From: jwkenne@attglobal.net   
      
   On 2015-02-17 16:53:21 +0000, Dorothy J Heydt said:   
      
   > In article , Bill Swears     
   wrote:   
   >> On 2/16/2015 4:58 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:   
   >>> In article <7bba8f14-c25e-492a-9564-0c499d7e99d9@googlegroups.com>,   
   >>> C. E. Gee  wrote:   
   >>>> On Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 6:40:51 PM UTC-8, J.Pascal wrote:   
   >>>>> I was wondering who'd committed fan fiction (and was willing to   
   >>>> confess) and what effect you think it had on your writing ability and   
   >>>> career?   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> -Julie   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Seriously, if you want to write SF, but cannot conjure up your own cast   
   >>>> of unique characters, settings, etc., you probably should give up the   
   >>>> idea of being an SF writer.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> And someone who is able to do the above will besmirch their reputation   
   >>>> as a writer by writing Fan Fiction.   
   >>>   
   >>> On the other hand, it has been often said that every writer has   
   >>> to put out a million words of crud before s/he can start writing   
   >>> saleable fiction.   
   >>>   
   >>> Fanfic is one way of getting rid of that million words.   
   >>>   
   >> I think that it has another function.  Sometimes a set of characters   
   >> becomes alive for the reader/writer.  When that happens, telling stories   
   >> in that universe might seem very natural.  And there is a huge trove of   
   >> story set in particular universes.  Not just Star Wars and Star Trek   
   >> (which have really large, licensed, canon of stories that are in essence   
   >> legal fanfic) but also the classic Greek islands, the fairy tales, and etc.   
   >>   
   >> How many times was Romeo and Juliet told before Shakespeare got it right?   
   >   
   > Several, I dare say, to say nothing of how many times it's been   
   > done *SINCE*.   
   >   
   > Somewhere in C. S. Lewis's work -- either _The Forgotten Image_   
      
   "The Discarded Image"   
      
   > or _An Allegory of Love_, I forget which and am not going to scan   
   > both of them just now -- he's discussing how often medieval and   
   > Renaissance authors would take a well-used story and tell it over   
   > again.  And if you were to say to them, "Why tell this story yet   
   > again?  Why not make up something new?" they would say, "Surely   
   > we are not yet reduced to that?  A good story can still inspire   
   > many excellent re-tellings, and we want to see how well we can   
   > re-tell it."  Or words to that effect.   
   >   
   > The Matter of Britain is *still* getting re-told.  The Matter of   
   > Troy and the Matter of France, not so much.  (Although parts of   
   > the Matter of France, adaptations of Orlando Furioso, are still   
   > being done as puppet shows in Italy.  The only English-language   
   > work in the Matter of France I know of is Anderson's _Three   
   > Hearts and Three Lions._)   
      
   But, for whatever it's worth, the Village Renaissance Faire in   
   Wrightstown, PA, did "Legends of Charlemagne" as its 2003 storyline.   
   (The VRF does a complete rebuild every year; we've had everything from   
   the death of Baldur to the Three Musketeers.) And let us not forget   
   Harold Shea.   
      
   --   
   John W Kennedy   
   "The pathetic hope that the White House will turn a Caligula into a   
   Marcus Aurelius is as naïve as the fear that ultimate power inevitably   
   corrupts."   
     -- James D. Barber (1930-2004)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)