Yeah, I read fanfiction. What are you going to do about it? Everything we do every day is based around technology and the fastest way to access material. But then, why are the people that read online fanfiction constantly looked down on for using that technology for their own benefit? This stigma around reading fanfiction is a real, literary cultural issue, and it deserves to be dissected in the same way the authors of fanfiction dissect every little bit of their idols.
For the people that hold this stigma, the arguments are as follows: writing fanfiction requires no real creativity,and, because of the lack of formal publication, there are no regulations or filters that published authors have to be conscious of. While fanfiction is just a cumulation of information that already exists, there is still a plot and characters that need to be developed. Harry Styles doesn’t fall in love with every fan he meets. You don’t just happen to fall (physically and metaphorically) into the prince of Denmark in the supermarket. These are things every author of fanfiction has to write on their own. And sure, there is more explicit language and scenes than a typical novel you would find in Barnes and Nobel, but that’s what sets fanfiction apart from your everyday book. This form of writing is just here to make your dream of falling in love with your celebrity crush come true.
With fanfiction growing as a form of writing, platforms like Wattpad and Archive of Our Own provide the authors of these developed characters a safe place for their writing to call home. The only potential issue to these platforms, especially Wattpad, is that they allow for readers to annotate in a comments section for each paragraph, and those comments aren’t all constructive. Yeah, most of them just go on to talk about how they relate to the characters or how hot they think the main character is, but there are a few who ruin it for the others. I’ve personally seen authors on these platforms completely shut down their online writing because of harsh comments from readers. This negativity only adds fuels to the argument against fanfiction, but the accessibility of the platforms is an essential part of fanfiction’s development as a genre.
Without Wattpad and Archive of Our Own, fanfiction books wouldn’t exist in a physical form. The books Afterand Fifty Shades of Grey both originated online before gaining in views and becoming officially published series. While both of those books had explicit scenes and language, their popularity online is what allowed them to be published in the physical form. Fanfiction readers recognize that physical books aren’t always an option though, where a handheld device that can access the internet is; because fanfiction is published online with a few of the more popular pieces being physically published, this newer ability to decide whether to read a physical book or a digital book based on your lifestyle and preferences is huge for this genre and the publishing industry as a whole!
You made the decision to read this online blog post, so what’s stopping you from deciding to read online fanfiction? If it’s fear of falling into an unrequited love with your favorite celebrity, you’re not obligated to tell anyone you’re reading fanfiction. If it’s fear of being judged for reading fanfiction, I’ve just given you multiple ways to tell others how they’re wrong. So, make your decision, physical or digital, and go read some fanfiction.
RED INC. 