Fan Fiction
There’s something I must admit. It’s something I’m ashamed to be ashamed of, something that isn’t a vice but is often treated as one.
I love reading fan fiction.
Fan fiction, the term, is rather self-explanatory. It is fiction written by fans about their favorite books, movies, and television shows.
But it goes beyond that. It is a world created by fans with its own language and culture, where one can readily see that the word “fan” is derived from the word “fanatic” but in the most interesting way possible.
When I bring up the subject of fan fiction to the uninitiated, the first reaction is usually derision. Most people are under the impression that fan fiction are written by people who can’t write proper fiction. That those who can’t write, write fan fiction. Of course there are the stories that are tedious to read, headache-inducing drivel full of ridiculous characters, but the percentage of these is equal to the amount of headache-inducing drivel full of ridiculous characters I find on the bookshelves of bookstores that still somehow make money. More often, in thousands of fan fiction I have read, I find myself amazed by how fantastic the writing is.