What the Fran

Making a defence of fanfiction

Nobody asked, but I'm making a defence of fanfiction. Often it feels silly, me, talking about this. Like there aren't incredibly intelligent people out there writing books and dissertations and articles making much better, more thoughtful, more intellectual cases than I ever could. And yet, here we are.

It's unoriginal / unimaginative

You're unoriginal and unimaginative. Sorry. But, philosophically, what does that even mean? We know there's nothing new under the sun.

Also, anyone saying this clearly has not read enough/any fic because some of the stuff I've read makes my hair stand on end. The sheer creativity of fanfiction can barely be quantified. I know enough to know that I cannot conceive of what some people will come up with. It's an extraordinary, wild ride through the unlimited human imagination and, crucially, without gatekeepers or concerns about 'the market'.

It doesn't help you be a better / professional writer

Okay? Is that the goal? Of all of life? Should I stop going swimming because I'll never win an Olympic medal? I almost don't want to say that I think yes, it probably will make you a better writer because that feels against the wider point - it doesn't matter. If you love it doing it, it doesn't matter. The majority of people writing fic have no interest in becoming professional writers, just like the majority of people who go swimming do not wish to do so competitively. Not everything needs to be optimised or monetised.

Except, I am going to say it. Fanfiction has absolutely made me a better writer and I know it has made other people better writers - you can see it happen in real time. Writing fanfic of novels makes me look closer at the text, a deep reading. The style, the plot, the characterisation, the worldbuilding. Writing fanfic of any media forces you into a deeper understanding. It's an explicit interaction with the source. Taking it apart, putting it back together again. Figuring out what works, what you like. Plus, just in itself, words on the page can make you a better writer. If that's what someone wants. It's okay if they aren't chasing that. It's okay to just have fun.

It's bad

Okay? Some traditionally published novels and multimillion pound films are very bad. Badness is not at all limited to fanfiction. People still enjoy writing it, people still enjoy reading it. When we say 'bad' we often mean 'not to my taste.' Of course some can also be 'bad' in the sense of actively perpetuating harm... as can so much other media. That's awful, but not limited to fic.

This is the point where people making a defence of fanfiction say they number some fics among the best things they've ever read, of whatever kind. And yes, that is absolutely true for me too. But, back to the "It shouldn't matter" argument. It doesn't need to be 'good' to be legit.

It's not though.

So many of my responses boil down to: Okay? And?

Fanfiction is anarchic, very punk. This is absolutely part of the exception to it. You spend hours crafting something and give it freely to people out of love of it and them? This short circuits many people. We are supposed to work all day feeding the hungry capitalist machine of economic activity, getting up at 5am in pursuit of personal productivity and development, monetising our hobbies into side hustles. Not participate in whatever this is.

It's not just the fanfiction, but the writers that people hate. Criticising fanfiction is always at least implicitly about misogyny and homophobia. The very foundations of modern fandom were women writing about men kissing. Two things society is not famous for being kind about. Young people, queer people, trans people, disabled people, neurodiverse people, people of colour, daring to challenge the canon, seizing space in it.

The criticism is also wildly hypocritical. All writers build on the canon that went before them. Mythology, history. The Ancient Greeks retelling the same myths, Shakespeare's 'reimaginings'. Again, I almost don't want to say it because it shouldn't matter but this is 'proper' literature too: Ulysses. Wide Sargasso Sea. Rosencratz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Death Comes to Pemberley. Bridget Jones's Diary. Wicked. James. Julia. Never mind all the modern-era or otherwise transformed Sherlock Holmes / Jane Austen / etc books, films, and tv shows.

Reasonably, one might say, those are public domain canons now. But my point isn't about making money off of it - it's the snobbery. And what about publishing the stuff? I've read neither Twilight nor Fifty Shades of Grey, nor watched the films. But even I know there is a hundred miles between them. If Fifty Shades hadn't first been published as fic, who would ever know? My interest isn't in how like the fic the published Fifty Shades book is. That's the wrong question. How like Twilight is the fic? It does not seem very. Do not tell me there aren't (a very many!) books inspired by the author reading another book and thinking some variation of "Yeah but what if..."

Authors and creators need to understand: this is not for them. Fanfic and fandom is not their space. And fans need to keep that space separate. Never the twain should meet. People who don't read or understand or even really care about fic need to keep their satanic panic and culture wars out of it, a prospect looking less and less likely.

Ultimately, are there legitimate critiques to be made of fic and fandom? A thousand times yes! Are they these tired clichés authors and thinkpieces and garment-rending columnists trot out all the time? No. No, they are not.