Yes, this touches on a concern I have about the fic/non-fic divide. I'm thinking about where an author, in the early stages of a work, sets out the rough framework of an AU and then asks for specialty consultation essays to help flesh out the background. For example, I contributed to one author a bunch of commentary on transfusions and surgery specific to a particular vampire physiology she'd envisioned that later became part of a (published on AO3) fiction work. If those essays were published on AO3, they clearly lack elements such as plot or even characters that we expect in fiction, and yet they are not non-fictional to the real world, even though they are, if you would, to the created one. Or, to look at it another way, they could be considered fanworks-in-advance to a fanwork.
Okay, I think I'm making myself a little bit dizzy now and I'm not actually trying to split hairs: I just think that there is a confusing sort of middle ground that needs to be considered and taken into account in writing any "work type" guidance.
Yeah, it's sort of like ... are all of the languages Tolkien created for Middle Earth fiction or non-fiction? Well ... they are fictional non-fiction! So, agreed, I think that there needs to be flexibility in how the categories are set up, so that they allow for that kind of thing to be posted, while also allowing to be understood as Not Fic (so as people who want just the fics, ma'am can filter it out).
Interesting, my definition of "meta" is not just writing about fandom. I think it encompasses exactly this kind of thing, as it's writing (or other media) about fan works in any flavor, rather than the work itself.
Oh, agreed, I think that the sort of thing we're talking about counts as "meta" but as this post is about changing the terminology to "non-fiction" I think that it becomes a bit more difficult to define certain types of analytical fanworks. Words, why so many different connotations!
Comment on Fandom nonfiction: seeking feedback
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