sanerontheinside:

sanerontheinside:

Devaluing someone’s work simply because it is a hobby is at the least historical unawareness of certain facts: for example: one gentleman’s first published works in physics were completed while he had *an actual job* at a bank (and was probably bored af). His physics publications could be considered a hobby work, but these days nobody actually does that, because – Einstein.

‘But fanfiction isn’t theoretical physics,’ you say, and yeah, sure. But fanfiction like ReEntry is to fiction what Einstein’s theories were to physics. The treatment of diverse characters, female characters, interpersonal relationships, and mental health is completely unlike most available published work. It’s a higher standard than what we know to look for.

The fact that it happens to make use of a universe conceived of by some guy who ripped off Flash Gordon, then proceeded to rake in money hand over fist and piss off the fandom with his edits and rewrites and tweaks – Or TCW – Or select material from comics and books – That doesn’t make it unoriginal work, all of the sudden. It’s not derivative. It stands perfectly well on its own two legs, and more appropriately can be considered an advancement of the ‘original’.

…thought continues…

And, frankly, this idea that hobby writers are somehow not doing as much work as hired writers is vastly inaccurate. To some extent, maybe, you could argue that being a ‘free agent’, a hobby writer doesn’t have to worry about deadlines and limitations set by networks and publishing houses and the like. Being able to publish diverse works is certainly a perk.

But from the most indulgent fluff, to the most miserable angst, to the most sinful smut you’ve ever seen, all of these stories have some use to some reader out there. The use can be anywhere from therapeutic to educational. In fact, certain fics have explained far more to me than most people are comfortable voicing or even know how to put into words, because a fic doesn’t have to be direct, only thorough.

For the writer, more often than not, fanfic is not just ‘practice’ or ‘fun’. In many cases – especially on really bad days – it’s therapeutic as well. Or it can lead you to ask yourself some pretty interesting questions about your own mental health, when you finally realise you wrote a storyline that effectively never lets up and drives your character to absolute desperation (oh man was that a fun time).

It can be empowering – writing a way to overcome that awful dead end, for example. And it can be really draining, writing something that draws on your own not-so-great experience on purpose, for someone else to find and make those connections for themselves. It’s wrong to just summarily dismiss so many people’s coping mechanisms simply because they don’t get a paycheck for it, or for providing such material.

^^^^^^^^