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Writer's pictureOlivia Kate

Famous Authors Who Hate Fanfiction

Fans love to dive deeper into the world of their favorite characters. But what about the authors? These famous writers have big issues with fan-created works.




George R. R. Martin


The author of Game of Thrones famously said of fan fiction: “It’s not for me. I don’t wanna read it and I would not encourage people to write it.”


He went on to explain that he doesn't think fan fiction is a good exercise for aspiring authors.


"I don’t think it’s a good way to train to be a professional writer when you’re borrowing everybody else’s world and characters. That’s like riding a bike with training wheels. And then when I took the training wheels off, I fell over a lot, but at some point you have to take the training wheels off here. You have to invent your own characters, you have to do your own world-building, you can’t just borrow from Gene Roddenberry or George Lucas or me or whoever."



Orson Scott Card


The controversial author of the Ender's Game series has a strange history with fan fiction. In 2004, he posted on his website: "The time to write fan fiction is 'never.'" He claimed that writing stories with his characters "is morally identical to moving into my house without invitation and throwing out my family."


In an unexpected turnaround, Card recently decided to host his own fan fiction contest. He then told The Wall Street Journal: "Every piece of fan fiction is an ad for my book. What kind of idiot would I be to want that to disappear?”



Anne Rice


The author of Interview with a Vampire has made an active effort to keep any fan fiction based on her works off the web. In 2008, she formally requested the removal of works featuring her characters on FanFiction.net.


Around that same time, she posted a disclaimer on her website that read: "I do not allow fan fiction. The characters are copyrighted. It upsets me terribly to even think about fan fiction with my characters. I advise my readers to write your own original stories with your own characters. It is absolutely essential that you respect my wishes."



Terry Goodkind


Fantasy author Terry Goodkind is very protective of his copyright and believes he is obligated to defend it, even in the case of fan fiction. "I know that these people intend no harm, and are only expressing their admiration of my work," he says. "But that doesn't make it all right, and it causes me needless problems."



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