Porthole

Fan Fiction?

I responded to Eric Wharton :

We all use the same ideas and words. Seldom is there anything truly new. The themes of all movies have been done again and again.

When Rashomon came out in 1950 it was startling to Hollywood because the story wasn't wrapped up. The ambiguity of truth was shocking to those accustomed to simplified black/white concepts common in American culture of that time (still common, imho). Writing an ending would be fan fiction and in this particular case not a good idea.

However, Western writers have been appropriating Greek gods for centuries. Isn't that fan fiction? And didn't Shakespeare rip off old tales, change the names, adapt the story to English culture of that time? Romeo and Juliet was NOT new.

There's nothing I write about that hasn't been written before. But have I done it well? Have I learned something in the writing? Has the reader learned something in the reading?

Shakespeare is worthy as is Akira Kurosawa.

Fan fiction... A familiar setting or a set of familiar characters... or both.

If I were to write fan fiction in the Harry Potter World I would write as a Hufflepuff. THANKFUL SONALI Now What? would be a character. Teacher, student, peer? I'd try to incorporate other WDC Hufflepuffs. I'm sure we'd have lots to say about the other 3 houses. Why are the Slytherins so self-righteous about being pure? Why are the Ravenclaws so caught up in being rational that they don't see humans for the emotional beings they are? And don't even get us started about those Gryffindors... (they're techy...).

My flash fiction sometimes uses ideas found elsewhere and the contest provides prompts. We all write to them in different ways. But... we rarely write outside the box.

I'm watching Chinese series on Youtube. Would writing about Xiao Bai and his past and current incarnations be fan fiction based in the Fairy Fox world?

How about Biblical fan fiction. Thousands of fictional stories come from there. Christmas carols? Most are pure fan fiction! Mary did you know? Really... did you hear the Little Drummer Boy? Was the night Silent?

If writing fan fiction helps a writer to write then ... write on.

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