94 Days: Fan Fiction

I have always liked subsets. Those groups of people who are just different and interesting and a bit strange and really, they are there to be looked at with a view of either laughing with them or laughing at them. People in subsets will have similar characteristics to others in the subset.

Subsets I have written about in the past include:

• Redheads
• Engineers
• Left-handers
• South Australians
• The Welsh
• The Swiss
• Religious fruitcakes
• Liberal/National Party stalwarts

You get the drift.

You can also be a part of a number of subsets. Take me for example. I'm a Green voting, ambidextrous South Australian who has Goth/Biker tendencies. (Don't tell anybody about that last subset...)

I've found another subset of people, who many would not be aware of. These people are very strange indeed.

These people are the Fan Fiction writers.

Fan Fiction?

Yes, fan fiction. This is what happens when you allow the general public (shudder) to take over characters which another writer or set of writers have written, and then they go put this on the internet for the entertainment of others.

The most famous piece of fan fiction ever written is 50 Shades of Grey - which started out as fan fiction that stemmed from the Twilight chronicles.  It is said that the Salvos have a warehouse full of copies of 50 Shades of Grey and the subsequent sequels. Enough to make a couple of houses in the suburbs.

Fan Fiction writers are in a world of their own.

Fan Fiction writers often (but not always) have little concept of good writing and even less of a notion of grammar. It often, also has a lot to do with the writers using their imaginations for their own sexual gratification.

All you have to do is take your favourite movie or television show and put in the words fan fiction into a browser and you will be stunned with the results (and the grammar).

There is a lot of material which answers the old what happens next  questions which occur when a television series closes down - Like what happens to Don Draper after he was seen meditation at the hippy commune in that last episode, or what happened to Ross and Rachel from friends, or.... the list goes on.

So, would I ever think about writing fan fiction?

Hell no! For one, I like to think that my grammar and story telling abilities are a little better than that.

I was moaning to a friend on the weekend that I would love to write for television (I have the first half of a series penned) and there are some shows that I would love to revisit and write - but not as fan fiction.

As an example, I'd love to revive The Hour - a British thriller that was on the ABC. I remember shouting "NO FREDDIE!! as the series ended, then there was no more. But Freddie and Belle - surely!

I'd love to know what happened to Alicia after The Good Wife finished. Or maybe another season to show  what happened to everybody on Six Feet Under. (Though that show as possibly the most perfect ending of any show ever - but a few episodes after the aftermath of Nate's death). And what happened to Buffy and Spike? Or Niles and Daphne? (Favourite Frasier Episode - mine is Moondance)

There are a couple of characters I'd love to put together and just see what happens.

But am I wanting to write fan fiction about it all?  No.

Go on, I dare you to have a look and see what you can find. There is another world out there. And it's a world that hates grammar.

Today's song: