Fanfiction: It's Not What You Think

Have you ever watched a movie or TV show and thought, “Naw. That can’t be it! They totally should have had x, y, or z happen! I’m so bummed”? And then you go off and eat a package of Little Debbie brownies while sobbing in your closet because Rose was left on the beach and you were absolutely certain the Doctor had been about to proclaim his love to her. (Okay, maybe that last part was just me.)

When a fan of a movie, episodic show, or even just certain characters in a particular fandom universe feel that there are wrongs to right… that’s where fanfiction comes in to play.

Did you know that fanfiction has been around for at least a few hundred years? Back in the 1740’s there were several unauthorized sequels to a novel covering further adventures of the characters; in the 1940s the term was used in a disparaging way to refer to amateur writers of science fiction. With the coming of the Internets, fanfiction exploded and grew into numerous online communities that support fandom related fanfiction.

I’ve been involved in fanfiction since 2007. I read from several fandoms including Doctor Who (of course 9/10 and Rose, duh!), some Labyrinth fics, a bit of The Big Bang Theory (“TBBT” – I’m a “Shenny shipper”), and some Forever Knight. My first love however was Rose/10. I remember the sense of joy – knowing that other people cared about the same characters that I did, and felt that they deserved better – and more – adventures.

When I have time, I write in the Harry Potter or Labyrinth fandoms. I doodle in notebooks, or on my desktop computer whenever I can. More often than not though, I end up doing editing by being an “alpha” – someone who checks the story for continuity/plot holes, and helps with the flow. They work mainly as a critique parter to tell the writer if the story has veered off the tracks, and assist with how to get it back. For a select few friends, I also donate my time and editing skills as a “beta” – this is the person who handles the nitty gritty of spelling, grammar, and the ever-dreaded comma.

From my little corner of the Harry Potter fandom, I am acquainted with quite people – most who are constantly in a state of completing their original fiction manuscripts. A few of these lovely folks are self-published on Amazon, while a couple others actually have book contracts with publishing houses. Sadly, those contracts may sometimes require the author to pull their fanfic stories, which is a loss to the entire community.

I polled a fanfiction group that I help in moderating on FaceBook, asking publicly why any of them would choose to spend time writing fanfiction. (Our group is mainly women in their late 20s to mid-30s, although we have several in their 40s and older.)

A couple authors stated that writing fanfiction is a creative and cathartic release to them. For others, they replied it allowed them to ‘practice’ for their o-fic – using it like training wheels on a bike. Some blatantly named it as a much needed escape from daily life and reality. The general response of many was that it was an excellent way to improve their writing skills.

Others have a different opinion.

“Because the author did it WRONG,” I was told by the long-running Harry Potter fandom author onecelestialbeing.

Another prolific author, SweetTale4u divulged, “I write fanfiction as a way to honor the characters that I have grown to love. I am so attached to them that I just don’t want to simply think of them as riding off into the sunsent. I want to offer them a new opportunity to do what I feel they would have done; to take them on new and exciting journeys.”

So as we write, we create new experiences, and in some cases, lives for these beloved characters. Within the Harry Potter community, some have been given a whole new lease on life such is the case with Severus Snape. Others are vilified to the nth degree because of the author’s personal feelings revolving around the character, or their actions in the book; Dumbledore and Ronald Weasley are great examples of this.

Regardless of what fandom we may write for, we are essentially a community of writers – for whatever reason we choose to write fanfiction – and a family of sorts. As a family, many of us share only with each other the struggles we may go through with our stories.

Several friends of mine do not share the fact that they write fanfiction with their real life friends and family. Deep down, they have this shame – like it’s some dark, evil secret that casts a shadow over them. The fear of ridicule is great; they are not wrong about the perception of what being a fanfic author is among the general populace though. The media portrays us as sex-starved cougars writing smutty scenes, or aggressive and illiterate teenagers who can barely write in first person. It makes me sad when I see this. Many of us are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, graduate students and English teachers … working more than 40 hours a week, paying our bills and scraping by to make ends meet like everyone else.

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I want to say to anyone out there who isn’t sharing the whole of who they are, “Oh honey, throw that cloud off and let your light shine!”

You may not write/cook/sing/dance/art brilliantly, but who says you have to? Open your heart and let your creativity out. Who cares what others think? As long as it’s a source of joy for you, then do it! And share. Because you could be the one to inspire others to throw off the mantle of self-doubt, and let them know it’s okay to be who they are, like who/what they like, and love what they love. Do not be afraid of creating something new. Do not let someone else tell you that what you just made is worthless. Own your ideas and stand strong by them. Don’t feel shame for painting that imperfect apple on a canvas, handing it to your friend, and saying, “Hey, I made this. I made this. And I like it. A lot.”

I am not afraid to write fanfiction, or be who I am. I’ve accepted that not everyone has the same level of self-awareness, so I’ll end with this: “Go out there and be yourself, because no one can tell you that you’re doing it wrong.”