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Jessica Baker
Ms. Dasher
AP English Literature and Composition
30 October 2014
The World of Fanfiction: Phenomenon and Controversy
There are endless varieties of fan-fiction franchises, ranging from TV shows to books to
movies and so on, as well as vast seas of fans who love and contribute to them. Fans of
franchises, better known as “fandoms” make contributions by creating art, such as writing their
own stories about characters from franchises. These stories are called fan-fiction. The craze is a
little difficult to understand, which is why people need to know what fan-fiction is, the
phenomenon of it, fan-fiction that has been published professionally, and the controversy
surrounding the publication of fan-fiction. Exploring this area of literature will give insight to
how the publishing industry is changing.
Fanfiction are stories written by fans because of their adoration for their favorite
franchises. Fanfiction is basically amateur work based on characters and settings from novels,
TV shows plays, video games, mythology, etc., etc (Alter, Weird World). There are endless
genres of fan-fiction and not all fan-fiction is written in story format. Fanfiction can be written as
poetry, prose, drama, non-fiction and even be used as a form of media (Drucker, 5 Genres). Fanfictions that are performed as a drama are referred to as roleplaying, where people act as the
characters and carry out conversations. There has been fan-fiction based on real life people,
called Real People Fiction, which could be called non-fiction. Any person can write fan-fiction,
so their work is not always error free. Also, fan-fiction has its own little quirks, such as AU
(Alternate Universe) and “shipping”, which is pairing two characters together that may not be
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together in the actual storyline (Bautista, Fanfiction 101). Fanfic writers can also change a
character’s gender and sometimes even do crossovers, which is combining two or more different
fandoms and having the characters from the fandoms meet each other. Fanfiction can be found
just about anywhere. While there is a website called Fanfiction.net, its only purpose being to post
fanfics, the fan-written stories can be found everywhere. Other websites, to name a few, such as
Deviantart.com, Wattpad.com, and Tumblr.net are websites that contain fan-fiction. The work of
fans can even be found outside the Internet, like hand-written stories submitted in magazines and
even in the ordinary school notebook.
The phenomenon of writing fan-fiction is endless because it has been around for quite a
long time. Some individuals argue that fan-fiction travels all the way back to classical authors,
such as Virgil and Sophocles, both of whom created new stories out of old legends, probably out
of admiration for the mythical stories. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes had
stories written by fans starring the world’s greatest detective in the late 1800s. William
Thackery, an English novelist famous for satirical works, wrote a parody squeal to Walter Scott,
Ivanhoe, a historical novel about one of the remaining noble Saxon families during a time when
nobility in England had become Norman (Alter, Weird World). In a more modern time, before
the era of the Internet, fans of franchises like “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” shared their own work
of the fandoms through fanzines, magazines produced by fans to show their love and dedication
to a person, a group, or form of entertainment. There are even authors out there who have won
awards for their stories based on iconic characters of literature. These stories may be about a
character’s past or a character who was mentioned, but never showed up in the original storyline.
For example, Gregory Maguire’s novel, “Wicked”, his idea of what the Wicked Witch of the
West was like before she was evil, was based on L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of
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Oz.” Maguire’s novel was made into a hit musical production of the same name on Broadway
(Alter, Weird World). Fan-fiction has always been a phenomenon, but it’s strange that it’s just
now starting to go mainstream. Fan-fiction has always been under the radar and not given much
thought by publishers, but now some fan-fiction is being published. There are published authors
who have joined the phenomenon, not for money, but for pure enjoyment of writing and being
loyal fans to franchises.
Fan-made works have slowly made their way into the mainstream because some works of
fan-fiction have been published as actual books. Originally, fan-fiction was a non-profit
enterprise, stories wrote out of love and dedication for a fandom. Recently, however, fan-fiction
may be turning into a new marketing tool. Lack of creativity in the TV and literature industries
may have forced publishers to find anything, no matter the quality or similarity to other books, to
make the next big thing. There are some authors under fire because their fan-fictions were
published. E.L James, who wrote "Fifty Shades of Grey", an adult-romance novel, is one such
author. Fifty Shades Trilogy started out as a "Twilight" fan-fiction titled "Master of the
Universe", an adult-romance story casting moody vampire, Edward Cullen, as the multimillionaire CEO, and the monotone Bella Swan as his romantic partner (Alter, Weird World).
