Fan of Fiction

Wow! What a trip down fiction lane! I was surprised by the quality of the stories that were posted. In addition, it was interesting to see the many different directions that one person can take the story line of an established set of characters. My first thought was that reading fanfiction was fun, but how in the world do people have the time to participate in this pastime? I mean, the movie Star Wars has 9,764 fictional stories posted and the book Harry Potter has 158,287. These numbers are phenomenal. In any case, I can see why Dave has asked, “what makes fan fiction so popular?”

My thoughts are that fan fiction offers people, or would-be-writers, an opportunity for anonymity, an honest critique and an outlet for “legitimized” creativity. On several of the stories that I read, the author stated that they wanted honest feedback from the reader and that they had not let anyone close to them read their writing because it was too personal. They would state that it was easier for a stranger to read their document than someone that they knew. I think that this is human nature to protect oneself until one is confident enough for exposure. The great thing about being exposed in fan fiction is that the readers there seem to really stick close to their code of netiquette in respecting the author and providing positive constructive feedback in their reviews. The peer review process is one of the critical building blocks that make this culture a success. People, who know your genre, know your paradigms are the same one’s evaluating your work. How often does that happen? This type of honest critique is an incredible resource for anyone who is writing. Last, fan fiction provides an outlet for creativity and it legitimizes the effort of the ingénue. I know that if I had access to something like this when I was a teenager, I would have posted to it often. It would have made me feel like I truly had more to offer because it was out there being viewed by others, and yet there was no risk to me. I think that I will engage my son with this culture of writing so that he can practice his skills for writing when he is old enough to post.

I read the stories written by the following authors who can be found at:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2088407/1/
“The Artificial McCoy” by Gadrin

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2093458/1/
“It’s Not the Absence Fear” by daydreamer4

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1768737/1/
“The Ties that Bond” by Magus101

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2099714/1/
This is where my story can be found