By R. Raeta
At the risk of potentially sounding older than I am—back in my day, fanfiction wasn’t even a blip on the radar for most people. Now, it has grown into something that is recognized and discussed. Many published authors have openly admitted to starting their writing journey in the fandom trenches. Many of them still find joy writing fanfiction even as they write published works, despite having no monetary incentive to do so. There are entire TikTok handles dedicated to fanfic recommendations.
As an author who found my voice between full-fledged chapter length fics and drabble-style one shots, it has been an absolute joy to see. I’m excited to see readers discovering the same joy in following their favorite characters off the published page and into alternate timelines and universes. I’m even more thrilled at the thought of all the gifted writers bound to blossom from this insurgence. Because I truly believe that one of the greatest ways to improve our writing craft is to write fanfiction.
After all, what better way to learn how to write characters with depth than by mastering someone else’s. When writing fanfic, we are more likely to pause and ask ourselves: is this out of character? Write enough of it, and that question becomes more muscle memory than thought. Does this sound like something this character would say? Would this character really react like this? Surely the love interest wouldn’t find that attractive?
I am a lover of character-driven stories. I will read hundreds of thousands of words with characters that have enough depth to feel real even if the plot is tired or low stakes. In contrast, if you hand me a book with an excellent plot but the characters feel one-dimensional? I likely won’t be compelled to finish it, because the stakes don’t feel real if the characters don’t. Is this simply personal preference? In part, but well-rounded characters with depth will only strengthen a story.
Another benefit of writing fanfic is that it’s often done in a serial format (i.w. one chapter at a time posted at different intervals). Now, I’m sure many writers learn incredibly helpful skills like time management and the benefits of drafting before starting out a novel length story from posting serial work.
Alas, I was not one of them. I did, however, sharpen another skill.
I always see a lot of advice on how the first chapter should draw your readers in and make them want to keep reading. What I don’t see a lot of discussion on is that all those chapters between ‘beginning’ and ‘end’ should do the same. Writing serially gives the unique opportunity to really focus and practice on strengthening your chapter endings. In a book format, an author has to lure the reader into wanting to turn the next page. For serial stories? It has to make enough of an impact on readers that they’ll want to come back days, weeks, even months later.
Last, but perhaps most importantly, fanfiction is a community. One in which you get feedback and encouragement with every drabble and chapter posted. At the end of the day, what hones our craft more than anything else is writing. To be able to do it in an environment where there is no pressure over sales or pitches, an environment that thrives on the love of characters and worlds, is freeing. Fanfiction is a place to explore your craft, to try on different narratives and styles, and have fun doing it.
These days, I don’t write as much fanfiction as I used to, though I still read plenty. My time is mostly spent on building my own stories that I hope will someday inspire a fanfic or two of its own. However, with every compliment I receive on my writing, I never forget that it was fanfiction and the community around it that brought me here.
