Professor James Moriarty is the least of Sherlock Holmes’s worries as the detective delves into the mystery of the disappearance and reappearance of people from a brick wall at a London railway station. In another place and time, Elizabeth Bennet, her sisters and Mr Darcy are engaged in a fierce battle against zombies at a local ball. In a parallel universe, Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen are using their magic and archery skills to overthrow a dystopian regime.
Welcome to the world of fanfiction (often abbreviated as “fanfic”), where fans become creators, spinning new tales based on existing novels, TV shows, comics, movies and even real-life celebrities. It is a realm of “what if”, where anything goes. Your favourite characters may find themselves in completely different settings, developing new relationships, interacting with characters from different works, or getting promoted to a leading role—or all of the above.
Fanfiction is not a recent phenomenon. It is argued that fanfiction has brought forth some of the greatest literary works, such as Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy (which features major religious, political and literary figures) and Shakespeare’s plays (many of which draw on earlier literature, including the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio and Arthur Brooke). Even with a strict definition of fanfiction, you would be hard-pressed not to include many works from as early as the 19th century. When Sherlock Holmes, the fictional sleuth, was killed off by his creator in 1893, outraged fans took matters into their hands and resurrected their hero in their own versions of adventures. Similarly, Jane Austen’s novels have inspired fan-created stories for over a century. In 1913, a devoted Janeite named Sybil G. Brinton brought characters from six Jane Austen novels into a new story, Old Friends and New Fancies. It is considered the first published work of Austen fanfiction.
While the root of fanfiction lies in the love of books, the genre really blossomed in the 1960s when Star Trek hit the airwaves and exploded in popularity. The publication of Spockanalia, a fanzine featuring some of the earliest works of fanfiction for the series, unleashed another wave of creativity among Trekkers. This period marked the first golden age of modern fanfiction.
The rise of the Internet in the late 1990s revolutionised the way stories are shared. Platforms such as FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own (AO3) and Wattpad have become hubs for millions of stories, bringing together aspiring writers, readers and like-minded fans. Amateur writers run the gamut from hilariously awful to highly professional. Sometimes, you just have to sift through a field of coal to find the glittering diamond.
One of the most remarkable success stories developing from fanfiction is Fifty Shades of Grey. Originally titled Master of the Universe and published online, the Twilight-inspired story was transformed by E.L. James with the names of the characters changed and the most obvious references removed. The Fifty Shades trilogy has since sold more than 165 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a popular film series. After its commercial success, many novels based on the trilogy have appeared, sparking a flurry of pastiches, parodies and homages.
As fanfiction has grown exponentially in recent decades, the original authors have been divided over what to do about it. Some authors, such as Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon and George R.R. Martin, have expressed their disapproval of fanfiction based on their works, citing concerns about copyright infringements. Others are more tolerant of the practice. J.K. Rowling, for example, has given her blessing to fans writing their stories online, provided that they will not monetise their creations and will steer clear of racism or adult content. And some authors not only allow fans to build on their works, but also actively encourage them to do so. In response to a letter from a child yearning for more of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis wrote: “I’m afraid there will be no more of these stories. But why don’t you try writing some Narnian tales?”
Fanfiction is a modern iteration of one of mankind’s oldest experiences: telling each other stories around a fire at the end of the day. Despite the opposition of some authors, the urge to write and connect with fellow enthusiasts is too strong to ignore. In the world of fanfiction, the stories never truly conclude—they are always open-ended, waiting to be continued. Cornelia Funke sums it up best in her fantasy novel Inkspell: “Stories never really end ... even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don’t end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page.”
