I just wanted to share a little something that I experienced this past weekend with the dedicated fic writers on this board.

I was at the first New York Comicon this past weekend at the Javits Center in Manhattan. There I had the chance to attend a panel about breaking into the world of published fiction.

The panel consisted of two editors from Tor Books, a couple of fairly new published authors (I think they each only had a couple of books in print), and was moderated by an editor from Del
Ray Books.

There were no earth shattering secrets revealed, it was pretty much as you'd expect. But I did want to share one thing that came up there.

Someone from the audience during the Q&A asked the panels opinion of fanfiction. The entire panel was considered fanfiction as a legitimate, and helpful means to hone one's writing.

There had been a lot of talk about workshops and networking and such. They felt that it was very important to have people read and critique your work. They considered fanfiction a good way to help you, as a writer, find your 'voice'. They also felt that in the relm of fanfiction your audience was more likely to let you know if you 'got it wrong' and how and why.

One of the authors and the moderating editor both admitted that they had written fanfiction, and one of the Tor editors had volunteered that he would occasionally check out fanfiction sites to see if there might be someone there who showed the ability to try their hand at original fiction.

Remember, these were science fiction and fantasy editors so they are not likely to be looking in on a romance heavy fan site like this one, even given the fantasy nature of one of the leads.

Tank (who just wanted to let those who might have professional asperations that they aren't wasting their time here)

Thanks for sharing, Tank! Good to know it's not just we here who think fanfiction is a worthy and useful pursuit.

Yvonne

Wow. Professional writers who actually admit to fanfiction writing. Gives me hope that someday I will be able to admit to my interests in public

Yes, Tank, thanks for sharing that. I personally believe that any form of writing is worthwhile to help a fledgling writer improve his or her craft. And having the "training wheels" of characters, settings and a general premise already established, the writer can focus on other aspects of storytelling.

It's always nice, too, to hear professionals in the publishing field validate fanfiction rather than condemn it. It seems too often those types look down their noses at what they call stealing rather than legitimate writing.

Sounds like that would have been an interesting panel to hear.

Lynn

Yes, absolutely.

Actually, in the fandom I'm currently writing in, a professional writer is an active reader and commenter. There are published novels about the TV series in question, and she's written a number of them. She enjoys fanfic, and quite happily says so when she reads something she enjoys.


Wendy

There are two former L&C fanfiction writers who are now published by major publishing houses. I've always thought that writing fanfic was a great start for me.

Good info, Tank.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

I tagged along with a friend of mine a couple of months ago to a writing seminar. In one of the groups I sat in, we went around the room and mentioned what kind of writing we were currently working on. The people there didn't take too kindly when I said I wrote fanfiction.