Boggled

[andrewducker]

I just discovered that Jasper Fforde disapproves of fanfic.

I am completely boggled.

Comments

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, it is particularly ironic coming from him.

But if you read his FAQ he doesn't say he disapproves; he says he cannot approve of it and that means something different. There are many authors who are quite happy with the concept of fanfic of their characters who nonetheless make it plan that they can give no endorsement of it, for the kind of reason he goes on to state:

"(I've already had one person complain that I had 'stolen' one of their ideas from a Thursday Next fanfiction site I knew nothing about!)"

That's entirely credible, it's a comment I've heard from several authors and TV show writers and it does put them in an awkward position. Many just take a very agnostic view of fanfic as a result, but 'does not approve' does not automatically mean 'disapprove'.

[andrewducker]

He says specifically "That it seems strange to want to copy or 'augment' someone else's work when you could expend just as much energy and have a lot more fun making up your own." - which is the bit that boggles me, as augmenting other people's work is basically what he does for a living.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Yes. He says he finds it strange. He says he doesn't understand it. And it is true that this is rather odd, for the reasons you say.

But he does not, anywhere, say that he disapproves of it.

Now, there are authors who do outright disapprove of fanfic - Anne Rice, for instance. But I don't see Jasper Fforde going as far as that sort of view. He isn't saying fanfic is wrong per se. He isn't threatening to sue anyone who writes it or hosts it. He just expresses his personal (and rather strange) dislike of it and explains why in any case he can't be seen to approve of it.

[andrewducker]

Aaaah. I completely missed the context of my use of the word disapproves in the original post. Sorry, have been taking application security training courses online all afternoon and my brain has melted.

[matgb]

Alternate possibility. He thinks it's a rather odd thing to do.

Is he admitting that he considers himself to be rather odd?