The series was self-published as an e-book before Random House got the novel's publishing
rights. Another author is Cassandra Clare, wrote the Trilogy, "The Immortal Instruments." Much
like James' story, Clare's series started as a fan-fiction, only this story was written for Harry
Potter fandom. Originally called "The Draco Trilogy", the story centered around Harry Potter
characters, Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy (Bartyzel, Girls on Film). There has been question
that "The Immortal Instruments" has been very derivative, even more so than James' "Fifties
Trilogy." Clare appears to have used J.K Rowlings' magical world as a template of sorts to which
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she could fit "other" pop culture references. Clare is a fan of the supernatural series, "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer" and, at the start of the trilogy, has inserted some witty conversations and
passages from other authors with very little changes. Despite it’s coming into the mainstream,
fan-fiction is coming under heavy fire as two sides debate over copyright issues and the concerns
of authors whose franchises these fan-fictions were originally based on.
Despite the success of adapted fanfic books, there is controversy surrounding the
phenomenon because of the issue of copyright and morality. Fanfiction has long been the subject
of controversy even before Clare and James' fanfics were turned into books. According to adultromance writer, Elia Winters, fan-fiction spurs several controversies of differing factions, mainly
three in particular. The first is the matter of copyright. The characters belong to their original
owner, not random people. Yet, fans get away with writing fan-made stories about these
characters. Fanfiction writers often put up disclaimers, noting that the characters in their works
do not belong to them. Also, fan-fiction is put online for free and, because it serves as a free form
of entertainment, no one can profit from the stories. The next matter would be fanfics that have
been published as real works. Works such as "Fifty Shades of Gray" and "The Immortal
Instruments" were once fan-fictions themselves before details were changed and they were selfpublished. There have been accusations that ideas have been stolen and that writers such as Clare
and James are profiting at the expense of the original authors. Whether or not the works qualify
as original is debatable, but could lead to copyright violations. The third controversy, as stated by
Ms. Winters, is the claim that fan-fiction is a "lesser-form" of writing. Literature critics have
called fan-fiction writers "inferior" to "real" authors, mostly for their skill and how much effort
they put into their works (Winters, Fanfiction Controversy). However, writing is writing and
people write fan-fiction simply for the enjoyment of writing. Most of the controversy spawns
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from the authors of works who either hate or love fan-fiction. Writers like the ever popular J.K
Rowling and Stephanie Meyer heartily welcome fanfiction, while other authors, such as Anne
Rice and Diana Gabaldon, completely resent it. Some authors see fan-fiction as free
advertisements for their books and movies, while those who hate it with a passion believe that
fans are stealing audiences they have no claim to. Whatever way this phenomenon is viewed, it
will always be debatable. Fans will not stop writing fan-fiction simply because someone doesn't
like the fan-made stories.
Millions of fan thrive off of fanfiction when they are not indulging themselves in the
books, movies, games, etc. Fanfics will always be around as long as fans have the drive to write
and the love for their fandoms. The craze is simply amateur work done by fans of different
franchises, a phenomenon older than the Internet. Several books that have gained popularity
world-wide used to be works of fan-fiction, but have come under heavy fire because of copyright
and moral issues. No one should stop writing fan-fiction because others do not agree with it.
Fanfiction is a way for fans to be involved with their beloved franchises and is a way for them to
contribute and show their love. If fan-fiction were to be taken away completely, which is not
likely, fans would be without one way to show their dedication and admiration for franchises
they have fallen in love with. Fanfiction will always be a source of controversy, but as long as
the positives outweigh the negatives, the fan-written stories should be permitted. Famous authors
got their start writing fan-fiction, which helped them develop their writing skills and turn their
talent into something loved by many. Fanfiction is slowly becoming more and more mainstream,
as the entertainment industries, particularly TV and literature, are looking for new ideas to keep
things fresh. If fan-fiction is becoming the next marketing tool, then the controversy may become
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bigger, but nonetheless, fan-fiction will always be a source of entertainment for dedicated fans to
write and enjoy.
Works Cited
Alter, Alexandra. "The Weird World of Fan Fiction." online.wsj.com. Ed. Paul A. Gigot. Dow
Jones &Company, 14 June 2012. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/
SB10001424052702303734204577464411825970488>.
Bartyzel, Monika. "Girls on Film: The confounding problems of fan
fiction." theweek.com. Felix Dennis, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
<http://theweek.com/article/index/248587/girls-on-film-the-confounding-problems-of-fanfiction>.
Bautista, Bernice. "Fanfiction 101: Forget the rules." manilastandardtoday.com. N.p., 22
Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. <http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/01/22/fanfiction-101forget-the-rules/>.
Drucker, Haley. "The Five Main Genres of Literature." Ed. Laurie Patsalides. Bright Hub
Education. N.p., 5 May 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/100292-the-five-main-genresof-literature/>.
Winters, Elia. "Fanfiction: The Controversy." www.goodreads.com. N.p., 22 Aug. 2013.
Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/5396538-fanfiction-thecontroversy-and-the-love-story>.