The concept of fanfiction was pretty foreign to me up until quite recently. I was vaguely aware of its existence, but I really had no idea what it was all about or just how well-established it was. As someone who tends to get somewhat obsessed with the things I like (to put it lightly), this may come as a surprise.
by Hannah Mills
But it wasn’t until I immersed myself pretty heavily in a particular television show a few years ago that I started dabbling in reading works written by fellow fans. Now, I’m hesitant to reveal exactly which show I’m talking about, but if you know me, you can probably figure it out.
If you’re unfamiliar with the world of fanfiction, here’s a bit of background. Fanfiction can be defined as ‘a story that is written about an already established fictional universe and the characters within it, including books, movies, TV shows, and video games.’ Fanfiction as we know it today can be dated back to the 1960s when fans of Star Trek published zines and other materials related to the characters on the show. However, many believe that the concept of appropriating characters and plotlines from other works has been around forever. It could even be argued that Shakespeare wrote fanfic when he retold The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brookes (or what we of course now know as Romeo and Juliet).
Fanfiction can be defined as ‘a story that is written about an already established fictional universe and the characters within it, including books, movies, TV shows, and video games.’
Websites like Wattpad, fanfic.net and Archive of our Own (AO3) are the most widely used platforms for authors to self publish their works. Stories are categorised by the particular fandom they belong to, and then further broken down into characters and relationships. Users can tag each work with various topics, which are usually quite specific to each fandom. These websites rely on the support of their users to keep running, often crowd-sourcing for funds to cover costs.
As expected, the number of works that have been published varies greatly depending on the fandom itself. A quick search of A03 for works filed under Harry Potter reveals a whopping 474,000 stories, while the Marvel universe currently has over 616,000. The particular television series that I became invested in has only been around for four years, yet has attracted over 9000 works so far. You might be wondering how these authors could possibly continue to come up with new content based on a show that already exists, but in the world of fanfiction, the opportunities to explore, expand and create new stories are seemingly endless.
Fanfiction as we know it today can be dated back to the 1960s when fans of Star Trek published zines and other materials related to the characters on the show.
The stories that have captured my attention have all actually centred on one particular relationship (between two characters on the show). I quickly realised that I wasn’t the only person out there that wanted to see or hear more from these two characters, perhaps in ways that the show itself didn’t provide. In fact, just in this relationship alone, there are currently over 3000 works published and while I haven’t read ALL of them, I’ve certainly made a pretty good dent.
You might be wondering how I could possibly stand to read thousands of stories about the same two fictional characters? Valid question – but I can assure you that by putting two characters that I genuinely love into the safe hands of some very talented authors has only made me more obsessed with them. Unlike a regular fictional novel where it’s up to you to imagine the details (which don’t get me wrong, has its own merits), the beauty of fanfiction (particularly pertaining to tv or movies) is that you already know these characters. You can picture exactly how they look, how their voices sound and the world in which they exist.
In my experience, the stories I’ve read can be categorised as reimaginings of what was actually portrayed ‘in canon’ (what actually happened on screen) or they might be labeled as ‘post-canon’ – meaning they are a new story that picks up where the actual tv show ended and goes on to imagine what might have happened after that.
I quickly realised that I wasn’t the only person out there that wanted to see or hear more from these two characters, perhaps in ways that the show itself didn’t provide.
Many stories are also written in alternative universes, or ‘AUs’, where the characters will have the same names and generally the same personality traits, but are situated in an entirely different world (usually another piece of fiction – whether it be a show, movie, game or book). For example, you might take Harry Potter out of Hogwarts and send him to East High School instead (aka the school in High School Musical). I’m just riffing here, but the opportunities know no bounds.
Works of fanfiction can either be a standalone piece or part of a larger series. It’s not unusual for a multi-chapter fic to end up being longer than a regular novel, with no limit on word counts to speak of. The community of fanfic writers out there are generally very supportive of each others’ works, often offering help with editing (known as being a ‘beta reader’) or even dedicating particular stories to their friends in the community.
One notable example of fanfiction becoming widely popular was Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James. James originally posted her story, titled ‘Masters of the Universe’ as a work of Twilight fanfiction on fanfiction.net. It was taken down for being too explicit, so James created her own website to continue posting her writing, which was eventually picked up by a publisher and turned into a series of novels, and then films.
One notable example of fanfiction becoming widely popular was Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James.
While some fanfic writers might go on to score publishing deals, one of the beautiful things about it is that the large majority of authors are sharing works online purely out of the love that they have for their fandom/s and community of followers. And with no shade intended to the actual writers of the show I love, in my experience some of the works I’ve read online by fans have rivaled that of what was actually told on screen.
So next time you’re craving a bit more from the books, shows or movies you love – don’t dismiss the world of fanfiction. You might end up being a big fan of it.
