Fanfiction

You can probably guess what fanfiction is by the name if you've never heard of it, but let me just briefly explain. Fanfiction is simply a story written within the context of another story that already exists, written by a fan of that other story. It's fairly common for tv shows, video games, movies and the like to have fanfiction written to them.

I find that a lot of people who write or read fanfiction are very defensive about it. They don't want to be judged by it, they don't want to be thought of as less because they have some connection to it. But why is this a supposed problem? What's wrong with fanfiction? People who write original stories will often do small fanfiction pieces as writing practices. Do they publish them? No. But that doesn't mean it's not good writing. It applies your writing abilities in different ways than a lot of other writing practices do.

I like reading fanfiction. I don't do it often, but I enjoy it. I can not write it for the life of me. I've tried. I simply can't do it. Trying to wrap my brain around characters and a world which aren't mine, and telling a story with them in a new and different way, is something I struggle with. So I have a lot of respect for people who can. Some people have the opposite issue, where they can write fanfiction, but can't write original stories for the life of them. And I would imagine they have a lot of respect for people who can.

So why is there some sort of fight going on between these two sets of people? What is so offensive about writing fanfiction? Why should it have to be defended like it's some bizarre, unacceptable act? And why is it treated as though it's an inclusive community, and only those involved directly in it can influence it? I have a friend who is intimately familiar with fanfiction communities, and they have told me a lot about the kinds of things they do. They thoroughly confuse me.

I grant that some things are very community specific. But from what I've been told, fanfiction writers only seem to want to listen to the advice that other fanfiction writers can give. They treat it as though it is totally different from other forms of writing. This isn't a thing. All writing is connected to each other in some way. Texting and writing the next great novel seem so vastly different, but they both involve trying to carry a meaning across to an audience. You have to know what words to use, when, and how. Writing is writing. It doesn't matter what. It only matters that you do.

We are all better at some forms of writing than others. This is undeniable. I'm good at fiction. I suck at research papers, journalistic articles, fanfiction, and even online conversations at times. But that doesn't mean that they aren't connected. So I think that we should stop treating them like separate entities, and appreciate them all for what they are.