Is Fanfic worthwhile?
- Thread starter RevdKathy
- Start date
Note: I originally posted this in the other thread. I then deleted the post and am reposting here verbatim, hence some references to posts not made in this thread.
I don't think it's fair to pile on DrGojira. Though a fanfiction writer myself, I can not find myself wholly out of sympathy with him. He's expressed an opinion, tactlessly perhaps, but with a kernel of truth. I do invite him to elaborate on this.
I also recommend reading the classics, I have done so myself and continue to do so. I sugget no cirriculum, merely that one beelines towards whatever classics one finds most interesting. At the moment I am perusing a copy of the Avesta. It is a fascinating read. Somewhere in the middle of that I'm reading The Space Merchants. I just got a volume of Kafka (having loving to read the work of Gustav Meyrink, The Golem, some years back when I was in Prague). A few months ago I completed reading The Tale of Genji, a classic of Japanese literature, in a magisterial translation by Royall Tyler. I've also been around the block with A Story of the Stone, Romance of The Three Kingdoms, The Poetic Edda, the Shahmana, and others. Lately to amuse myself I even picked up some Ayn Rand, it's entertaining light reading mingled with power fantasies. She gets her best material from Nietzsche, though, and I don't care for any of her innovations on his themes. I have read so many Greek and Roman works in translation I am not going to even bother listing a compedium, suffice to say that list comprises most of what I have read. I'm not unfamiliar with Irish literature either, which has produced many clasics of English drama, poetry, and the novel.
And DavidFalkyn, if memory serves Shakespeare did not create the story of Romeo and Juliet, he had a prose poem source which in turn IIRC had some Italian origin. Shakespeare, however, did use the story of Pyramus and Thisbe (most memorably recorded in Ovid's Metamorphoses) in A Midsummer's Night Dream.
A Comedy of Errors is clearly lifted wholesale from a combination of Plautine comedies, and Plautus in turn based his work on Menander and Menander's contemporaries in Greek New Comedy (distinct from Greek Old Comedy, the more acerbically satirical - and therefore controversial - works of Aristophanes).
I have some versing in classical literature, as well as history and philosophy, the latter two being my passions in life privately and professionally. Of these, I've always found Nietzsche to be a particularly fun read. Incisive, stylised, and dense with ideas.
I was never a good student in school. I used sit at the back of the room so I could hide the fact I was reading histories of the Crusades in Irish class, Thus Spoke Zarathustra during Economics, and Paradise Lost during Maths. William L. Schirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich occupied many a lunch break for around two months. But I survived somehow. I was very upset when they confiscated a volume of Byzantine history once, but I was lucky to get it back.
So why do I write fanfiction? It's fun. I like playing around in the Star Trek universe, which is a remarkably well furnished and created environment of which I am very familiar. It's not great literature, but it's relaxing to write and it's easy for others to read. I don't have any ambitions as a writer, so I can't coment on whether or not it aids aspiring writers; but this is certainly not my intent.
I don't think it's fair to pile on DrGojira. Though a fanfiction writer myself, I can not find myself wholly out of sympathy with him. He's expressed an opinion, tactlessly perhaps, but with a kernel of truth. I do invite him to elaborate on this.
I also recommend reading the classics, I have done so myself and continue to do so. I sugget no cirriculum, merely that one beelines towards whatever classics one finds most interesting. At the moment I am perusing a copy of the Avesta. It is a fascinating read. Somewhere in the middle of that I'm reading The Space Merchants. I just got a volume of Kafka (having loving to read the work of Gustav Meyrink, The Golem, some years back when I was in Prague). A few months ago I completed reading The Tale of Genji, a classic of Japanese literature, in a magisterial translation by Royall Tyler. I've also been around the block with A Story of the Stone, Romance of The Three Kingdoms, The Poetic Edda, the Shahmana, and others. Lately to amuse myself I even picked up some Ayn Rand, it's entertaining light reading mingled with power fantasies. She gets her best material from Nietzsche, though, and I don't care for any of her innovations on his themes. I have read so many Greek and Roman works in translation I am not going to even bother listing a compedium, suffice to say that list comprises most of what I have read. I'm not unfamiliar with Irish literature either, which has produced many clasics of English drama, poetry, and the novel.
