What Is Fan Fiction & How Do I Write It?

We’re writing about fan fiction – what it is and how to write it. We also include examples of fan fiction.

What Is Fan Fiction?

Fan fiction is exactly what it sounds like. It’s fiction written by fans using characters, as well as settings, from a copyrighted book, existing movie, TV show, or video game. It’s a lot of fun to write and other fans love it. Fan fiction authors often create the fiction as an expansion or a reinterpretation of the source material.

The writers often take the characters further than the original author intended or create new stories with those same characters.

Which means that as fun as it is to write, if the author of the original work is still alive, and if the original work is under copyright, publishing fan fiction for monetary gain is illegal. Publishing it, without monetary gain, on fan fiction websites (like FanFiction.net and Archive Of Our Own) is not illegal. Some authors, like J K Rowling don’t mind this. Others are adamantly against it and, like Ann Rice, have taken such a strong stand against it that the sites have had to remove thousands of fan fiction stories.

Examples Of Fan Fiction

My Immortal (author credited as Tara Gilesbie) is a Harry Potter fanfic originally posted to FanFiction.net (2006)
My First Meeting with Sherlock Holmes by Ellery Queen
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James was first published on Fanfiction.net as Master of the Universe (It is based on Twilight)

On FanFiction, the top 5 fandoms are:

On Archive of Our Own, they are:

Harry Potter – J. K. Rowling (553856)
Star Wars – All Media Types (244255)
Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms (136635)
TOLKIEN J. R. R. – Works & Related Fandoms (108954)
A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms (104434)

So how did Pride And Prejudice And Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith get away with it?

There are two reasons:

Pride And Prejudice And Zombies isn’t fan fiction; it’s a parody.
Anything Jane Austen wrote has been out of copyright for over 130 years. This explains why there are so many different versions in both books and film. Bridget Jones’ Diary is fan fiction. P D James’ book Death Comes To Pemberly is a pastiche. – which can be defined as literary fan fiction.

Other Pride And Prejudice fan fiction includes the surprising number of books, approximately twenty-nine, about Mary Bennet. Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel is the most surprising. What can Mary Bennet, Victor Frankenstein, and his monster, Adam, have to do with each other?

What does ‘canon’ have to do with fan fiction?

Canon is the work of fiction created by the original author which describes ‘what took place’. It is the ‘truth’, the ‘lore’ of the characters, the plot, the setting etc. as described in the book. Fan fiction therefore is not canon and can’t be considered as such. No matter how good it is.

Is The Witcher TV series canon or fan fiction?

No. The original books were written by Andrzej Sapkowski. In the 1990s the right to make games from the books were bought by CDPR. The right to make films and TV series based on the books are held by Netflix. Only the books written by Andrzej Sapkowski are Witcher canon.

Is fan-fiction the same as a retelling?

No. A retelling is a different version of the same story, possibly from someone else’s point of view. It can only be done on books that are out of copyright. Examples of retellings are:

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It is a prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë’. It is told from the point of view of the Jamaican Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway who after her marriage to Edward Rochester becomes ‘the madwoman in the attic’, renamed Bertha.
Mr Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker is also a prequel to Jane Eyre. It is Edward Rochester’s story.

A retelling doesn’t have to have the same interpretation of the ‘facts’ of the original book. It can have a totally new set of ‘facts’, and a new atmosphere. It can also be a completely different genre – or it can be a pastiche. Fan fiction doesn’t change the facts that are in the original canon. It builds upon them.

How Do I Write Fan Fiction?

If you want to make money from your story, make sure that the original book is out of copyright. This means that the classics are up for grabs.
If you aren’t interested in making money from your story only publish on fan fiction websites (like FanFiction.net and Archive Of Our Own) .
Don’t change the canon of the original book. Rather become totally immersed in the canon; its characters, setting, tone, plot, themes, and writing style.
Be deeply observant of the detail in the original book, the descriptions of place, the physical and emotional characteristics of the cast etc.
Do the necessary research into the era in which the original book was set. Jane Austen wrote about the community and social norms that she lived in. If you’re writing fan fiction of her books, you will need to know the same things she did, as well as she knew them.

Fan fiction is a great way to discover your own voice, style, and plots. You might love Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë as authors, but you may find that you prefer to write like P G Wodehouse! And that’s fine.

The Last Word

If you’d like to write for children, young adults, or adults, why not sign up for one of the rich and in-depth courses and workbooks that Writers Write offers to learn how to write the best book you possibly can.

by Elaine Dodge. Author of The Harcourts of Canada series and The Device Hunter, Elaine trained as a graphic designer, then worked in design, advertising, and broadcast television. She now creates content, mostly in written form, including ghost writing business books, for clients across the globe, but would much rather be drafting her books and short stories.

What Is Fan Fiction & How Do I Write It?