andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2010-05-14 02:29 pm
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Boggled

I just discovered that Jasper Fforde disapproves of fanfic.

I am completely boggled.
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kmusser: (Boggle)

[personal profile] kmusser 2010-05-14 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
indeed

[identity profile] gonzo21.livejournal.com 2010-05-14 02:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, when I read that today I was, literally speechless at the sheer overwhelming stupidity of the man.

[identity profile] cairmen.livejournal.com 2010-05-14 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Er...

...

.

[identity profile] ashfae.livejournal.com 2010-05-14 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Um.

...yeah.

[identity profile] gravityslave.livejournal.com 2010-05-14 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I admit that I don't understand fanfic at all either, but that doesn't mean I disapprove of it at all. I have many friends who are avid fanfic writers and readers, and to each their own. But I don't get it and I probably never will.

[identity profile] rhythmaning.livejournal.com 2010-05-16 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
That makes no sense at all. He wasn't being ironic, was he?

[identity profile] usmu.livejournal.com 2010-05-17 10:21 am (UTC)(link)
To me there's a huge difference between what Fforde does and fanfic as I understand it. Fforde has created an universe all of his own and has used several established literary characters from all over the place. Fanfic (again: as I understand it) is either introducing a new protagonist into an existing universe, or taking an existing universe and rewriting it to your own liking. Fford has used the figure of Hamlet for instance, but has not tried to rewrite the play. Fanfic would write stories set in the play, either fleshing out the backstory or introducing another character into it.

Besides: I'm always amused at the notion that authors should be happy with fanfic. Not only does it create problems with copyright, as noted elsewhere in this thread, but I can understand authors being protective of their creations. Fanfic writers can take characters down roads their authors never intended them to go. Stoppong people from writing it would be futile, but that doesn't mean you should be happy with it either. That's each writer's perogative.

[identity profile] snarlish.livejournal.com 2010-05-17 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm also not sure why you are boggled. Although Fforde owes a debt to 'Who Killed Roger Rabbit', and, like Alan Moore, exploited creations of other authors, his Thursday Next stories really are their own creatures.

Charles Stross (who has also exploited the mythology of another author) recently addressed the fanfic issue more completely: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/05/faq-fanfic.html
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