sundries

[rm]

I am a professional writer. I also write fanfiction. I will never stop writing fanfiction. Should I ever find myself in a position where I have to actually mask my identity to write fanfiction, I will do so, rather than give it up and also continue to advocate under my real name for the value of transformative works. For me, it's like being in yet another reinterpretation of Shakespeare. I think it is glorious and unworthy of shame. Just because something isn't necessarily monetarily profitable doesn't mean it is not of value to everything from heart to career, and (indirectly, in this case) wallet.

The Dragon*Con pocket program is out. I will be posting a detailed list of the when, where and what of my panels soon. This is worth looking at if you care about my stuff, because two of the things I'm involved with have so many guests participants, none of us were listed with it, so the pocket program won't help you there!

If you have seen the Dragon*Con pocket program you know that the Torchwood stuff is EARLY in the morning, sometimes as early as 10a, (which means lining up at 9am). I think invisible_lift and I will be needing to host the Torchwood Hangover Breakfast Society for the duration of the con.

Thanks to the advent of Twitter and me bringing lots of equipment for various forms of documentation to D*C, I'm not sure if Kali and I's "GDL in 160 characters or less" thing still makes sense, despite the fact that it was unspeakably hilarious last year. What say you?

In the ongoing effort to make Dragon*Con a civilized experience for Patty and I, I need to research the aquarium and also the local Legal Seafoods, which has a gluten-free menu and the greatest scallops I've ever eaten. EVER.

Summer is ending. And it's so hot and miserable, I am, of course, grateful. But I'm also sad. The gardening will be done soon, and Patty will be in school and more stressed out. Of course, it will also become fall, which is my power season, and we'll be home more, and I'll be able to wear my suits and have a lower dry-cleaning bill. I suppose it is in part because this is the first summer Patty and I have really gotten to spend together that I am so melancholy. Perhaps it is also that fall is the season of things passing out of the world, and there's been too much of that lately.

Speaking of our gardening the current state of affairs is: 2 tomatoes growing on one of the red zebras (there was a third lost in a storm), flowers on the other red zebras, so hopefully tomatoes soon. The hot pepper never bloomed again, but is growing well. The klari baby cheese pepper has lots of flowers and tiny peppers, but only two that I'm sure are going to make it to full adult pepperdom. That's okay, that's better than we were doing before the squirrel ate the last one. There's also 1 tomato coming in on the green zebra, and a tomato on a fourth, unknown tomato plant, but that one keeps growing lots of little tomatoes and then losing them in the wind. Herbs are doing super well and should probably be replanted before Atlanta.

Tomorrow, I think Patty and I are going to a 1920s thing at the Museum of the City of New York. I have nothing to wear but a suit, which is a Bad Plan outside at 6pm in this weather.

This weekend we are going to the beach. It seems it will be cold and stormy, but perhaps the forecast will be wrong. Although, two days in bed away from here isn't anything to complain about either.

We've put a calendar white-board up in our kitchen and we filled out lots of stuff on it last night. I just remembered 100 other things I need to put on it tonight though.

I am hoping to go look at Macs on Thursday, although I suppose I should wait to buy until that new software release hits on Friday.

Last night we watched some of the movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I was riveted, but had to go to bed.

In the realm of possibly strange-to-you personal endeavors, I am attempting to use the word "real" less, as it is frequently used to imply that something is unreal when that's entirely not the case. Just because something is online doesn't mean it's not real. Just because something is fictional doesn't mean it's not real. It's an imprecise word in my usages of it, so I'm working on it.

I am working on a fic that is Breaking My Heart, and I blame you, oh friends list.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

# I am a professional writer. I also write fanfiction.

Did you see the link I posted? It may be the greatest Professional Response to Fanfic I've ever seen.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's why I said what I said, because I don't buy the argument that it is always better to write original work. For a person who makes their entire living writing fiction, this is arguably true for simple cash flow reasons as well as one's C.V., but every moment, every act of writing, every career is different, and it's an assertion I'm uncomfortable with. But I did think it was, overall, kind, well-reasoned and gracious.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

I don't think people view fic as "transformative work" so much as "playing in someone else's sandbox." Or rather, it gets forgotten that fic can be both.

After all, we wouldn't have modern Arthurian Tradition without fanfic. (Or the Bible, or much of Shakespeare, or...)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Transformative work covers fanfic, hence the OTW.

Also, the fact is, will I be very fucking proud when I finally get a novel published? Am I thrilled every time I get a contract for an essay? Do I think these things matter? yes. Always yes.

Am I certain that anything I write will matter more than some of the fanfiction I've been involved with because of what it's meant to people and what the experience of writing it has been? Nope. Maybe. But maybe not. And I'm okay with that and don't think it has any bearing on my past or future success.

