In the last 20 years, with the rise of the internet, the practice of reading and writing fanfiction has become more widespread and mainstream. But what is fanfiction? Put simply, it’s a transformative work, a piece of art that takes elements from a work and changes them, adding something new: a new setting, new characters, or perhaps a new piece of the plot.
Transformative works are about as old as literature itself. Think about the many different adaptations of Cinderella, “The Aeneid,” or Shakespeare plays that the bard himself lifted from other stories.
But fanfiction has a few distinctions. The stories are usually lifted from pop culture, written by fans and posted online. Its beginning is usually attributed, however, to the inception of fan culture during Star Trek’s explosive popularity in the 1960s. The first piece of modern fanfiction was for Star Trek and published in a fanzine, or “fan magazine.”
As fanfiction has grown in popularity, so have the assumptions people make about it, which mostly sum up to the assumption that fanfiction is poorly written trash. The ideas aren’t entirely unfounded. Many fanfictions read like a horrifically written romance and plenty are weirder.
But there’s also about as much variety in the fanfiction genre as one would find in any bookstore. Action, adventure, superhero stories, coming-of-age tales, sad poetry, love stories set in flower shops and cafes, epics about revolutions and quests--fics are as varied in style and content as the media they draw their inspiration from.
And as for bad writing, well, there’s plenty of that too. But there’s also an important distinction to be made. Bad writing is by no means worthless writing. For many aspiring authors, fanfiction websites like Archive of Our Own and Wattpad are where they pen their first paragraphs. Fanfiction gives these young writers an audience for their work, as well as a community that can help them grow. Young authors are able to find more experienced ones to offer advice. And of course, the best way to improve one’s writing is to write.
Fanfic is the training ground for many young people, some of whom will go on to become masters of the craft. In addition, for every 99 stories written terribly, there is often one gem. Many excellent authors choose to express their creativity by writing for a small audience instead of trying their hand at professional publishing. Others use it as a way to practice their craft. Fanfiction is a fun sandbox for creators to play in. With pre-existing characters, settings and storylines already there, it’s an excellent starting place for beginners, and an exciting way for writers to play, explore and push the boundaries of the discipline.
The most inspiring thing about fanfiction is that, in a world where so much media we consume is money-driven, fanfiction is free. An author that commits to writing a story receives no reward except, perhaps, the feedback and support from readers. It’s a beautiful thing to see so many writers working on projects, some ridiculously long, simply for the joy of doing it. These authors generally go unrecognized outside of their niche communities. Many keep their projects a secret from real-life friends and family, because of the stigma surrounding fanfics.
However, fanfiction is beginning to make an impact and is growing more mainstream every year. “Fan studies,” including the examination of fanfiction and its history, are now considered a branch of academics. The fanfiction hosting website Archive of Our Own (known more commonly as AO3), was the first website to receive a Hugo Award, an annual award that celebrates especially excellent pieces of literature in the categories of science fiction and fantasy. Winning a Hugo is an extraordinary achievement for any author, and in this case literally thousands were recognized for their stories published online.
Fanfic, for all its flaws, is at its heart a work of passion, community, and the exploration of what is possible. In the time-honored tradition of transformative works, it asks “what if?” and delights wholeheartedly in the journey to find the answer.