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iN Praise of faNfic
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unsurprising that when you ask your brain to model some other
person, it rises to the task. But that’s
exactly
what happens to a
reader when you hand your book over to him: he simulates your
characters in his head, trying to interpret that character’s actions
through his own lens.
Writers can’t ask readers not to interpret their work. You can’t
enjoy a novel that you haven’t interpreted — unless you model
the author’s characters in your head, you can’t care about what
they do and why they do it. And once readers model a character,
it’s only natural that readers will take pleasure in imagining what
that character might do offstage, to noodle around with it. This
isn’t disrespect: it’s
active reading
.
Our field is incredibly privileged to have such an active fanfic
writing practice. Let’s stop treating them like thieves and start
treating them like honored guests at a table that we laid just for
them.
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