RP, Fanfic, and other pursuits

[autographedcat]

altoidsaddict has a fascinating essay on fanfiction and RP, and why people engage in it. The conclusions he reaches are interesting, and a lot of food for thought.

Comparing fanfic to original writing is not quite like apples and oranges. It's more like grapefruit to tangelos. Okay, so fanfic is writing - but it has a different purpose than original writing, and to urge fanficcers to stop wasting their time and write something original ignores that the act of writing is almost incidental. (Yes, yes, you who are about to object, you're precious, creative stars in the galaxy of craft. Just a sec.) How I communicate to a reader as a writer is drastically different in purpose from how fanficcers communicate with other fandom folk. Yes, they have a lot in common - but the primary purpose is different, the human motivations are different, and that changes everything.

Go read the whole thing. It's chewy crunchy thoughtfood.

Comments

[almeda.livejournal.com]

My mom was all, "Why can't you just do the exact same thing, only with all your own characters, nd get published, sweetie?" when I showed her some of my RP logs. Not same thing at all. For one thing, I can't do dialogue without having someone else do the other character ... too masturbatory. For another, the 'creating a whole consistent world with interesting people and conflicts' part, which you get for free with RP and fanfic, is in itself a fiendishly hard skill, and one I do not posess yet. Even aside from the issues raised in the essay.

[cheshyre]

Not only that, but the more I've read the blogs of professional writers, the more convinced I am that's NOT what I want to do.

I like the writing part, but not submissions and rejections, page proofs, or any of the business aspects.

If you haven't seen, matociquala had a good entry recently about fanfic. Do people tell every Joe twiddling with a guitar to become a professional musician? Folks can enjoy cooking without becoming chefs, why can't I just enjoy writing as a hobby for fun?