It occurred to me that I should probably have a fanfic policy.
On the one hand, it seems a little bit unnecessary, given that as far as I know nobody has any intention of writing any fic for Speak Its Name. On the other hand, I’ve written the first fic in many a tiny fandom, and it feels like false modesty to assume that nobody at all, in the whole world, ever, would want to write in a universe just because I was the one who invented it.
I must make one thing clear: this is a policy for me. What anybody else does is up to them.
As soon as a world of my creation is taking up space in someone else’s head, it’s their business what they do about that. Personally, I do not mind at all if people write the missing scene or the crossover with Check, Please! or the OT3 or the coffee shop AU, or if they nominate it for Yuletide, or if they want to argue with the premise of the whole thing through the medium of fiction.
More to the point, my minding or not minding is irrelevant. I cannot and would not stop anyone writing (see also drawing, making fanmixes, whatever) what they like.
However. As a creator, I need to keep my own headcanon tidy. While I doubt it’s going to become a full-blown series, I am planning a sequel to Speak Its Name, and I could do without its getting tangled up with anyone else’s conception of the world. As a fan, I know it is dreadfully awkward when a canon creator leaves a comment, even an approving one, on one’s fic.
And so this is my policy regarding fanfic of my works: I’d rather not have it drawn to my attention. I won’t go looking for it and I certainly won’t comment on it.
Kathleen Jowitt 