The Oxford Dictionary defines fanfiction as "fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, or other piece of creative media" that has already been established. Fanfiction is a fairly new form of literature. Often not respected by critics, fanfiction is touted as either a waste of the English language or an absurd addition to an already established universe. But despite that, it has taken the internet over by storm, with young people in particular attaching their own narratives onto previously established universes. Are there older fanfiction writers? Of course. But that does not change the fact that fanfiction is a very new medium of writing, with a very adolescent-skewed fanbase.

This fanfiction phenomenon was detailed in a recent novel by Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl, wherein the protagonist Cath is admonished by her teacher by showing off a work of her fanfiction, which she was really proud of, as an example of her creative writing ability. Cath is upset about this and at her teacher for denying her true creative potential, but eventually goes on to win a writing award for an original story she wrote, while still being partly based on an established narrative. But the real question is, why does she write fanfiction in the first place at all? Why do young people feel the need to add or subtract to worlds created by others?

One explanation could be that it's simply easier to enter a world with already established rules. With Harry Potter, there are certain characters and places that are already built into the wizarding world. As a writer, you don't have to explain the rules of magic or whether humans know about wizards. You don't have to explain who Hermione or Draco or Snape is and establish them as characters- it's all already there in the text. There's also little risk to fanfiction writing- the vast majority of time, no one making a book or a TV series cares about what some 16-year-old girl is making up about the Harry Potter universe.

Now all that doesn't mean fanfiction can never make real-life changes to an established universe. In the animated television series The Legend of Korra, two characters in the show, the main character Korra and her romantic rival turned friend Asami, were so beloved by the fans as a couple that they were "shipped" as Korrasami. In the beginning, the show had no hints at any sort of romance between them. However, after Korrasami became a huge thing in fanfiction, the writers of the show started taking notice, dropping little hints here or there of a possible relationship. By the end of the show, it was all but confirmed, and officially confirmed outside of the show, that these two female characters had become a couple. But more often than not, this is the exception rather than the norm.

So, to ask Rainbow Rowell's question again, is writing fanfiction really creative?

Well, I don't necessarily think that's the right question to be asking. Because it's not the fanfiction that really matters- it's the people behind them. More often than not, people write fanfiction to explore ideas that are harder to explore on their own. Themes of sexuality, queer characters, and other problems of young people that most mainstream stories barely glimpse at are laid out in full force. Are all fanfictions hugely creative stories that need to be told? Not necessarily. In fact, probably not. By their very nature they are ancillary. But if these are stories our young people are telling, and en masse as well, critics should learn to be less dismissive of them. Because the stories we tell as children lay the cornerstones of the stories we tell as adults. No matter how grammar-less and outlandish they may be.