We also wouldn't have His Dark Materials without transformative work, which I mention because unlike the ongoing evolution of Arthurian legend, isn't part of a collective transformation in the same way, although I do love that it's fanfiction about Bible fanfiction (Milton's work).

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Am I certain that anything I write will matter more than some of the fanfiction I've been involved with because of what it's meant to people and what the experience of writing it has been? Nope. Maybe. But maybe not. And I'm okay with that and don't think it has any bearing on my past or future success.

I think that may be a point where people who don't write fic lose the thread. If they don't know or understand that that sort of interaction with the text can occur, it's hard to understand why someone would write fic and consider it as "Important" as original work.

Does that mean that Phillip Pullman wrote meta-fic? ;)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Does that mean that Phillip Pullman wrote meta-fic?

Considering the way the third book goes from plot into "long screed about the church," I'd say it totally qualifies as meta. It's fucking irksome.

[laurab1.livejournal.com]

I love HDM. Oxford really is a very weird place. My brother and I went to see HDM on stage, back in May - http://laurab1.livejournal.com/390240.html

And then I wrote fic - http://laurab1.livejournal.com/392057.html ;)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Can you share the link here, by any chance?

Thanks!

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

It's here, but you have to scroll down a bit. Look for the response that starts, "@619:".

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Great! Thank you!

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

I saw that this morning, thanks to apocalypsos. It was really nice to see a pro say something about fanfic other than "LOL LOSERZ" or "KILL IT WITH FIRE."

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

This is because Leverage is awesome. ;-) I love that guy's blog. LOVE IT.

[aynatonal.livejournal.com]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is *so* much better than it needs to be. So much funnier, faster, stranger, crueler than it has to be. I love it dearly.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is possibly my favourite movie about movies other than Get Shorty which is less self-aware.

Not keen on "keeping it real"? :P

I hope the fic breaks our hearts as well.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I've never quite understood the literary difference between fanfic and officially sponsored derivative literature. (I get that specific difference in that occasionally the original creator has some say in where the derivative lit. goes and in fanfic it's a free for all but in my heart and my head the only difference is which is considered canon.)

In my book, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard is fanfic; no Shakespeare scholar would ever consider that canon. So are all the Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon V, etc. novels. Different fans consider those canon and some don't.

Mind you, "Romeo and Juliet" could be a derivative work seeing as how it was based on "Tristan and Isolde", so there you go.

I haven't any trouble with derivative works. I think they are as valid as entirely new creations. We've been adding our own bits to the stories we tell for millenia.

[woogledesigns.livejournal.com]

I thought "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" is a pastiche. It has specific comedic and structural intentions that both justify and are derived from it's reuse of specific existing literary characters.

Obviously it has certain things in common with fanfic, but I'm not sure I could say that qualifies it as fanfic.

[ladyaelfwynn.livejournal.com]

I have a very broad definition of fanfic. If one writes something that expands on someone else's story using the original author's characters, it's fanfic, whether or not it's professionally published.

In reviewing the literary definition of "pastiche", it seems that quite a lot of fanfic could be deemed thusly.

It's good I opted to do my graduate work in libarianship (I'm a cataloguer) rather than literature because I'm certain I would've infuriated a goodly portion of lit profs with my heretical ideas! ;-p

[queenfanfiction.livejournal.com]

I am a professional writer. I also write fanfiction. I will never stop writing fanfiction.

THANK YOU FOR RATIONALIZING MY EXISTENCE.

No, really, my family and I are waging a bloody war over the merits of fanfiction vs. original fiction. Is it OK to add you to my list of "Authors I Can Name Who Write Fanfiction and Are Not Only Successful but Also Are Still in Complete Control of Their Mental Faculties"? :D

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes, feel free!

I should also note that one of my published and well-paid for pieces of fiction is arguably Lovecraft-based fanfiction.

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

The Georgia Aquarium is a must-see, in my (admittedly very very biased) book. I could camp out and live at the viewing window of the whale shark tank, and not just because of the whale sharks. We did the behind-the-scenes tour at Saltwater U II and I don't know how much appeal it would have to a non-marine-aquaria person but it was really really cool for us.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Jumping in here, sorry, but they have a whale shark tank? Holy crap. I did not know anyone had one of those.

[hyrkanian.livejournal.com]

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/

Check it out. :)

[fleur.livejournal.com]

I would buy now if possible; we're planning on PANDEMONIUM come Friday, not to mention the always potential good times of actually running out of laptops.

Apple is offering a mail in coupon that gives you Snow for $9.95; they'll drop a disc in the mail to you. Our store is actually offering a credit on the price of your machine for that amount so it ends up being free.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh shit, GOOD POINT.

Thank you.

