How Fanfiction Made Me Fall in Love with Writing

I kind of think it’s funny when people ask me how I got into writing because, truthfully, I was inspired by Monster High. Moreover, my first ever written novel was a 20 chapter self-insert fanfiction where the characters at Monster High came to get me so I could join them at the aforementioned school. I wrote it all in a notebook that’s probably in a garbage dump somewhere now, deteriorating as I write this. Nobody ever got to read it besides me; it was something for me and me alone.

I didn’t have a phone or internet when I decided to write that in sixth grade. I didn’t even know the term fanfiction. I just liked the world and characters so much that I wanted to try my hand at it. It made me feel good- the first thing I had ever felt good about. I didn’t know that I could feel that way about something. It was then and there that I decided that writing was the career for me. It was the ability to explore myself and my creativity through this medium- through the things that interest me- that truly made me fall in love with writing.

I’ve been writing fiction for around 11 years now, and I’ve seen people push against fanfiction over those years, thinking that it’s not a valid form of writing or thinking it juvenile. I wonder if those people have ever truly experienced the love and care that goes into this form that they put down. Have they ever read something with as much care and attention as a fan expressing their love through the means of storytelling?

I think the ability to lose yourself in another piece of fiction so much so that it gives you inspiration is something truly special. I’ve always been the type of person to fall in love with fiction- with plot, characters, setting, themes. I think fanfiction is just an extension of that love; it’s like a love letter in a sense. I care about these characters so much that I want to write a happier ending for them. Or maybe I want to delve into the characters further- how would they react under different circumstances based on their personalities and backstories? Maybe I just want them to be able to cope with the circumstances they were dealt because I relate. Maybe the world and plot has so many possibilities that I want to explore.

Either way, I will have fun.

Because I just love fiction that much.