Approve or Disapprove: What 8 famous authors think of fanfiction
Outlander author Diana Gabaldon is sickened by fanfiction
Diana Gabaldon, author of the ongoing Outlander novels — which have been adapted into a breathtaking television series on Starz — does not approve of fanfiction for legal and moral reasons. In addition, she sees it as a violation of characters who are extensions of herself.
Gabaldon didn’t mince her words on the subject. Inviting the wrath of her supporters, she had this to say in a now-deleted blog post: “OK, my position on fan-fic is pretty clear: I think it’s immoral, I know it’s illegal, and it makes me want to barf whenever I’ve inadvertently encountered some of it involving my characters.” Sounds like she may come around.
Or not. While remaining firm on her stance, she later issued a more formal (and polite) statement titled “The Final Word.” The author explained that while fanfiction was flattering, she was not comfortable with it and requested that “you do not write it, do not send it to me, and do not publish it, whether in print or on the web.”
Gabaldon believes that writing stories about characters whose creators are still alive, and who are still actively writing about them, is unacceptable. Based on a personal experience, she also outlines the difficulties that can arise if you allow fanfiction.
It had been brought to her attention that a fanfiction writer, who had not asked her for permission, was planning to auction off a custom-written piece involving her character, Jamie Fraser, and Emmet from Twilight. The purpose of the fundraiser was to cover a friend’s breast cancer hospital expenses.
Her choices in this situation were few. If she were to write to the person in question asking them to discontinue their efforts, she’d be branded as heartless. If she gave the undertaking, which she viewed as manipulative, her blessing, would that open the door to a barrage of “piously disguised fan-fic ‘charity’”? Was her only option to make her disapproval known and turn a blind eye? Tricky!
What distresses her the most, however, is the treatment of her characters, since she sees them as reflections of herself. “A ‘real’ character — the ones written with sufficient vividness as to engage someone to a degree to want to do this in the first place — is not just a construct made by the writer: she/he is the writer, refracted through the lens of that writer’s experience, craft, and personality.”
While some likened her characters to her children, Gabaldon disagreed, saying they are her. She explained that if a writer is honest in what they do, the reader will come to know that writer in varying degrees through the characters. And when you tamper with them, you’re messing with her directly.
Furthermore, she feels the uncharacteristic dialogue causes rough cognitive dissonance — it’s the character in name, but not in attitude or behavior. Knowing her characters would never speak the way they’re being made to speak feels like a violation of who she knows them to be.