Fanfic: The Secret Frontier

by Allie Gerlach

As a die–hard fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I stayed away from fanfic for a long time. It became the line I would not cross. I wasn’t crazy after all; I was merely a very enthusiastic fan. Before Buffy I was unaware of fanfic and after Buffy I mocked it.

Then I became friends with someone who wrote fanfic, and she wanted my opinion about her most recent story. Lucky for me, Kristen was one of those rare fanfic writers who had an excellent grasp of grammar and spelling rules, the characters, and the concept of plot. Her story was funny and moving. I could now appreciate the concept of fanfic, and if I didn’t brag about reading it to my friends…well that was okay.

I remained a low–key, closet fanfic reader for years. I stuck mostly to Buffy– and Angel–based fanfic, though occasionally I’d check something else out. I still considered fanfic writers mortifyingly ardent and overly enthusiastic, which should have tipped me off...

Recently, I’ve found myself becoming the very thing I derided—I find myself a fanfic writer. I’ve overcome the "it’s a waste of time" and the "could you be any more unoriginal or pathetic?" demons and continue to battle the "this is so embarrassing" monster.

fan•fic  n. Informal—Fiction written by fans as an extension of an admired work or series of works, especially a television show, often posted on the Internet or published in fanzines.

Who is Fan Fiction About?

As I said before, fanfic can be based on almost anything these days. Case in point, there is fanfic based on the Bible. There’s also fanfic based on fanfic. If someone can be a rabid fan of something, they can and probably do write fanfic about it.

To that end, while you will find ER fanfic, The Breakfast Club fanfic, and even Spongebob Square Pants fanfic, generally speaking, the more cultish something is, the more likely it is to have fanfic develop around it. Sci–fi, horror, and fantasy are particularly prone to generating fanfic and fanfic communities. The sovereigns in today’s world of fanfic are: Star Trek, Star Wars, The X–Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Highlander, and The Lord of The Rings. These kings of fanfic have thousands of writers and tens of thousands of stories evolving from their mythologies. But for every 1,000 Xena fanfic writers, be assured there is at least one Welcome Back Kotter fanfic writer sweating over her Barbarino/Horshack banter and working late into the night.

No matter what the fandom or source material, the heart of fanfic is the relationships. Sometimes fanfic writers want more from an established romantic couple. Sometimes they want to see characters together that never have and never will be romantically together. Sometimes they want to explore nontraditional couples. Everyone has favorite pairings (called ‘ships, from the word relationships) and wants to share their vision with the world.

Who Writes Fan Fiction?

The obvious answer is fans. You have to have a certain level of passion and enthusiasm for both the source material and the story you want to tell to sit down and actually write fanfic. It’s a labor of love. But if you plunge into the vast sea of fanfic out there, you won’t find carefully crafted, lovingly slaved–over masterpieces. In fact, nine times out of ten, you’ll find quite the opposite. You’ll quickly come to realize that illiterate, histrionic 14–year–olds write the majority of what’s out there. It’s not all bad, of course, but oh, so much of it is!

But there are good writers out there, and they are telling interesting stories. It's just a matter of finding them.

The Ups and Downs of Fan Fiction

Shame vs. Passion: There is often a deep, abiding sense of shame when it comes to writing and even reading fanfic. This is because it’s generally relegated to the realm of the over–involved kooks. Whether you’re writing or reading, but especially if you are writing, it means that you can’t get enough of something (TV show, movie, video game, etc.) and you’ll do whatever it takes to get more. But haven’t we been taught that passion for something is rare and should be treasured? Giving yourself over to a story that moves you can be very empowering. Inspiration is a finicky beast, and sometimes you just have to grab on and ride. The question of "am I junkie or am I an aficionado?" tends to become a matter of perspective. Only you really know if you have a problem.

Quality vs. Feedback: We’ve established that the majority of fanfic is pedantic, unoriginal, and of average to below–average quality. And that’s a best–case scenario! Spelling and grammar rules are followed on a voluntary rather than compulsory basis. The characters are often flat, the plot missing completely. Why would anyone, much less a serious writer (or an amateur who takes writing seriously) waste his or her time in the world of fanfic? It all comes back to feedback and fan mail. Instant feedback is the main hallmark of fanfic—you know, often in excruciating detail, how your audience feels about what you are writing. And since—hey, we’re all just fans here—they feel they have as much right to the story as you do. They aren't afraid to tell you how they think it should be. Plus your audience will regularly tell you how great you are and demand that you write more. Having someone claim that they are going to die if they don’t get to read more of your story soon is pretty good for the ego.

Fanfic and Me

I’m writing a story in a fandom I’ve never been that keen on. It would make sense if I were writing Buffy fanfic, since I’m this huge fan and repository of arcane BtVS trivia, but no, I’m not. I guess I’ve always felt that the best Buffy stories are the "official" ones. I can’t bring anything unique to that particular table. Such is my level of fandom—I’m not worthy!

But Dawson’s Creek... now there’s a show that always had plenty of room for improvement. At times wonderful, at times bad, at times wonderfully bad, I watched this show religiously for the first three–and–a half years. When TPTB (The Powers That Be, a common term in fandoms and fanfic) announced the show would be ending at the conclusion of its sixth season, I got nostalgic. And nostalgia weakens resolve. I watched the last several episodes. Except for the two–hour finale, they were all pretty much standard DC crap. But oh! The finale! It was glorious. It was everything the fans could have wanted: a wedding, a reunion, a death, love, sex, and in–jokes galore!

Set five years in the future and furiously commenting on itself, the season finale could have been written by a skilled fanfic writer. It was, in fact, written by the long–absent series creator Kevin Williamson and gave fans a taste of what the show could have been like had Mr. Williamson not left during the second season to helm such masterpieces as Wasteland and Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Because it was set five years in the future, there were some large pieces missing. How did we get here?

And that’s where the fanfic bug grabbed ahold of me. I was fascinated by the relationship between Jack and Doug. Jack was a main character for four seasons but was routinely sidelined. The character’s homosexuality made for great fodder during sweeps, but the rest of the time they never seemed to know what to do with him. Doug was a secondary character who appeared in only 20 episodes over the course of six seasons. In the finale, Jack and Doug were in a loving, committed, but secret relationship. How did we get here?

I’m about one hundred pages in and let me say that this is the lengthiest piece of anything I’ve written in a very long time. I’m enjoying working within the Dawson’s Creek universe. I know how it all ends, but finding fun ways to get there has been a challenge. Staying true to established characters and capturing those characters’ voices has also been a good exercise for me.

Will I continue writing fanfic after I’m done with this piece? I doubt it, but I’ll never say never again. If I find another story that calls out to me, and I feel I'm the only person who can really do it justice, I’ll give it another shot. First I need to finish this one. But the odds are good that I won't become a prolific fanfic writer. Nevertheless, my scorn and derision for the medium is gone. I’ve given myself over to this guilty pleasure. But please, don’t tell anybody!

If you would like to read my fanfic, you’ll find it here.

Allie sometimes works as a Web developer/producer. Other times she doesn't work at all. Working is less stressful than not working, but all this not working does makes her feel more like a writer and less like a cog in a machine. She can be contacted at agerlach@excite.com.