This week: Fanfiction Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Writing Fanfiction
I've begun to delve into the legality of writing fanfiction. Even as a child, I wanted to rewrite the endings of fairytales and write my favorite comic characters into new adventures. I grew up in Wisconsin loved my prairie girl books and wanted Laura to have more adventures.
Now as an adult, the idea still surfaces once in a while and I began looking at how legal it would be to write such stories. Obviously, if I write them for my own entertainment, and never publish or profit from it, my private work is legal. The NYU Journal of Intellectual Property article https://bit.ly/3zaNa9b was an interesting resource for Fair Use. In the article it says "Fanfiction is fair use as long as the work is “transformative,” meaning that the new author added content with new meaning and value to the original work. The derivative work must also be “noncommercial” in nature, meaning the author does not make any money from their fanfiction."
An interesting side note, I followed a link to https://bit.ly/3JL7DGB where I found: "Commercial use may seemingly not be a total barrier, however, so long as the fanfiction author retroactively removes copyrighted elements from their works. This was the case for E.L. James, author of Fifty Shades of Grey, which actually started out as an online fanfiction for Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga (titled, Master of the Universe). To get around any copyright issues when the work was going to be published, James removed copyrighted elements like the original Twilight character names and settings from her story. To this day, no litigation has been brought against James, despite the work’s undisputed origin as fanfiction and huge commercial success. "
The things I find while roaming the interwebs. So, Write On. Carefully.
This month's question: Do you write fanfiction? What characters do you admire? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback! |
Excerpt: Dorothy tucked a stray wisp of silver hair behind her ear as memories flooded her brain. She stared at the old house from her vehicle and thought back to the first time she had run away. This old house had traveled to Oz and back, had stood vacant for too many years, and now it seemed ready for someone to offer it life once again.
Excerpt: Compared to 20th century standards this crime-scene would be thought to have minimal personnel activated. Only two Starfleet Security Personnel were present in the room where the body lay, with their tricorders humming away. The gentle sound seemed conflicted with the brutality that lay before them. Another two security personnel were stationed outside, keeping back the shocked onlookers, and a third officer, wandered around the deceased’s sleeping quarters.
Excerpt: The following is a fragment from an unnamed journal, found in the rubble of a Massachusetts asylum that collapsed in 1948.
“I will never return to the woods of New Jersey; in fact, I may never venture from within these walls again, for that which so repels me has roots far and wide, and so I fear the world. For posterity, I record here what I learned while I still held my job as a private investigator."
Excerpt: Chief Inspector Anthony Carlton had been brought in to the police department of Canary Wharf in London as a matter of deep urgency. Carlton had been in the business for 13 years and much experience of missing people and cold cases. He was the man that people called when they were really in trouble and had no other leads. The Sergeant welcomed him at the station and informed him that the other members of the police team were out in the field looking for clues.
Excerpt: Once I walked these cobbled stones of Paris with the lithe and joyful steps of a young man at peace with himself. Those were troubled times I know and yet as naïve as I was, I knew and expected nothing of the dangers that were to befall me. My footsteps now seem heavy-laden with the accumulation of hatred and bitterness over the years. Each step leads me closer to the place of happiness and yet misery.
Excerpt: Nevertheless, Bruce went on. He motioned to the room and asked Dr. Moss, "What is that room?"
Dr. Moss was slightly taken back. "You don't know?"
Of course, Batman did. Bruce Wayne wouldn't have a clue, nor should he.
Dr. Moss explained with his voice low, "That's where we keep the Joker."
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Excerpt: The hatchet was her idea. Just like the fire and the shotgun.
Of course, who would believe him?
Excerpt: Searching through her attic a month ago, Sarah found the black and white photograph in a suitcase that had belonged to her long-dead mother, its scalloped edges curled with age. Squinting in the dim attic light, she had held up the picture and gasped.
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Excerpt: Four days ago, their small cruise ship went down in a storm. She didn’t know if anyone else survived, but only she and Ethan washed up on the island. At first, it seemed like they would be fine. They built a makeshift shelter on the shore, hoping to be spotted by rescue ships, searched for food and water, and even enjoyed some time together.
Something switched in him, maybe it was the isolation, but he became angry and violent. Now, he hunted her down with the promise of killing her. She didn’t even know why.
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This month's question: Do you write fanfiction? What characters do you admire? Send in your answer below! Editors love feedback!
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (March 1, 2023)" question: Do you like finding ways to add interesting content to interactives?
Which are some of your favorites?
Beholden  : Thank you very much for including my short story, "Gone Fishing" [E], amongst your Editor's picks.
As regards interactives, I must admit to having no experience of them. I've seen a few in WdC but never been moved to contribute or read very far into them.
BIG BAD WOLF is hopping  : I'll be honest, I tend to write/add to fetish-based interactives.
However, the one thing that's important is to have a certain level of respect towards other's characters. For instance, let's say that there's a character that you want to kill, if that character's creator is still around, send them an email, like, "Yo, Wolf - Character Joe Shmoo in interactive XYZ on thread path ABC - I'd like to kill them. Got any ideas?" I was in a situation where another writer decided to kill a character of mine with less fanfare than most mooks/ redshirts - repeatedly. I wasn't too happy about it - killing them once, I could of gotten, and be okay with, but half a dozen times! Not Happy! Now, if we'd done some collaborative brainstorming, and made them die in a meaningful way, I could of said, "Well, at least Joe went out in a blaze of glory, protecting the MC."
So, please, if you are in an interactive, talk to your fellow writers, as that can help you put out a really good story
s  : I struggle with interactives. It feels like finishing someone else's homework, especially when you read something that might have an interesting story, but it's not going where you would take it, or when you have a great story that is poorly written on a technical level.
Another issue I have is that so many interactives seem to be based around some bizarre fetish; even if they deny it's sexual, it's sexual.
Now, having said all that, I do enjoy writing choose-your-own-adventure like stories, and have done some for kids, some for adults and one for a middle-school age group. Those style of interactives are fun to write, but they are one-person jobs.
oldgreywolf scribbles  : My personality type is INTP. I don't play well with other people, except under circumstances that are private.
Khola Mousethyme : I haven't looked at interactives in a while. I probably would find them inspiring at the very least.
bryanmchunter: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, namely the host's interactions with characters from popular culture. |
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Short Stories: March 29, 2023 Issue [#11886]
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