Richard Wheeler: Lee Goldberg's New Paul Guyot
Lee Goldberg's complaints about fanfiction get stale after a while, but not when inspired by great writers like Paul Guyot or Richard Wheeler. Who is Richard Wheeler, you ask?

"Richard Wheeler is one of the most respected and honored authors of western literature in the world today." - Lee Goldberg

And he's got a lot to tell fanficcers in the comments of Lee's blog.

Someone wrote Lee Goldberg and told him he was nothing more than a paid fanfic writer, a suggestion to which Lee took umbrage:

"Like a fanficcer, I am writing about characters I didn't create and that are not my own. But, as I said before, unless approached to do so, I would have absolutely no interest or desire to write about someone else's characters. Why? Because...and let me repeat this... the characters aren't mine. I didn't create them. They don't belong to me. I much prefer to write totally original work and if I could make my living only doing that, I would."

That bit just made me feel sad for him. He wants to stop writing Diagnosis Murder spin-offs and Monk novels and yet he just can't support himself. Where is Paul Guyot to rescue the poor soul of the artist here?

Well, there's always Richard Wheeler.

Richard Wheeler: I'm probably the "published author" to whom GMW objects. I feel that fanficcers betray our literary tradition, betray the authors they steal from, betray copyright law, betray readers, and worst of all, betray themselves.

I don't feel that way about people who write stories under license. Such people are actually entering into a collaboration, and the resulting story is the product of the creator of the character and the licensed author. Collaboration has a long and honorable literary tradition. For instance, Alexandre Dumas, Pere, had a virtual writing factory in which he polished up the work of his staff and published it. There have been many fine works resulting from collaboration throughout literary history."

A zealous fanfic defender emerges named Lost Erizo (Why do they bother, I wonder?):

"as long as they aren't otherwise hurting the copyright holder's ability to profit from their work, why should they feel any obligation to abide by what the copyright holder wants?"

Replies Kathy Kune:

"It's called respect. It's called honor. It's called being a decent, considerate, ethical and caring human being. Apparently those basic values, which civilized society holds in high regard, are beyond the grasp of the fanfiction community.

A writer creates something unique, magical, and wonderful that entertains and enlights you...and instead of honoring and respecting that person for what they have given, you piss all over them instead, showing total disregard for their feelings, their effort, and their imagination."

My favourite highlights follow.

Richard Wheeler: There is a clear leitmotif evident in the apologies for fan fiction. It is that moral or ethical standards, or cultural standards, have little validity and can be ignored.

Fan fiction writers choose to operate in a nether world below the lowest rung of legitimate literature, and by doing so betray themselves. Who knows what they might achieve if they were to set their sights higher.

Civilization, which depends on ethical and cultural understandings, will survive them, but their hopes of producing any literature worthy of admiration are almost nil. You can't put fan fiction on a resume and hope it will win you honor.

Kete: First, let me express my extreme relief that I'm not doing everlasting harm to civilisation as we know it. Gasp!

Second, I don't pretend to produce literature (in that I differ radically from many pro-writers of my acquaintance....) and don't hope for anybody's admiration. If someone likes my story, that really is enough for me, thank you very much.

Third, here you're wrong if you think that for instance Cassie Claire's over hundredthousand hits on her webite haven't had the smallest influence on her publisher's decision to offer her a book deal, imo.

Fourth, how about coming over a little less pompous, gramps?

Lee Goldberg: Kete,

Richard Wheeler is one of the most respected and honored authors of western literature in the world today. The last line of your previous comment, sadly, is indicative of the lack of respect fanficcers show authors... which is the only reason I didn't delete it. I want people to see fanficcers for who they really are.

Kete: Lee, he writes *Western* for heaven's sake. Hardly what I would call literature. And I've never heard of him before coming to your blog.

Why would I show any respect to a guy I don't know and who, in my book, hasn't done anything deserving of my respect? As far as I'm concerned he isn't more of a blimp on my screen than you or anybody else, sorry.

