"Good Enough For Shakespeare"

This caught my eye. It is from a newspaper article by journalist Mathilda Gregory. It's nice to see "fanfiction" writers get a bit a love and respect.

"Fanfiction, playing with characters and worlds already created elsewhere, can be a thrilling creative outlet for all kinds of people. The most enjoyable works of fiction present us with convincing worlds; we believe our favourite characters existed before "once upon a time" and go on existing after the final full stop. It's not surprising then, that the best stories can be irresistible playground to some writers. Yes, quality varies. A lot of fanfiction is, indeed, terrible: it's amateur fiction published, unedited online. What were you expecting? But, like any kind of literature, fanfiction can be sublime or ridiculous. There are some real gems out there, that are every bit as original as works with no previous owners.

Isn't it time we gave the art of remixing stories it a little more respect? After all, it was good enough for Shakespeare."

2 comments:

Isiah said...

Fanfiction is great. Anything that expands the pool of active creative writers is great. Quality varies yes but where better to cut your teeth.

ROB SANDERS said...

Totally agree Isiah. Also, think about the established writers who write fanfiction: authors who write Sherlock Holmes novels and James Bond novels. People forget that this is fanfiction and it sells in its millions. : )