tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post6903136001891872258..comments2024-03-29T10:25:17.813-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Fifty Shades?Jungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-31302787645011494212012-06-01T08:33:48.584-04:002012-06-01T08:33:48.584-04:00For the record, when my daughter was writing fan f...For the record, when my daughter was writing fan fiction it had not yet evolved to what it is now.Karen in Ohionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-49472528924925146912012-05-31T22:55:18.410-04:002012-05-31T22:55:18.410-04:00Thank you, Linda, for defining "fan fiction&q...Thank you, Linda, for defining "fan fiction" -- now I truly get it, and it's yuckier than I thought...ugh. <br /><br />Hank, yes, that is a funny truth about marketable ideas. When I hear one (usually not my own, alas), I feel this "yes, yes" feeling in my body. Strange.<br /><br />Bryan: Jesse, Abigail too.Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-54387109237131024432012-05-31T22:40:46.613-04:002012-05-31T22:40:46.613-04:00Yeah, John Purcell. Exactly. Me, too. Someday we s...Yeah, John Purcell. Exactly. Me, too. Someday we should have a blog showing all of our TBR piles! Or-maybe not.<br /><br />Almost time to announce the winner of Bryan's book--but there's still about an hour!Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-2891847436382836162012-05-31T22:29:48.478-04:002012-05-31T22:29:48.478-04:00Oh, John, so funny about he best-selling-but-unrea...<i>Oh, John, so funny about he best-selling-but-unread books. So true--but why does that happen and how does it start?</i><br /><br />Not sure. Probably because some of us are true readers only, while some are mere collectors? But most are probably a little of each. We love to have books, becuase we love to read them, and it doesn't take a lot to pique our interest in a book, and we then buy them, <i> fully intending on reading them</i>, until the next one comes down the pike and we have to buy that one, etc. <i>ad infinitum</i>, until all of a sudden we have more books than we can read in a lifetime.<br /><br /> {blinks}. Yea, that last part is me.John Purcellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-14872262533470281632012-05-31T20:13:15.567-04:002012-05-31T20:13:15.567-04:00My daughter wrote Harry Potter fan fiction for a w...My daughter wrote Harry Potter fan fiction for a while, during her middle school and early high school years. It was a creative outlet, and way too bizarre for anyone to buy, especially since so many others were doing the same thing. <br /><br />Come to think of it, that might be one reason why there was resistance to paying for ebooks, early on.Karen in Ohionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-39047319232629919522012-05-31T18:23:03.301-04:002012-05-31T18:23:03.301-04:00I'm so grateful to have been invited to Jungle...I'm so grateful to have been invited to Jungle Red. I've learned about "fan fiction," which I willnow employ in everything I write, including for Businessweek. I learned that Jan Brogan has a brilliant son. I learned that Lisa Alber knows the Pestas, and I think she means Jesse, of the WSJ, though she could mean John, of my high school hockey team. And I learned that there are a bunch of passionate people who visit here. I'll drop in more often. Thanks. My book tour begins Tuesday, check my schedule and stop by--I'll buy you a drink!Bryan Gruleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14854133842533898814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-76541158845457570682012-05-31T18:13:41.550-04:002012-05-31T18:13:41.550-04:00Linda, thank you for braving the world of the new ...Linda, thank you for braving the world of the new Captchas to explain fan fiction! It sounds like something I might have done for fun as a child.<br /><br />Hank... Watership Down... the bunny rabbits pitch... too funny.<br /><br />Okay, my captcha has a photo of a bunch of ojects that I'm supposed to find a number in? Here goes... !Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-44831660465826120122012-05-31T18:07:14.893-04:002012-05-31T18:07:14.893-04:00And I think some authors actively don't read t...And I think some authors actively don't read the fan fiction--because they are afraid of the FF writers suing them if they happen to come up with a similar idea and use it in the real book.<br /><br />Its interesting , Lisa, about a marketable" idea. You know one when you hear one, isn't that a funny truth? (But then, gotta wonder how Richard Adams pitched Watership Down..well, see, I'm thinkin', there are these rabbits..)Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-20487059395027315352012-05-31T17:41:22.338-04:002012-05-31T17:41:22.338-04:00Jan, I love what your brilliant son said--"50...Jan, I love what your brilliant son said--"50 Shades is not a good book in the same way a Monster Truck is not a good car."<br /><br />Lisa and Reine, fan fiction takes characters from a work and uses them in situations and stories that the fan wants to see them in. These situations are usually sexual and often homosexual and/or "transgressive" anymore. There is a whole field called "slash fan fiction," that is Frodo(slash) Samwise or Sherlock (slash) John in hot, sweaty sex scenes. Usually male/male characters. Usually written by (surprise!) women. The fan puts these up online and their "creation" develops other fans. If they get a lot of them, as this gal did, they pull the fan fiction site down, change character names, and self-publish e-books, as this gal did. Then publishers come along, and the rest is history.