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Hello Mary Sue! ©2000-2002 by Carole Moore If you know "Mary Sue" is more than just a girl's name, then you're probably a fan of fan fiction. If it doesn't bother you to
read a story where your favorite character from a movie or television series gets married, killed off or "crosses over" into another tv show, then you're probably a fan of fan fiction. If you just can't get
enough of Starksy and Hutch ripping up the streets in their red Torino, Buffy the Vampire Slayer doing away with a baddie or Jim West and Artemus Gordon battling the forces of post-Civil War evil -- rest easy. There's a
pill for what ails you and it's called (no surprise here) fan fiction. Fan fiction is a literary genre that exists outside of mainstream, commercial entertainment. It is what it sounds like: stories written by fans
starring characters from movies and television. But that's not all: fan fiction extends to just about all forms of entertainment with songs, poetry and art thrown in the mix. And it encompasses other fictitious
characters as well as real personalities, too. Comic book heroes such as the X-Men, animated figures like Disney's Mulan, real people such as skating star Michelle Kwan and singing idols like the Backstreet Boys also
have fan fiction sites. "The average writer seems to be female, between the ages of 20 and 40, single, and working in a clerical job. Remember this is an average, there are exceptions in all cases," said
P.J. Alexander editor of fanzine publishers The Presses. Ms. Alexander says much of fan fiction's appeal is its friendliness to new writers.
"I would say this is a perfect place to hone writing skills," she said. She points to a long list of professional authors with large followings as proof: Mercedes Lackey (known in fan circles as Misti),
Teri Smith, Michelle Rawn, Constance Faddis and Julia Ecklar, to name but a few, are all writers who've crossed the line from amateur fan fiction to professional writing. "Fanzines introduce one to the world of
publishing, deadlines, and in some cases, editing, which prepares one for the rigorous field of pro writing," Ms. Alexander said. Sound intriguing? Like to try a hand at, say, a Quantam Leap story? Or how about
the old television series Alias Smith and Jones -- bet most of you haven't thought about that one in ages. But don't be fooled -- both shows have fan fiction followings on the Internet. Some of the better established
fan fiction, like Star Trek and The Man From U.N.CL.E., are also found printed in fanzines. So, what exactly is a fanzine? Bentley's Bedlam, a fan fiction resource guide, quotes Susan Garrett's definition of fanzine
or "zine" as "a small press amateur publication that may contain fiction, poetry, filks (editor's note: A filk is a song about a fannish topic), non-fiction and artwork, usually connected somehow with a
television series, movie, novel or special interest, more often than not non-profit, where payment for contributions is a copy of the completed product." Not for profit? Nope, fan fiction pays little or nothing.
Most authors write for the sheer joy of writing and publishers barely make enough to pay their costs. Alexander says there's so little left over after the bills are paid she's lucky if the month's profits pay for a
dinner out. So -- why does fan fiction NOT make money? After all, it's popular and growing more so each day. One has only to check the Internet to find hundreds of sites devoted to fan fiction. In addition, there's a
flourishing publishing industry devoted to printing fanzines from almost every conceivable fandom. So why, with all the interest paid to fan fiction, isn't it more profitable? "There can be no major money made
in the fanzine field or else the holders of the original copyrights would be down ou rthroats for infringement," explains Alexander. And that would kill the art form. Fan fiction writers don't own the characters
they write about. Star Wars characters, for instance, are owned by Lucasfilms. U.N.C.L.E. characterizations were the brainchildren of Ian Fleming, Sam Rolfe and Norman Felton. Disney holds the key to Mulan. But fan
fiction, which infringes on these characterizations, couldn't exist without the indulgence of these giants in the entertainment business. So the George Lucases of the entertainment world wink at fan fiction and
choose to ignore it when some "fanfic" writer puts Buffy on a desert island surrounded by sharks or sends Hercules to climb Mt. Everest. In fact, fan fiction writers, who don't have to stay true to a story
line, can bend the rules to the point of shattering them. How about killing off Illya in The Man from U.N.C.L.E.? Not just shooting him or having someone believe he's dead when he's not, but giving him a fatal disease
