View source for Fanac (fanspeak)

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Fanac}}

(See the [[Fanac|Fanac disambiguation page]] for others.)

Fanc is What [[Fans]] Do.

Short for '''fan ac'''tivity, which includes writing in [[fanzines]] or on [[fandom]]-related websites, corresponding with other [[fans]] and participating in [[apas]],  [[sf]] [[club]] meetings or  [[conventions]].

Some fans claim that there are three types of fans: [[club fans]], [[fanzine fans]], and [[con fans]] -- and that Fanac (like Gaul) is therefore divided into three parts. Zealous [[FIAWOL]]ists claim that daily life interaction with other fans also constitutes a form of fanac, giving rise to the saying "Anything two fans do together is fanac."

In [[Larry Niven]]'s "Fourth Profession," the hero, who'd taken a language pill, started to define fanac as "putting out a [[zine]], writing to the [[lettercol]], helping put on a [[con]]..." and then was interrupted. [[FANCY II]] defined it as "devoting time, energy, and money to non-profit pursuits in the general field of [[fantasy]] and fandom. This includes reading, collecting, corresponding, belonging to organizations, writing, publishing, recruiting new fans, visiting fellow [[stfnists]], perhaps living with them in a [[science fiction house]], and attending fan gatherings."

[[Mundane]] life can get in the way of fanac: see [[FAFIA]]. And after a while the fascination of fanac tends to wear a little thin -- one reason long-time fans are sometimes termed [[He was an old fan, and tired|Old and Tired]]. In an extreme case, this can lead to the fan becoming [[burned out]].

{{fancy2|text=
[[Fan]] activity. Devoting time, energy, and money to non-profit pursuits in the general field of [[fantasy]] and [[fandom]]. This includes reading, collecting, corresponding, belonging to organizations, writing, publishing, recruiting new [[fans]], visiting fellow [[stfnists]], perhaps living with them in a [[science-fiction house]], and attending [[fan gatherings]]. 
 
Most [[fen]] pass thru a certain cycle of activeness; after getting familiar with the field they start taking on projects left and right, not realizing that they're building up to a peak that they haven't time to maintain. Suddenly they announce that they must drop all [[fanac]] (except [[subbing]] to a couple of [[fanzines]] and writing a couple of correspondents) because activities in the [[mundane]] world are demanding most of their time and energy. Some disappear from [[fandom]] at this point, but many others discover after a while that they still need the intellectual companionship and means of self-expression in [[fandom]] and can find time to take on a little more activity, and so at length find a fairly constant level that they can keep up, barring catastrophes like getting married or drafted. (Not that there aren't quite a number of GIs and husbands keeping up a fair degree of activity.) 
 
Oh, and also we note here ''[[fanac fanzine|Fanac]]'': a news-and-chatter '[[zine]] published by [[Terry Carr]] and [[Ron Ellik]], begun 1958. It was part of the trend mentioned in the second sentence under, and, indeed, a noble example of it. But due to its activity the news of the series of deaths in [[fandom]] in 1958 got that wide circulation and general impact that gave [[the Year of the Jackpot]] its name. 
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