So I'm writing my final essay for my English class on the value of fanfiction. It's mostly about how fanfiction deserves the same respect as original fiction, as many consider it a viable form of literature. Anyways, it is supposed to be a research paper, and I'm in desperate need of citable sources. And links or suggestions? They would be greatly appreciated. I know we're not technically supposed to use wikipedia, but it may be a last resort if I can't find any good sites to help me out. So yeah, thanks for any help you guys! It's greatly appreciated. :-)

If you have an lj acct. (and maybe if you don't cause I don't really understand these things!) you should contact anaross.  She is an English college professor who has written some of the most moving Spuffy fanfic I've ever read. You can't get a more prestigious source than that!  Ask her if she'll email you a copy of a professional presentation on fanfic that she gave not too long ago.  (A few months back on her lj site she was offering to send a copy to anyone who asked.)  Ask if you can cite it in your paper--and ask her if she has other "professional" comments for you that you can use as a reference in your paper.  There are a lot of other fanfic writers and authors who have written essays on fanfiction; if I come across any of the old ones I've read, I'll send them your way.  Anyone else have suggestions for her?

Okay, So I've just finished e-mailing both anaross and Herself, as I know Herself recently gave a presentation on fanfiction as well. Right now, the writing of the essay is going great - it's the research and citing of sources that has me at a loss... So yeah, any other suggestions would be beyond helpful. :-)

you have  the list of professional writers who have also taken the same source material of The Whedonverse into the successful publishing business.  Same with what happened in the Jane Austen books - You should contact The Republic of Pemberley site for input from their writers and readers - a great FF and Jane Austen resource site.

Anaross should be an excellent source - both of primary materials, and as someone who can point you at more sources.  There are many, many meta posts on LJ, but I don't know how you'd find them.  You might check the tags for Rahirah (Barb C) and also see if Nan Dibble's account is still up. Not sure where else you could look for essays on fanfic.  You could certainly try a search engine like google and see what turns up.

Those folks over at Tea At The Ford also would be an excellent source -

What nmcil and Slayme said. Those should really help! Fantastic sources!. But just FYI if ever you're in a hurry to do homework, go to several different pages and copy-past what you think is most interesting.

Skim through it and make sure it has some kind of literal synchronicity and flows nicely together. Delete words you know you wouldn't use and replace them with something else--et voila! Instant homework.

In college, the way I was supposed to do home work wasn't ALLOWED to be too original. When I was given the free will to write about whatever subject I wanted, I was given a bad grade because my teachers were biased. So then I learned--I just had to keep my homework simple and stupid... Like my professors.

It may not be the case for you or your teachers. They could be nice (had a few of those) but in my experience--you just gotta give them what THEY want. It's sad... But true.

Mesh - laughing at you!  Sad but true.

lovesbitch - Here are a couple of BSV forums.  First one was started by Zoegrace who has gone on to be published (woohoo!) and second is one about a fanfiction survey that someone did a couple of years ago.  She finished and posted the survey, you might still be able to find it.

http://216.177.134.59/forum.php?go=read&no=103

http://216.177.134.59/forum.php?go=read&no=1453

I followed Mesh's link to the poll.  http://www.zoomerang.com/Shared/SharedResultsSurveyResultsPage.aspx?ID=L22T53L4M5GL It might be very useful for you--as well as interesting to all of us.  It was not a random, scientific poll, but the answers are fascinating:  the majority of readers are single, younger, prefer reading to watching TV as a leisure activity (while we obviously watch TV to get into a fandom, fanfic folks are big readers whose first contact with public libraries happened under age 12, so I assume we sre predispositioned to reading fanfic by our very natures.

Thanks to everyone who's helped out so far. I've decided to use several quotes from members than I found in the first forum link Spikez_tart gave me, and I'm in the process of reading through the comments from the pool on zoomerang.com. I f you guys have any opinions on why you think fanfiction desevers the same respect, and is just as good, as original fiction, I'd love to hear them. :-)

Um, Mesh? That sounds kissing close to plagiarism. I don't think it would fly in a lot of colleges.  It's usually pretty easy to spot copy/pasted stuff - the difference in writing styles for one thing.

*quote* Um, Mesh? That sounds kissing close to plagiarism. I don't think it would fly in a lot of colleges.  It's usually pretty easy to spot copy/pasted stuff - the difference in writing styles for one thing.

I was wondering if someone was gonna comment on that. Hehe! You're sharp :D
I look for articles in English and translate them ;)
It more or less is plagiarism. Doesn't mean I don't know what I'm writing about. But my opinions are too broad, so in the end I feel like I'm wasting my time if I work too hard on something my professors are just gonna shoot down anyway.

An example (so you know I'm not that delusional):
For my practice exam I chose a subject based on the age/history of the world and Solar System. I've always been interested in that subject so it's what I wrote about.
I mentioned that the way they know the world is 4.billion years old (or so) is by studying old rocks. I had stated the fact that it doesn't prove anything because natural disasters and meteors could have wiped away any evidence that wold prove otherwise.

My professor didn't like that and gave me a low grade. After that I decided to just gather information that would make him (and the rest of them) happy because I had no say in the matter.

LB - Here's what I think is good about fanfiction.  

For the writer, you get to practice your writing and get a lot more feedback than you might otherwise.  You get to try out things that you might not ever be able to get published.  You get to build up an audience.  You don't have to put up with your friends and family asking you when you're going to get published because you already are if you are posting.  You get to meet and chat with a lot of other writers, which you might not otherwise be able to do. Even if you never plan to go on and publish your own stories, learning to write gives you a much deeper appreciation of the published fiction you read.  You also get to explore the work of the writers of the original work in a more detailed way and get more interesting insights into what they were doing. 

For the reader, you get to read a lot of really well written stories about characters that you already know and love.  You also get to read some not so well written stuff, too, but that helps sharpen your understanding of what's good and what's not so good.  You get to comment on the writing if you feel like it.  You can volunteer to help writers by editing their work. 

The only downside I see to writing fanfic is that if you only use the characters in the show, you miss the opportunity to work on developing your own characters.  I usually try to include a new character in my pieces, partly for that reason. 

Let us know how your homework goes.  :)

Couldn't have said it better myself, nmcil :)
The internet is good for soo much more aswell! So many doors have opened for people all over the world who otherwise would not have had the chance to learn and experience certain things ^_^

off topic, I know (it seems silly to make a board about this)
But what happened to the fic All My Family?? I love that story...but it's gone!! Did the author leave? oh no!! I wanted to know what happens ;(((((

But what happened to the fic All My Family?? I love that story...but it's gone!! Did the author leave?

Was Spikeschilde author you are talking about? The story I know with this title is by Spikeschilde and you can find it here:
http://www.bloodshedverse.com/stories.php?go=chapters&no=1896
Sadly the story is on hold see  spikeschilde-89.livejournal.com/40463.html
Was that the story you're looking for?

Oh, yes! That's it.
It was spikeschilde! Sorry about the mix up. It's so sad she doesn't have time anymore. I really love that story. It makes me sad to hear -_-

Thanks for your help :)

You are definitely right Dangerous. 

I'd say that you're pretty much on target, Sensei. Although, there are also writers in the RW who support each other and provide feedback and community.  Maybe more so now than there used to be? So many writers now seem to have come from the fanfiction community, I think they carry that sense of community with them if/when they move into the harsher world of publishing.