What even is Fanfiction? (Discussion #5 Part 1)

Fandoms are one of the greatest things humans have ever created. They allow a group of people from all across the world with internet connection to find a home and discuss their favourite piece of media whether it’s a book, a TV show, a movie or a game of some type. Whatever it is, somewhere out there there is a place for people who enjoy it. (Most of the time, at least… It’s get fuzzy when we talk about books)

*cough*

I will admit the fact that those memes were easy to find off of google says a lot about the book community online.

And a crucial part of a fandom is the media it creates from the work in question. Fan art and fan fiction being some of the most common forms of fandom expression.

This is the first part to a (don’t trust my maths on this one. It might be longer, I don’t know) two part discussion on fan fiction because why not. So let’s get the ball rolling on part 1.

What is fan fiction?

Fan fiction is a body of narrative writing where the writer writes about characters and universes that were created by someone else.

That’s it. It’s nothing special.

So a common example would be reading the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and shipping Percy and Annabeth. However you want to put them in a situation that doesn’t happen in the original series and so you write it.

This isn’t just about books, it can be done for movies, anime, TV shows and video games but because I am a “book blog”…

I have to talk about the fan fiction about books and comics (because those are books too).

Is Fan fiction actual work/art?

Yes.

I mean, fan fiction is a creation of the writer who writes it. Of course not all of it is good but there are a lot of good fanfics out that enrich the original source material.

However because the characters and worlds used in fan fiction do not belong to the fanfic writer, it can not truly count as canon.

(for those of you unaware, canon means in compliance with the original source material and going with it’s story line and character beats, altering none of that. It is also is in line with what the original creators had envisioned for the story, world and/or characters.)

I say fan fiction is literal work because of the dedication it takes to write a 100 chapter long epic that is intriguing and shows a depth and understanding of a world and characters that are not your own.

Some of these fan fiction writers capture the characters so well in fantasy settings or outside of their original world, understanding how to turn fantasy characters into real people in the “real world”.

That is skill and a gift that most regular writers can’t get right. I tried my hand at writing fan fiction, that was one of the first attempts I made at writing and I failed.

Miserably.

Looking back at it, I recognise now that I work better with my own cast and set of characters and my own worlds. Yes, some are inspired by books and movies and TV shows I like but they are my own inventions.

And I applaud those who can write fanfic sometimes that is better than the actual source material. But just because I do, doesn’t mean others do as well.

The disdain of fan fiction

We’ve all known that sometimes fan fiction gets cringy. Everybody has read at least one fan fiction that they wish that they could erase from their memory because it torments them for the rest of eternity.

(basically any One Direction fanfic on Wattpad)

But the rise of hating on fan fiction is not a new thing. It is common knowledge that fan fiction takes other creator’s characters and worlds. So people have argued that it is therefore unoriginal because the writer doesn’t create their own world and characters. A topic even discussed in the novel “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell where the main character writes fanfic and struggles to write original work.

However I disagree.

I think what makes a body of work original is the thought and understanding of the work. Writers who create their own worlds and characters are just as original. We have to draw from inspiration, other people and other media. We can’t create in a vacuum. That is why tropes exist, character archetypes who are similar or the same in multiple different works by different writers exist.

It’s just the difference is that in fan fiction, it is a direct draw of inspiration. It is made obvious and clear.

However, that argument isn’t fool proof. The writers in those cases were just inspired, not supposedly “lifting” the work of others.

Good fan fiction is original because it takes the characters out of their usual situations and places them in different settings and has them act and react in a way that is true to their character.

Of course, just as there is good fanfic. There is also bad. And just because there is one bad egg amongst the good, doesn’t mean we throw all the eggs out.

I wanna end the discussion there for now and pick it up next time. I want to know what your thoughts are on fan fiction and what is good and bad fan fiction.

I’ll see you all next week Thursday. Don’t forget to drop a like if you enjoyed the post and follow the blog for more quality content.

Love

Lilly