Boggled

[andrewducker]

I just discovered that Jasper Fforde disapproves of fanfic.

I am completely boggled.

Comments

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

...how odd!

[andrewducker]

He says "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 shows such a staggeringly large lack of self-knowledge that I'm stunned into silence*

*Except for posting this to LJ, of course.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

Have you got a link?

[andrewducker]

http://www.jasperfforde.com/faq.html

:->

[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?

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Absolutely bonkers! Clearly not ironic!

[kmusser]

indeed

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Yes, when I read that today I was, literally speechless at the sheer overwhelming stupidity of the man.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Er...

...

.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Um.

...yeah.

[gravityslave.livejournal.com]

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.

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

That makes no sense at all. He wasn't being ironic, was he?

[andrewducker]

Apparently not. It's on his faq, and he seems completely serious about it. Boggles the mind.

[usmu.livejournal.com]

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.

[snarlish.livejournal.com]

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

[andrewducker]

He takes existing characters and worlds and uses them to write his own stories. That's pretty much the definition of fanfic.