Fan fiction or fanfiction (also abbreviated to fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF) is fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted characters, settings, or other

intellectual properties Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

from the original creator(s) as a basis for their writing. Fan fiction ranges from a couple of sentences to an entire novel, and fans can retain the creator's characters and settings and/or add their own. It is a form of

fan labor Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works ( fiction, fan fiction and review literature ...

. Fan fiction can be based on any fictional (and occasional

non-fictional Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

) subject. Common bases for fan fiction include

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, musical groups,

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

, and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

s. 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 legal questions such as whether or not it qualifies as "

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the intere ...

" (see Legal issues with fan fiction). Attitudes of authors and copyright owners of original works to fan fiction have ranged from indifference to encouragement to rejection. Copyright owners have occasionally responded with legal action. The term came into use in the 20th century as

copyright laws A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

began to delineate between stories using established characters that were authorized by the copyright holder and those that were not. Fan fiction is defined by being related to its subject's

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...

fictional universe A fictional universe, or fictional world, is a self-consistent setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed, or fictional realm (or world). Fictional universes ma ...

, either staying within those boundaries but not being of the canon itself, or else branching outside of it into an ''alternative universe''. Thus, what is "fanon" is separate from what is ''canon''. Fan fiction is often written and published within circles of fans, and therefore would usually not cater to readers who have no knowledge of the original fiction.

Definition

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 Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

(as opposed to "pro fiction"). The term also appears in the 1944 ''Fancyclopedia'', an encyclopedia of

fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...

jargon Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a partic ...

. It is defined there as "fiction about fans, or sometimes about pros, and occasionally bringing in some famous characters from cience fictionstories". The book also mentions that the term is "sometimes improperly used to mean fan science fiction, that is, ordinary

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

published in a

fan magazine A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fans of the popular culture subject matter which it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one hand, by the tar ...

History

Before copyright

Before the adoption of copyright in the modern sense, it was not unusual for authors to copy characters, if not entire plots. For example,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's plays ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

'', ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'', ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

'', ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has ...

'' and ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some cri ...

'' were all based on relatively recent fiction by other authors. In 1614 Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda wrote a sequel to Cervantes' ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'', before Cervantes finished and published his own second volume.

19th century

Among 19th-century literature subject to notable depictions not initially authorized by the original author, is included

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busin ...

's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

''s depiction in the translated adaptation ''

Powers of Darkness ''Powers of Darkness'' (''Mörkrets makter'') is an anonymous 1899 Swedish version of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel ''Dracula'', serialised in the newspaper '' Dagen'' and credited only to Bram Stoker and the still-unidentified "A—e." It is a varia ...

''. The works of Jane Austen remain one of the most popular works to make unauthorized depictions of, with one notable Jane Austen fan fiction being '' Old Friends and New Fancies''. Many unauthorized stories of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle have been created, including ''The Adventure of the Two Collaborators'' by J. M. Barrie. Also created has been '' The Space Machine'' based on ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was i ...

'' and ''

Morlock Night ''Morlock Night'' is a science fiction novel by American writer K. W. Jeter. It was published in 1979. In a letter to ''Locus Magazine'' in April 1987, Jeter coined the word "steampunk" to describe it and other novels by James Blaylock and Ti ...

'' based on ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively fo ...

'' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

A New Alice in the Old Wonderland ''A New Alice in the Old Wonderland'' is a fantasy novel written by Anna M. Richards, illustrated by Anna M. Richards Jr., and published in 1895 by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia. According to Carolyn Sigler, it is one of the more important ...

'' based on ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

'' by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

; and ''

Wide Sargasso Sea ''Wide Sargasso Sea'' is a 1966 novel by Dominican-British author Jean Rhys. The novel serves as a postcolonial and feminist prequel to Charlotte Brontë's novel ''Jane Eyre'' (1847), describing the background to Mr. Rochester's marriage from ...

'' based on ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' by

Charlotte Bronte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...

''Star Trek'' fandom

The modern phenomenon of fan fiction as an expression of

and fan interaction was popularized and defined via ''Star Trek'' fandom and their

fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...

s published in the 1960s. The first ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

'' fanzine, ''Spockanalia'' (1967), contained some fan fiction; many others followed its example. These fanzines were produced via offset printing and

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...

y, and mailed to other fans or sold at

science fiction conventions Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expr ...

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."

World Wide Web

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 newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distin ...

s and

electronic mailing list A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is re ...

s 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 FanFiction.Net (often abbreviated as FF.net or FFN) is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was founded on October 15, 1998, by Los Angeles computer programmer Xing Li, who also runs the site. It has over 12 million registered users and ho ...

