Fan fiction as art?

[Molloy]

This question was asked a few months ago on the ff.net forum. If I recall the discussion kinda petered out into two sub-questions. The first being "Is writing art?" The second being "How can you tell what is art from what is not?" I didn't feel that either of these sufficiently addressed the original question: "Is fan fiction art?"

I wouldn't have thought about the issue, let alone posted about it, if I hadn't been struck by a passage I recently ran across in a passage from a book that an old friend of mine wrote. What it said seemed particularly relevant to what I feel myself and other fan fiction writers are trying to accomplish.

The passage relates that there are two words for "create" in Hebrew: bara and asha.

Bara means to bring something into being out of nothing.

Asha is to shape something out of something else that already exists.

Simply put, McCorkle and Schooley were doing bara when they dreamed up Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable and their world. Fan fiction writers, on the other hand, are attempting asha when we compose our stories.

Now, whether that justifies a claim that what we are doing is art, I cannot say with objective certainty.

I will say that after reading that my friend's book, I believe I now have a more fulfilling context within which to define what it is I am doing.

Subjectively, I do believe that art is within the grasp of the fan fiction writer.

Although I do not believe that my stories qualify as such, art is definitely what I am striving for when I write them.

To put it simply, my affection for the characters compels me to attempt nothing less.

[Twila Starla]

I'm fully convinced that fan fiction is art, after all, art is basically the expression of ones self through creating something, this can be entirely original work, or based off another's, just as long as you're creative about it.

I'm almost never completely true to the series in my works, and always make sure to do my own thing with my writing, as opposed to being a copy-off to the show. To me, it would be really boring otherwise.

[TransWarpDrive]

I agree with Twila here. Fan fiction is art; one can write something based on someone else's work and still be creative. Look at all the "Star Wars" novels that have been written to date by all those talented authors. They're even considered part of that series' "Expanded Universe," since they go beyond the storylines of the six original movies. In a magazine interview he did when The Empire Strikes Back opened, Lucas compared what he was doing to building a house. He just put up the walls, he said, and let other folks come in and decorate them.

[Mike_Industries]

I remember this discussion... Maybe I'll dig around on ff.net and put the link here.

I do recall saying that I believe writing is an art, and fanfiction is a form of writing. I also stated that Deviantart.com allows Fanfiction to be posted on the site, and that pretty much secures my opinion on the matter.

And it is simply amazing how many KP FanFiction writers there are that are very very very very very creative and artistic with thier writing.

EDIT:

The original discussion: Is this Art?

[Fireand'chutes77]

...Deviantart.com allows Fanfiction to be posted on the site...

How do you go about doing that? Like I posted in the "Fanart" thread, I can't find a pull-down menu for it.

[Ran Hakubi]

...Deviantart.com allows Fanfiction to be posted on the site...

How do you go about doing that? Like I posed in the "Fanart" thread, I can't find a pull-down menu for it.

If memory serves me correctly, 'chutes, it's in the "fan art" section of the pull down menu....which just adds more to the argument that fanfiction is a form of art.

[Mike_Industries]

...Deviantart.com allows Fanfiction to be posted on the site...

How do you go about doing that? Like I posed in the "Fanart" thread, I can't find a pull-down menu for it.

If memory serves me correctly, 'chutes, it's in the "fan art" section of the pull down menu....which just adds more to the argument that fanfiction is a form of art.

I do also believe that is correct... I might put one or two of my fics there, and maybe a few drawings of mine on my account at some point. I've been a member for a couple years now, I should do something with my account.

I forgot to mention Deviant Art allows original works of fiction to be posted and poetry.