Writing Lessons & Advice: Fanfiction
Today’s lesson is loosely based on a Twitter post:
The fuller context of this remark is within a growing battle between human- and AI-generated content. Also, that knitting analogy is pretty great too, by the way. As of this writing and publishing, I don’t know yet if I’ll touch on that in a future lesson or post somewhere, but for now, I just wanted to highlight fanfiction itself.
Fanfiction is defined as written or created work in an amateur capacity by fans of an existing work of fiction, like novels, movies, television shows, musical groups, cartoons, anime, manga, or video games. It is a rather popular, but morally gray creative form that took off as society embraced the World Wide Web twenty to thirty years ago (a bit like blogging did). While fanfiction can infringe on original copyrights, being outside of professional publication and sometimes even encouragement from original authors or owners are among fanfiction’s saving graces. But more still, there’s a two-fold advantage to fanfiction as it's a creative expression of a certain intellectual property (IP) fan as well as the work of a growing writer. I mean, as a fan of Scooby-Doo when I was a kid, I wrote my own mystery during a journaling activity in early elementary school. That work is lost to time unfortunately, but it's a perfect illustration of fanfiction at work had I known that kind of thing existed (or that it would take off in my lifetime). I did something I loved (even then) for something I loved!
Not to mention, a few fanfictions have found mainstream success in some form. Wicked started as Wizard of Oz fanfiction. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is the Jane Austen classic plus zombies. Fifty Shades of Gray came from Twilight.
Fanfiction types
Finding your niche in fanfiction shouldn’t be terribly difficult; if a major pop culture entity has a strong fanbase, it’s sure to have associated fanfiction. Scooby-Doo definitely has some but the bigger players include Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Pokemon, The Mandalorian/Star Wars, The MCU, The DCU, J.R.R. Tolkein’s works, K-Pop, One Direction, among others. Typing “(insert name or title of IP) fanfiction” into an internet search should take you right to outlets where it's featured.
Like all other literature and art, fanfiction writing has many styles within its genre too. I’m just going to touch on a handful--while adding some Scooby-Doo related examples--so I encourage checking out the source material for more info!
Canon fiction: work that stays true or close to the story/plotline--or the original canon. I imagine my aforementioned mystery I wrote might have been along these lines. Conversely, there’s canon divergence, which explores how the canon could be different if the characters made different choices. These stories might explore “what if’s” like what if the gang decided not to team up to solve mysteries? What if they disregarded a clue, went a different way in the spooky setting, or ignored a mystery altogether?
Crossover fiction: fairly self-explanatory; multiple IPs combine or collide in each other’s world, like a mashup--Like Scooby-Doo meets KISS, Supernatural, or the host of other famous entities they've encountered. The parties come to each other but still maintain a lot of Scooby-Doo’s typical elements.
Alternate Universe (AU) fiction: also fairly self-explanatory; the IP is placed in a universe outside of the canonical one--like the gang exists in New York city and gets involved with the Regan’s from Blue Bloods. The active, intentional transfer or transplant makes it AU instead of a crossover. Not to mention a family-friendly cartoon gets placed within the realistic/thriller/drama genres.
Self-insert: the author or reader is in the IP universe; these stories are almost always in first-person. For example, I might write myself into the mystery as myself or write it from the perspective of one of the gang.
Smut: sexually explicit or pornographic material.
Slash fiction: stories in which two characters become romantically involved when the connection isn’t canonical. A practical example would be a story that develops a relationship between Shaggy and Daphne or Fred and Velma. (A current iteration of Scooby-Doo has already done this with Shaggy and Velma.)
Dark Fiction: stories that are more grim or depressing than the original work; they may be intentionally disturbing. Maybe an unmasked villain wants gruesome revenge on the gang for thwarting their plot. Or they find themselves in situations that play on their deepest fears with no obvious way out.
Fix fiction or fix-it fiction: stories written to “fix” canonical events that the author disliked. For instance, if I didn’t like how Daphne was so danger-prone in the early series, I might rewrite those stories so she is not so much a damsel-in-distress.
Round Robin: collaborative stories written by multiple authors who take turns writing sections or chapters.
Fanfiction sites
Websites dedicated to reading and writing fanfiction include: Archive of Our Own (OA3), Wattpad, Tumblr, Fanfiction.net, Commaful, and Quotev.
In the arguments against AI-generated content, some believe art can’t be had without heart. And nowhere is heart more prevalent than in fanfiction. Its product and potential eclipse its ambiguous nature, making it a great starting point for developing writing skills and habits, if not greater opportunities.
Hopefully you understand fanfiction a little better or feel inspired to give it a try!
If there’s a topic you want me to cover in the future, you’re welcome to reach out to me on the web chat features or socials! Also, if you have any fanfiction projects in the works, you are welcome to promote it in the comments or messages!
Sources:
