An article and a question

[S.L. Lewis]

A really cool article on slash fanfiction

This includes the history of slash as Gay Fiction is so often called. It's really cool and talks to actual authors who write the fanfiction. I just thought you might like to read it.

 

Now for the question part. Why do you write slash, or if you wish to call it, Gay Fiction? I'm writing an article to post on my site about slash/gay fiction and would like your input. Oh and if you have a site or book that has a good article that talks about it, then by all means tell me.

 

Edit as of Febuary 10, 2008: Wow...Much more than I was expecting. Thank you all for your insights and your comments. I'll be incorperating some of the insights, but won't be naming names, unless you don't mind. Don't want to get chewed out for posting a name that I shouldn't.

Edited February 10, 2008 by Rose Strailo

[Graeme]

I don't personally write slash fiction and don't have any real urge to do so. I don't read it, either, though I recognise that it's popular with some people.

 

Calling it 'gay fiction' seems to be very misleading, because I would call what I write 'gay fiction' but it is definitely not 'slash fiction'.

 

Good luck, Rose! There are a few members here who write slash fiction, so I hope you get the answers you're looking for

[FrenchCanadian]

I don't personally write slash fiction and don't have any real urge to do so. I don't read it, either, though I recognise that it's popular with some people.

 

Calling it 'gay fiction' seems to be very misleading, because I would call what I write 'gay fiction' but it is definitely not 'slash fiction'.

 

Good luck, Rose! There are a few members here who write slash fiction, so I hope you get the answers you're looking for

 

Well I have got to say that before writing gay themed stories,, I did wrote 2 fan fictions of that show "early edition" but I didn't made any of the character gay,,

 

personally I don't really like slash fiction as it's denaturing the essence of a character as it was created by its writer,,, that's not very good.

 

but good for those who do write those or like to read those..

[Tiger]

A really cool article on slash fanfiction

This includes the history of slash as Gay Fiction is so often called. It's really cool and talks to actual authors who write the fanfiction. I just thought you might like to read it.

 

Now for the question part. Why do you write slash, or if you wish to call it, Gay Fiction? I'm writing an article to post on my site about slash/gay fiction and would like your input. Oh and if you have a site or book that has a good article that talks about it, then by all means tell me.

I may have influences as a writer, but I do not do fan faction. I prefer to come up with most of it on my own. There are some here who do write fan fiction. Personally, I consider myself unworthy of writing fan fiction. I'm also not sure about the liability issues of it.

[S.L. Lewis]

EDIT: I'm using slash as a broad term, since I've seen it every where, and thats how I found this site (along with using original male/male stories). So, how ever you call it, its just what I call it since the term has actually come to incompass original stories to.

Alright...apparently I wasn't as clear as I had hoped to be with the question. My oopsies.

Why do you write slash fiction? Just fiction. Originals, not the fanfiction. So....Why do you write original slash fiction?

Edited February 8, 2008 by Rose Strailo

[Lugh]

I don't.

 

I write homoerotica.

 

Slash fiction (such a gross term) is "homoerotic (fan)fiction written by females for a primarily female audience".

 

I write homoerotica -- erotic fiction for a gay male by a gay male with characters who are gay in a plot line that may or may not be fabulous!

[Graeme]

Alright...apparently I wasn't as clear as I had hoped to be with the question. My oopsies.

Why do you write slash fiction? Just fiction. Originals, not the fanfiction. So....Why do you write original slash fiction?

My understanding is that slash fiction is fan fiction. Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding. From that article "slash" comes from the slash between two characters (eg. Kirk/Spock) -- in other words it is fan fiction where a homosexual relationship is postulated between two characters.

 

If you want to know about fiction in general, I write because I enjoy it, and because it's an outlet for my homosexuality. I'm in a situation where I don't want to act on my homosexual desires and writing is one of my releases for the pressures that would otherwise build up. This site, and other similar sites, are some of my other releases.

 

I enjoy the buzz I get from reader feedback, and that's a motivation, but not the primary one. The primary one is to an exploration for myself of what it means to be gay. I just put that exploration into stories

Edited February 8, 2008 by Graeme

[corvus]

Haven't read the article yet, but I read and wrote (and write) fanfiction because it combined stories that I enjoyed with homosexuality, which I wanted (and want) to read for obvious reasons. For a wandering young reader, it's easier to go from fanfiction to slash than to purposefully find "gay fiction." Also, I found that slash gave a sympathetic portrayal of gay people that I really wanted to read. It was my first exposure to anything romantic between two men.

 

I do recognize now that gay fiction and slash are very different, with slash being defined as fanfiction w/ gay characters (and therefore usually written by women), and gay fiction as original fiction written by gay men with homosexuality as a central theme. In slash, I find that homosexuality is almost incidental, whereas in gay fiction, being gay and all its complications -- coming out, longing for straight people, etc -- are more at the forefront. It may be that many women writers write slash because they wish to adopt a masculine identity while retaining heterosexual attraction; gay people probably use gay fiction as a release and a therapy. In any case, I have a lot of slash favorites, which are not cheapened by the fact that they're written by women or take place in someone else's world. Still, I've found that they can't hit a spot that reading gay fiction does.

[Graeme]

I do recognize now that gay fiction and slash are very different, with slash being defined as fanfiction w/ gay characters (and therefore usually written by women), and gay fiction as original fiction written by gay men with homosexuality as a central theme.

I will have to differ in my definition of gay fiction. Gay fiction is fiction where homosexuality is a significant part of the story (though it may not be the major part). It doesn't matter who wrote it. One well known author of gay fiction (Sequoyah) isn't gay, as just one example. Some of the female writers here, like Krista and Viv to name just two, also write great gay fiction, and they aren't gay either.

[steph]

In slash, I find that homosexuality is almost incidental, whereas in gay fiction, being gay and all its complications -- coming out, longing for straight people, etc -- are more at the forefront.

 

Corvus, you might be on to something here. I've read stories from all over the net, so I can't be totally sure, but it seems right. Personally, I hate fanfiction, because (like someone mentioned earlier) it warps the characters and ruins the original storyline for me. But, more and more fanfic sites do include sections for stories with original characters, and these stories as considered slash. Writers also mislabel some of these stories as Yaoi. Okay, I'll give it to Corvus that they're mainly women, but (like Graeme said) it's not all inclusive either way.

[corvus]

I will have to differ in my definition of gay fiction. Gay fiction is fiction where homosexuality is a significant part of the story (though it may not be the major part). It doesn't matter who wrote it. One well known author of gay fiction (Sequoyah) isn't gay, as just one example. Some of the female writers here, like Krista and Viv to name just two, also write great gay fiction, and they aren't gay either.

 

Yeah, gay fiction shouldn't be defined by the sexuality of the author. Anne Proulx's Brokeback Mtn deserves to be categorized under gay fiction, or something like it. I do think gay fiction has to have homosexuality as a central theme, though. Otherwise it would be 'sci-fi w/ gay people' or 'thriller w/ gay people,' something like that. But then again, labels and categories are pretty problematic. Just look a straight-bi-gay and the Kinsey scale.

 

In general, I feel inclined to defend fanfiction because sometimes (not often) the fanfiction redeems the original. Now, I've only read Harry Potter fanfiction, but I disliked the last few books, and I think some fanfic authors (again, very few -- but they're there) gave the characters, which were so inspiring in the first four or so books, the due that JKR didn't provide.

[Graeme]

I do think gay fiction has to have homosexuality as a central theme, though. Otherwise it would be 'sci-fi w/ gay people' or 'thriller w/ gay people,' something like that. But then again, labels and categories are pretty problematic. Just look a straight-bi-gay and the Kinsey scale.

I believe homosexuality has to be a signficant theme for something to be called gay fiction, but I wouldn't say it has to be the central theme. Using myself as an example, I would still call my short stories "Black Swans" and "Secrets" as gay fiction, but homosexuality is not the central theme in either one. My anthology entry "End of the World" has homosexuality as a significant theme, but it's not the central theme.

 

I'll admit that that blurs the lines about what is gay fiction and what is fiction with gay characters, but then I don't have a problem with that. Trying to put boundaries around artistic endeavours is never particularly successful

[writeincode]

Embarrassingly enough after reading the article I felt like reading slash. But I'm a straight female so I'm allowed to

[FrenchCanadian]

Why do you write slash fiction? Just fiction. Originals, not the fanfiction. So....Why do you write original slash fiction?

 

Why do I write gay fiction,, Because I like to write, that's for a first. Second, cause it gives me a mean of expressing feelings.

 

I believe homosexuality has to be a signficant theme for something to be called gay fiction, but I wouldn't say it has to be the central theme. Using myself as an example, I would still call my short stories "Black Swans" and "Secrets" as gay fiction, but homosexuality is not the central theme in either one. My anthology entry "End of the World" has homosexuality as a significant theme, but it's not the central theme.

 

I'll admit that that blurs the lines about what is gay fiction and what is fiction with gay characters, but then I don't have a problem with that. Trying to put boundaries around artistic endeavours is never particularly successful

 

 

It's really not all that simple. Personally as long as one (or hopefully 2) of the character is gay and that there's some evolution more or less related to that, I would consider it as gay fiction. A fiction with gay character would be a story where one of the character is gay, but that the sexuality has nothing to do about the story. (An example that I have in mind for this is the movie "Four Brother". it is mentioned that one of the bro is gay, but, aside from one or two jokes about it, it does nothing to move the story forward)

[AFriendlyFace]

personally I don't really like slash fiction as it's denaturing the essence of a character as it was created by its writer,,, that's not very good.

I agree that that can often be a major and unfortunate outcome if not done very carefully...well actually maybe it's inherently impossible unless the characters are themselves sexually ambiguous.

There seems to be a major disagreement about semantics going on!

 

My understanding is that slash fiction is fan fiction. Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding. From that article "slash" comes from the slash between two characters (eg. Kirk/Spock) -- in other words it is fan fiction where a homosexual relationship is postulated between two characters.

This is my definition and understanding of "slash" as well.

 

I will have to differ in my definition of gay fiction. Gay fiction is fiction where homosexuality is a significant part of the story (though it may not be the major part). It doesn't matter who wrote it. One well known author of gay fiction (Sequoyah) isn't gay, as just one example. Some of the female writers here, like Krista and Viv to name just two, also write great gay fiction, and they aren't gay either.

And this is my definition of "gay fiction"

 

Semantically I'm definitely in complete agreement with Graeme

 

Haven't read the article yet, but I read and wrote (and write) fanfiction because it combined stories that I enjoyed with homosexuality, which I wanted (and want) to read for obvious reasons. For a wandering young reader, it's easier to go from fanfiction to slash than to purposefully find "gay fiction." Also, I found that slash gave a sympathetic portrayal of gay people that I really wanted to read. It was my first exposure to anything romantic between two men.

 

I do recognize now that gay fiction and slash are very different, with slash being defined as fanfiction w/ gay characters (and therefore usually written by women), and gay fiction as original fiction written by gay men with homosexuality as a central theme. In slash, I find that homosexuality is almost incidental, whereas in gay fiction, being gay and all its complications -- coming out, longing for straight people, etc -- are more at the forefront. It may be that many women writers write slash because they wish to adopt a masculine identity while retaining heterosexual attraction; gay people probably use gay fiction as a release and a therapy. In any case, I have a lot of slash favorites, which are not cheapened by the fact that they're written by women or take place in someone else's world. Still, I've found that they can't hit a spot that reading gay fiction does.

Once again, as I've come to expect from you now, I find your post incredibly insightful, Corvus

 

My primary reason for writing gay fiction (not that I do it particularly often ) could be best summed up as a desire for creative expression of something which will add to gay culture.

 

 

Have an awesome day everyone,

Kevin