A couple of articles on fic stuff

[owlmoose]

1. Cory Doctorow column entitled "In Prase of Fanfic"; cesperanza writes a post in praise of Cory Doctorow's column. Doctorow hits all the right points I think: fic writers are your best fans, it's a great way to become a better writer, this is all part of a much longer tradition, etc. Maybe nothing new, but I found it to be unusually concise and well-put.

2. Henry Jenkins, fan culture academic extraordinare, weighs in on FanLib. Not so much regarding whether the archive is a good idea, but about the fandom reaction and why the company blundered so badly when they tried to deal with it. Good summation, thoughtful and well-written. At the end of the artice, he invites the CEO of FanLib to be interviewed, and Williams accepts. Interesting, and a bit troubling, that the CEO, who has been so reluctant to get engaged in dialogue with (female, "countercutlure") fans, is so happy to talk to a (male, establishment figure) academic. Some good discussion and questions in the comments.

Comments

I

[kunstarniki.livejournal.com]

The Doctorov column was such a joy to read. I found myself nodding and making encouraging sounds deep in my throat. The sentence which struck me like one of Odin's bolts was "The act of telling stories to one another is practically sacred — and it's unquestionably profound." Such a simple statement and so undeniably true. In my Irish blood-lined family, I have always known the elders, in particular, to tell stories which might or might not be true. It is very much our tradition.

I also appreciated his comment on the preservation of the art of writing by whatever means available. With the advent of 'graphic novels' and the growing reluctance of each generation to commit to actually reading words, that is an important point to make. So it would seem we are fulfilling a certain need in the world after all. Thank you for the pointer. ;)

Re: I

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it! I am myself an avid reader of graphic novels -- I'd say they're just a different kind of storytelling -- but your point is well taken. Everyone keeps trying to point to one trend or another to fortell the end of the written word, but writing endures, and anything that can help that along is a good thing.