Writing fanfiction and the freedom it brings.

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Fanfiction, as the name suggests, is fiction created by fans that is based on an existing work and involves parts of that work or, in some cases, the entire work itself. Fanfiction has been a phenomenon for many years, and in its current form, it was first discovered within the Star Trek fandom. With the advent of the internet, it has evolved into what it is today.

Sites like Wattpad, Fanfiction.net and A03 are only a small example of sites that exist for hosting fanfiction. These sites have different formats and demographics that make the landscape so unique and give so much freedom, not just for readers but for authors as well.

Fanfiction can embody many tropes and many different dynamics, not just romance, and not just set in the universe that the fic is based in, with AUs being a great example of this. This can also be based on what can be seen as mundane everyday settings, such as a coffee shop, a School or even an office setting.

Fnfiction gives so much freedom in how someone can write, and compared to books, scripts and traditionally published articles, there is a lot more editing and cutting that ends up going on with these mediums, and for scripts, sometimes the writer can have limitations on their story and constrictions that don't exist as much within fanfiction.

Do you not like the ending of the original story? Fanfiction. Do you wish you had a character that lived in that world? Fanfiction. There are so many possibilities that can happen within this medium that can’t be the case in so many others. Needing to follow what's trendy isn't an issue within fanfiction, just what you want to write within a story's universe.

There is so much freedom with what is written, and this is shown with male x male-based fics being the most popular, which shows that people are willing to explore dynamics that may not be as seen in everyday media and story aspects that are not likely to be explored in everyday media.

This is also the case within canon media that can be changed within fanfiction. An example of this is that an author can get connected to a character within a show they like that ends up dying. The author can take that and instead keep that character alive, and maybe see how the story would continue if this change had happened.

I have dyslexia, so I have written fanfiction since I was a teenager, and that has helped me grow my writing style and break the barriers of my dyslexia. Fanfiction, like many other fic authors, has helped me improve and test the barriers of my writing without the worry of it being seen as good or bad.

Writing fanfiction at a young age can do more than just teach how to write books and take in media. It can teach someone how to break down existing media, how to create characters and how to use character development to create a captivating story. With the modern internet, people can now give feedback that can help authors improve from story to story.

Many fanfics may not have the best grammar and spelling, but beyond that, they have the deepest, most rich story once all the grammar and spelling mistakes are looked past. Fanfiction bridges many languages, as well as bridging the cultural gap, meaning that anyone of any background can get on and write Fanfiction.

I personally have used fanfiction to test different themes and personalities of my characters. Some fic authors will explore their mental health or explore their sexuality through the safety of fanfiction, and sometimes even in a world that may not allow that exploration, such as in countries like Russia and China. Fanfiction identities a safe escape to explore these different identities and themes.

I have used it to look into themes of mental health, making characters within different scenarios to see how they grow within that setting. In my personal experience of writing, I can see how different dynamics help each character grow, whether that's for good or bad.

A bigger example is how authors use fanfiction to process their trauma, feelings and even things that their countries may push back from to be able to process these feelings and environments within a safe and welcoming place. Writing can be so personal, and fanfiction can be a way to explore these deeper feelings in a cherished and safe manner.

Darker sides and more complex sides of characters can be explored, especially with fics, when it comes to characters that are fully fleshed out or the media doesn't have the time or quality to have those characters fleshed out. It's a challenge to take what is there and expand on it, and I’d argue it can be on par with creating your original media at times.

So how does this feed back into my scriptwriting or my book writing? A lot of fanfiction authors eventually have become book authors, whether that be through adapting their fics to fit a book standard or by creating new and captivating ideas. When I wrote one of my scripts as part of one of my fics was something that inspired me and fed back into my script, and this can happen a lot.

Fanfiction, I see it as a platform, a playground, and in the modern day, a way to grow an audience and to prove to people that your writing is wanted and that people are interested in that. Getting an audience is the biggest part of building a story, whether that be for film/TV, books or even a blog.

With beginner writers, this is a way to get into longer form writing, especially if authors would prefer to get into longer form story writing. It's a way to get feedback and to gather an audience towards their writing that can grow into a bigger career in the future. Writing within bigger fandoms can draw people into an author's writing and wider works.