Fanfictions Get Too Much of a Bad Rep

 *If you can't read right now you can listen to me reading the post to you here*

            I’ve been having a lot of thoughts lately about Fanfictions, mostly because I’ve been reading them a lot lately, and I don’t think they deserve the constant hate they receive. I don’t understand what is so bad about the concept of a fanfiction that puts people in cringe and hate mode. Sure, not all stories are the best and maybe the most popular ones have been a little bit problematic, but that doesn’t mean we should bash the whole “genre” of fanfiction. Now, for anyone who doesn’t know what fanfiction is, well it’s pretty self-explanatory, but I will enlighten you because, well I want a post that’s a little longer and because the concept is one that actually interests me a lot. A movement of fans that gained its own term? I love it. See, a fanfiction is a piece of writing a fan of a certain movie, book, or artist creates using characters and storylines of said movie, book, or artist. They create their own story with pre-established characters. And, sure, left like that it sounds as if unoriginal fans steal ideas from other authors and make them their own, but that’s definitely not it. Usually, the fan makes sure to give full credit to the original author since they are, in fact, true fans, and the idea of stealing their beloved author's ideas would sound preposterous to them. They create alternate stories for the characters they learned to love. They explore "what ifs" scenarios and continue the story they wished had never ended. They keep the stories and characters alive through their own creativity.

            Fanfiction writers are not unoriginal people who can’t make up their own stories. Usually, they are inexperienced writers who find it easier to start writing when the world is already built. Writing is pretty hard for us the average people and taking away the pressure of world-building lets us focus more on the story and the characters. It’s a way to grow confident enough in our writing so we can start our own stories. For me, it could be compared to when you start drawing, and at first, you start tracing things and then grow more confident to draw other things without the tracing. Does that mean the person starting to draw is unoriginal and mediocre? No, it just means they’re learning and growing. Fanfictions writers are the same. They’re just learning and growing. It’s not fair that we just judge every Fanfiction as horrible without even giving them a chance because the few that have become popular haven’t been the best example of literature. But also, not being the most sophisticated piece of literature is not all as bad as people make it seem. Something can be silly and dumb and still be considered good by some people, which is totally valid. We all like different stuff, so I don’t see the point of feeling like a superior person just because you don’t like fanfiction. Just remember, those film adaptations we all love could be considered fanfictions if we think about it hard enough. 

Hope you enjoyed and if you did, please comment and share on your social media I would appreciate it so so much!

With lots of love,

Mariana Victoria