And DavidFalkyn, if memory serves Shakespeare did not create the story of Romeo and Juliet, he had a prose poem source which in turn IIRC had some Italian origin. Shakespeare, however, did use the story of Pyramus and Thisbe (most memorably recorded in Ovid's Metamorphoses) in A Midsummer's Night Dream.
A Comedy of Errors is clearly lifted wholesale from a combination of Plautine comedies, and Plautus in turn based his work on Menander and Menander's contemporaries in Greek New Comedy (distinct from Greek Old Comedy, the more acerbically satirical - and therefore controversial - works of Aristophanes).
I have some versing in classical literature, as well as history and philosophy, the latter two being my passions in life privately and professionally. Of these, I've always found Nietzsche to be a particularly fun read. Incisive, stylised, and dense with ideas.
I was never a good student in school. I used sit at the back of the room so I could hide the fact I was reading histories of the Crusades in Irish class, Thus Spoke Zarathustra during Economics, and Paradise Lost during Maths. William L. Schirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich occupied many a lunch break for around two months. But I survived somehow. I was very upset when they confiscated a volume of Byzantine history once, but I was lucky to get it back.
So why do I write fanfiction? It's fun. I like playing around in the Star Trek universe, which is a remarkably well furnished and created environment of which I am very familiar. It's not great literature, but it's relaxing to write and it's easy for others to read. I don't have any ambitions as a writer, so I can't coment on whether or not it aids aspiring writers; but this is certainly not my intent.
I'm surprised I missed this the first time around.
I apologize for jumping into the middle of this with my own two cents, but I hope it is at least slightly useful.
I've written my share of (not Trek-oriented) fanfic, so there's your full disclosure. Do I still write fanfic? As a general rule, no, but I don't rule it out as a future possibility, either.
Whether or not writing fanfic is "worthwhile" is a matter of personal preference, I think. All writing is practice, so whether you think of your writing as a hobby or an eventual source of sustained income, fanfic can't be discounted as it still amounts to valuable practice, and allows you to hone your craft. The major downside, of course, is being unable to sell your work, except through an authorized agency (like going through the SNW process.)
Some people do it just for fun, with no desire to ever make any money from their writing. These are the people who seek discussion, stimulation, and recognition, and that's about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, either.
If you're interested in making money off of your writing, it may not be best to spend all your time writing fanfic, but that's really your own business, and it's not like it harms anyone. If you want to use it to explore your writing abilities, knowing full well you'll never be able to sell that particular work, I don't see any problem with that.
As long as someone writing fanfic knows the limitations and liabilities they are signing up for, I don't see why it couldn't be just as worthwhile to them as anything else.
On the flip side, is it worthwhile to read fanfic? Again, that depends on how you perceive it. I know there are some who regard various pieces of fanfic as part of their own "personal canon." Most Trek novels certainly amount to fanfic in terms of their validity in Trek continuity--many are outright contradicted by subsequent TV episodes, movies, or even other books.
If you find fanfic enjoyable to read, more power to you. All fanfic is of variable quality, but you are getting it for free, so you haven't lost anything other than time if you run across a particularly bad example of it.
In any event, I think trashing fanfic is roughly on the same level as trashing the latest mainstream hit novel. It's in vogue, but without any specific criticism, it doesn't amount to anything.
Offtopic: Honestly, I wish TBBS had a writing forum where non-Trek writing was allowed/encouraged, because there seem to be a lot of talented folks here, and I can only take so much Trek at a time.
I apologize for jumping into the middle of this with my own two cents, but I hope it is at least slightly useful.
