This is a fanfiction rant.
I used to giggle and cringe with friends whenever fanfiction was mentioned in the mainstream media. In just about every case, actors talk about it with a slight sense of humour and wariness and "it's weird and something you can get a kick out of" vibes. And I used to laugh alongside them because, yes, many of our fics do that, just look at all the crack. But nowadays as more celebrities are clueing in to the fiction being written about them and, more importantly commenting about it, fanfiction is undoubtedly coming into the attention of more of the public media. And I'm not exactly sure what to think about that. Because on one hand, I'm ecstatic that fanfiction is finally getting the attention it deserves - on the other hand, as far as I know anyone who knows of fanfiction through the mainstream and not personal experience almost always has a negative opinion of it - that's it's written by adolecscent females, that it's all porn and no plot, that they throw together anyone and everyone for the heck of it, when the reality is that it's so much more.
I have read so many pieces of fanfiction that have just completely blown me away. There are so many authors on here that I believe are so much better than the writers I see being published on shelves today. This is probably even partly the reason why I lately find it a little harder to get myself into reading a novel. While I've been taking for granted the advantages of having characters already fully developed in my head, it's also much easier to weed out and find works of high quality on the internet, as opposed to published works.
Another part of me misses the obscurity that came with fanfiction. As an article on Time has mentioned (and yes, there is an article referencing fanfiction on Time), fanfiction had originally been more or less equivalent to a dark hole. Mostly invisible to the public, but with a presence immensely larger than one could comprehend, lurking right beneath our feet. It's a wonderful, beautiful world that I felt blessed to have discovered, and now it's being tainted by public opinion, the work of a few being regarded as the work of many.
It's frustrating, and saddening, and sometimes I wish I could just show them this wonderful piece of work, and say, look at this. Look at what we're capable of.
I have read so many pieces of fanfiction that have just completely blown me away. There are so many authors on here that I believe are so much better than the writers I see being published on shelves today. This is probably even partly the reason why I lately find it a little harder to get myself into reading a novel. While I've been taking for granted the advantages of having characters already fully developed in my head, it's also much easier to weed out and find works of high quality on the internet, as opposed to published works.
Another part of me misses the obscurity that came with fanfiction. As an article on Time has mentioned (and yes, there is an article referencing fanfiction on Time), fanfiction had originally been more or less equivalent to a dark hole. Mostly invisible to the public, but with a presence immensely larger than one could comprehend, lurking right beneath our feet. It's a wonderful, beautiful world that I felt blessed to have discovered, and now it's being tainted by public opinion, the work of a few being regarded as the work of many.
It's frustrating, and saddening, and sometimes I wish I could just show them this wonderful piece of work, and say, look at this. Look at what we're capable of.