Written by Sofia Tas-Castro
Alright, before we start, I’m going to admit three things off the bat:
- Yes, I wrote cringeworthy writing in elementary, middle, high school, and even college.
- Yes, I’ve read my fair share of fanfiction.
- No, I don’t regret any of it.
I’m aware of the judgement that may be oozing from you onto the screen and indirectly at me. Or maybe you’re not judging me because you’ve been in a similar position and found yourself agreeing with or relating to any of the points above. Whichever category you fall into, my point still stands: fanfiction and cringe writing have a place in writing and don’t get enough credit for what they do.
1. The Freedom to Write Anything Without Judgement
As double edged of a sword as this may be, this has to be the biggest reason why fanfiction or cringe worthy writing needs to continue. Without fear of judgement, writers, at whatever age, can experiment freely and let their creativity and writing style emerge. Even if it’s with characters from a franchise or random OCs they created at school, they’re still writing and letting their brain get used to creating new ideas. Often times, fanfiction can lead to original works since writers realize the characters they love don’t necessarily have to belong to the fandom they’re in but the story can live on its own.
2. Learning Technique and Healthy Habits
You know what the most common reason people don’t finish writing a book is? Heck, it’s the same reason why people don’t even start. It’s because they simply aren’t used to writing as a skill and don’t have the technique to write for long periods of time or to create narrative storylines. Maybe fanfiction and cringe worthy writing aren’t the most technical kinds of writing (trust me, a lot of it has A TON to be desired), but the matter of fact is that writers are still practicing the techniques and skills needed to become better writers. Fanfiction writers, of their own desire, have written works stretching over 800 or 400,000 words. They’re not only practicing the techniques of writing doing this, like understanding flow in dialogue or how to write setting, but they are getting used to the commitment of taking on larger projects. They understand it’s a walk and not a sprint all while having a good time.
3. They’re Learning Real-Life Skills
Something very prominent in the fanfiction world is getting what’s called “beta” and “alpha” readers to go over your work. While not very technical terms, these are first round readers then second round readers who look for grammatical issues, story/plot issues, and other mistakes the writer may have missed. Not only are these people learning the processes of copyediting and editing, but they are learning how to take criticism from people they trust. Of course, people don’t have to go through this process but those who read the work and have critiques will leave some of the most kind and constructive feedback I have ever seen. People want to see good stories continue and support authors to get them.
4. The Sense of Community
This will be our final point, but arguably the most important. Remember how I talked about the fellow readers leaving criticism oh so kindly? This community, this feedback, and the sense of joy people have in reading comments, both positive and negative about their work, is what makes people excited to write. A lot of the time in the publishing industry or in academia, there’s a lot of harsh criticism thrown around. Agents can reject you because they don’t think your work is “worth it” within the first few sentences or sometimes professors don’t understand the larger ideas you have for your work. However, the fanfiction community is so large there is always, always, always, at least one person ready to support you and who likes what you’re doing. When you need that extra motivation, they’re the ones who give it to you and remind you of why you love to write in the first place.
I know this type of writing’s quality isn’t the best and there’s a lot of work that is objectively not the best. But without it, people don’t get to explore, they don’t get to improve, and they don’t get to learn what it means to be a writer in a community of other writers and readers. So, before we hate on the fanfic community, let’s just take a moment and remember that this generation of great writers most likely engaged in this type of writing before they got to where they are today.
Feature Image Caption: The logo for Archive of Our Own, one of the most popular fanfiction websites for writers and readers alike.