By Wanjiku Kungu

I was first introduced to fan fiction when I was scrolling through my Dashboard on the blogging website Tumblr. I think I was searching for pictures and or videos of Chris Brown (my crush since the 7^th grade) when I found a posted story where he was the main character and the story plot was created by a fan. I began to read and soon became sucked into the story. So I went to the source blog titled Your Love Fanfiction where I saw that there were over fifty chapters and the writer was creating more. I had a lot of catching up to do, so most of my free time was spent reading and soon fan fiction was the only form of amusement I was devoted to.

Fan fiction is simply stories written by fans of a particular original work, such as a book or a movie, but for me there was nothing simple about it. As a writer, I admired those who could create believable stories that I could only daydream. Perhaps you didn’t like a specific couple being together on a television show or you thought the plot of a film could have gone another way. With writing fan fiction, like any other story, you are the director and writer but your characters are already established.

Little did I know this genre of literature that I thought I had “discovered” was much bigger than I could ever fathom. People all over the world have been reading and creating fan fiction for years. As of 2010, Fanfiction.net is the largest and most popular fan fiction website in the world founded in 1998. With nine categories ranging from TV shows, to cartoons, to miscellaneous, readers can find a multitude of fan fictions. The same categories are available as crossovers too: fan fiction stories that span more than one universe. Users who register on the website can submit their own fan fiction, review other stories, and much more. For those who prefer stories suitable for most ages, they can read those rated K. Others who don’t mind a little flesh on flesh contact can read those stories rated MA which “contain explicit content for mature adults only.” I’ll keep my preference to myself.

How can I describe my addiction to fan fiction? I guess there isn’t much to explain besides the fact that ever since I started reading I haven’t been able to stop. It’s become like watching television (which says a lot if you know me). At the end of the day, when all of my homework is done and I’m showered and ready for bed, I end the night with some fan fiction.

Fan fiction takes a lot of skill to create. Though the characters are already known, you have to make the readers believe this is what he or she would do. You have to capture the personality of your characters in order to gain the readers’ trust. Believability and creativity are the two most important factors. I think Fanfiction.net said it best…it’s a way to “unleash your imagination.”