Fan fiction

Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or ff) is a type of fictional text written by fans of any work of fiction where the author uses established characters, settings, and/or other intellectual properties from an original creator as a basis for their writing. Fan fiction ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can both keep the creator's characters and settings or add their own. Fan fiction is a form of fan labor. Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or ff) is a type of fictional text written by fans of any work of fiction where the author uses established characters, settings, and/or other intellectual properties from an original creator as a basis for their writing. Fan fiction ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can both keep the creator's characters and settings or add their own. Fan fiction is a form of fan labor. Fan fiction can be based on any fictional (and sometimes non-fictional) subject. A common basis for fan fiction includes novels, movies, and video games. Fan fiction is rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's creator or publisher and is rarely professionally published. It may infringe on the original author's copyright, depending on the jurisdiction and on such questions as for whether it qualifies as 'fair use' (see Legal issues with fan fiction). Attitudes of authors and copyright owners of original works to fan fiction have ranged from indifference to encouragement or rejection. Copyright owners have occasionally responded with legal action. The term 'fan fiction' came into use in the 20th century as copyright laws began to delineate between stories using established characters that were authorized by the copyright holder and those that were unauthorized. For earlier works with similar characteristics, see unofficial sequel or pastiche. Fan fiction is defined by being both related to it's subject's canonical fictional universe (often referred to as 'canon') and simultaneously existing outside of it (Alternative universe (fan fiction)). Fan fiction is often written and published in circles of other fans, and therefore would usually not cater to readers who have no knowledge of the original fiction. The term 'fan fiction' has been used in print as early as 1939; in this earliest known citation, it is used in a disparaging way to refer to amateurish science fiction (as opposed to 'pro fiction'). The term also appears in the 1944 Fancyclopedia, an encyclopedia of fandom jargon. It is defined there as 'fiction about fans, or sometimes about pros, and occasionally bringing in some famous characters from stories'. The book also mentions that the term is 'sometimes improperly used to mean fan science fiction, that is, ordinary fantasy published in a fan magazine'. Before the adoption of copyright in the modern sense, it was usual for authors to copy characters, if not entire plots. For example, Shakespeare's plays Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, As You Like It and The Winter's Tale were all based on relatively recent fiction by other authors. The modern phenomenon of fan fiction as an expression of fandom and fan interaction was popularized and defined via Star Trek fandom and their fanzines published in the 1960s. The first Star Trek fanzine, Spockanalia (1967), contained some fan fiction; many others followed its example.:1 These fanzines were produced via offset printing and mimeography, and mailed to other fans or sold at science fiction conventions for a small fee to help recoup costs. Unlike other aspects of fandom, women dominated fan fiction authoring; 83% of Star Trek fan fiction authors were female by 1970, and 90% by 1973. One scholar states that fan fiction 'fill the need of a mostly female audience for fictional narratives that expand the boundary of the official source products offered on the television and movie screen.' Fan fiction has become more popular and widespread since the advent of the World Wide Web. According to one estimate, fan fiction comprises one-third of all content about books on the web. In addition to traditional fanzines and conventions, Usenet group electronic mailing lists were established for fan fiction as well as fan discussion. Online, searchable fan fiction archives were also established. The online archives were initially non-commercial hand-tended and fandom, or topic, specific. These archives were followed by non-commercial automated databases. In 1998, the not-for-profit site FanFiction.Net came online, which allowed anyone to upload content in any fandom. The ability to self-publish fan fiction at an easily accessible common archive that did not require insider knowledge to join, and the ability to review the stories directly on the site, became popular quite quickly.One popular example of modern fan fiction is E. L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey. This series was originally written as fan fiction for the Twilight series of books and movies and played off the characters of Bella and Edward. In order to not infringe on copyright issues, James changed the character names to Anna and Christian for the purposes of her novels, which is a practice known as 'pulling-to-publish'. Anna Todd's 2013 fan fiction After about the English boy band One Direction secured a book and movie deal with renamed characters in 2014.