I've written my share of (not Trek-oriented) fanfic, so there's your full disclosure. Do I still write fanfic? As a general rule, no, but I don't rule it out as a future possibility, either.
Whether or not writing fanfic is "worthwhile" is a matter of personal preference, I think. All writing is practice, so whether you think of your writing as a hobby or an eventual source of sustained income, fanfic can't be discounted as it still amounts to valuable practice, and allows you to hone your craft. The major downside, of course, is being unable to sell your work, except through an authorized agency (like going through the SNW process.)
Some people do it just for fun, with no desire to ever make any money from their writing. These are the people who seek discussion, stimulation, and recognition, and that's about it. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, either.
If you're interested in making money off of your writing, it may not be best to spend all your time writing fanfic, but that's really your own business, and it's not like it harms anyone. If you want to use it to explore your writing abilities, knowing full well you'll never be able to sell that particular work, I don't see any problem with that.
As long as someone writing fanfic knows the limitations and liabilities they are signing up for, I don't see why it couldn't be just as worthwhile to them as anything else.
On the flip side, is it worthwhile to read fanfic? Again, that depends on how you perceive it. I know there are some who regard various pieces of fanfic as part of their own "personal canon." Most Trek novels certainly amount to fanfic in terms of their validity in Trek continuity--many are outright contradicted by subsequent TV episodes, movies, or even other books.
If you find fanfic enjoyable to read, more power to you. All fanfic is of variable quality, but you are getting it for free, so you haven't lost anything other than time if you run across a particularly bad example of it.
In any event, I think trashing fanfic is roughly on the same level as trashing the latest mainstream hit novel. It's in vogue, but without any specific criticism, it doesn't amount to anything.
Offtopic: Honestly, I wish TBBS had a writing forum where non-Trek writing was allowed/encouraged, because there seem to be a lot of talented folks here, and I can only take so much Trek at a time.
To my way of thinking, your post shows that it was, indeed, appropriate to pile on DrGojira--by showing that fanfic and the classics are not mutually exclusive.
The classics may have enduring value, but it does not follow that ephemera like fanfic have no value--or even less value.
What's more, many works that were considered junk literature at the time they were produced are now considered classics--and vice versa.
As far as I'm concerned, the sort of classicism which DrGojira has articulated is just snobbery at best, and cultural necrophilia at worst.
There's room in a full life for both high and low culture; indeed, I would argue that snobs who turn up their noses at low culture are effete, while reverse-snobs who turn up their noses at high culture are vulgar.
I listen to both classical music and black metal. My DVD collection includes both Citizen Kane and Evil Dead II. Check my bookshelves and you'll find both hardbound books of poetry and trashy paperback thrillers I bought in a drugstore. The value of one may be enduring, and the value of the other may merely be momentary, but they're both valuable in their own way.
To use a culinary metaphor: there's a time and a place for steak and lobster and wine consumed while sitting in a fancy restaurant; and there's a time and a place for a can of spaghetti consumed while standing over the sink. One can be just as satisfying as the other, under the right circumstances.
I have no arguments with the posts before mine. I, too, have been subjected to the classics. I say subjected because not all were books I would have chosen but rather ones inflicted on me by well-meaning teachers. When it comes to reading, choose to your own tastes. I have read Homer and parts of the Wingman series. From the view of art, diametrically opposite pieces of work. The fan fic is for fun. It can help a writer with their craft too but sometimes its just a case of "I wish I could read a story about(whatever) but nobody's written it". So I wrote it myself. And it was fun.
what is 'worth'?
i write fan-fc mostly as a means of practicing my writing skills. and because i wanted to write stories like i wanted to read. whether anyone else enjoys them is kinda by-the-by.
i write fan-fc mostly as a means of practicing my writing skills. and because i wanted to write stories like i wanted to read. whether anyone else enjoys them is kinda by-the-by.
