Internet Adventures: Renay at Strange Horizons!

[renay]

My second column is up in the latest issue of Strange Horizons! \o/ Communities: You Got Your Industry in my Fanwork discusses the changes to book blogging culture, creators interacting with fanwork and fan communities, and lots of things we were likely debating back in the 1970s, just with different names. Nothing new, except my perspective. :D

Other parts of the issue available now:

FICTION: Difference of Opinion, by Meda Kahn
FICTION: Podcast: Difference of Opinion, by Meda Kahn, read by Anaea Lay
POETRY: Triptych, by Jane Crowley
REVIEW: NOS4R2 by Joe Hill, reviewed by Katherine Farmar

Comments

[theliteraryomnivore.wordpress.com]

Oh, man, where was this last week? I was trying to articulate this exact difference to someone I was having professional lunch with.

I'm also intrigued by the concept of canonical/interpretative power. Fan interaction is all about the interpretation, so having someone play in, essentially, God Mode is a bit of a downer. Nobody likes to be told that they're reading incorrectly, because it is impossible to read a text incorrectly! (Well, okay, there's stuff like thinking Rue was white, but you know what I mean!) It's like coming up against a brick wall.

[renay]

Clearly I should have had you be one of my editors, then you could have seen all the ways NOT to make this argument. :P

I suspect there's an idea that authors can step "out" of God Mode when interacting in fan spaces and getting involved in fan discussions, but I am dubious about the idea this is actually possible. It goes back to the curse of knowledge. It's really, really difficult to imagine not knowing something you know very intimately. I think about it related to my fic writing, where I make an argument with characterizations and my betas disagree and argue with me back and forth, but at no point can they shut down the discussion with "well, I created it so I know best!" Even the possibility is problematic.

[antiloquax]

I enjoyed your article, Renay. As a newbie book-blogger, I found it fascinating.

[renay]

Thanks! It's something I've been mulling over for the last year off and on, so I was happy to be able to find the words to explain it to MYSELF, too.