- Romance site Heroes & Heartbreakers discussed Why Romance Fans Read Fan Fiction. “[E]ven between quality fanfiction and a good romance novel, there are essential differences. The most obvious is the prevalence of ‘slash fiction‘” whereas “Other differences are structural…Fics aren’t as standardized as novels, which can be refreshing when I want to read a love story but don’t want to commit to a full novel.” In addition to being online, free, and plentiful, “there are plots I can only accept in fan fiction, because of their sheer implausibility” and “there are some plots fan fiction just does better.”
- While fanfiction didn’t invent erotica, it’s certainly done a lot to promote it. In an interview on The Frisky, two of the three authors interviewed got their start in it. “Avital:…Here I was reading a fan story about Eric & Sookie and then all of a sudden — whoa! This was way past anything HBO was showing or Charlaine Harris intimated at in her PG-13 books. Jeanette: That’s quite similar to the fan fiction erotica discovery process, Jess. Just, with fan fiction, you go looking for more of some characters you love, and then BAM! Hardcore graphic sex between those characters you love. What’s not to like there?”
- ABS-CBNNews pointed out the visibility of Filipino characters and stories on Wattpad. “A number of Filipino users whose stories first appeared on Wattpad have also been picked up by publishers and are now selling well in bookstores, including ‘Diary ng Panget’ by HaveYouSeenThisGirl (PSICOM) and ‘She’s Dating the Gangster’ by Bianca B. Bernardino (Summit). Recognizing their growing Filipino market, the Wattpad team is in the Philippines to join the book fair at the SMX Convention Center and meet their readers for the first time…The event also features a meet and greet with Wattpad’s hottest young writers…Over 900 Wattpad users have already registered to attend the event.”
- Mahou Tofu explored how everyone can be a fan fiction writer. “I guess the theme here is that everyone can pretty much relate to fan writers. Whether you have thought up a story that is slightly different from the one that was professionally written, read a fanfiction, or written anything ourselves, fan writing in general is something that starts with the word ‘fan’ for a reason. We are fanatics and there is a demand for more. We may not all be professional writers, but there is good stuff out there.”
- On the flip side, The Soap Box discussed the drawbacks of fanfic including unfinished stories, too much romance, endless stories, unreadable work and “unnecessary filler.”
What do you think fan fiction does well? Write about your favorite works in Fanlore! Contributions are welcome from all fans.
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