I have wanted to write this discussion for quite some time now, however, when every time I sit down I don’t know what to say, I decided that it is time to just write it. Fanfiction is a controversial discussion around the book word; some people love it, some people hate it. Is it right to do? Is it wrong? Why do people write it? Questions like these are asked all the time.

I have been reading Fanfiction since I was twelve years old. I loved it then and I love it now. The main reason I read fanfiction is, that I love a book so much that I don’t want to leave it, the world of the book captures me and all I want to do is delve more into it.

Firstly, what is fanfiction?

Fanfiction is where someone uses characters, the world or other attributes of an already published novel to write a story.

What do I read?

I don’t read a range of fanfiction, at the moment I mostly only read Harry Potter and if you know me well you will know why. Harry has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I want to be with him forever. I love reading anything to do with James and Lily and Harry and Ginny.

I love how people can create and build characters’, I love seeing how people perceive characters, relationships the world. I may not agree with some of the changes that they have done, and that is totally fine.

When I first started to read fanfiction I did read some Twilight stories, because at that aged I loved it. However, I never read any Bella and Edward fanfiction – I don’t even know why, I always seemed to get bored with them, so I read Bella and different members of the pack – yes I’m weird.

I have also read some Vampire Academy, Percy Jackson and The Mortal Instruments. Vampire Academy is probably higher on my reading list than the others.

There is one rule that I have when reading fanfiction, I only read stories where a book/series have finished. I don’t want to get confused with how other people see the characters and how the author has shown them.

Is it okay?

The main question that is asked about fanfiction; is it okay to write? It’s hard to have a solid answer for this, for me, if the person who has written the story isn’t gaining money from it and has acknowledged that they have not created the world, characters etc. – then I’m okay with it.

However, if the person is receiving money or has published the book then now, they shouldn’t do that and I won’t read it.

There are some authors that don’t like when their books have inspired fanfictions and that is totally okay – they can feel that way, they can think that way.

I feel that fanfictions is an amazing exercise for people that want to be authors. They are able to write with established characters they can work with that, they are able to create dialogue, write in a world that has already been built. It’s a way of just working on the authors writing rather than world building.

Bad side 

One of the things that I dislike about reading fanfiction is the response from others, it’s not a thing that I think about all the time, nevertheless when people ask if you read it – I don’t like to say yes – because they look down on me.

It’s mostly since I have been at university that I’ve noticed this and maybe it’s because they are older and most fanfiction is to do with young adult novels, and teens and people that read young adult can connect with it more – I don’t know.

Another bad side is that there is some umm…quite horrible pairings in fanfiction. Some that even thinking about makes me cringe, it’s like a big no-no. From time to time you stumble on it without realising and you can get a little shock.

Also, the writing of some stories are not up to a certain standard that I like to read and it’s easy to close the tab and start another.

Where can you read it? 

Most of the fanfiction that I do read is on fanfiction.net – I like how it works, how I can be specific about what I want to read. It’s easy to navigate and there is quite a lot on there.

Wattpad also has fanfiction, however, that has a lot more to do with celebrities rather than books. A couple of moths ago I wrote a post about reading on Wattpad and what it means to me.

Overall fanfiction is not for everyone; some people love it, some hate it and that is alright. It is fun reading material for those who want to read more in the world of the book or series that they love, hear about characters after the books have finished and it’s a fantastic writing tool for bubbling writers.

Do you read fanfiction? If so, what do you read? What are some of your favourite stories? or Have you read in the past? Or maybe not at all. Let’s Chat!