Fanfiction of any genre runs the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. As most here know I write with a co-author. She and I began writing a little over a decade ago after having just graduated from a major university. We were psychology majors, who both worked in a research laboratory. We had also spent the previous years in a good number of literature courses reading works by the likes of Chaucer, Dickens, Flaubert, Hemingway and of course a good deal of Billy Shakespeare. She and I wanted some summer reading that was a little lighter. My co-author picked up a large box of historical romance novels, a.k.a. 'Bodice-Rippers,' for a dime at a garage sale. After reading half of them, we decided to try it with our favorite Star Trek characters. One afternoon on the way home from an antique sale, I sketched out a story idea to her and she added some ideas to it. When we arrived at my home, she turned on my computer, sat me down and said, "Now, write it!" Lesson number one: Never leave two women with that much education alone with good chocolate and a computer. The stories I write with her are romance novels--Harlequin romances are guilty pleasures, people don't admit to reading them, but it's a multi-billion dollar industry so obviously people are reading them. This is the stuff that TPTB couldn't or wouldn't do on-screen, it's not Hemmingway--it's romance novel fanfic, cotton candy fluff.
Writing fanfiction is something enjoyable I do for myself as a past time. I'm a stay-at-home mom with two children. Anyone with children can tell you when they are small they love repetition, especially in the shows they watch. With the invention of the DVD, parents don't even have the short intermission while rewinding the tape. There was a time when my daughter watched Rikki-Tikki-Tavi repeatedly to the point I was cheering on the cobra. Whenever I found myself thinking something along the lines of "Come on, Nagaina. You're a snake. He is a rodent. Do the math and figure it out." I knew it was time to go to my computer and work on a story.
So yes, fanfiction is most certainly worthwhile!
Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie
Whoa Nellie's Picard/Vash Romance Fan Fiction Website is at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Galaxy/7926/
Whoa Nellie's Sci-Fi Romance Fan Fiction Website is at:
http://www.geocities.com/whoa_nellies2000
Writing fanfiction is something enjoyable I do for myself as a past time. I'm a stay-at-home mom with two children. Anyone with children can tell you when they are small they love repetition, especially in the shows they watch. With the invention of the DVD, parents don't even have the short intermission while rewinding the tape. There was a time when my daughter watched Rikki-Tikki-Tavi repeatedly to the point I was cheering on the cobra. Whenever I found myself thinking something along the lines of "Come on, Nagaina. You're a snake. He is a rodent. Do the math and figure it out." I knew it was time to go to my computer and work on a story.
So yes, fanfiction is most certainly worthwhile!
Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie
Whoa Nellie's Picard/Vash Romance Fan Fiction Website is at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Galaxy/7926/
Whoa Nellie's Sci-Fi Romance Fan Fiction Website is at:
http://www.geocities.com/whoa_nellies2000
Sorry, Kegek, I have to disagree with you somewhat about Shakespeare's inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. I would contend that Pyramus and Thisbe did figure into his rendition--far more than A Midsummer's Night's Dream. Remember, Pyramus and Thisbe were both young lovers from feuding families who killed themselves rather than stay apart. They were then turned into mulberry trees by the gods. Now, that doesn't mean that Bill didn't borrow from other people as well in R and J such as the prose poem source you mentioned.
I like what Rangifer said, there's a time and place for everything. There are times I like reading the Bible, other times I like reading Mickey Spillane. There are times I like Shakespeare and other times I go for Grease--it all depends on my mood.
I like to write because it's FUN! I like it when people read and enjoy my stories and I enjoy crafting them and hopefully improving as a writer as I do so. But again, I do it because I enjoy it.
I like what Rangifer said, there's a time and place for everything. There are times I like reading the Bible, other times I like reading Mickey Spillane. There are times I like Shakespeare and other times I go for Grease--it all depends on my mood.
I like to write because it's FUN! I like it when people read and enjoy my stories and I enjoy crafting them and hopefully improving as a writer as I do so. But again, I do it because I enjoy it.
Is fanfic worthwhile?
