Perspective: Fan Fiction

Hello!

I know I usually don't do this, but I wanted to ask your opinions on something that I know a lot of bloggers out there - and readers - spend time doing when they aren't reading novels. And that is, reading fan fiction!

Personally, I'll admit that I've been neglecting reading actual novels lately because of the temptation that is fan fiction. The allure is all there. I mean, while reading an actual published book, I'd find myself asking questions like: Why didn't the author do this? or What would happen if this character did this?

The majority of the time, you'll find that other people are asking those same questions. A lot of them take the time to use the author's characters in their own way and write what is called fan fiction. For those who don't know, fan fiction is basically the everyday person being able to use an author's copyrighted characters in whatever way they please in their own work of literature. (Keep in mind, you have to give credit to the author in disclaimers.)

I think there are ups and downs to fan fiction.

An up is that some of them are really great to read! They're well written and are a way to pass the time while waiting for a book to be published or in the case that the author is done writing that certain book series you're reading fan fiction for. Downs are that some people completely butcher the author's work. An easy fix to that though, is to click away from the page. A lot of people also have issues with the fact that it is basically taking someone else's work and interpreting it in your own way.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you read, or write, fan fiction?

I do both. Read and write. I particularly enjoy doing both!