Fan Fiction

I was off trawling around a few blogs today, just kind of killing a bit of time and seeing if I might happen upon something interesting, when I was suddenly reminded of a fan fiction story I wrote years ago. How? Let me explain.

Originally, I was on BlogExplosion, gaining myself a few credits while cruising random samples from their directory. I arrived at The Azerothian Files, a World of Warcraft player’s site. Now, I was a WoWhead for several years – a whole bunch of level 70s before Lich King was released and all that: I have been playing MMOs since EverQuest (which I was in for about five years) and, although I am no longer a WoW subscriber, I still enjoy reading about online games occasionally.

On that site was the most amusing WoW video I have ever seen. Ever. This thing is childish, based on adolescent innuendo and roughly the equivalent to making fart noises with your hands. It’s genius. In fact, all the videos on there are quite exceptional, especially if you’re a WoW gamer.

Anyway, that in turn reminded me (we finally get to the point) of a fan fiction I wrote, based in EverQuest. Now, this was a long time ago, but it’s still out there on the web – right here, in fact.

So what’s this got to do with anything? Well, I was wondering why the first story I wrote was a fanfic. It occurred to me that it’s a question of safety, of simplicity. By writing a story based in someone else’s world, I don’t have to define anything: the world is already there, with its society, religion(s), culture and so on. That gives me the freedom to only worry about my characters and the adventure they are on. In some ways, it’s a bit of a cop-out, relying on someone else’s work to support my tale, but on the other hand I think it’s a perfectly legitimate way of creating.

Look at the Wild Cards books, for example. There was a shared world, in which a variety of very good authors wrote their stories – by the end of the first two or three, they were even dropping each others’ characters into difficult situations, to see how the other authors would write their way to safety! If they can do it, why not me?

So there’s my thought for the day: if you’re overwhelmed by the proposal of creating an entire world, why not borrow someone else’s? And maybe the chicks will dig it.

[Originally published on www.wordophilia.com]