Fanfiction Melissa Nilan.

What is Fanfiction? Original fiction by fans of a show, movie, book or video game. Involves the characters and/or the world they live in Usually non-profit Usually written without consent from the author/creator “Derivative works” in legal terminology

Why write Fanfiction? From mind to paper, turn your ideas and opinions into a story you can share Analyze, interpret, understand author’s story Improve writing skills Networking with other budding writers

Terminology Canon  Established history and characterizations of the show, movie, book, etc.  What is considered canon can differ from fandom to fandom. Fandom  All fan activities around and about a particular canon.

Popular Genres within Fanfaction Major  Action/Adventure  Mystery  Sci-Fi  Fantasy  Drama  Romance  Horror  Parody Minor  Angst  Spiritual  Supernatural  Hurt/Comfort  Friendship  Family  Fluff  AU (alternative-universe)  Crossover

Genre: Slash Shipper: From “relationship.” A fan who supports a particular romantic pairing, whether or not it is canon. Slash  Grup – adult fanzine, est.1972  First story published in 1974 (Kirt/Spock)  “/” designator introduced at the same time  Thrust, an all-slash Star Trek fanzine, 1978

Characters OC = Original character Mary-Sue  Identified in Star Trek fanfiction by Paula Smith in The term is now recognized in all fandoms.  “The fear of committing a Mary Sue, and consequent avoidance of writing oneself into a story except with obvious ironic intent, seems to have gone very deep into fanfic.”

History of Fanfiction Early fanfiction  Troilus & Criseyde  King Arthur  Bible Early Modern fanfiction  Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland  Jane Austen  Charles Dickens  Sherlock Holmes

History of Fanfiction – cont’d Modern Era fanfiction  Shakespeare  Star Trek  The onset of the World Wide Web Fanfiction.net goes online in 1998  Fifty Shades of Grey started as Twilight fanfiction and was re-worked to be an original story

Statistics – Top Fandoms on FF.net Stories based on books:  Harry Potter = 613,558  Twilight = 201,502  Lord of the Rings = 46,842  Hunger Games = 25,272 Stories based on anime/manga:  Naruto = 312,718  Inuyasha = 104,993

Statistics – Top Fandoms on FF.net Stories based on movies:  Star Wars = 29,067  Pirates of the Carribean = 19,609 Stories based on TV shows:  Glee = 81,595  Supernatural = 66,672  Buffy the Vampire Slayer = 44,796

Issues and Debates Stealing / Copyright  Generally, an author’s work will become “public domain” (copyright expires) 50 to 70 years after the author’s death. At this time, fanfiction can legally be published for profit. Changes author intent Unoriginal and lazy

Links Multi-fandom archives     Harry Potter fanfiction archives  

Resources The Democratic Genre: Fan Fiction in a Literary Context by Sheenagh Pugh Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet edited by Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse