Writer Support: Writing Fan Fiction

Why writing Fan Fiction is a great place to start & get your creative juices flowing.

As you may be aware, Fan fiction can sometimes get a bad rap. Usually that comes down to the more sexual 'ships content (creating romance between two characters who are not romantically linked), or just the most notable Fan fiction story out there 50 Shades of Grey. Yes, if you didn't know, 50 Shades was originally written as Twilight Fan Fiction, before it removed all of the references and links to the vampire love story and was published as 50 Shades of Grey. Whether you like it or not, 50 Shades is a hugely successful piece of literature, one piece of literature that all started from Fan fiction.

So why should you try writing Fan fiction? Well first and foremost, it's a blast to write. What better way to get you in the writing groove than coming up with new escapades for your favourite characters? You're already aware of how the characters work, and you know you're invested in them, so coming up with a new obstacle for them to confront is essentially just as rewarding to write, as it is to read.

One thing that people probably overlook with Fan fiction, is that it's a good place to find yourself an audience. After all, who better to like your writing and stories, than other fans of that very universe? Not only that, but it's also a great place to interact with other writers and talk about your stories. I've written some fan fiction myself (As you'd probably guessed, it was Guardians of the Galaxy related) though I never actually posted it anywhere, and as a result, I was missing out on a huge benefit of the fan fiction world.

Another big benefit of writing fan fiction is that it can help you discover your own writing style and rhythm. Even more so than if you were to write out your own completely original tale. That's because you're aware of the characters, the events and interactions of the original source material, and you can see where your creative sparks start to veer off into new and wonderful directions.

If there's one thing that you take away from this blog, it's to try to have a crack at writing some of your own Fan fiction. Whether you post it or not, or even just spend 30 minutes exploring possible stories. It's a worthwhile endeavour for any writer, with limitless possibilities on where you can go in a universe you already love. Or just have a go at writing a tale that's totally off the walls with established characters for the pure joy of it. A turf war crossover event between the Teletubbies and the Tweenies? Why not? With Fan fiction it's all possible.