| Project: A-Kon - Saturday
- Fan Fiction Writers |
 They could
sit back and keep watching their anime for all time, but they have stories
that demand to be told. Fan fiction writers enjoy their favorite characters
so much that they want to go beyond the tales on tape and discs. Six of
those writers - Kevin Hammel, Douglas Reeves, Nick Leifker, Andrew Norris,
richard Lawson and James Bateman - held a panel on fan fiction at Project:
A-Kon. |
 There was
a lot of talk about how to print fan fiction before the discussion turned
to storytelling. Reeves (right) is one of those writers who says that stories
take on a life of their own, no matter what he wants at first. "I've never
had a story go the way it was outlined," Reeves said. "The characters do
what they want to do." And, Reeves swears one of his plots came to him
in the form of a dream - a strange dream. |
 "Real life
is a lot stranger than fiction," Leifker (left) said. "In fiction you have
to make sense - real life doesn't make sense." Norris (right) noted that
fan fiction isn't going to be a retail product because it makes use of
copyrighted characters. "The only edge writers have is that copyright violations
have to be reported by the copyright holder, not the government. The odds
of us being prosecuted are low," Norris said. |
 Lawson said
fanfic writers don't have to worry about legal harassment because their
stories are free promotion for the original material. He noted that the
rise of the Internet means more fan fiction on newsgroups and web pages.
"The audience and the participants have grown to such an extent that there's
a lot more to choose from, good and bad," he said. The authors also were
asked if their stories had to adhere to the "canon" of stories by a series'
original writers. "If you have a story, write a story...who cares about
the canon," answered Lawson. |
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