THIS. I don't write myself, but it's obvious to any fair-minded reader that good fanfiction requires skill, understanding, and hard work. One of the joys of watching any new fandom grow is seeing authors take the emerging canon, mix in fannish tropes (sex pollen! bodyswap! genderbending!), to create something delightful. Dismissing all that creativity just because it didn't use original characters or produce a paycheck is folly.
And I wonder about those offended authors who are so proud of their own creativity. Did their novel have dragons? Daddy/mommy issues? Love triangles? Consciously or not, they were writing in reaction to Oedipus Rex, Arthurian legend, the Ring Cycle, you name it. Someone should Wiki "anxiety of influence."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:04 am (UTC)And I wonder about those offended authors who are so proud of their own creativity. Did their novel have dragons? Daddy/mommy issues? Love triangles? Consciously or not, they were writing in reaction to Oedipus Rex, Arthurian legend, the Ring Cycle, you name it. Someone should Wiki "anxiety of influence."