It’s funny to think of fanfiction as having generations, but if it does, I’m a part of the LiveJournal generation. I rarely visit fanfic archives or discussion boards, and instead stay on networks of LJ communities which have the shows I like and the ‘fandoms’ I read. I’m not a part of any of the really big ‘fandoms,’ like The X-Files or Harry Potter, but I tend to stay more in the small, occasionally British sci-fi corners of the internet.
Because of this, I’m fairly certain my fanfiction experience isn’t a typical one. It started when I was about twelve and discovered, to my current shame, the Charmed section on Fanfiction.net. I was hooked.
I read, write, occasionally even edit fanfiction, though thankfully I’ve moved past Charmed and that regrettable fling with Harry Potter. I’ve certainly written and read my fair share of bad fanfic, but there’s a certain sense of schadenfreude involved in the latter these days. My Firefox bookmarks are mostly fics that I’ve read a thousand times and could read a thousand times more: the fanfiction equivalent of the well-thumbed paperback.
So it really surprised me when it came to my attention that a lot of people consider fanfiction to be illegal, immoral, and downright theft. To me fanfiction is just another form of writing which, at times, can be amusing. It is a community, a hobby, and, yes, an escape. Possibly because I found fanfic at such a young age, it is very near and dear to my heart, and I can’t bear to see it mentioned without jumping to defend it.
For one thing, there’s original fiction that is just as bad as fanfic, some of which is even written by former fanfic authors. The difference lies in publication, and more specifically, publishers. Publishers tend to act as a kind of filter, rejecting the bad and promoting the good, whereas fanfic doesn’t have that distinction. I’m certain there’s prose bad enough to rival even the worst fanfic on Lulu.net or other self-publishing websites. On the other hand, there is fanfiction that’s just as good as published fiction. Finding the good fanfic isn’t easy, but it is possible – through recommendation communities on LiveJournal, lists of favorite stories from respected authors, or even fandom awards that list the best of the best. What’s more, many professional writers began as fanfiction writers, such as Tamora Pierce, Lois McMaster Bujold, Mercedes Lackey, and Naomi Novik; many writers and creators even encourage fanfiction.
Fanfiction can also be a breeding ground of experimentalism, especially in terms of formats and writing styles. Because there’s so much fanfiction out there, to make your ‘fic’ really memorable you have to do something new, and pull it off; because the response is so instant, it is hard not to notice when you fail spectacularly. When all the exposition and worldbuilding has already been done for you, why not try something completely crazy? Though certain formats have become a part of the fanfiction community to the point where many fanfic writers and readers might forget that these formats at one point did not exist, there are new ones created every day. And many of the old hats (five things fic, sentence fics, drabbles of exactly 100 words) are versatile enough that they can be reused without getting old.
Of course, when it comes to legitimacy, the definition of “fanfiction” also makes a difference. If you consider fanfiction to be any unauthorized work based on the same world or with the same plot as a preexisting work that is not your own, then any rewrite of a fairy tale or of Shakespeare’s plays could be considered fanfiction. Also, what about the writers who make novelizations of movies? Write novelized adventures based on Star Trek and get published? Arguably, the only difference there is that the novelization writers are actually making a profit, while fanfic writers are writing out of love for the subject. Similarly, most television shows are envisioned by one writer but actually written by anywhere from five to ten writers, with others coming and going from season to season. The concept is no more ‘theirs’ than a fanfiction writer’s, but their work is considered legitimate because they’re getting paid. Furthermore, the short-lived FanLib.com even worked with the official writers of shows like The L Word to host a contest in which the winning fanfiction would be filmed and aired as part of the season, blurring the line between ‘fanon’ and ‘canon.’
Like I’ve said, most fanfic is written out of love for the subject, and not a love of pure porn. Though it is accurate to say that there is certainly a lot of pornographic fanfiction out there, it is just as accurate to say that there are a lot of pornographic romance novels. Many ‘fandoms’ have more tame fic than raunchy fic, and that’s ignoring the often large portion of gen (or general, meaning romance-free) fic.
Fanfiction is gaining legitimacy, with more showrunners and authors accepting its existence. What’s more, there is now a nonprofit organization dedicated to legalizing and protecting fanfiction, which currently exists in a sort of pre-2000s Napster limbo. The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) consists of several high-profile members of fandom, the most instantly recognizable probably being Naomi Novik. This group is lobbying for fanfiction and other ‘fannish’ works to be recognized as “legitimate creative activity,” and more specifically, to keep fanfiction writers from being sued or discriminated against on sites like LiveJournal. Though the OTW is controversial even within the fandom community, it represents a step towards general acceptance, especially as people become more aware of the existence of fanfiction.
Finally, when it comes down to it, writing fanfiction is just a hobby. For some people it is a very time-consuming and passionate hobby, but who does it hurt? There is no profit being made on fanfiction, except by the studios. Fanfiction and fandom in general keep shows alive for years after they’ve ended, including favorites such as The X-Files, Buffy, or Firefly, which are still selling massive amounts of DVDs even after all these years. Like many hobbies, fanfiction has accumulated a formidable community, with chat rooms and LiveJournal communities becoming the equivalent of a Stitch ‘N’ Bitch meeting at a coffee shop. Through fanfiction, I’ve made friends and connections I would never otherwise have been able to make. As recent trials have proven, the fanfiction community as a whole is strong, and more importantly, it is here to stay.