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 Erika Mitchell (born 7 March 1963), known by her pen name E. L. James, is a British author. She wrote the best-selling erotic romance trilogy ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', '' Fifty Shades Darker'', and '' Fifty Shades Freed'', along with the compa ...

's ''

Fifty Shades of Grey ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...

''. This series was originally written as fan fiction for the ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

'' 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 Ana and Christian for the purposes of her novels, which is a practice known as 'pulling-to-publish'.

Anna Todd Anna Renee Todd (born March 20, 1989) is an American author and screenwriter, who is best known for her ''After'' series. She started publishing on the social storytelling platform Wattpad. The print edition of the series was published in 2014 by ...

's 2013 fan fiction '' After'' about the English boy band

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gro ...

secured a book and movie deal with renamed characters in 2014. The movie ''After'' was released on April 12, 2019. On May 22, 2013, the online retailer

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econom ...

established a new publishing service,

Kindle Worlds Kindle Worlds was a publisher service of the online retailer Amazon, devoted to providing a commercial venue for fan fiction creations of specific licensed media properties. It was established on May 22, 2013, as part of Amazon Publishing. In Augus ...

. This service enabled fan fiction stories of certain licensed media properties to be sold in the

Kindle Store The Kindle Store is an Internet, online e-book e-commerce store operated by Amazon (company), Amazon as part of its retail website and can be accessed from any Amazon Kindle, Fire HD, Fire tablet or Kindle mobile app. At the launch of the Kindl ...

with terms including 35% of net sales for works of 10,000 words or more and 20% for short fiction ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 words. However, this arrangement includes restrictions on content, copyright violations, poor document formatting, and use of misleading titles. Amazon shut down Kindle Worlds in August 2018.

Japanese dōjinshi

A similar trend in Japan also began appearing around the 1960s and 1970s, where independently published

and novels, known as ''

dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created by ...

'', are frequently published by

dōjin In Japan, is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as " clique", " fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in " sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produce ...

circles; many of these dōjinshi are based on existing

, and

franchises. Manga authors like

Shotaro Ishinomori was a Japanese manga artist who became an influential figure in manga, anime, and , creating several immensely popular long-running series such as '' Cyborg 009,'' the ''Super Sentai'' series (later adapted into the ''Power Rangers'' series), a ...

and

Fujiko Fujio was a manga writing duo formed by Japanese manga artists and . They formed their partnership in 1951, and used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1954 until dissolution of the partnership in 1987, upon Fujimoto's illness. The pair was best known ...

formed dōjin groups such as Fujio's . At this time, dōjin groups were used by artists to make a professional debut. This changed in the coming decades with dōjin groups forming as school clubs and the like. This culminated in 1975 with the

Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-run ...

in Tokyo.

Demographics

In a study done in 2010, it was found that 75.2% of account holders on

allowed for the website to disclose their location. It was found that 57% of accounts originated from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, followed by 9.2% created in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, 5.6% in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and 4% in Australia. More recently, a 2020 study of

Archive Of Our Own Archive of Our Own (often shortened to AO3) is a nonprofit open source repository for fanfiction and other fanworks contributed by users. The site was created in 2008 by the Organization for Transformative Works and went into open beta in 200 ...

users found that of the surveyed profiles which stated a nationality, 59.7% were located in North America, 16.1% were in Great Britain with an additional 10% otherwise located in Mainland Europe, 6.3% were in Oceania, 2.8% were Scandinavian, 2.2% were in Asia, 1.8% were in South America and the Caribbean, and 0.2% were in the Middle East. This study did not include profiles written in Chinese, Greek, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, or Turkish, which may affect these demographics.

Sex and gender

A 2020 study looking at Harry Potter fan fiction writers on Archive of Our Own found that of users who disclose their gender in their profiles, 50.4% are female or femme-leaning and 13.4% are masculine or masc-leaning. 11% of users disclose that they are transgender, and over 21% identify as nonbinary, genderfluid, and/or genderqueer, with an additional 3.9% indicating that they identify as agender or genderless.

Age

Overwhelmingly, fan fiction writers appear to be in their early- to mid-20s. Demographics have been assessed as being 56.7% university students and other young adults, while 21.3% register as being 30 years and older. 0.2% specify that they are of retirement age; teenagers make up the remaining 19.8%.

