(And Why Do People Still Look Down on It?)
Ah, fanfiction. The beloved yet scorned bastard child of the literary world. A creative playground where people pour their souls into crafting stories, only to be met with snide remarks like, “When are you going to write something real?” (as if real means profitable and not just emotionally devastating).
But here’s the thing: Fanfiction has always been the backbone of storytelling. Some of the most beloved works in history? Glorified fanfic.
Disney: The King of Fanfiction
Take a stroll down Main Stream, and you’ll find that Disney has essentially built an empire on remixing old fairy tales. The Little Mermaid? Hans Christian Andersen would be raising an eyebrow if he weren’t over 150 years dead. Beauty and the Beast? That’s been around in various forms since the 1700s. The Lion King? Yeah, that’s just Hamlet with fur and a banger soundtrack.
So why isn’t Disney accused of writing fanfiction? Because they slap a copyright on it, animate it with a multi-million-dollar budget, and suddenly it’s “an adaptation” instead of “a retelling written at 2 AM with no beta reader.”
What About TV Shows? Fanfiction, But Make It Profitable
Let’s talk about Once Upon a Time, which is literally “What if all the fairy tale characters coexisted in a single universe?” That’s fanfiction. The Teen Wolf TV show? A dramatic, supernatural fanfic of an 80s comedy film. BBC Sherlock? Modern AU fanfic, but with Martin Freeman making it classy. Even superhero movies, which constantly reboot characters and remix old stories, are essentially professionally produced fanfiction.
So why do those count as “real” stories while your 100k-word epic about Geralt and Jaskier adopting a child in the Witcher universe gets dismissed as “just fanfic”?
The 70-Year Rule: When Copyright Dies, Your Fanfiction Becomes Literature
A major factor is copyright law. Once an author’s rights expire (typically 70 years after their death), their works enter the public domain. Suddenly, anyone can write a Pride and Prejudice retelling with zombies (oh wait, someone already did). No one calls it fanfiction anymore because now it can be legally published and sold without risking a lawsuit.
This is why we see a million Sherlock Holmes adaptations, yet writing a Supernatural fic where Dean finally goes to therapy remains stuck in the unpaid void of AO3.
So, Why Is Fanfiction Still Considered “Lesser” Writing?
1. It’s often free. People associate monetary success with legitimacy. If it’s not making money, it’s not “real.” (Except, you know, plenty of traditional writers make zero money too. But capitalism ruins everything, so here we are.)
2. It’s seen as derivative. As if writing an original story means you didn’t absorb a lifetime of influences. News flash: Every story borrows from something. (Romeo and Juliet was inspired by an Italian novella, which was inspired by something else, etc., etc.)
3. It’s deeply personal. Fanfic thrives on emotion, found family, and themes that often aren’t explored in traditional publishing. And let’s be real—people love to dismiss anything created by (and for) passionate communities, especially when a lot of those communities are women, queer people, and young writers.
Fanfiction Is Storytelling in Its Purest Form
The truth is, fanfiction isn’t lesser. It’s how stories have always evolved. Oral traditions? Mythology? Retellings? All fanfic before the word existed. The difference is whether or not you can slap a price tag on it.
So if you’re writing fanfiction and worried it’s not real writing—don’t be. It’s as real as anything on a bookshelf or a streaming service. And who knows? If you wait 70 years, your fanfic might just be considered literature.