<br /><br />Info above is from my youngest son who used to like fan fiction back in the day until it took this weird turn. He reminds me that the great Temeraire books had a beginning as Master and Commander fan fiction way back before fan fiction took this turn into sex.<br /><br />Incidentally, the @#$&* captcha has gone into the weirdest things like blurry scans of microscopic documents. I'm on my third try now.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-65444232963903741882012-05-31T17:20:52.976-04:002012-05-31T17:20:52.976-04:00I don't expect writers to ignore what might se...I don't expect writers to ignore what might sell. I am happy to let other people write whatever they want for the market. It's good to improve skills and to sell books. Not selling a book won't make me happy, but writing a story that will sell, just to sell, is not what I want to do.<br /><br />Many authors put notices in their books and their blogs that they do not approve of fan fiction, because it is stealing - and please not to send them any fan fiction of their books. That's why I'm confused about the topic of Fifty Shades of Grey. If fan fiction is writing a book as if it were a story from someone else's work, isn't that infringement of copyright if published?Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-73711511391906182372012-05-31T16:35:13.515-04:002012-05-31T16:35:13.515-04:00Well if anyone out there wants to give me a gazill...Well if anyone out there wants to give me a gazillion dollars to write soft core porn my email address is rosemary@rosemaryharris.com. Guys, I don't think the author was aiming for the Booker Prize. I would have more to say about the publisher who ran after it.Rosemary Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08033747422699443024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-15290766027160995772012-05-31T16:18:29.713-04:002012-05-31T16:18:29.713-04:00Read 50 Shades when I could download it for $1.99 ...Read 50 Shades when I could download it for $1.99 each. I wouldn't pay the $9.99 each now. Could I write that? Nope. Not even for that kind of money. I only read them to see what the fuss was all about. My only thought was: "How they heck are they going to make a movie about those three books?"Pat Marinellinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-78967586112437345702012-05-31T16:09:53.706-04:002012-05-31T16:09:53.706-04:00Mary,
There reason I am not writing Fifty Shades -...Mary,<br />There reason I am not writing Fifty Shades - even though it is on my Kindle, because my son used my Kindle account to buy it to review for the NYDN -<br /><br />is because my daughter made me read the first Twilight book and I hated it. So why read the fan fiction?<br /><br />Plus as my son says:<br />"Fifty Shades of Gray is not a good book in the same way a Monster Truck is not a good car:Jan Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11323983086318138814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-24605956238936784222012-05-31T16:07:48.737-04:002012-05-31T16:07:48.737-04:00Hi Bryan,
Welcome to Jungle Red.
As a fellow journ...Hi Bryan,<br />Welcome to Jungle Red.<br />As a fellow journalist and even a fellow business journalist (and fiction writer) , I can't tell you how GREAT it was to read your post.<br /><br />I might even print it out and stick to my bulletin board to REMIND me of your philosophy. <br /><br />Hope to meet you sometime!<br /><br />All best,<br />JanJan Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11323983086318138814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-3382352150382121002012-05-31T16:06:23.660-04:002012-05-31T16:06:23.660-04:00I know it, Reine...I was so desperate there for aw...I know it, Reine...I was so desperate there for awhile that I developed novel ideas that seemed more marketable (i.e. they were simpler stories) and then I couldn't write them. I retained no joy at all in the process.<br /><br />I don't get fan fiction either. Apparently, 50 SHADES is fan fiction based on the TWILIGHT series...I *think* (operative word) this means that the author modeled her story arc on the TWILIGHT story arc. Does anyone know what "fan fiction" is exactly?Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-71003557307169319872012-05-31T16:06:07.755-04:002012-05-31T16:06:07.755-04:00I know it, Reine...I was so desperate there for aw...I know it, Reine...I was so desperate there for awhile that I developed novel ideas that seemed more marketable (i.e. they were simpler stories) and then I couldn't write them. I retained no joy at all in the process.<br /><br />I don't get fan fiction either. Apparently, 50 SHADES is fan fiction based on the TWILIGHT series...I *think* (operative word) this means that the author modeled her story arc on the TWILIGHT story arc. Does anyone know what "fan fiction" is exactly?Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-64172974613195941652012-05-31T15:35:15.000-04:002012-05-31T15:35:15.000-04:00Fan fiction? Good grief. What is that?
