Interview About Fan Fiction

From my inbox, sent by Wandering Star:

Here's something I'd like you to read. It's an interview done on Anime News Network by two staffers and a fanfiction writer. (Anime News Network is like CNN to the anime crowd, based in the US.) Despite being in the anime industry, the staffers are not into fanfiction, so their questions are similar to those outsiders would ask.

If you get past the talk about slash and yaoi (boys with boys, hehe), there are some very good explanations about what attracts people to reading and writing fan fiction, and why some actually do improve their writing by making it. There are references to anime titles, but knowing them is not strictly necessary to understand the interview.

Part 1:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/chicks-on-anime/2008-10-14 http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/chicks-on-anime/2008-10-14/2

Part 2:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/chicks-on-anime/2008-10-20
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/chicks-on-anime/2008-10-20/2