and a funeral? Or what about Hutch diving in front of a bullet to save his buddy, Starsky, and expiring in his arms? Or having Jim West marry and have kids? How about having the crew from the Enterprise meet Steve
McGarrett and the Hawaii Five-0 cast to collaborate on saving the world? Or suppose the team from the X-Files joined forces with the submariners from Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea? Don't laugh. It's done
all the time, and that's half the fun of fan fiction. That latitude with character and plot is what attracts many beginning writers to the genre. Another plus is fan fiction can be a creative outlet made to be
shared, sort of a writer's Karaoke. Cynthia Walker, a journalist and teacher who's working on her PhD., has been a respected fan fiction writer for many years, even conducting writing seminars for fanfic wannabes. She
says fan fiction writers fall into four categories: professional writers who write fan fiction as a hobby, people who have other, unrelated professions but move into fan fiction professionally because they have talent,
closet writers who do it for the fun of it and a small minority of fan fiction writers who start off as amateurs and eventually move into professional, full-time writing. "Some of these people never really
intended to go pro, but their work was so well received, they finally did move on," Walker said. Walker's work is published by Media West. She says she doesn't make money on it, but enjoys the accolades of
hundreds of fans who can't wait to read her next story. "I may be unknown at Borders, but I'm known by the audience that matters," Walker said. Other fan fiction writers avoid traditional publishing
routes. Many self-publish on the Internet. An afternoon spent cruising fan fiction sites reveals hundreds upon hundreds of web pages devoted to the genre. And the choices are mind-boggling. There are tons of sites
centered around the more popular characters. Xena and her male mythological counterpart, Hercules, British entry Blake's Seven, Star Wars, Buffy, U.N.C.L.E., X-Files and E.R. have strong followings. And there are some
surprises. Try Laramie -- remember that one? A long-since-departed television western starring Robert Fuller, there are fan fiction sites with new Laramie stories. From the obscure to the ridiculous, try cartoon
characters like Scooby Doo and the Lion King. There are also sites devoted to The Highlander, The Sentinel, Trapper John M.D., the Japanese children's show Sailormoon, Power Rangers and the Animorphs. Even computer
games have fan fiction sites! But the best written and most successful sites revolve around shows and characters that have withstood the test of time. Star Trek, for instance, inspired the first fan fiction. From
those early days in which fan fiction was produced entirely in printed form and usually distributed among the faithful in close-knit fandoms, has grown a genre that turns a NASA Senior Technical Specialist like Madden
into a part-time fanzine writer and publisher. It also drives people as diverse as San Diego civil servant Jo Mulvey and Canadian electronics store employee Marlene Scott to spend their free hours hard at work on the
word processor. "What do I get out of it?" Scott asks. "It's adventure, excitement, a way to leave the everyday dull world for something more." Scott says she lives for her writing, although she
makes no money from it. "It's hard to put into words just how I feel when I sit down at the keyboard. I can touch them, see the story unfold in my head. I want to share my stories with others. And I know that
now I could never go a day without writing," she said. Mulvey agrees. She says she read her first fanzine and said to herself, "Heck, I can do that!" Armed with some college classes in poetry,
literature and creative writing, Mulvey says her experiences have nourished the compulsion to keep on writing. "I am filling a void," she said. And, despite a plethora of fan fiction sites, there's
always room for more, although Alexander clearly prefers material that's channeled through an editor. She emphasizes editing material makes the writing tighter and better. "Be open to editing. No one is above
editing. Read! See how the pros do it. Look at the world around you and apply what you see to your writing. Research your stories, know your setting. Make your characters interesting," Alexander advises. And
most of all, write, write, write. It's both good experience and a whole lot of fun. Oh -- and as for "Mary Sue" -- it's a fan fiction term for a character in a story who is obviously the author. Mary Sue is
always more beautiful, more talented and more compelling than any other character and the lead characters are always smitten with her. If the Mary Sue is a male, he's called a "Marty Sue".
Welcome to the world of fan fiction. |
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