Is Fanfiction a Valid Form of Writing?
It’s no secret that fanfiction is looked down upon, and it’s not unheard of for a book to be compared to fanfic as a way of insulting or disparaging it. Writing fanfiction can be seen as an indication that the writer lacks the originality or creativity necessary to make their own stories,[1] and people who write it are often called lazy or talentless.[2] But is fanfic really all that bad?
All practice is good practice
First, it’s important to understand what I mean when I say “fanfic”. Fanfiction takes copyrighted works (books, movies, TV shows, video games, etc.) and uses those characters or settings to tell their own stories. [3] This could be a 100k slow burn fic, a 100-word drabble, or anything in between.
Though some argue that fanfiction isn’t “real” writing, I find that dramatically misunderstands what fanfic is and how it can help developing writers — or even seasoned authors. The quality can vary wildly from fic to fic, as does the amount of time and thought put into writing a piece, and writers produce fics for a wide variety of reasons. Sometimes they’re having a laugh. Sometimes they’re truly incensed by how a particular plot point or character arc was handled and want to correct it. Sometimes they just really, really love a world and its characters and they want to explore it in as many ways as possible.[1]
People are going to get different things out of fanfic depending on what they turn to it for. The person just throwing something onto the page for kicks and giggles probably isn’t super concerned with writing a masterpiece — and that’s fine. But the person correcting what they see as an error or oversight and the person lovingly exploring their favourite world are probably going to build on very real, important skills as writers — plotting, characterization, and world-building.[1]
This is to say nothing of the fact that just writing things in general helps you improve that craft. Whether you’re writing a 200k-word epic fantasy that you spent five years researching, or dabbling in quick little snippets dramatizing things that really happened to you, or creating fanfics of your favourite series — every time you put pen to paper (or fingers to keys), you’re exercising your writing muscles to craft dialogue, describe settings, and move the characters through a plot.
Credibility
Some critics of fanfiction argue that it’s unprofessional or a form of theft.[2] In those cases, the detractors probably don’t realize how broad the definition of fanfiction can be, nor how long-standing and prolific the practice of writing fanfiction is.
There are many, many examples of well-beloved stories — classics, even — that qualify as fanfiction. Paradise Lost by John Milton is Biblical fanfiction and probably one of the more high-brow examples you can find,[4] along with The Divine Comedy by Dante.[5] Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith is absolutely ridiculous and unabashedly fanfiction.[4] Even paranormal romance author P.C. Cast has published fanfiction, despite speaking out against it to fans.[6] A prime example is her book Goddess of Legend, which is a canon divergent King Arthur retelling with an original main character named Isabel.[7] And these are just a few examples — there are countless others, and I would be here all day if I took the time to seriously delve into them.
I want to emphasize that all the above examples are generally well-liked stories that have been very successful, even in modern times where copyright is stricter and fanfiction is more publicly frowned upon. You don’t really see those authors being called hacks or thieves because they took elements of a pre-existing story or world and did their own thing with it. Instead, you have Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy on university syllabi. It’s worth keeping in mind next time someone disparages fanfiction as lazy or shameful.
References:
1) Walker, Jhinelle. 2018. “Fanfiction Is, And Should Be Seen As, A Valid Form of Writing.” Odyssey. Retrieved April 30, 2020 (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/fanfiction-defense).
2) BW. 2014. “On Writing Skills: Professional Writing Versus Fanfiction.” Bothersome Words. Retrieved April 30, 2020 (https://bothersomewords.com/2014/03/31/on-writing-skills-professional-writing-versus-fanfiction/).
3) Wikipedia Contributors. 2020. “Fan Fiction.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 4, 2020 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction).
4) Dunne, Lauren. 2016. “5 Famous Books That Started Off as Fanficion.” Amreading. Retrieved May 4, 2020 (http://www.amreading.com/2016/09/07/5-famous-books-that-started-off-as-fanfiction/).
5) Ahlin, Charlotte. 2016. “11 Classics That Are Secretly Fanfiction.” Bustle. Retrieved May 4, 2020 (https://www.bustle.com/articles/159041-11-classics-that-are-secretly-fanfiction).
6) House of Night’s Facebook page, accessed April 30, 2020, (https://www.facebook.com/houseofnight/posts/1008656652537710).
7) “Goddess of Legend.” Penguin Random House. Retrieved May 4, 2020 (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/300849/goddess-of-legend-by-p-c-cast/).
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Originally published in 2020.
