Practical Advice on Literary Device
Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024
by A.M. Carter
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
The other day, my online buddy—let’s call her Lola—created a group chat for me and another of her friends. We hit it off beautifully until I suggested we move the discussion into a private fandom-based discord server.
Fandom, noun, the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture.
Her immediate response was, “Oh God, no!”
“Why?” I asked.
“Nobody from real life can know about any of my bs.”
I didn’t fully understand her reaction. Apparently, fandoms are “bs," but the new friend became suspiciously quiet.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know …”
It was too late. I had exposed her dark secret, and she wanted to crawl into a hole to die.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m a loser. I just don’t need people knowing how much of a loser.”
Well … damn.
Now I wanted to crawl into that hole, too.
I’d spent the last few months setting up my website, amcarter.net. This would not only house a proliferation of my fanfiction, but become a promotional site for my original works and blog. Who cares about the writing quality of my earliest attempts? They’re the start of my lifelong romance with creative writing. Of course they’re awful, like the sour notes of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” from an adolescent girl’s violin.
They’re dear to me.
I could say that fanfic saved my life in my 20s. It was an outlet in a time of deep, religious isolation and shame, a home where I found a sense of belonging. Later, it provided me with pre-built characters, worlds, and a fan base with which to learn the craft of creative writing. I would teach myself, become good enough, so that I might eventually attempt my first novel.
As I grew serious, I considered a formal education in English Literature, but in my early 30s, when I discovered my passion, it was much too late. Had I known my life’s purpose at the tender age of 18, English Lit still wouldn’t have been an option. It’s too impractical when compared to a technology or business degree. Unless I planned to teach, and I certainly did not.
Suddenly, I wasn’t only embarrassed; I was worried.
Was the last ten years for nothing?
Should I kick dirt over my amateur art?
“But you’re not a loser,” I replied to Lola. “I mean, do you think I am?”
“Well … no.”
We genuinely love and care for one another and, if it weren’t for fanfic, we’d have never met.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“I’m making an entire website because of fanfic. I plan to publish, and I own that discord server …”
“Sigh. I just always keep online life separate from real life for the most part. Fandom has always been my weird little secret life that few people know I’m involved in.”
While I didn’t understand the depth of her panic, I understood the sentiment. I never share my writings with my white-collar colleagues or religious family because that’s plain asking for judgement. They might not be entirely wrong for that judgement, either. The fandoms can be an absolute cesspool and Tumblr … well, there’s a reason it’s called a “hell-site.” Google the Omegaverse and it’s easy to see why fanfiction wears a red badge of disgrace.
Let’s not pull punches: much of it is pornography—kinky, discombobulated, and sometimes downright scary, pornography. These stories are not deep moral explorations like the works of Nietzsche. They aren’t engaging in the sort of prose that splinters a single sentence into myriad meanings like Proust. Many times, they lack even the romance of a good Danielle Steel or Nicholas Sparks novel.
Sure, it’s all art, but the world is chalk-full of hierarchies. There’s low art, like fanfiction, and high art, known as literature.
Literature: noun, in relation to written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit.
So, would it really be fair to put the mind-numbing sexual drivel of something like 50 Shades of Grey up against the deep, tortured exploration of youth in The Catcher in the Rye? They’re simply on different levels, right?
The Cather in the Rye is the quintessential coming of age story—a tale of a boy adrift in the sea of cynical disillusionment the comes with the façade of adulthood. It’s considered classical literature, the very tip-top of that hierarchy.
I still hated it. I dislike most of the classics, particularly Hemmingway and specifically one that not only inspired the murder of John Lennon, but depicted sexual exploitation as a fundamental part of male puberty. That’s not my cup o’ tea, but neither is 50 Shades of Grey, a story of an innocent young woman saving the soul of an abusive sexual sadist through the gift of her virginity.
Thing is, at least the exploitation in 50 Shades of Grey is consensual.
