Let's talk about fanfic.

1. I do too. I wanna use a smily, but it's not the best thing to have in the world. Not the worst, either. ( and I'm a doctor. So it's also possible to be a doctor and not neurotypical:)

2. I first knew you as Mira Grant, but I am finding Seanan Mcguire is also a great author.

3. Cool!

Yep. :)
Thanks for being open about it.

I love that attitude, Seanan. I don't read a lot of fanfic, and I write it even less, but I do enjoy it and support people's right to write it.

When I suggest to Chaz that he write a King Arthur story, he snaps "I don't write fanfic!" And when you think about it, most of the King Arthur stories -- you know, the Matter of Britain, one of three cornerstones of English literature -- is mostly fanfic, and you can say the same about a lot of the Matters of France and Rome. Much of the foundation of literature as we claim it is based on...fanfic.

Cool.

The most satisfying thing I ever wrote was a fix-it for Dr. Who which included pretty much everything from 9-10-torchwood but not anything after.

It took 260,000 words.

I <3 fanfic.

I love this post, both because of its contents, but also because it reminds me how much I always love all of your posts on whatever topic! :)

:)

I'm always happy to see a celebration of fanfic. It doesn't take anything away from the world that's been created and gives people a chance to have fun there themselves in a way of their choosing. It's also a great writing exercise and teaches people how to get into the minds of different characters. On top of all of that it's fun!

Love this. Love you.

Back in 2011, I sat at a panel at Renovation where one of the panelists brought up the weird reality of Ulrich von Lictenstein, whose history is actually far stranger than what was portrayed in the entertaining and not-at-all historical A Knight's Tale. She started off by telling us how he had been a jousting tournament champ until he got bored, then he went off into the wilderness, dressed up as the incarnation of Venus, and started challenging passers-by in the name of womanhood. And when that got boring, he got together with a bunch of his friends, dressed up as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and started going visiting to various kingdoms, and people would treat him as if he were the real thing.

At which point, a little voice in my head went So THAT'S why...

See, there is likely a historical inspiration for King Arthur, some warlord of the Brits in the sixth century, forging together a bunch of petty fiefdoms into a unified force to fight the incoming Saxons. And yet, when most people think of Arthurian myth, what do they think of? Shining armor, medieval costumes, jousting. Basically this whole weird graft came on because a bunch of people decided to cosplay around Europe and write fanfic about some folk hero. And Malory built on that, and Tennyson, and eventually we have a whole mythos that is created because people wrote fanfic. (Hello, Lancelot? Totally a French addition.)

Once you wrap your head around that, it's kind of hard to get offended about the concept. FWIW.

I know! WHY hasn't anyone based a series on this guy? (Not me, because I'm historically-minded enough that I'd have to do a ton of research before even starting on this, and it's not my area of interest...)

I also find the idea that it "won't train you to be a proper writer" odd. I don't know how many published authors got their start writing Trek fanfic, but I'm pretty sure it's non-trivial.