Depends on your viewpoint. If you’re someone like DrGojira, then obviously no. If you’re someone like me, than yes.
I must admit, it’s difficult for me to conceive why someone who obviously appreciates Star Trek (otherwise, why come to the TrekBBS) would not find some value in fellow fans of the franchise creating their own adventures now that there are no currently televised series in production?
I myself feel there are still endless numbers of stories to tell set in this universe that has existed for 40 years. An enormous foundation has been laid from whence fanfic writers can build anything their imaginations will allow.
Yes, fanfic differs widely in quality, but there are numerous examples of talented writers who have turned their attention to producing fanfic for Trek as well as other genres. But, as DrGojira’s post proves, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
So, if you like it, read it. If you enjoy writing it, please continue. If you have no use for it, fine.
Depends on your viewpoint. If you’re someone like DrGojira, then obviously no. If you’re someone like me, than yes.
I must admit, it’s difficult for me to conceive why someone who obviously appreciates Star Trek (otherwise, why come to the TrekBBS) would not find some value in fellow fans of the franchise creating their own adventures now that there are no currently televised series in production?
I myself feel there are still endless numbers of stories to tell set in this universe that has existed for 40 years. An enormous foundation has been laid from whence fanfic writers can build anything their imaginations will allow.
Yes, fanfic differs widely in quality, but there are numerous examples of talented writers who have turned their attention to producing fanfic for Trek as well as other genres. But, as DrGojira’s post proves, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
So, if you like it, read it. If you enjoy writing it, please continue. If you have no use for it, fine.
I think fanfic is worthwhile, of ALL forms, whether it be done as an audio, fan-film, script format, prose format, whatever.
However, it amuses me, reading the recommendation thread and then coming in here, the support that you guys argue towards the validity of fanfiction. This support obviously only expands to prose fanfiction because, several times, I have seen people in this same forum decry any scripted fanfiction, condemning it for its format and saying that it's somehow less worthwhile.
It's one of those old 'let he who casts the first stone be without sin' deals. You're all criticising someone for doing something that several of you are guilty of doing in another manner.
However, it amuses me, reading the recommendation thread and then coming in here, the support that you guys argue towards the validity of fanfiction. This support obviously only expands to prose fanfiction because, several times, I have seen people in this same forum decry any scripted fanfiction, condemning it for its format and saying that it's somehow less worthwhile.
It's one of those old 'let he who casts the first stone be without sin' deals. You're all criticising someone for doing something that several of you are guilty of doing in another manner.
I decided to go to the Recce thread and read DrGojira's post for myself. Having done so, I offer the following opinion: I honestly can't believe so many of you wasted so much of your valuable time writing serious responses to someone who's obviously a bitter moron.
Look, of course those of us who post and read what's posted here find value in fan fiction, and that's all that matters. Whether or not you also read the classics has nothing to do with it. If you didn't find value in fan fiction, you wouldn't be here, if you're halfway normal. If however, your goal is to boost your post count because you're a newbie and you also want to tweak somebody at the same time, you go to their house and soap their windows, like DrG did.
I see no reason to justify my enjoyment of fanfiction to some troll. I have more important things to do with my time.
Look, of course those of us who post and read what's posted here find value in fan fiction, and that's all that matters. Whether or not you also read the classics has nothing to do with it. If you didn't find value in fan fiction, you wouldn't be here, if you're halfway normal. If however, your goal is to boost your post count because you're a newbie and you also want to tweak somebody at the same time, you go to their house and soap their windows, like DrG did.
I see no reason to justify my enjoyment of fanfiction to some troll. I have more important things to do with my time.
“Captain,” the tactical officer cried out, “We’ve lost target lock on the topic!”
“Reacquire!” the CO roared from the command chair.
The tactical officer beat his fists uselessly against his console, “I can’t, sir! We’ve suffered a complete breakdown of narrative cohesion.” He glanced towards the captain, his eyes red-rimmed and defeated. “We’re… finished.”
