The word "fanfiction" has a slightly negative connotation.

In the world of mass media, "fanfiction" is looked down upon as a lesser form of media. This makes a tad bit of sense since "fanfiction" is usually written by those who are amateur writers, those who are just starting out their writing careers with a very open form of writing. In short, "fanfiction" is a form of fiction that takes preexisting characters/plots and twists them into a whole new story. Since the author does not have to create all new characters, this form of writing is considered lazy by many. My argument, however, is that "fanfiction" is an incredible art form for both the writers to experiment with and for readers to expand their imagination.

I was once a "fanfiction" writer. Back in my middle school days, I was very bored with the routine writing that I was forced to do in school. I had to write about books that I didn’t care about or on subjects that I didn’t find interesting.

So I turned to writing my own stories. I tried writing my own original plots, but I didn’t seem to gain much recognition. I posted my stories on several forums that I was a part of in hopes that someone would read my works, but no one did. I was devastated and I wanted to give up writing altogether. In my desperation to be recognized, I turned to "fanfiction."

I decided to start writing about one of my favorite shows at the time: "Total Drama Island." Surprisingly, I ended up being one of the most popular "Total Drama Island" fanfic writers on Fanfiction.net. I would get numerous reviews and comments from people all over the world. My fan base continued to grow and once my first story was finished, I had over 50 followers. This is when I decided to start writing some more original works. I didn’t have all of my followers follow me into my original works phase, but I had quite a few people continue to read my work.

"Fanfiction" gave me the confidence that I needed to continue writing. It also taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to form sentences that flowed in a narrative, it taught me how to captivate an audience, and it taught me how to use commas. These are all very useful skills needed to be a good writer.

Yes, it was a little lazy since I used other characters, but it allowed me to explore their already existing character traits and utilize them in different situations. By being able to do this, I am now able to create my own characters and explore their traits. I see this in a lot of "fan fiction" writers. As I follow my favorite writers, I find that they start to branch off on their own as well. They work on their original works and I see how their days as a fanfic writer served them well.

As readers of "fanfiction," we are also given the opportunity to expand our imaginations. By watching characters that we are familiar with being put in different situations, "fanfiction" allows readers to expand their creative thinking. It’s like a puzzle, putting a person in different situations and watching how they react to them. Eventually, writers are able to create their own stories and put their characters into those same situations.

There is a ton of horrible "fanfiction" out there. A lot of writers are very new and have a hard time forming coherent plots. They might even have horrible grammar. Nonetheless, these writers need encouragement. They need feedback from their readers so that they can improve. With their new found confidence, they can improve and write truly amazing "fanfictions." I find some of these stories to be even better than some original stories that I have read. Give "fanfiction" a chance and maybe you might just see the greatness that I see in it.