Categories and terms

Genres

In addition to the "regular"

list of genres This is a list of genres of literature and entertainment ( film, television, music, and video games), excluding genres in the visual arts. ''Genre'' is the term for any category of creative work, which includes literature and other forms of a ...

, there are a few genres which are particularly associated with fan fiction. These genres can overlap and include:

Angst

A story with an angst-ridden mood centered on a character/characters who are brooding, sorrowful, or in anguish.

Alternative universe (AU)

"What if" fan fiction featuring characters set in a universe other than their canonical one. There are multiple types of alternative universe settings: an alternative universe may make dramatic alterations to the setting (for instance, a "Fantasy AU" that places characters from a non-fantasy canon into a world of magic); it may alter characterization (often referred to simply as someone being "Out of Character" (OOC) rather than an AU proper); or it may alter major plot events to suit the author's purposes (see, for example, "Fix-It Fic").

Crossover

Works featuring characters, items, and/or set pieces from multiple fandoms. This is also called "Fusion Fic" if the two worlds are merged into one.

Soulmate AU

The soulmate AU is a popular genre that envisions characters in a world, often very similar to canon, where soulmates are demonstrably real. Common mechanics for soulmates include each person having the name of their soulmate written on their skin at birth, or a specific change that occurs when two soulmates see or touch each other for the first time. The most common trope in this genre is one character being convinced they don't have/want/deserve a soulmate, only to be proven wrong as they fall in love over the course of the fic.

Time travel AU

A story in which one of the characters is sent back in time to get a second chance with knowledge of the original plot. This is also called the "Peggy Sue", after the movie ''

Peggy Sue Got Married ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high sch ...

'', in which this happens to the titular character. This term may have fallen into disuse due to its similarity to "

Mary Sue A Mary Sue is a character archetype in fiction, usually a young woman, who is often portrayed as inexplicably competent across all domains, gifted with unique talents or powers, liked or respected by most other characters, unrealistically free ...

". "Groundhog Day," named after the film, is a variation of this trope in which time travel happens repeatedly; typically until the time-traveling character "gets it right."

Darkfic

Stories that are considerably more grim or depressing than the original, often in deliberate contrast to the canonical work(s). Not all stories tagged as "

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low l ...

" count as darkfic. This is sometimes done with fandoms that are meant to be light-hearted or for children. Darkfic can also refer to content that is "intentionally disturbing" (i.e. physical/emotional violence or abuse).

Fix-it fic

Fix-it fic refers to stories which rewrite canonical events that the fan fiction author disliked or otherwise wished to "fix". This may refer to an authorial misstep- i.e. "fixing" major plot holes- or to a tragic event or ending (for instance, "everyone lives" alternate universes). Fix-it fic that focuses on correcting flaws in the original work is also called "rebuild fic", named for the ''

Rebuild of Evangelion ''Rebuild of Evangelion'', known in Japan and on Amazon Prime Video as , is a Japanese animated film series and a retelling of the original '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' anime television series, produced by Studio Khara. Hideaki Anno served a ...

'' series; if it focuses heavily on critical thinking skills and deductive reasoning, it can be considered a "rationalist rewrite", as popularized by '' Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality''.

Fluff

"Feel good" fan fiction designed to be emphatically happy and uplifting. The plot is often less relevant in these works, as the main focus is to be cheerful. Another term for this genre is WAFF, short for "warm and fuzzy feelings."

Hurt/comfort

A story in which a character is put through a traumatizing experience in order to be comforted. The climax of these stories is typically when one character witnesses another character's suffering and alleviates it; however, a variation that prioritizes focus on the character's suffering (their "hurt"), sometimes to the exclusion of "comfort", is referred to as "whump". Excessive whump may also be considered darkfic.

Self-insert

A genre of fan fiction in which a version of the author is transported to, or discovers they are inside, the world that the fan fiction is based on. Almost always written in the first person.

Multicross self-insert

Instead of a single fictional universe, the inserted author is taken to many in a row, and must usually solve some problems or complete some challenges in each place before moving on. Gaining new powers and occasionally companions from each world is common.

Recursive , meta , fan-verse

Occasionally, a fan fiction will obtain enough popularity to inspire readers to write fan fiction based on that fic. On Archive of Our Own, this kind of recursive fan fiction is called a "remix".