Since I am without sin (in this one small matter), I will accept your invitation to cast the first stone.
Your complaint has just as little merit as DrGojira's troll post, and deserves to be dismissed in the same peremptory fashion, because it's founded on a fallacy of definition.
The fallacy is here:
Audio recordings and fan films are not fanfic: they might be broadly described as "fan drama"; fan fiction is, by definition, literary in form. And the value of fan drama, like the value of fan art, is an entirely separate question, which must be judged by entirely different standards.
It would, for example, be entirely possible for a fan production of some sort to have an excellent script, but still fail completely, because of poor direction, poor acting, poor production, poor editing, etc. And it would hardly be hypocritical for those who like fan fiction to dislike fan drama for those reasons.
The one area where your complaint might have some merit is in the area of fan scripts, which are literary works. But even so, scripts are not judged by quite the same standards as other forms of literature.
Scripts are intended for performance: they're not written to be read--they're written to be recited. And once again, I see no contradiction between enjoying reading works which have been written to be read, and not enjoying reading works which have been written to be performed.
For example: I have seen my favourite movie, Double Indemnity, several times, and I've read the novella from which it was adapted: but I've never read the script, even though it was written by Raymond Chandler; I'm just not interested.
In fact, the only times I've ever read any script is when I've been forced (in class) or as part of a research project. If I won't even read Shakespeare for fun, you can hardly call me a hypocrite for not reading someone's fan script.
Now: If you enjoy both fan fiction and fan drama, then good for you! Let a hundred flowers bloom. But all you've really done here is try to change the subject and derail the thread, as Gibraltar has already pointed out.
And frankly, as someone who's never said a bad word about fan drama, I resent being criticized for something I haven't done, and being associated with things for which I'm not responsible. Where I come from, that's called a "smear." So kindly take your little smear campaign back to the Fan Productions forum, or wherever you came from, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
I debated seriously about even contributing to this thread. Not, that I’m apposed to asking the question ‘is fan-fiction worth it?’ That’s an individual question that most of us happen to agree on, since we’re all reading this.
The reason why I was hesitant was, I can imagine DrGojira reading this and watching us react exactly the way he wanted us to. There is no other reason to make such a post in this forum. He wanted to kick the hornet’s nest to see what would happen. If he was truly as academic as he tried to imply, he would have given reasons behind his opinions, not just a broad insulting statement.
Is anyone else wondering why he hasn’t posted in this thread yet?
But that’s not my point. My point is, I don’t care what DrGojira thinks. I’m not the best writer around. I know that. In fact, that is one reason why I post in the first place. I’m here to improve myself...not to mention it’s enjoyable. I refuse to let him, or anyone else, take that enjoyment away from me.
I sincerely hope, his comment hasn’t gotten under anyone else’s skin. That would be a terrible shame.
The reason why I was hesitant was, I can imagine DrGojira reading this and watching us react exactly the way he wanted us to. There is no other reason to make such a post in this forum. He wanted to kick the hornet’s nest to see what would happen. If he was truly as academic as he tried to imply, he would have given reasons behind his opinions, not just a broad insulting statement.
Is anyone else wondering why he hasn’t posted in this thread yet?
But that’s not my point. My point is, I don’t care what DrGojira thinks. I’m not the best writer around. I know that. In fact, that is one reason why I post in the first place. I’m here to improve myself...not to mention it’s enjoyable. I refuse to let him, or anyone else, take that enjoyment away from me.
I sincerely hope, his comment hasn’t gotten under anyone else’s skin. That would be a terrible shame.
the bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what anyone thinks. fan Fiction is our point of interest. We write/read/critique it because we enjoy it. I think Dnoth said it best-tell the boy to get his negative jollies elsewhere-go teamkill on COD4 hardcore or something.
But fan-films and fan-audio must all derive from a script and thus are grounded in fan-fiction. Perhaps I should have stated my argument differently - that I was in favour of ALL fan-productions, but to dismiss my argument out of hand is pretty damned silly.
