the appropriate warnings. It's the parents' responsibility to monitor what their kids see on the Internet.

*gapes* I LOVE your icon, locked_door998. Can I borrow it? :P

Sure! :)

YAY! *steals icon* MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Er...*cough* excuse me. :)

Fanfic writers are fangirls.

Hey, I take objection to that! Some blokes write fanfics too and we don't have fangirlish tendencies - honestly! And about point two under the refutations section - that statement is just laughable!

*fist in air*

Hehe, well its not my fault people assume that! I should've added that too.

Word, Amy.

The Harry Potter books are PG

Eh? The Potter books may be PGish in things such as swearing and sexual content, but the themes themselves are incredibly dark if you get down to it. Anyone who reads OotP and thinks these are children's books is reading them very superficially. Seriously, take one look at Harry and tell me that he isn't one of the darker characters you've read.

Absolutely, Abbers. I mean, this book is about:
1. More or less a second Hitler, with magical powers;
2. People who will gladly put the Unforgiveables on you;
3. Parents who die for their children;
4. A man giving an eleven-year-old girl something that will kill her in a gruesome way;
5. A war.

Agreed. But then, I think that in fairness, young kids might not completely understand all this, at least not how we do - and those who do are probably mature enough to handle it.

True, of course. But then again, what could a nine-year-old see in 'illegal charms on a goat'?

When I first started reading the books, I was only about eleven or twelve, and at the time, I didn't notice that kind of thing as much. It sort of fell under the 'good vs. evil' category in my head then. Now, I'd look at it and say it was dark, though even most childrens' movies I remember had some kind of villain who didn't mind killing people.

I was talking about the list you made, I mean. I probably didn't think much about the goat at the time either though.

woot! You go girl!

uhhhh I mean I like what you said???

What's fangirling?

I've never written fanfic. I think it's because, over the years, my tastes have changed in regards to what I like to read. I'm really about Modernist poetry right now, and how do you right fanfiction about that? Am I supposed to reply to Rimbaud with my own poem? It just works differently, I guess. Anyway, all I'm saying is that if I don't reply to your posts about fanfic, it's because I can't relate.

Hey! No worries, never said you had to reply. Really. I was responding to people who have crit'd it to a borderline insulting point.

And fangirling... "OMGJONDALARISTHESEXY!" is fangirling. "BROUD NEVER MEANT TO RAPE AYLA HE'S TOO HAWT FOR THAT" is fangirling.

Ew, that's just gross. Where does this actually happen??

Harry Potter sites. And sometimes, the fangirling's okay - I mean, I pretend to fangirl, and it can be amusing. But there's a character in the HP books who has Broudish tendencies (minus the raping), and everyone thinks he's "OMG SO SEXY." *Shudders*

Broud? Who the heck is Broud?

Nice reasons, by the way. Go us fanfic writers! :D

'Rant of the day'. Does that mean you rant daily? ^_^

P.S. In the first reason, you said you had dolls called Logan, Dawn, and Mallory. Is that just a coincidence, or did you read the BSC books? :P

Broud's a character in a book series auvergne and I read.

And no, I don't rant daily - more like weekly. ;) It's a joke. (Sort of).

And yup, I read BSC... no idea what I saw in them. Well, I guess they were cute at the time.

I agree with everything you said, Amy! Especially the "Don't write HP ficts that are rated higher than PG". Hello? The HP books are about people getting killed, about the Most Evil Wizard Ever(TM) trying to take over the world and literally killing to reach that goal. PS/SS was perhaps a kiddie book, but the sequels definately AREN'T.

[/rant...]

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