Songfic

Songfic, also known as song fic or song-fic, is a genre of fan fiction that features a fictional work interspersed with the lyrics of a relevant song. The term is a combination of "song" and "fiction"; as such, one might also see the genre referred to as "songfiction". As many lyrics are under

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

, whether songfics are a violation of that copyright law is a subject of debate. Some fan fiction websites, such as FanFiction.Net, have barred authors from posting songfics with lyrics outside the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

. In an essay in ''Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer'',

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

professor Catherine Driscoll commented that the genre was "one of the least distinguished modes of fan production" and that "within fan fiction excessive attachment to or foregrounding of popular music is itself dismissed as immature and derivative".

Uberfic

Uberfic Uberfic (short for uber fanfic, uberXena) or simply uber, über, or ueber (from german: über-, for 'over-' or 'supra-') is a genre of alternate universe fan fiction in which characters or events are portrayed somewhat closely to original canon b ...

is a form of AU fan fiction with characters who physically resemble and share personality traits with their canon counterparts, but have new names and backgrounds in a different setting. The term originated in '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' fandom and was inspired by the series episode "The Xena Scrolls", which featured 1940s-era descendents of the characters Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer, all played by their respective actors, on an archaeological dig in an ''Indiana Jones'' pastiche. The Uberfic style lends itself well to original fiction, and many Uberfic authors such as Melissa Good,

Radclyffe Radclyffe (real name Dr. Lenora Ruth Barot, born 1950) is an American author of lesbian romance, paranormal romance, erotica, and mystery. She has authored multiple short stories, written fan fiction, and edited numerous anthologies. Radclyffe ...

, and

Lori L. Lake Lori L. Lake (born February 9, 1960) is an American writer of fiction, mainly about lesbian protagonists. She is also an editor, writing instructor, and former publisher. Personal life Lake was born in Portland, Oregon, the oldest of five daught ...

have legally published their ''Xena'' Uberfic as original

lesbian literature Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. Fiction that falls into this category may be of any genr ...

Vent

Vent fic refers to literature written by an author under duress or for therapeutic purposes, normally to calm themselves following a stressful or upsetting situation.

Terminology

Author's note (A/N)

An abbreviation of "author's note". Author's notes can be written at any point during a fan fiction (in some cases interrupting the flow of the piece by appearing within the body of a fan fiction), but are typically found directly before the beginning of a fan fiction or after it has concluded, and also at the starts or ends of chapters if the story is updated periodically. A/Ns are used to convey direct messages from the author to the reader regarding the piece. This term has fallen somewhat out of use.

Canon

Canon is the original story. This means anything related to the original source including the plot, settings, and character developments.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...

s are author's notes typically informing readers about who deserves credit for the original source material, and often containing pseudo-legal language disavowing any intent of

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...

or alluding to

. Such "disclaimers" are legally ineffective and based on misunderstandings of copyright law, particularly confusion between illegal copyright infringement and unethical plagiarism. Disclaimers have fallen out of use since the Archive of Our Own rose in popularity.

Drabble

A form of flash fiction writing also popular outside of fan fiction, a drabble is typically a piece of writing that is only 100 words.

Fandom

is a group of fans of a particular work of fiction (e.g. novel, film, television show or video game). Members of a fandom are typically interested in even minor details of the plot/characters of their fandom and often spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, that is why most fan fictions are written by members of a particular fandom(s).

Fangirl/fanboy

An individual who is an extremely enthusiastic member of one or more fandoms. Furthermore, the term fangirling/fanboying refers to a moment where a person gets excited about a fandom.

Fanon

Fanon (portmanteau of fan and canon) is an "unofficial canon" idea that is widely accepted to be true among fans, but is neither confirmed nor officially endorsed by the original author or source creator, preventing it from being labeled as canon. Fanon may refer to a whole interpretation of the original work or particular details within it.

Headcanon (HC)

Headcanon is a fan's personal interpretation of canon, such as the backstory of a character or the nature of relationships between characters. It may represent a teasing out of subtext present in the canon, but it cannot directly contradict canon. If many other fans share this interpretation, it may become fanon.

Mary Sue

Also of note is the concept of the "

" (occasionally "MS"), a term credited as originating in ''

'' fan fiction that has crossed over to the mainstream, at least among editors and writers. In early ''Trek'' fan fiction, a common plot was that of a minor member of the USS ''Enterprise''s crew saving the life of Captain Kirk or Mister Spock, often being rewarded with a sexual relationship as a result. The term "Mary Sue", originating in a parody of stories in this wish fulfillment genre, thus tends to refer to an idealized or overpowered character lacking flaws, often taken to represent the author.

One true pairing (OTP)

An abbreviation of the term "one true pairing", where the author or reader ships (wishes for a romantic relationship between) certain characters from a fandom. Additionally, OTPs are also subsetted as OT3s, which reference the reader's one true bonding with three people; this number can be changed to refer to a larger bonding of people.

