Four days after the initial digital leak of the book, nobody has as of yet ruined any of the book for me. However, several print media have certainly risked it, most prominent of them being the New York Times, who posted a review of the book, complete with spoilers, before the book's actual release. Those complaining here about Farhad's "irresponsible journalism" would be behooved to focus their attentions on this far more prominent and truly irresponsible act.

It is also worth note that despite this, I still haven't had the book ruined for me. With only the rest of the day to get through, it's looking doubtful. Clearly, the verdict is in: the sky is not falling.

I'm not in HP fandom and haven't been for a long time, but I got an urge to read some fic in the run up to Book 7. The lightningonthewave fic is one I saw recommended elsewhere, and tried really hard to read because it came so highly recced.

It's AWFUL. Absurd plots, incoherent characters whose actions and motivations seem entirely arbitrary and nonsensical, and dreary writing style. Seeing it recced here again is boggling my mind.

I know I'm being mean. But I'm saying this because I feel embarrassed, as someone who was once in fandom, to see that fic recommended as being superior to Harry Potter canon(!!!!) I hate the idea of someone actually believing that quality of writing is the best of fanfiction.

There actually is some good fanfiction out there, some of it fantastically well-written.It just takes a lot of digging to find it.

(And slash is fascinating, incidentally. One of the few female-controlled erotic subcultures out there. And yes, well-written slash exists-- bad writing can really take away from the sexxxy if youre unfortunate enough to be a literary snob! )

I wouldn't count those examples as fan faction by virtue of the fact that they are written by professional writers. Although, I concede Lost Girls does seem to tackle the themes of traditional amateur fanfic.

You ask what else is fiction but wish-fulfillment? Well, it's all kinds of things, and at its best wish-fulfillment is probably the least of it. The best fiction challenges and illuminates, draws readers into unexpected and often uncomfortable places. To say fiction is wish-fulfillment is to trivialize the very work you claim to be "expanding" with all the silly fanfic.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree here. I think that at its heart -- in addition to all the other things it can and does do -- fiction is about wish-fulfillment. It's the little kid in you coming out to play make-believe in a manner other adults deem acceptable.

However, I also don't see why fanfiction can't challenge and illuminate, or draw readers into unexpected and often uncomfortable places. The best fanfic I've read does exactly that, at least as often as "real" (i.e. original published fiction) does -- which is why I disagree with your premise that it's nothing more than mental masturbation. When done right, it can be so much more.

If you want to write, write. Find your own voice, tell your own stories. Writing can be an revelatory act that looks inward and outward at the same time, it's a chance to grow and enlighten both yourself and others. All you're doing when you write fan fiction is looking over your shoulder at someone else.

I wonder, then, what your opinion is of professional, published fanfiction, such as Gregory Maguire's Wicked (or Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, or Mirror Mirror), or Christopher Moore's Lamb of God, Alan Moore's Lost Girls, Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars, Robin McKinley's Beauty, Jane Yolen's Briar Rose, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Shadow Thieves, or even something as childish as Eugene Trivizas' The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig? All of those are published works that are essentially fanfiction, and some (such as Wicked) have reached such heights of critical acclaim as to warrant their own musicals. Are those still your "second hand high school theatre" texts, still somehow "less" for having taken another story and re-written or somehow continued it?

I am being childish about your username. I apologize.

Beyond that, I'm afraid you've failed to make a convincing argument that fanfic is anything but self-indulgent.

You ask what else is fiction but wish-fulfillment? Well, it's all kinds of things, and at its best wish-fulfillment is probably the least of it. The best fiction challenges and illuminates, draws readers into unexpected and often uncomfortable places. To say fiction is wish-fulfillment is to trivialize the very work you claim to be "expanding" with all the silly fanfic.

Your comment, "by "incapable" you deign to include "lacking the time, resources, or motivation." -- Um, I have news for you. It's an uncommon published author who isn't strapped for time and resources--they have day jobs, families, responsibilities. A few hit it big and get to write full time, but most of what you read is written by people who would love a few extra hours of sleep every so often or the time to do a little reading of their own. Maybe a few days off from work to just write. Alas, no. They do it anyway, because what they lack in time and resources they MAKE UP FOR IN MOTIVATION. Lacking motivation shouldn't be cited as an excuse for fan fiction. That's just, well, it's lame. Sit down and write, for heaven's sake.

And Farhad, sorry, dude, but quoting the literati flavor of the day, Chabon, doesn't really support the idea of fanfic, except as a writing exercise. He's a lovely stylist who has written some so-so books for the constipated navel-gazing set, plus one genuinely good book. But here's the thing. He wrote his actual fanfic when he was a kid. He says so himself. The Yiddish Policemen's Union may draw upon the tradition of authors who came before him (and what author doesn't?) but it's not fanfic itself. See, he stopped writing fanfic to write actual fiction!

I've covered this ground before. I have read fan fiction, and for a while a lot of it. Every year or so someone will pop up and say to me, "Okay, so a lot of it is crap, but try THIS," and I'll read some more. And it's always pretty much the same. Sometimes the quality of the writing is a little better, sometimes a little worse. But it's all mostly kinda pathetic.

I'll tell you, there is nothing wrong with writing fanfic, just like there's nothing wrong with masturbating. But both, honestly, are best done in private. If you want to write, write. Find your own voice, tell your own stories. Writing can be an revelatory act that looks inward and outward at the same time, it's a chance to grow and enlighten both yourself and others. All you're doing when you write fan fiction is looking over your shoulder at someone else.