Fan Fiction

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Fanfic or fan fiction today most often refers to amateur fiction written by the enthusiasts of a TV series, usually, or sometimes a movie, a book, or comic book, which takes place in that universe, typically using the originators’ characters (see also Slash and Ship).

It's usually dreadful -- Sturgeon's Law applies here as much as elsewhere -- and dubiously legal in terms of copyright and trademark regulations. Some creators look the other way, a few are encouraging, but some do their best to quash it with the full might of the law.

This usage is relatively modern, dating from the 1970s. The previous usage was different in some important ways. Previously, two kinds of fiction were called "fan fiction":

  1. Amateur SF: Original SF or fantasy written and published non-professionally by fans. It was mostly terrible, but some pros got their start writing fiction for fanzines. Today, this practice has largely given over to “indie” publishing on Amazon.
  2. Faan fiction: Fiction (not necessarily sf or fantasy) written by fans about fans. This has come to be called Faan fiction.


Amateur SF[edit]

The very earliest fanzines frequently contained this sort of fan fiction because fandom's first couple of decades were heavily focused on sf and lots of fans were focused on writing sf and breaking into the pro world. (And many succeeded.)

However, amateur sf printed in fanzines -- usually put out by relative neofen -- was generally looked upon with disfavor because, with rare exceptions, if the piece were any good it would be sold and published professionally. Fans who wrote sf for fanzines rarely learned much besides how to write bad sf for fanzines. The epitome of this genre was The Eye of Argon, an epic piece of prose so awful that fen take turns reading it aloud at cons.

The vast majority of actifans who've "gone pro" have been those who contributed relatively little fiction and a lot of essays and articles to fanzines. (Roger Zelazny was a major exception to this rule, having contributed (as a teenager) a truly terrible sf story to Thurban, one of the worst crudzines of all time, and then going on to a brilliant pro career writing science fiction some time later.)

Now, of course, this stuff is all self-published as epubs or POD paperbacks and sometimes looks pretty professional. (See Chuck Tingle.)

Faan Fiction[edit]

Faan fiction (note the extra, fannish “a” in faan) tales are about fandom and not about sf. Faan fiction, as distinguished from fan fiction, refers to stories written by fans that use real or fictional fans in fannish situations as its subject matter. Ted Tubb called it “trufan fiction.” These yarns are most commonly science fiction or recursive science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, or parodies -- the genre doesn't matter.

The best known and most beloved of this genre is The Enchanted Duplicator, but there have been many. Faan fiction stories are typically printed in fanzines, but some have made it into the prozines, and a few, such as Tony Boucher's mystery Rocket to the Morgue and the Buck Coulson and Gene DeWeese novels Now You See It/Him/Them... and Charles Fort Never Mentioned Wombats, have been published as books; there have been a number of stage plays, and even some films. Larry Tucker's Faans was a video.

While professionals may write faan fiction, and several have, the term applies only to fiction written by fans for fans, so it does not include insulting abominations such as Zombies of the Gene Pool and other works by mainstream writers, nor does it refer to random Tuckerizations of fans in professional fiction.

Some wits describe convention reports this way, and certain Worldcons' financial reports may also qualify.

Sercon faanfiction[edit]

Sercon faanfiction is the term coined by Larry Stark in the mid-1950s to describe a form of fiction about fans) that was not primarily humorous in intent but rather a serious piece of fiction that used fans and fandom as its backdrop. Stark was one of the better earlier practitioners. Kent Moomaw's "The Adversaries," and James White's "The Exorcists of IF" are often cited as some of the better examples of this form of fan writing.

Examples of Faanfiction[edit]

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
(1) Sometimes meaningby fans in the manner of pros; that is, ordinary fantasy published in a fanzine. Properly, it means (2) fiction by fans about fans (or sometimes about pros) having no necessary connection with stfantasy. "Convention reports are a nice example of this", Bob Pavlat points out. It may refer to real fans by name: "Redd Boggs silped his Nuclear Fizz in the insurgent manner..." or it may be about types, especially Joe Fann". The background may be either fantastic, as "Joe Fann into Space", or mundane, as in "Murder at the Chicon" (tho this would be fantasy under Speer's scheme, since it describes events we know didn't happen on out time line). Fiction elements may be interspersed in accounts of fan activities, which may make them more interesting but is hell on truthseekers like your Thoukydides. A few special categories have been distinguished from time to time, like Ted Tubb's "Trufan fiction" (fiction about fans in fandom), and Larry Stark's Sercon Faanfiction for serious, and more or less mundane, fiction featuring fans.
From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944
Sometimes improperly used to mean fan science fiction, that is, ordinary fantasy published in a fan magazine. Properly, the term means fiction about fans, or something about pros, and occasionally bringing in some famous characters stf stories. It may refer to real fans by name (Tucker nudged Brackney, who was nursing a "black eye"), or may be about types, especially Joe Fann. The background may be either fantastic, as Joe Fann into Space, or mundane as in Murder at the Chicon (tho this piece is fantasy under Speer's decimal scheme, describing events which we know didn't happen in our time-line). Fictitious elements are often interspersed in account of fan activities, which may make them more interesting, but plays hob with a truth-seeker like Thukydides. Round Robins have been attempted in the fan fiction field.
From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944
fan science fiction - With some exceptions, aside from fan fiction, fan s-f and fantasy have been similar but inferior to professional stuff, and takes up a lot of space in fanzine where readers would sooner have non-fiction articles, columns, etc. This is particularly true of serials. Where other long stories are presented complete, in a magazine devoted only to them, hey are sometimes to worthwhile. There is a theory that stories can be printed in fanzines which pros would reject for reasons of policy rather than merit. One interesting fan type which probably could not be published to the general public is the tale which is frankly a day-dream on paper, even tho usually third person. The classic horrible example of fan science fiction is the Bob and Koso series.


Fiction
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