One shot

A single piece of writing, as opposed to a multichapter work, that can be of any length. May also have sequel works, while still being a one shot.

Real person fiction (RPF)

Fan fiction works that tell stories about real people, usually celebrities, instead of fictional characters. The book '' After'' by

, later adapted into a film of After (2019 film), the same name, was originally a real person fan fiction about

member Harry Styles.

Shipping

Shipping (fandom), Shipping is a variant of list of genres#romance, romance focused on exploring a relationship between two or more characters from the original fandom(s). It has several fandom-specific subgenres, chief among which are slash (which focuses on homosexual pairings, usually of the male variety) and femslash (same as slash, but exclusively female/female). In another context, the term "shipping" within the community may mean that a fan is heavily invested in a relationship between two characters. Writers of fan fiction often use the genre to explore homosexual pairings for popular characters who are not in (or not specified as being in; see queerbaiting) homosexual relationships in the canon work. A subcategory of this, depicting romantic couples in mundane domestic situations (such as picking out curtains), was previously called "curtainfic", though the term has fallen somewhat out of use.

Smut

Smut, also called porn and (rarely) erotica, is sexually explicit or pornographic fan fiction. This could refer to either a small portion of a story or the story in its entirety. Historically, the terms "lemon" (i.e. explicit pornography) and "lime" (i.e. sexually suggestive works) were euphemisms used to allude to explicit material. These terms were in common use in the 2000s, and fell into disuse before resurging in December 2018 due to Tumblr's censorship on adult content. The use of the terms lemon and lime allow writers to circumnavigate the "explicit terminologies" that may get work flagged by platforms like Tumblr, while still tagging their work as explicit for their readers.

Trigger warning (TW)

Trigger warnings are intended to warn people of content in fan fiction that could be harmful or "triggering" to those who have dealt with traumatic situations. Fan fiction is often tagged using various TWs so that readers may prepare for or avoid certain content. Sometimes CW, an abbreviation of "content warning," is used, either instead of or in addition to a TW. Trigger warnings are usually inserted when the subject matter of a piece of work deals with things issues like drug abuse, mental illness, abuse, or extreme violence. Archive of Our Own has notably codified a system of common warnings into its core tags, requiring authors to either disclose or explicitly choose not to disclose if their work contains graphic violence, major character death, rape, or underage sex.

Interactivity in the online era

Reviews can be given by both anonymous and registered users of most sites, and sites are often programmed to notify the author of new feedback, making them a common way for readers and authors online to communicate directly. This system is intended for a type of bond between the reader and the writer, as well as helping the author improve their writing skills through constructive criticism, enabling them to produce a better work next time. Occasionally, unmoderated review systems are abused to send Flaming (Internet), flames, spam (electronic), spam, or Internet troll, trolling messages. As a result, the author of the story can either disable or enable anonymous reviews, depending on their preference. Internet fan fiction allows young writers access to a wider audience for their literary efforts than ever before, resulting in improved literacy. There are other ways that fandom members may participate in their fandom community such as gift exchanges or fic exchanges. A gift exchange is an organized challenge in which participants create fan fiction specifically for other participants. They may research what the user receiving their gift enjoys or submissions may include a Dear Creator Letter explaining exactly what the receiver wants or does not want. Awards may even be given at the end of a gift/fic exchange to recognize particularly well-written or enjoyable contributions to the exchange.

Legality

There is ongoing debate about to what extent fan fiction is permitted under contemporary copyright law. Some argue that fan fiction does not fall under

, as it is derivative work. The 2009 ruling by United States District Court Judge Deborah A. Batts, permanently prohibiting publication in the United States of a book by Ryan Cassidy, a Swedish writer whose protagonist is a 76-year-old version of Holden Caulfield of ''The Catcher in the Rye'', may be seen as upholding this position regarding publishing fan fiction, as the judge stated, "To the extent Defendants contend that 60 Years and the character of Mr. C direct parodied comment or criticism at ''Catcher'' or Holden Caulfield, as opposed to Salinger himself, the Court finds such contentions to be post-hoc rationalizations employed through vague generalizations about the alleged naivety of the original, rather than reasonably perceivable parody." Others such as the Organization for Transformative Works uphold the legality of non-profit fan fiction under the fair use doctrine, as it is a creative, Transformation (law), transformative process. In 1981, Lucasfilm Ltd. sent out a letter to several