[fleur.livejournal.com]

Plus, you'll probably get that anyway for the next week or so ... a Leopard machine with a Snow disc shoved in the box. :)

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Do people really argue that fanfiction is unprofitable and therefore unworthy? O_o And even if they do--I think fanfiction might enlarge the audience for shows and movies and books.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Some people do. And increasingly people are getting that it's healthy for audience building. What really drives me nuts is the idea that it's a warm-up to writing original fiction, practice, as it were -- to me they are such vastly different exercises, that while I acknowledge this to be true for some people, I get annoyed by that framing that immediately makes fanfic lesser. I know more than a few people with book contracts _because_ of their fanfiction and to be frank, in some of those cases, I think their fanfic was better.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I agree. They are different. Though I do think you can explore specific areas of craft through fanfiction, but that won't teach you key things like character development and world building.

I tried to bring up fanfiction once in a writing workshop--it was pertinent to the discussion. Most people didn't know what it is and the rest would not let me finish and were horrified I would even bring it up. LULZ.

Because apparently its only OK to transform old novels like Jane Eyre into Wide Sargasso Sea. God forbid you want to write about a TV show you like.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Kali and I just solved a huge problem in our novel because we realized that a structural trick we used in our Torchwood fanfic epic would solve a major structural issue related to world-building and novel-length for us. But man, that was a happy accident, and about as unrelated to the trajectory of what we do or why we do it as I can imagine.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

I love when the solution appears--happy accident or product of patience, etc. And btw, I meant to comment yesterday and say I think a brick colored shirt would be very flattering on you. You have the right complexion and the flair to carry it off. :D

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

Do people really argue that fanfiction is unprofitable and therefore unworthy?

Also this makes it an icky girly endeavour, apparently. I make various kinds of handcrafts, and all the annoying ideas about fanfic come up in the craft community, too.
*It's not profitable, so it's a waste of time!
*It's good practise for being a professional!
*It's nice to say you just want to have a community, but internet/hobby friends aren't real friends!
*Why do you give your stuff away?
*You're just coasting on other people's work.

[imaginarycircus.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've seen many of those old chestnuts.

Art created solely for money is always great. I mean all those Van Goghs... If he'd only lived until he was 150 years old he'd be rich as Croesus.

[blue-fjords.livejournal.com]

I'm not on Twitter, so I would appreciate the GDL in 160 characters or less posts. Please. :)

I love Legal Sea Foods! I love sea food in general. I made scallop casserole for dinner on Sunday, and it was heavenly. Though very, very fattening.

And Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is so awesome. Reminded me that I really liked Val Kilmer once.

Enjoy your tomatoes!

[rm.livejournal.com]

Well, if I do blog the GDL thing, it would be to LJ probably, but it's less funny if I'm sitting there transcribing, as opposed to trying to reduce it to text messages. I'm not sure what we're doing. I should ask Kali her schedule for such shenanigans.

[blergeatkitty.livejournal.com]

Love Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. We were halfway through it before realizing that we'd actually stayed in the hotel featured in the movie about six months prior.

[sparta5.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about language. I am endeavoring to choose my words more careful, and thus say what I really mean instead of just filling my comments and replies with slang or the dime-a-dozen words.

And I agree with you about fall. Such bittersweet days.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I am working on a fic that is Breaking My Heart, and I blame you, oh friends list.

YAY.

I hope to go I'm partially responsible, because one of your ideas has wormed its way into my poly fic, and it is FUCKING AWESOME.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

While I was still shopping my book around I was interested to see a couple of reputable agents (this is in young adult SFF for whatever potential difference that makes) say that they considered fan fiction to be a legitimate thing to mention in a query letter, under the past writing experience/prior "publications" rubric. Also, eventually Penny Pro's "secret" identity as Sarah Slashgirl will come out, one way or another, so you might as well just write what you want to write under whatever name you want to write it and devil take the hindmost.

[missdeanna.livejournal.com]

I think maybe people idealize original fiction to an extent. There's a lot of bad fan fic out there, but there's a lot of bad, unimaginative original fiction, too. Writing an original story doesn't make someone a good writer, and it doesn't make their ideas great or particularly creative. Original fiction and fan fic are quite different, but they both take skill and creativity to do really well. And even writing great original fiction isn't a sure ticket to getting published or gaining recognition for your work.

Figuring out that I could write both original fiction and fan fiction, and just have fun with my writing and do what I wanted with it, was the best writing-related thing that's happened to me.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Really*, anyone who's ever written for an episodic television series that he or she was not the original creator of, is writing a kind of professional fanfic. And there is this thing called 'the spin-off.' And 'the remake.' Or 'the movie version.'

*Golly, there's that word again. I *think* I'm using it precisely. At least you've got me thinking about it.

[invisible-lift.livejournal.com]

I hear bananas are good for hangovers. Heh.

And have you ever seen Cecilia Tan's profile page? She's inspiring me pretty hardcore...