I AM STEALING YOUR CHARACTERS WHAT

[featherxquill]

As fanfic writers, we are essentially textual poachers, aren't we?

But is it awkward, when we poach from each other?

Right now I feel like I am poaching someone else's character, only I'm probably not. I mean I am, a bit, in my head, but I am trying very hard (and hopefully succeeding) at making this character my own.

And, I mean, it's probably in my head. It's not like I read other people's Ritas, for example, and think 'hey this person took bits of my Rita'. Instead, I read other people's Ritas and think 'oh hey they took bits of Rita from fanon that I enjoy'.

I guess whenever you write a character that you feel someone else has made a significant mark on, you can't help but compare your version to that one, and consciously try to differentiate it.

But I am hung up on a WORD, here, an item of clothing, and that's just RIDICULOUS.

I suppose I will just have to write this character as she is in my head, and if that is coloured by other stories I have read about this character, then it's just going to have to be. And if the writer recognises her version of the character in mine any, then I hope she will take it as a homage, not a theft.

I guess that's how we recognise characters in fanon anyway, isn't it? Minor ones, at least. Because all the fic that has gone before has informed each new story, and built a character into a certain shape. Or something.

*shuts the fuck up and writes*

Comments

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, my dear. I'm sure your Rita will be very much your Rita, and she will be OC, so there'll be bits of JKR's Rita, too. And if other writers recognize a bit, they'll see it as a homage.
You wouldn't do anything that anyone could think of as theft, I'm sure.

I, for one, took kellychambliss's idea of Bridgeford as a Wizarding University (the most prestigious one, of course) and used it freely throughout my fics. And she's fine with that, because it is a homage.

Stop fretting and write, will you!

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

Fine? Try "highly honored"!

[therealsnape.livejournal.com]

Thanks! But I'll still curb the tendency somewhat, or Bridgeford might look like the kind of place that admits anyone ...

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

I have the same worry. I've read so many excellent versions of Minerva and my other favorites -- all those perfect moments that have me saying, "Yes! This is as good as canon!" It's so easy to forget that it's not canon. I'm always afraid that I'll unintentionally lift someone else's images or characterizations.

But you're right -- eventually you just have to let it go.

[moon-very-thin.livejournal.com]

My €0.02

I don't write very much fic, but when I do I write a character in a certain way because that's the interpretation of canon which feels truest or most satisfying to me. Which is also exactly what I'm hoping for when I read other people's stories - that I'll see an interpretation that feels true to me.

So if I saw somebody interpreting a character the same way I do - or even using specific ideas that I'd thrown into the melting pot in my own stuff - I'd just be thrilled to find somebody else who shares my kind of thinking.

I'd imagine most fanfic-lovers would feel that way. Because we're all playing in a shared sandbox, and enjoying the communal aspect of the fan economy.

[kellychambliss.livejournal.com]

On the level of mutual inspiration and shared interpretations, I definitely agree. It's not possible, in any case, to avoid similar plots and events, given the fairly narrow range that any canon allows (if you're going to stay in-character and within the canon cracks, that is). I enjoy seeing how different writers make use of the same plot or trope, for instance -- as you say, the "shared sandbox" is a great deal of the fun.

But while there is a fairly wide scope for allowable sharing, it's the line-crossing that I worry about -- the stuff I consider actual plagiarism, not just inspiration/retelling. I know the line can be fairly blurry, but there's a difference between inspiration/homage, or saying "X happens in so-and-so's story, and I'm borrowing that event as canon, or "here's my version of such-and-such convention" and the sort of borrowing that is unacceptable. It's the "unacceptable" that I worry about.