How I got over my elitist self and learned that fanfic is art, too

anexperimentallife:

This is a confession, and hopefully a wake-up for others who feel the way I used to about fanfic, as well as an apology to fanfic writers everywhere.

See, I used to have an elitist attitude towards fanfic (and especially slash fic). I refused to even read any, but nonetheless talked about it as though it was trash. Yes, I was one of those annoying, snobby pricks who thought that nothing good could possibly come out of fans writing in their favorite sandboxes.

Some of it probably came from what I call New Author Insecurity, and an attempt to aggrandize myself by belittling others to make myself feel like I was better than they were. After all, had I not earned literally dozens of dollars selling my little stories? (Hell, if I saved up a year’s worth of royalties, I could MAYBE even afford a latte at Starbuck’s. Perhaps, if the year had been especially kind, a flavored one. Maybe even a Venti!)

But then a critically-acclaimed author friend (my writing friends are mostly much more talented, skilled, prolific, and in almost every way more impressive than I am) linked me to this Avengers fanfic, and both she and another critically-acclaimed, award-winning author friend pointed out to me that not only do they read and love fanfic, but they also still write it (but refused to tell me what names they post under), that I was being a narrow-minded, elitist prick, and that my attitude insulted not only them, but also scores of other talented and skilled writers. That some fanfic is just as good as anything on the bookstore shelf, and furthermore, that even if it’s NOT well-written, it is legitimate art, and that no one should be looked down upon for making any kind of art to the best of their abilities.

And hey, at least original fanfic is creating something new. How would I feel if people looked down their noses at me every time I played a cover of someone else’s song? And really, wasn’t every in-character post I made as part of an RP group technically fanfic? When I did a parody of a show I loved for the comic I used to write, wasn’t that kind of skirting the fanfic line, too?

I also realized, later, that every single tie-in novel one of my friends writes is technically, fanfic commissioned by the franchise owners. The award-winning Kij Johnson’s Star Trek:TNG book, Dragon’s Honor? Technically, commissioned fanfic. My best-selling amigo Aaron’s tie in novels for Eureka (under a house name) and various other franchises? Also technically fanfic. My buddy Jon’s little sister Apple’s Barbie books? Fanfic.

The only difference between those books and an AO3 posting is that the franchise owner PAID for them. That’s it. That’s the only difference.

So yeah. Fanfic is art, or at least it can be. And anyone who tells you otherwise is a prick. And it shouldn’t have taken other professionals I respect to point that out to me, but it did. And I’m sorry.

And now I’m off to re-read this exquisite Mass Effect fanfic and cry over Jack and Shepard. Again.