It's Just Fan Fic...

I got an email from a reader earlier. The sender was a lovely young woman who had just re-read my first published fic and wanted to tell me how much she enjoyed it—how it made her feel, how it made her smile, how it made her cry, how it made her excited to get home each night and curl up in bed with it, how it helped ease the pain of a difficult patch in her life, and how much she misses it now that it’s over. It was a beautiful letter, and my reaction to it must have been visible enough to make my saner half take notice from across the room. He shot me a questioning look, and I turned the laptop around and gestured to the screen.

I followed his eyes as they scanned each line, saw his lips tip up in a smile that grew broader as he read, then braced myself for the good natured snark I’ve come to expect when my little literary hobby comes up in conversation.

“Wow.” He said. “That was kind of amazing. How does it feel to be someone’s favorite author?”

“Don’t be a dick,” I said, slapping him on the shoulder.

“I’m serious,” he replied, gesturing to the screen. "That’s what she said—right there: You’re my favorite author.”

“I think she means favorite fic author. Not real author.”

“Is there a difference?” He asked.

“Yes,” I said, rolling my eyes. ”Of course there is.”

“Why?”

“Because, as someone in this room who isn’t ME is fond of pointing out, self published gay mystery romance novels aren’t exactly eligible for the pulitzer.” I said, turning the computer back around.

“So what?” he shrugged, “Something you wrote inspired a stranger to sit down write what it meant to them and send it to you. A lot of total strangers, as a matter of fact. You write, people read it and react. That makes you an author.”

“Huh.” I said, very eloquently, then got up and went into the kitchen to start dinner.

Hours later, sitting down to reply to the letter in question I find myself writing this post instead. Because here’s the thing: That wonderfully crazy man who lives in my house is right. (But please don’t tell him I said that)

From the moment I realized that letters made up words and words made up sentences and sentences made up worlds that were mine to explore any time I wanted to I’ve been a reader. I have fallen in love with perfect phrases and epic stories and countless characters pressed between the pages of the thousands of books I’ve read in my life so far—and sitting down to string together those same 26 letters into tens of thousands of words of stories I felt needed telling? That makes me an author.

I have adored the work of countless authors in numerous genres, and the world of fan fic is no exception. I have admired and cherished and savored the words of talented writers whose work is no less legitimate for the fact that their names include random keyboard characters and their words don’t live on bound paper on a shelf.

It’s not JUST fan fic. It’s literature. It’s published. It’s read. It’s loved.

It matters.

Thanks to all of my favorite authors for every word on every page on every screen that I’ve ever loved.

More Posts from Nestofdreams and Others

nestofdreams

3 months ago

I didn’t realize you were the person who did the fanfiction tag drinks.

ahah yeah that's meeee!!

They are all available as stickers on my RedBubble shop!

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nestofdreams

2 years ago

moodboard by @gender-snatched

A Sign of Good Things

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 32,475

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Andromeda Black Tonks, James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, Lily Luna Potter, Teddy Lupin, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, The Weasleys

Additional Tags: Post-Hogwarts, HP: EWE, Romance, Family, Kids, Fluff

Summary:

A decade ago Draco left England needing a change. Now he's back and a chance meeting with a trio of children leads to his life taking an unexpected turn. Friendships are formed, reconciliations made and all in all, he discovers what it is to be part of a family.

AO3

FFN

What a Coincidence

Fandom: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Chapters: 1/1

Word Count: 2,729

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

Characters: Simon Snow, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, One Shot

Summary:

What do runaway felines and reservation mix-ups have in common?

They bring two extremely similar couples together, that’s what.

AO3

FFN

Ship Sizes

Supercarrier: fandom flagship. Everybody and their dog ships it. The fandom is glutted with artwork and fic. You cannot escape this ship.

Dreadnought: massively popular. Nearly everybody ships it. You can, with dedication, in theory, reach the end of the AO3 archive for the ship’s tag, but it’ll take a long time.

Cruiser: pretty popular ship. Not everyone ships it, but everyone knows about it. Has a good amount of fic/art, and probably multiple ask blogs.

Frigate: just plain popular. Feels like it could use more fanworks. New people to the fandom might not know about it, but they’ll stumble across it sooner rather than later.

Gunboat: bit of a rarepair. It might have an ask blog or two. A couple big name fans ship it. Probably only takes a few weeks to get through the entire AO3 backlog, and one new fic gets added during that time.

Tugboat: rarepair. Almost never seen except as a side pairing to a more popular ship. You can usually get through everything on AO3 in a matter of days. You’ve forgotten what it is to be picky about what you read.

Rowboat: less than a dozen people ship it. You all know each other. You exist in an endless cycle of the same five people desperately producing art and fic and one person who constantly contributes headcanons.

Canoe: you are one of maybe three people who ship it, and there’s a not-insignificant chance you’ve never encountered those other two hypothetical shippers. You spend your days paddling furiously in hopes of keeping the ship afloat, dreaming of the day you upgrade to a rowboat so you can finally rest.

87K notes View Post

nestofdreams

6 years ago