I stated my opinion, then I stated my argument, they were not the same.
Poems aren't written to be read either, they're written to be heard but poems seem to be acceptable here.
I'm not asking you to ENJOY the scripted fanfiction, but I am asking that the people here become a bit more accepting of it.
I've seen exactly your argument espoused by membbers before.
Read what I said again, I'm not calling you a hypocrite for not reading someone's fan-script, I'm saying that some people here (that is all I ever said, so you should stop taking this personally like you seem to want to) need to look at what they're saying about DG.
He tried to say fanfiction wasn't worthwhile. The posters, in turn, got upset about that and started a debate about the fact that fanfiction was a valid endeavour. I was merely mentioning that it is somewhat hypocritical for them to say their fanfiction is acceptable when I have seen arguments (exactly like you have espoused again) that fan-scripts aren't a valid endeavour.
I have even seen people ask those who have written scripts to 'write them again in the common manner - in prose'.
I did not say anyone here had said a bad word about fan drama. You've over-reacted. All I said was that some here don't think fan-scripts are wortwhile - and if fanfic is worthwhile, ALL fanfic (inc. fan-scripts) are worthwhile.
It was not intended to derail the conversation as you and others have accused, it was intended to stimulate you all into giving some thought into your actions.
Except it's not a smear. I didn't mention names, I didn't point sticks. But you HAVE in your post espoused exactly the same comments that I have seen before and that my post had been spurred on by.
FYI, I've been here since 2004, my main-forum is the fanfic forum but I just don't post much. Admiral 2 should be able to verify that I've been around for a long time, since he and I used to correspond about his stories.
Better, maybe, but none more honest and direct.
This guy spent one line trashing this whole forum in a thread where he had no business posting the sentiment. What should have happened was that you nail him for what the post was - blatant trolling - and the rest of us go on our merry way because it wasn't worth an argument. You did warn him, but then a couple of us wrote like Masters' Theses on how worthy fanfiction is, and you started this thread on the subject, all to try and convince a guy who probably hasn't visited this forum since his last post.
Mistral nailed it here. If you don't find fanfiction worthwhile, ya just don't visit the forum. If you do visit the forum, chances are you find something worthy about fanfiction, but you are not obligated under any circumstance to justify that sentiment to anybody. He don't like it. Fine. I do, so let's just agree to disagree and both get on with our individual business.
Then I'm afraid I have no choice but to warn you for flaming. The correct - indeed only effective way to deal with people who make trolling posts (even if this one was claimed to be in innocence) is to ignore them. The poster was warned promptly for his one line post.
Had the event stopped there, it would have come to an end, but several people appeared to want an opportunity to have the debate that DrGojira claimed to be initiating, so this thread was created to give them that space without derailing the recommendations thread further. It was not intended as an opportunity to flame anyone, not even the original poster.
I regret waning someone who posts a flame in response to a post that can be deemed trolling. I know this is a contentious issue. But I cannot in justice be swift to warn DrGojira and then let you get away with a flame. I had hoped you would retract your language, and so gave you that opportuinty under the circumstances. But you leave me no choice.
Had the event stopped there, it would have come to an end, but several people appeared to want an opportunity to have the debate that DrGojira claimed to be initiating, so this thread was created to give them that space without derailing the recommendations thread further. It was not intended as an opportunity to flame anyone, not even the original poster.
I regret waning someone who posts a flame in response to a post that can be deemed trolling. I know this is a contentious issue. But I cannot in justice be swift to warn DrGojira and then let you get away with a flame. I had hoped you would retract your language, and so gave you that opportuinty under the circumstances. But you leave me no choice.
I have only two comments to make about this thread.
Admiral2 was right.
This thread is a waste of time since the OP hasn't come back to debate the issue so I think it should be closed.
Admiral2 was right.
This thread is a waste of time since the OP hasn't come back to debate the issue so I think it should be closed.
