(no subject)

[pepper]

I haven't much to add to today's histrionics, except that a) everyone should just link to this on the next iteration of this argument, and b) many years ago, I read a story that made a great impression on me, in a book of Sherlock Holmes parodies and pastiches. This was 'The Adventure of the Two Collaborators', by J.M. Barrie.

Barrie was a good friend of Conan Doyle, and they tried to write an operetta together - sadly for them, the thing was a flop. A little later, Barrie wrote 'The Adventure...' in the flyleaf of a book, which he presented to Conan Doyle. I have no doubt that Conan Doyle found it hilarious. It's very brief, and I highly recommend it as both a good Holmes parody and a brief insight into the Victorian literary world.

In bringing to a close the adventures of my friend Sherlock Holmes I am perforce reminded that he never, save on the occasion which, as you will now hear, brought his singular career to an end, consented to act in any mystery which was concerned with persons who made a livelihood by their pen.

"I am not particular about the people I mix among for business purposes," he would say, "but at literary characters I draw the line."

There is also a valuable lesson to be learned about gunning for the golden goose in the last, wise words of Mr Sherlock Holmes.

Comments

[holdouttrout]

Thank you for the link to the List of Awesome Published Fanfic. THAT is what I try to tell people who get down on fanfic when it comes up and I won't be brushed off as a complete nutter.

As for 'The Adventure...' Ah hah hah hah! :-D Brilliant. (Also: FIC)

[pepper]

That list is just gorgeous, isn't it? I mean, I could think of a few off the top of my head, but... wow.

It's nice to know that the creators of Sherlock Holmes and Peter Pan were also kind of normal schlubs, trying to make a living from their craft, isn't it? So totally fic (and, at the time, Holmes was still very much in copyright).

[ultranos]

I was amused to see that this latest seems to have a lively thread on Metafilter. I have yet to actually brave said thread, but amused nonetheless.

*grabs popcorn to watch the fray* Want some?

[pepper]

Ooh, popcorn, ta. Will go nicely with my box of meerkats. *munchmunch*

I can recommend the fandom_wank discussion, it is v. amusing. Mostly, fandom seems more sorrowed than angered. :)

here via threeweeks feed

[mllesays]

Thanks for the Barrie link! I hadn't even heard of this story.

Re: here via threeweeks feed

[pepper]

No probs! I heard of it long before I was on the internets, so I figured there was a good chance it wasn't well-known around here. :)

[ziparumpazoo]

Excellent list! Thanks. Whenever the 'fanfic is not legit' argument comes up, I usually argue that both William Gibson and Stephen King have written episodes of the X-Files, and not as hired script writers, but I had no idea how often this actually happens throughout the literary world.

[pepper]

I think it's a natural part of writing. While I perfectly understand why a writer might want to steer clear of the fanfic based on their own work, I think this one is putting a fairly arbitrary line between 'stuff I like' and 'stuff I don't like and therefore am going to say is EVIL and WRONG'. I'd argue that there's not a great deal of difference in the basic creativity of being a fan of a show and expanding on that universe, and being a history buff and expanding on historical fact. It's what you do with that basis that counts.

I wrote a story when I was a kid which was basically a self-insert Mary Sue ripoff of Lord of the Rings. I also wrote a thing where I was a stowaway on a ship bound for the Americas in the Middle Ages. Neither was particularly original, but they helped me learn how to write.