Of fan fiction, vidgames, TV and learning: Can the ‘bad’ stuff inspire good writing in K-12?
Publishers are a little more tolerant of fan fiction than before—a point the TeleBlog has noted. In other words, they’re a bit less likely to sue you for distributing a story based on a character in one of their books.
Now, here’s another angle.
Could fan fiction and other media-based writing—including efforts inspired by TV shows and video games—actually be good for kids in school, especially boys. Males often lag behind girls in reading and writing and are more visually oriented.
Also, assuming that educational benefits exist here, might advocates of looser copyright laws use this to their advantage?
Educational Leadership article praises derivative writing
Well, if nothing else, an article in an educational journal certainly sides with advocates of derivative writing. In the September issue of Educational Leadership, from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Thomas Newkirk writes:
I suspect that educators who condemn children’s television and video game use haven’t spent much time with these mediums. Anyone who thinks that video games shorten attention spans should watch a child trying to beat a game like Final Fantasy, which requires a persistence that we wouldn’t dream of demanding in schools. Stephen Johnson (2005) has even made the bold claim that the visual media available today are more complex than in previous eras—and actually make us smarter. Contemporary cartoon shows like Jimmy Neutron are more complex, more satiric, and faster—they require more alertness—than my old favorites like Popeye.
These visually mediated narratives can provide scaffolding for early attempts at story writing. Too often, scaffolding or modeling is conceived of exclusively as something that the teacher provides and then gradually releases to students. But movies like Star Wars can provide a set of props for hesitant writers—story types, character names, not to mention those mesmerizing light sabers. The stories that students create have the feeling of “play.” They may borrow the basic conflict from a movie—such as pitting Luke Skywalker against Darth Vader—but they create their own versions. Students may involve their friends in a conflict with Darth Vader, create a new character, or borrow a character from a different movie. Dyson calls these stories hybrid texts because they draw from multiple sources (1993). Students often enact their stories with sound effects and hand motions as they compose. And unlike accounts of real life, these story types lend themselves to sequel after sequel.
Close to home
Speaking of derivative writing, I remember being admonished in the sixth grade not to write a short story based on Perry Mason (or was it The Twilight Zone?).
Here’s my current take. As a nonteacher, I believe that a mix of approach is best. If media-inspired writing can help students, then fine. Guess what. You’re seeing media-based writing in action; I’m now picking up content from elsewhere, even if I’m synthesizing it heavily and coming up with a few extra angles.
But let’s not overdo the glories of the derivative, however helpful it can be within bounds. Good writing, good thinking, good imagining and good research are often inseparable. If K-12 students grow too accustomed to working from highly polished, neatly packaged content, will they then be less capable of reality-based writing? Will a future corporate executive be able to write a report based on the humans around him or her rather than on the characters in a game?
Then again, some visionaries might argue that media experiences and virtue creations are increasingly important, and that lines will blur between the virtual and the real. We’re not just talking about mere simulations on the screen. For example, what happens if imaginary chairs designed for Second Life can end up as real furniture—especially if fabricator technology grows in importance?
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