Course: Fan Labor 101
What do we mean by “production”?
What do you do when you come to the end of a series? Or when the story takes a turn you refuse to get on board with? Can you keep a story going even once it’s officially over?
How do you express the impression a certain show, film, or story has had on your imagination?
For many fans, the answer to the above questions are the same: creating fanworks. Also known as “transformative fandom” (as opposed to curative fandom we thought about last week), fanworks are a way to continue a story or creatively express love of a story as it is.
Fanworks take many forms: fanfiction, fanvideos, fan-made films, cosplay, fan-art, and many others.
Making a fanwork makes you a producer. Essentially, this just means that you have created or produced work, but unlike traditional producers, fan-producers often create with no (or little) monetary compensation. A fanfic author might, for example, spend hours planning, writing, and editing a story, to express their creativity or present new content for fellow fans.
Read
Watching Television Without Pity: The Productivity of Online Fans by Mark Andrejevic
Fanfic 101: Getting Started for Fanfic Writers by Colleen Etman
Watch
What Fanfic Can Teach You about Writing by Alexa Donne
Discuss
Have you ever created a fanwork? What medium(s) did you use? How much time did it take you? What was the experience like?
If you’ve never made a fanwork, chances are you’ve enjoyed the work of others. (And if not, get out there and find one to appreciate!) How does your fandom treat these works? Are there written/unwritten rules about (re)distributing them?
Post your reactions and reflections to this week’s material and activity in the comment section below, and don’t forget to interact with others!
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