Why I Love Fanfiction

Many people will agree with me when I say that fanfiction is amazing.  If you've ever truly loved a book or a movie enough to want to explore it deeper than two hours or 200 pages allows, then you would understand the desire for it.  The ability to truly immerse yourself in a universe unlike your own, one that you've dreamed about so many times but then had to leave abruptly when you read the final page, is incredible.  You can read the adventures that other people take in their own imaginations, or you can create your own and share it for others to enjoy.

My personal favorite fandom is Harry Potter, and here's why.  I first read the Sorcerer's Stone when I was nine years old.  My teacher was reading it to us, a chapter a day.  I know that most of my classmates didn't take to it like I did, but I absolutely fell in love.  I had the Chamber of Secrets in my hands within days of finishing the first book.  I devoured it.  I loved it so much that I wished with all of my heart that it was real.

So when I got to the end of the third books (the Goblet of Fire hadn't been released yet at that time), I didn't want the adventures to end.  Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were real to me.  I didn't want to be away from them for the months and months that it would take for the fourth book to be published.  I was raised on computers and have always been very computer literate, so I did what I always did when I had to solve a problem - I turned to the internet.

And there I found harrypotterfanfiction.com.  There, I found hundreds of stories about the characters I loved in extraordinary situations that would never happen in the actual books.  I liked having my imagination stimulated by different ideas brought to life in the same magical world that I already knew.  What was even more interesting was reading stories about characters that J.K. Rowling hadn't talked much about yet.  What hijinks did Fred and George Weasley pull when Harry was off saving the world for the umpteenth time?  What did Remus Lupin do on a summer afternoon when Harry was back at the Dursleys'?  What were the interesting things that went on that Harry Potter never knew or cared about?

Of course, I have other fandoms I've come to love dearly over the years.  I enjoy Lord of the Rings, though I'm not as well versed in it as I should be.  Certain characters from the Twilight fandom can make for an interesting read.  The Hunger Games is fascinating to me, and I've been known to read Star Trek fanfiction from time to time, just to see what people come up with.  (I have an inner Trekkie.)

While some people look at fanfiction as a kind of obsessive way to live vicariously through the written word, I look at it as a natural expression of the love we have for stories.  We learn so much from the stories that we tell, as well as from the stories that we're told.  And some people just can't be satisfied with stolen glimpses of a universe that someone else has created.  Some people need to explore it in-depth, turn every stone and look at it from every angle.  These are the people that truly love stories: those who want to soak in everything they have to offer, even when the author puts down the pen.