Fan fiction is fiction that is written by fans of a literary work or series in imitation of or homage to the original.[1] Since it is not part of the original work, it is not considered to be canon. Most fan fiction writers assume that their work is read primarily by other fans, and therefore that their readers have knowledge of the fictional universe in which their works are based.
History of Fan Fiction
Fan fiction as it is now understood began at least as early as the seventeenth century, with unauthorized published sequels to such works as Don Quixote. The turn of the twentieth century saw numerous parodies and revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and fan-authored versions of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. However, modern fan fiction as an expression of organized fandom was defined via the Star Trek fanzines published in the 1960s. Indeed, the first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia (1967), contained some fan fiction.
Fan fiction has become more popular and widespread since the advent of the World Wide Web. In addition to traditional zines and conventions, Usenet group electronic mailing lists were established specifically for fan fiction as well as for fan discussion. Online, searchable fan fiction archives were also established. Initially, these online archives were initially hand-tended and fandom- or topic-specific. However, there followed automated databases, such as FanFiction.Net (1998 to present), which allow anybody to upload content in any fandom. Much fan fiction today is posted to such large, multi-fandom archives. Since the establishment of social networking sites such as LiveJournal (1999 to present), there has also been a move to blogs as a means for sharing fan fiction.
Fan Fiction Terms
- Adult - stories that include content considered unsuitable for younger readers; though precisely what makes a story unsuitable can vary considerably, any story with explicit sexual content is normally deemed "Adult".
- AU (Alternate Universe) - the world (universe) of the story is different to some degree from the canonical universe.
- Crossover - characters from two or more different fandoms interact.
- Femslash - a romantic or erotic story which has as its main focus a female homosexual relationship.
- Fluff - "feel good" stories.
- Gen (General fiction) - (most commonly) stories where the main plot revolves around non-romantic themes; (alternatively) stories that are not given an Adult rating for sexual content.
- H/C (Hurt/Comfort) - a plot framework in which one character experiences distress (physical or emotional) and another character offers comfort.
- Het - a romantic or erotic story which has as its main focus a heterosexual relationship.
- PWP (either "Porn Without Plot", or more commonly "Plot? What Plot?") - indicates that a story acts primarily as a vessel for pornographic scenes.
- Slash - a romantic or erotic story which has as its main focus a homosexual or, more specifically, a male homosexual relationship.
- Songfic - a distinctive format in which an author interpolates the lyrics of an actual song to add emphasis to certain aspects of the story.
- Virtual season - a compilation of fan stories or scripts portraying episodes of an entire season for a television program, usually one that has been cancelled.
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Fan fiction.
Footnotes
- ↑ The term "fan fiction" was originally used in science fiction fandom to designate original science fiction that was written by amateurs and published in science fiction fanzines. In this meaning, "fan fiction" contrasted with fiction by professional writers. It should be noted that this usage is now obsolete. Modern definitions of the term exclude original writing.