publishers, asserting Lucasfilm's copyright to all List of Star Wars characters, ''Star Wars'' characters and insisting that no fanzine publish pornography. The letter also alluded to possible legal action that could be taken against fanzines that did not comply. The Harry Potter Lexicon is one case where the encyclopedia-like website about everything in the Harry Potter series moved towards publishing and commercializing the Lexicon as a supplementary and complementary source of information to the series. Rowling and her publishers levied a lawsuit against the website creator, Steven Vander Ark, and the publishing company, RDR Books, for a breach of copyright. While the lawsuit did conclude in Vander Ark's favor, the main issue in contention was the majority of the Lexicon copied a majority of the Series' material and does not transform enough of the material to be held separately from the series itself. While the HP Lexicon case is an example of Western culture treatment of fan fiction and copyright law, in China, Harry Potter fan fiction is less addressed in legal conflicts but is used as a cultural and educational tool between Western and Chinese cultures. More specifically, while there are a number of "fake" Harry Potter books in China, most of these books are said to be addressing concepts and issues found in Chinese culture. This transformative usage of Harry Potter in fan fiction is allegedly from the desire to enhance and express value to Chinese tradition and culture. Some prominent authors have given their blessings to fan fiction, notably J.K. Rowling. By 2014, there were already almost 750,000 Harry Potter fan stories on the web, ranging from short stories to novel-length tomes. Rowling said she was "flattered" that people wanted to write their own stories based on her fictional characters. Similarly, Stephenie Meyer has put links on her website to fan fiction sites about her characters from the Twilight (novel series), ''Twilight'' series. The Fifty Shades (novel series), ''Fifty Shades'' trilogy was developed from a ''Twilight'' fan fiction originally titled ''Master of the Universe'' and published episodically on fan-fiction websites under the pen name "Snowqueen's Icedragon". The piece featured characters named after Stephenie Meyer's characters in ''Twilight'', Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. However, in 2003, a British law firm representing J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. sent a letter to webmasters requesting that adult Harry Potter fan fiction ("stories containing graphically violent and sexual content") be removed from a prominent fan fiction website, citing concerns that children might stumble upon the illicit content. In response, the webmasters from several websites hosting adult Harry Potter fan fiction, among other types of fan fiction, "made claims of 'fair use' and nonprofessional status" to justify their right to continue hosting the adult content. As an example of changing views on the subject, author Orson Scott Card (best known for the ''Ender's Game'' series) once stated on his website, "to write fiction using my characters is morally identical to moving into my house without invitation and throwing out my family." He changed his mind completely and since has assisted fan fiction contests, arguing to the ''Wall Street Journal'' that "Every piece of fan fiction is an ad for my book. What kind of idiot would I be to want that to disappear?" However, Anne Rice has consistently and aggressively prevented fan fiction based on any of her fictional characters (mostly those from her famous ''Interview with the Vampire'' and its sequels in ''The Vampire Chronicles''). She, along with Anne McCaffrey (whose stance has been changed by her son, Todd McCaffrey, since her death) and Raymond Feist, have asked to have any fiction related to their series removed from FanFiction.Net. George R.R. Martin is also strongly opposed to fan fiction, believing it to be copyright infringement and a bad exercise for aspiring writers. Sharon Lee (writer), Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (science fiction writer), Steve Miller, creators of the Liaden universe, strongly oppose fan fiction written in their universe, with Lee saying that "Nobody else is going to get it right. This may sound rude and elitist, but honestly, it's not easy for us to get it right sometimes, and we've been living with these characters ... for a very long time."

References

External links

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"Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture"
��Henry Jenkins on fan fiction {{DEFAULTSORT:Fan Fiction Fan fiction, Fandom, Fiction Fiction by topic Fiction by genre

Definition

History

Before copyright

19th century

''Star Trek'' fandom

World Wide Web

Japanese dōjinshi

Demographics

Sex and gender

Age

Categories and terms

Genres

Angst

Alternative universe (AU)

Crossover

Soulmate AU

Time travel AU

Darkfic

Fix-it fic

Fluff

Hurt/comfort

Self-insert

Multicross self-insert

Recursive , meta , fan-verse

Songfic

Uberfic

Vent

Terminology

Author's note (A/N)

Canon

Disclaimer

Drabble

Fandom

Fangirl/fanboy

Fanon

Headcanon (HC)

Mary Sue

One true pairing (OTP)

One shot

Real person fiction (RPF)

Shipping

Smut

Trigger warning (TW)

Interactivity in the online era

Legality

See also

References

Further reading

External links