Fan Fiction Essay

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Although fan fiction has always been created by fans of numerous works it was not always called “fan fiction.” However, only until the 1920s did fanfiction become “fan fiction,” meaning that all the previous fan written stories were considered literature. The stories began popping up on the pages of fanzines. Fanzines are fan made magazines. Fanzines were created and maintained by and for the fans. Many people wanted to see new stories with their favorite characters of novels. They circulated through fan conventions or by mail so they only had a small audience. Some fanzines were specifically dedicated to a particular fandom. For example, a popular fanzine called “Spockanalia,” was dedicated to Spock in Star Trek. As technology advanced, especially in the 90s, fan fiction transitioned from the pages of fanzines to the pages of the internet. The internet gives an easier platform for fans because its accessibility and interactivity. Fan fiction has become so popular over the years that online communities have been created to support the ever growing fandom. The most popular of these communities is fanfiction.net, which hosts several million works ranging from the Bible to Halo (the video game). There are about 2.2 million users on fanfictiction.net with stories in 30 different languages. This shows how fanfiction is more than just books that are being further explored but is also video games, manga, tv shows, graphic novel etc. The most acclaimed sections on fanfiction.net are Harry Potter, with 676K stories, Naruto with 355K stories, and finally Twilight with 215K stories. The range of fan fiction has widened so much over the last two decades. Fan fiction has a great history but it's future is immeasurable. Technology is only g...

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... readers for input on specific parts of plots (Black 4). Also author’s notes point out areas where the author shows whether she or he is taking audience members’ suggestions. “Fic” is short for fiction. You will often see people refer to a story as a “fic.” For example, stories that are set in coffee shops are called barista!fic, or any variation of that. “AU” means alternate universe, which is where the fic doesn’t follow cannon (the plotline of the original work). “Beta-Reading” is the fanfiction term for editing. A beta is a person who edits the stories of writers. “X-over,” pronounced crossover, means that the author “explored implications of characters from different works meen in the same text.” It shows the effect of one character from one work dealing with the circumstances of another (Atler 6). With these few trope anyone can navigate through any fandom.

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