Richard Wheeler shows a bit of humility: Kete is accurate: I have no reputation outside of my field. And yes, western fiction is the least prestigious branch of literature and virtually defunct. And yes, such reputation as I may have has no bearing on the validity of my comments. But I do stand by my observations, which may be considered my generation's understanding of worth.

But his fans don't. Kathy Kune: Kete, ignorance is no excuse. It's just ignorance and not something you should bandy about with pride. I don't read westerns but I am educated enough to know that Richard S. Wheeler is equivalent to Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov in the world of western literature...which has a much longer and richer history than science fiction. To shrug him off with such disdain shows not only the depth of your ignorance and arrogance but also your profound disrespect for those who are older, wiser, and more experienced than you. You should be embarrassed and ashamed of yourself but you are not wise enough or humble enough to realize it.

Mark A. York: If you had looked though you'd find Mr. Wheeler was an editor at a big city newspaper for many years before taking to western fiction. He's forgotton more than a "fanficcer" will ever know.

As miss snark would say, "climb on the cluetrain for Chist's sake."

Xaedalus: I'm roasting marshmellows in the heat coming from my monitor screen... I'm truly impressed that this argument escalated from a post about fanfic and into an argument about honor, decency, the entire human race, Harry Potter, and dubious sexual escapades.
Even my two cats are sunning themselves in the radioactive glow emanating from the screen.
I'll just keep my opinion to myself on this one. And have a marshmellow. :-D

Kete: Geez, people, I am GERMAN! And Westerns aren't really a mainstream type of fiction here. Mostly they're sold as penny zines at supermarket cashiers and tobacconists at train stations - items to be consumed and thrown away like yesterday's newspapers. So, forgive me for not knowing a guy who isn't even translated into my language. Also I didn't tend to read many American newspapers when I was younger (nor do I now), so that Mr Wheeler's prestigious career in that field was entirely hidden from me.

How many of you know any German writers - other than perhaps Brecht, Grass and Böll? And Patrick Süsskind doesn't count, because "Das Parfum" has just been made into a movie.

Anonymous: The only German writer I'm familiar with is the little guy with the funny mustache who wrote "Mein Kampf. Looked a bit like Chaplin. I think of him often when I read Kete's posts.

I'll leave out people listing the number of German authors they know, and whether knowing Goethe and Schiller are really the equivalent of knowing Richard Wheeler.

I can't leave out Richard Wheeler's last speech.

Richard Wheeler: I have not seen my characters appear in fan fiction, but I know that I would feel violated if they were to appear. It would be like having intruders in my house. I would also feel alienated from my character, because whoever uses my character alters the person I created. I believe most authors who have seen their work thus abused find the experience painful.

I also believe that anyone who shoplifts a character really damages himself. That person's growth is stunted. That person is compromising his or her integrity, and endangering his or her reputation. But worst of all, shoplifting a character is really a betrayal of one's self because the person who does it is not trying to be all that he or she can be.

and

Let me refine my comments in terms of motivation. It is a difficult challenge to generate a full-textured character separate from the author's self. That is why so many storytellers never get beyond first-person writing. If your motive in appropriating a readymade character is to dodge the challenge of creating the Other, the fictional self that is not one's own self, then indeed you are failing to reach toward the best in you; failing to try to achieve the best that you can do or be. That's what I mean about stunting your growth or betraying yourself.

Thanks to the mouse at wank_report for this one.

ETA: Since I submitted this yesterday, Richard Wheeler has added some choice comments.

Richard Wheeler:"I wonder how many fanfic writers list this activity on their resumes, or tell employment officers about it when applying for a position. I also wonder how many deliberately conceal this activity from current or prospective employers. That is, I wonder how many tacitly acknowledge that what they are doing isn't right."

Kete: I've never been employed because I've been self employed all my life - but do you have to list your hobbies hen applying for a job??? I never asked anyone who wanted to work for me.

Richard Wheeler: So now fanficcing is just a hobby. Upstream a bit you gents were celebrating the sale to a NY publisher of two books based on a Jane Austen character. And celebrating the commercial possibilities in fan fiction. Just a hobby indeed. Nothing related to one's career. Hmmm.