Published in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye has sold a whopping 65M copies. That’s an average of 903K a year. 50 Shades of Grey published in 2011 and has since sold 15.2M copies, averaging 1.3M per year. The latter also spawned a multi-million-dollar movie franchise. Remove any opining and, by numbers alone, the low art cesspool is winning in every way but cool points.
Here’s the real kicker: 50 Shades of Grey started as Twilight fanfiction.
Let that sink in.
50 Shades of Grey started as Twilight fanfiction.
Probably the single most hated and ridiculed book series of all time, The Twilight Saga, sparked the creation of a BDSM fanfic, which became one of the highest grossing franchises in modern entertainment, far outpacing the classics.
“That's another reason to despise fanfiction,” the literary snobs would say. “Our collective human intelligence has plummeted in recent generations.”
That’s right. Millennials, like me, haven’t the attention span or intelligence to keep up with Grandpa Salinger.
Even if that’s true, does it matter?
Are Stephenie Meyer and E.L. James cowering in shame behind their mountains of money?
Probably not.
Should I be ashamed? There certainly aren’t any mountains of money to soothe the sting for me.
Should you be ashamed as a fanfic writer or reader?
We can all concoct a million reasons to justify our opinions, whichever direction they go. From where I’m standing, I see only one thing that matters.
“I thought you were you everywhere,” I texted Lola.
“I AM ME EVERYWHERE but some of my stuff doesn’t cross paths.”
“Translation: I’m me everywhere except some places. Dude, enjoying fanfic isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
That’s the point.
Unless our proclivities harm someone else, there is no shame.
People like and dislike things for various reasons. Some of those likes go right over my head, like football. It doesn’t matter if I understand. It’s not my place to judge. Fanfic is another medium of expression, no more or less. It’s all subjective. The snobs are right, in their opinion. They’re wrong in mine.
My fiction isn’t for everyone, but I love it, terrible grammar, pacing, plot holes, and all. That’s how I learned the craft and will always be learning.
“Bad writing ALWAYS precedes good writing. This is an infallible rule, so don’t waste time trying to avoid bad writing - which just slows down the process.”
- Janet Hulstrand
So what if I cut my teeth in a weird, quirky, kinky, and often drama-riddled internet sub-culture? That digital home also met a pivotal need at a difficult time and identified my deep, abiding passion for Sapphic Fiction. There’s no shame in where I came from or how I started, and what does "good enough" even mean?
I don’t need to be Nietzsche or Proust.
I don’t need a snob’s approval.
I don’t care if anyone considers my work literature or hot, wet garbage baking in the southern July sun.
My focus is on enrichment—what makes me happy—and any who would judge or criticize me for that can kick rocks. The only approval I need is mine. It’s about time I gave it.
It’s about time you did.
“You’re right,” Lola said.
That’s rarely true. The older I get, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize just how little I know and understand about life, people, and the world. So, why should you listen to me? I’ve never published and what abilities I have are self-taught. There’s nothing special about me in this web of other spiders weaving, but there is something special about stories.
The world needs more of them. I want people to create and share without shame and, maybe, hearing someone give you permission, even another novice, is the encouragement you need.
Lola not only found acceptance coming out of the closet, but she now has others who share her fandom passion who’ve come out in real life, too.
Take my advice with a grain of salt. This blog is a simple amalgamation of my opinion and experiences, entirely subjective to my thoughts, but what could it really hurt for you to do you, boo?
Whether that’s fanfiction or literature, so long as it’s your authentic voice, it doesn’t hurt anyone else, and it brings you joy, it doesn’t matter. If nothing else, think about what I’ve said.
I’ll talk more about Finding Your Authentic Author Voice in the next post. Until then, write what you want to read unapologetically. Never be so embarrassed by where you started or where you are that you never even try to get where you’re going.
That’s my practical advice.
A.M. Carter
A.M. Carter is a freelance author and RV enthusiast moving out onto the open road with her pack of chihuahua babies to see the world and write stories. You can read her other works at amcarter.net and connect with her on X, Instagram, and Tumblr.
Commentaires