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‘ work. Why Fanfiction Matters: The best part of fan fiction is the way it opens up a world to readers who may not be writers themselves, but are eager to read and explore new worlds. It’s also an opportunity for people who might have less access due to disability or location (i.e., if you don’t live near any bookstores) because they can download stories on their e-readers at home and enjoy them away from others’ judgemental eyes. In fact, many libraries actually provide copies of well known novels in both print form as well as on digital devices so that even those with disabilities can still access books when they need to! (Dee). Bottom Line: I hope this post has’ work, and that the artist is simply using those works as a springboard to express their own vision.
The Purpose: Fanfiction provides an outlet for people who want to enjoy one piece of art but also need more from it. It allows them to explore what they would like out of that property in greater detail with different characters or plotlines. For some, fan fiction can be therapeutic because it lets them share thoughts about experiences they were unable to have in real life by writing themselves into a story (Jenkins).
Subgenres: There are many sub-categories within fanfiction, including het (a romance between two women), yaoi (a homosexual relationship) and slash stories which often focus on romantic relationshipsFanfiction is a world where people can write about their favorite characters and create new worlds for them. It’s a place that lets you explore something you love with like-minded individuals who are just as obsessed. But how does fanfiction work? What can it teach us about ourselves? And why should we care in the first place?
I’m going to answer these questions and more, explaining just what fanfiction is – from its history to the people who write it. I also want to tell you why this kind of writing matters in our culture today.
A Brief History: Fanfiction has been around for hundreds of years, with some stories dating back as far as 1915. The term “fan fiction” was coined by Dr. Henry Jenkins in 1972 when he wrote his article “Fanspeak.” In that essay, he discusses how fans take a work like Star Trek or Batman Beyond and create new episodes or comics about them without any input from the original creators of those works (Jenkins). He argued that there’s nothing wrong with creating art based on other artists
