Enia (2016) This chapter hasn't been rewritten. Feel free to skip it. It's not actually a chapter or anything.
An Epic Battle
It may be sad, but Fan fiction is kind of my life. I love it. It's so much fun! Websites where I can find stories on anything from Harry Potter to Legend of Zelda to Lord of the Rings, all written by people like me. I love to read it to see what other people think about the things I love, and I love to write it to put my own views out there and to see what other people think of my writing. It's fun to get into conversations with people from all over the world and to read so many different styles of writing. So yes, maybe it makes me a mega-nerd, but I love Fan fiction. But Fan fiction is not the only thing I write. I also write original stories. Stories I hope to get published one day. If that ever happens, I would love to have people writing Fan fiction about it. It would be the ultimate form of praise. People love my characters enough that they want to continue with their story even after the book has been closed. They want to think about what could happen next to the characters. And isn't that what writers are supposed to do? Make people think? I love Fan fiction and I would give it the a-okay if I were a published author. And some authors agree with me, but others… well, they can't stand it.
So what exactly is Fan fiction? It is a massive archive of stories that are based on a favorite work of the writer or reader. It is a giant network of people of all ages who all love one thing: reading and writing. It doesn't matter where in the world they're from, or what gender or race they are. Fan fiction is a universal thing. People of all ages can be found writing Fan fiction. I have met college students, kids a few years older than me, kids my age, and kids younger than me. Most readers don't pay attention to your age; as long as you have an interesting story to tell, they don't care. It is also a lot like folklore and can be a "creative form of criticism". (Schaffner 5). Maybe the writer of the fic doesn't like a certain book and wants to write a parody making fun of it. Maybe they want to rewrite the ending or change a character pairing. Maybe they want to remake the story to their liking. In the words of Lev Grossman, journalist for Time magazine, "Fan fiction is what literature might look like if it were reinvented from scratch after a nuclear apocalypse by a band of brilliant pop-culture junkies trapped in a sealed bunker". He also calls it the "cultural equivalent of dark matter", meaning that although it is extremely immense in content, most of the general public doesn't see it and has no idea that it exists (Grossman). Fan fiction is written by regular, everyday people, who love the characters of books, movies, games, or whatever so much that they want to write their own stories using those characters.
Some authors love Fan fiction. Lots of bestselling authors, like Sarah Rees Brennan, author of The Demon's Lexicon, and Meg Cabot, started out as Fan fiction writers. Brennan thinks that Fan fiction is "a huge compliment paid to a creator or writer" and says that it feels like people are saying, "your playground is so fascinating, I had to come and play in it, and I made friends there!" Some authors still do write Fan fiction like Naomi Novik, author of the bestselling Temeraire novels. Other authors, like J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer, have also given Fan fiction a green light because it gives their work a "viral marketing agent" (Grossman). The authors are glad that they've got people thinking enough about their books to write a story of their own and that people care enough about what happens to their characters that they want to continue on with those character's stories. That is the beauty of Fan fiction.
But then there are the authors who hate Fan fiction. They say that people who write Fan fiction are just ripping stories off from other peoples work (Schaffner 1). Robin Hobbs cannot stand Fan fiction. She thinks it is like "intellectual theft" and "intellectual laziness" and it lets people "pretend to be creating a story by using someone else's words, characters, and plot." She believes that the "first step to becoming a writer is to have your own idea" (Cathy). Other authors, like Orson Scott Card, say that they will sue fan fiction writers because they believe that the act of writing fan fiction is a "violation of their copyright and their emotional claim to their own creations." They say it is like having their kids "kidnapped by strangers" (Grossman). Scott Card also says that Fan fiction is an attack on his means of livelihood. Anne Rice also does not allow Fan fiction on her work because her characters are copyrighted. George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones) and many others are emotionally attached to their characters. Martin thinks of his characters like his children and Ursla K. Le Guin thinks Fan fiction to be an invasion rather than an act of sharing (Grossman). Some authors are so attached to their characters, they live and breathe and think about them all day long, and the idea of anyone else loving and using them is something like sacrilege.
But what some of these authors who are opposed to Fan fiction don't realize is that many classic works of literature are really just adapted versions of older stories or legends. Long ago, creating original characters wasn't an important part of a writer's job; they just had to write the story. Romeo and Juliet is an adapted story and lots of books used minor characters from other books as their main characters. And, although vehemently opposed to Fan fiction, Robin Hobb writes Star Trek novels that are "licensed by the copyright owner" though the license comes from the corporation and not the actual creator of the characters (Cathy). But these works are not considered Fan fiction. They are written for profit whereas Fan fiction is not.
Some people have also asked the question: Is Fan fiction even legal or ethical? The key issue is obvious: copyright. The way around this issue is something called fair use. "If a work qualifies as fair use, it can borrow from a copyrighted work without permission and without paying for it" (Grossman). There are four factors to determine if something qualifies for fair use. Supreme Court Justice David Souter says that something is fair use if the work cannot be considered "competition for the original work in the marketplace." If it can be considered "transformative." If it "borrows from the story, making something new with a further purpose or a different character." Or if it alters and has a new purpose or a new meaning, message, or expression (Grossman).
Both sides of the story considered, Fan fiction is definitely a controversial issue. Some authors love it, some think it is good advertising for their books, and some believe it is a violation of their copyright and their emotional ties to their characters. But are the writers of Fan fiction really stealing from the authors? They are the readers. They experienced every step of the journey along with the character. They agonized over every decision and plot twist. They cried with the characters and they laughed with them. They cheered when the good guys won and sneered at the villains. They spent their time (that could be spent doing more productive or important things) talking with their friends about what they had read and what they wanted to have happened, or what they thought might happen next. They invested their time and in some cases, their money in the stories. Don't the readers have a sort of emotional claim over the characters, albeit in a different way? Shouldn't they be allowed to keep the characters story going even after the cover of the book has been closed? To keep the characters alive in their hearts and minds? And to share that love with the rest of the world? Shouldn't we, as devoted readers, have that right?
Me (2012): POISSON D'AVRIL! Or APRIL FOOL'S DAY! Hahaha! This is actually my speech from English 9! Psych! And you thought that I, Enia Silverson the craziest author out there, wouldn't take advantage of April Fool's Day. Tee hee. Joke's on you! HAHAHA!