A kind fan sent me a link to a school project they were working on regarding fanfiction and the fandoms that create them. The site is especially specific to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fanfiction, and also includes an interview with the people responsible for this hilarious site. I'd recommend both hardcore fans and people who don't even know what fanfiction is read it. It's quite informative.

What got me thinking was the section on the legal technicalities of fanfiction...and how, quite basically, fanfiction is illegal. Not that anyone cares, since it's against common sense to spend time and money prosecuting people with no assets that are the ones actually BUYING your products. Which is why Ann Rice's policies confound me.

Now, I've never read any of Ann Rice's stories, and I certainly haven't had a desire to write fanfiction for them. But I have heard stories of people that did have an interest in her characters. Ann Rice expressly forbids that ANY fanfiction be written about her characters. The quote that interested me most was "It upsets me terribly to even think about fan fiction with my characters."

It upsets her to even THINK about fanfiction? Let's think about this for a second...

As an artist and a writer, I completely believe that (for better or worse) immitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Now, it's quite true that very often the immitation fans come up with for stories is quite cheap and even degrading. (More on that later.) However, just the fact that someone cares about my characters and stories enough to write and/or draw them themselves makes my heard leap for joy. It means my characters really *matter* to someone; that they make an impact on someone's life. I don't see how it's fair to begrudge someone for writing about my characters themselves, even if their story is crap.

But apparently, Ann Rice can't stand the thought of that. Some could say that this means she cares about her characters so much that she doesn't want to see them be "ruined" by anyone, even if that person's just writing fanfic for fun. That's not the message I get from her. The message instead is that she's not secure enough in her characters to let a fan touch them. Characters are like a writer's children. You give life to them, take care of them, sometimes punish them, but always love them. What Ann Rice's "no fanfiction" policy says to me is that she loves her children so much she won't let them go play outside, lest they meet some other children that teach them bad words.

How immature is that? Sure I'd probably be disgusted if someone wrote completely non-canon slash with my characters. Then I'd laugh and move on with my life. After all, I'm the one who ultimately knows what my characters are really like. I'm the one making a living off telling their stories. (someday, I hope...) Let people write their own sappy Mary Sues and slash orgies. Fans are a creator's most precious commodity, and to snub them just because they happen to have weird ideas and crappy writing comes off as rude and self-absorbed.

Speaking of crappy writing...I speaketh an urgent plea to all fanfiction writers to try and write WELL. It doesn't matter what the subject matter is, so long as it's written WELL. Now obviously, sometimes writers just don't have the skills to write well, especially if they're in middle school or high school. I know I got my start writing fanfiction in high school, and I can look back on it now and realize just how crappy it is. Fanfiction is a great way to develop creative writing skills, especially if you work hard to have correct characterization.

However, there are SOME things that ALL fanfiction writers should do, no matter what their age or skill level. Mostly, that's grammar, punctuation, spelling and format. There is no excuse for any of those things. Most basic grammar kids learn in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. Anyone who wants to write even semi-seriously should adhere to grammar and spelling like the Bible. If you can't spell worth beans, use the SPELL CHECK. And memorize the three basic mistakes: their/they're/there, its/it's and your/you're. My eyes start bleeding every time someone screws up on one of those. Heck, take grammar lessons from Strong Bad if you need to. The fact is, no one will ever, EVER take fanfiction seriously as long as the majority of authors continue to use sloppy writing. And spending all of your high school years screwing up its/it's definitely isn't going to help you if you ever want to write for a non-internet audience.

For that matter...SPELL THINGS OUT ON THE INTERNET. The time you save typing out 2day instead of "today" is about a billionth of a second. Meanwhile, it takes the reader twice as long to figure out what you're saying. I spell out everything when I IM people (I even capitalize "I") and I finish in the same time it takes them to write out weird l337 abbreviations, if not less. So SPELL things CORRECTLY! ARRGH!

Sorry. HUGE pet peeve of mine.

In actual news of my life, we went and got the Christmas tree yesterday, and after hours of labor finally got it set up! Woohoo! We don't have many ornaments, but it's pretty and sparkly anyway, and makes the new house feel like home. Yay, Christmas break is a mere week away! XD And since finals are practically nonexistent next week, I'm nearly home free. I've just got my last paper for Great Books to finish. I probably could've finished it today, but procrastination got the better of me. Oh well, it'll get done tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, OPR-kun got a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee, so we're heading over tomorrow to play! Woo-frickitty-hoo! XD I haven't played in years, and I now realize how much I've been craving. Kicking butt as Yoshi once again is a dream come true. Also, we'll probably head over to 3rd Street for dinner; and maybe I can squeeze in a bit of Christmas shopping.

Acchan bought a copy of Chain of Memories yesterday, and I was drooling over the player's guide with anticipation. I REEEEALLY want my copy to come, especially before the end of next week...when Christmas party things will happen! Woohoo again!

Operator status: nonstop. Ugh. XP

Maya PLE comprehension status: 24% Oh well. Point is, I haven't even had time to look at Maya.

Macromedia studio comprehension status: 47% Nothing to see, folks. Move along...

Website reconstruction status: 63% Free time, here I come! XD

Drawing: Finished fanart and card stuffes. Next I'll be working on pages for my Rising Stars of Manga entry! Woo!

Writing: My paper for Great Books. Bleh.