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In Defense of Fanfiction

Writer's picture: Sink HollowSink Hollow



By: Eli Moss

A certain tumblr post which argues that academics should take fanfiction more seriously has been making its rounds through my social media feeds lately. I find its tactic of relating fanfiction to classics like Paradise Lost to be a clever way of reframing the genre. The original poster makes a strong, if humorous, point—reading fanfiction certainly can teach us new things about how to study literature and the ideas therein.

But I’m a creative writing student, so this post prompted me to pursue an adjacent line of thinking. I’d like to propose that writing fanfiction has strong benefits for a writer’s development, too. Ultimately, I view fanfiction as training wheels. In this mode of writing, there are parameters set that can remove pressure from a less confident writer.

Need practice with character writing? Grab some strong characters from a favorite story and place them in new situations to see if you can still get their characterization right.

Struggling with plot? Try inserting an original character or two into someone else’s story and exploring how this new addition causes slow deviation away from the source material, whose original plotting can serve as your template.

Still finding your voice as a writer? Write several short fanfiction stories based on works from different writers, trying to match the source material’s style, as a way of experimenting with different voices until you identify which elements you like from the various voices.

There are a lot of moving parts to any given story—plot, character, worldbuilding, pacing, symbolism, dialogue, and more. Fanfiction freezes some of these in place, allowing you to focus on only those elements that you care to exercise in the moment. Whether you approach fanfiction as mimicry of a model or as a controlled environment in which to focus on new experimentation, it’s the perfect training grounds for a developing writer.

Still don’t believe me? That’s fine—you don’t need to take my word for it. Let’s take a look at some famous authors with roots in fanfiction. Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments), Tamsyn Muir (Gideon the Ninth), Cory Doctorow (Little Brother), and Naomi Novik (A Deadly Education) are just a few names you might recognize who are also fanfiction writers. The playground of fanfiction assuredly helped them hone the elements of their craft that transforms their published work into best sellers.

I f you’re nervous about giving fanfiction a try, you don’t need to share it with anyone. Then again, I think certain stigmas around fanfiction deserve to be broken, and the best way of doing so is for us all to share our fanfiction with pride. The choice is yours, and either way: the world of fanfiction is your oyster.

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