by Pam Johnson

Created on: May 08, 2009   Last Updated: August 04, 2009

Once upon a time there was a a girl, or guy, who was so entranced by the characters of her favorite show..or book..Or movie...or game... that she began to write little stories with the characters of that beloved fandom featured as the characters of her very own stories. So it came to be that fan fiction was born.

Well, maybe it happened that way. Since its not in my realm to know who actually wrote the first fan fiction story show-casing their favorite characters, that is just one possible scenario, but you get the gist of the message.

Fan fiction is the creation of a non-professionally written story using characters made popular by another author. It can not be denied, fan fiction authors 'borrow' their characters without permission. The stories they create are passed among others who are just as passionate about these wonderful characters, in the beginning through the mail.

With the arrival of the Internet, though, these folks came to a new awakening. They could reach millions in the clicking of a mouse. Authors, and the readers who love their work, gathered on mailing lists where it only takes one post to reach all the folks in the group and Internet-based journals like Live Journal, Insane Journal and Dreamwidth. Websites housing a single author or fandom sprang to life beside massive warehouse archives where a fan could discover almost any possible fandom.

Of course, the writers still contribute to fanzines, fan created magazines that consist of a collection of author's writings. These stories generally are exclusive to the ezine until they time-out, just like any other magazine. Only thing is the authors are not paid for their creative endeavors.

So, why write fan fiction instead of creating their own original characters and publishing their work on the mainstream market? A simple response would be love. The love these amateur authors have for the characters. And a desire to see them continue in their make-believe life long after a show has gone to pasture or a movie has dwindled into rerunville.

Fan fiction writers are not simply teenie-boppers with bubblegum dreams, gathering in giggling groups in the back booth of the local cafe. Oh, no. The authors of fan fiction can and do range from the very young, to be sure, but they are also the professional teachers and lawyers. They are the cop down on the corner. They are grand-mom or granddad dreaming of younger days, or maybe something a little more NC-17 rated. They are the man in the pulpit, preaching the

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>