Becky Crawley is a student of LRWG's "Breaking Into Print" writing course and recently published her first original short story, Ocheilei, in the Destiny3 e-zine.

 

While Fan Fiction should not be an end unto itself, it can be a valuable way-station on your journey toward professionalism.  Let Becky tell you why.

                        --Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor

 

Comfort Zone

By Becky Crawley

 

 

            My best friend is a blue dragon named Aerth and our life is devoted to ridding our planet from the terrible ravages of Thread. 

            I am the elf maiden captured by orcs during the War of the Ring and rescued by Elladan Peredhil, son of Lord Elrond of Rivendell. 

            I am Shar Moonstrider, Jedi knight and sister to one of the galaxy's most notorious smugglers. 

            I meet Johnny Depp in a coffee shop and we have a deep, meaningful discussion about his latest movie role.

As a child, when I didn't have my head in a book, I was daydreaming. I imagined myself into the worlds created by others, both in print and on the movie screen.   I also loved to create worlds of my own.  When I first started to write, I wanted to be completely original but I had a hard time finishing my writing projects.  When a friend asked me to write a story for her about a celebrity she had a crush on, I decided to try fan fiction instead.

Fan fiction is a genre of creative writing that uses a pre-cut cast of characters and a world that has already been defined by an author or a screenwriter.  There is also a category of fan fiction called 'real person fiction' which involves writing yourself, a friend or some original character into the lives of celebrities.  You can find internet sites devoted to fan fiction of every kind.  Some of it is written by fans with no real regard for grammar or writing style.  Other stories are well written by aspiring writers or even well known authors.

Since fan fiction stories are 'borrowed' from another person's ideas, it is not legal to publish fan fiction for sale or profit.  Most often, fan fiction writers submit their work to public, on-line archives or create websites to showcase their work.  On rare occasions, creators of copyrighted material will approve a book or an anthology to be published, but you would find it very hard to make a living writing fan fiction.  What it can do, however, is provide you with an opportunity to practice writing.  Like putting training wheels on a bike for a child, fan fiction allows you to face writing with eager support from readers and without the fear of rejection letters. 

I started writing fan fiction because I had eager readers, material to build a story from, and a hunger to write something that I was actually  motivated to finish.  By inviting people to read my fan fiction on the internet, I had readers who were already hooked on the characters and the worlds I was borrowing from.   Positive feedback and constructive criticism from my readers encouraged me to keep writing.  With this support, I was able to finish my first serial story.  When I look back on it now, the story was not well written or original, but I had accomplished something.

            Challenged by well written stories, I worked hard to perfect my grammar and writing style.  I tried to break away from predictable plots and worked to create original characters.  I was working on three different projects and had several ideas running around in my head at one point.  I spent as much time in front of my computer writing as I did at my full time job.  Sometimes I got tired of writing, but that’s when I turned to my readers for motivation.  I didn't want to let them down so I wrote even when the stories didn't inspire me. 

There are days when I don't think I'll ever make it through another paragraph, much less an entire chapter.  I've learned to push through those dry spells without making the plot and the characters suffer.   When I have a finished product, it comes with a sense of pride and accomplishment, not to mention relief.  With fan fiction, the sense of accomplishment can quickly dwindle in the face of thousands of other stories cut from the same template.  That's when the urge to be completely original can turn a fan fiction writer into a true fiction writer.  

In fan fiction, I found a comfort zone consisting of ready-made characters, pre-defined worlds and interested readers.  It gave me the tools I needed to write and allowed me the freedom to practice in a safe place with eager readers and no pressure from editors.  With original fiction, you must create your own worlds and new, exciting characters.  You also have to write well enough to capture new readers with places and people that they aren’t already familiar with and leave them wanting to know more. 

Leaving the comfort zone isn't easy, but it is the only way to get out of the limiting confines of a predetermined world and into a universe where the only boundaries are those created by your imagination.  Once you get a glimpse of that universe, you might find your comfort zone is actually a cage. I am now more than willing to slip between the bars into the unknown.  Maybe one day I’ll look back and find people writing themselves into one of my worlds.  That would be the sincerest form of flattery.

For the curious, I’ll reference a few good websites for fan fiction.  Just be sure to read all disclaimers and warnings first. 

This archive website is for fan fiction writers of all ages, genres and writing ability: http://www.fanfiction.net .  Try http://fanfic.theforce.net   for Star Wars fan fiction, or http://www.henneth-annun.net  for fiction set in the worlds of J.R.R Tolkien.  Maybe you are a fan of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation?  Try http://www.typhoidandswans.com/thebodyfarm/fiction/index_links_csific.html .   Something else interest you?  Go to your favorite search engine and search for anything + fan fiction and you are almost certain to find something to explore. 

Just don’t forget to lose those  training wheels eventually!