As for wri...Fan fiction? Good grief. What is that?<br /><br />As for writing to market, of course. Twisting and turning and writing crap for a quick buck? I don't believe I could. If I would. What for?Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-35651907017026679572012-05-31T15:22:55.997-04:002012-05-31T15:22:55.997-04:00I have no qualms with pruning and shearing either-...I have no qualms with pruning and shearing either--that's good craftsmanship. However, sometimes I wonder if the nature of the stories I want to tell (even though they're mysteries) are less marketable somehow...It's hard to tell, but then publishing is fickle and what's considered "marketable" changes. (However, if "fan fiction" is all the rage now, then, well, shoot--that sucks.)Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-70945251714129876142012-05-31T14:44:55.515-04:002012-05-31T14:44:55.515-04:00In the car on my iPhone so hard to type but having...In the car on my iPhone so hard to type but having fun reading this...interesting though that we have no qualms about tightening and pacing. . Everything we do is to make it more "readable" and page turning .. I do, at least.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-38404051912620470062012-05-31T14:39:44.864-04:002012-05-31T14:39:44.864-04:0050 Shades, big N-O for me. The moment I heard the ...50 Shades, big N-O for me. The moment I heard the term "fan fiction" I wrote the trilogy off. It wasn't even the S&M that bothered me.<br /><br />At writers retreats, I'm told that we shouldn't write to the market; we should write what's in our hearts. (Catch that semi- in action!) Yet, at conferences, I attend talks about how to write to particular genre markets. I find it all very confusing. :-)<br /><br />Bryan, happy to see you here! We met at Bouchercon 2010. Love your books, and I'm so not a hockey person! We have mutual friends: the Pestas. Love those two, too!Lisa Alberhttp://www.lisaalber.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-69530394663776832882012-05-31T14:19:43.193-04:002012-05-31T14:19:43.193-04:00I love when I discover new books I want to read. T...I love when I discover new books I want to read. Thank you, Hank and Bryan!<br /><br />Me? I can't write any other way but the way I love. That's that. I have an income, so I don't have to worry about the mortgage, either. But... I still could not write any other way but the way that suits my stories. Being free now, of academic writing, is a blessing.<br /><br />It just about killed me when I had to give up reading my favorite mystery author, when he started writing dialogue like:<br /><br />"Have a beer," he said.<br /><br />"Thank you," he said.<br /><br />Going off now to check out Alejandro Escovedo. Again, thanks.<br /><br />Fifty Shades of Grey? What're they? What is that? Huh?Maureen Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499876353651763590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-85854296641567131352012-05-31T13:02:21.486-04:002012-05-31T13:02:21.486-04:00Can't bring myself to read "Fifty Shades....Can't bring myself to read "Fifty Shades." Didn't read "Twilight" either. Just not interested in the plot and I find the prose uninspiring.<br /><br />And no, I don't think i could write in a way other than mine no matter how much money I was offered. I might try - but I'd probably suck because my heart wasn't in it.Liz Millironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919409969263609919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-42331150037619948932012-05-31T12:35:29.717-04:002012-05-31T12:35:29.717-04:00I love Bryan's books, and also write with a da...I love Bryan's books, and also write with a day job. Great article. I have no interest in 50 Shades, I have to admit. More than that, I wouldn't be able to write that kind of book. Writing is such a long game. How can I fake interest in a topic or a style long enough to finish a book? How can anyone?Lori Rader-Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10261322825057374362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-26482071053252927982012-05-31T12:25:48.285-04:002012-05-31T12:25:48.285-04:00This utterly shocked me, but when I watched a hock...This utterly shocked me, but when I watched a hockey game I discovered that I liked it. (Shh! this is a secret, so if anyone here even suspects that they know my friends or relatives,do NOT tell them!) So, Bryan, I plan to look for your books! Now, I have not watched TV for a couple of years so I haven't seen any hockey games. I especially enjoyed Olympic hockey.<br /><br />NO plans to read however many shades of grey.Deb Romanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-57007153429290721622012-05-31T12:19:10.102-04:002012-05-31T12:19:10.102-04:00Hi Bryan! Having written a rowing book that was ab...Hi Bryan! Having written a rowing book that was about a lot more than rowing, I'm happy to try hockey! I love books that give me an insight into new things and places, so the Starvation Lake books are going on my list.<br /><br />As for 50 Shades, nope. Didn't read the Twilight books, either. Too many good books, not enough time, and don't like the whole domination theme. Yuck.Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11519514786198185277noreply@blogger.com