Fan fiction is real writing. For many, it's not just an exercise.

If you can't make your own world/characters, store bought and borrowed is fine.

They're still your words and storylines you're writing. I don't care how close of a mash up or AU it is.

YOU'RE STILL WRITING.

Not everyone's writing to sell books. And that's a thing that grates on me a lot about "fic isn't real writing".

Like, sure, some people start in fic then write original chars. Some sell those original char stories. SOME KEEP WRITING FIC. Some abandon tradpub with glee.

And you see it often from tradpub authors that fan fic is something to be dabbled in, to "hone your craft". That's a valid way to write fic, but it isn't everyone's way.

I've read and re-read THE MOST GORGEOUS stories, writing, dialogue, emotions in fan fic.

And for people to look down on an entire practice as something that's less than--for no reason!--says more about how they've interacted with fic than how the fic writers are doing.

Plus, so often fic is giving us those marginalized moments of joy we weren't getting in our media.

Anyway. That's my rant.

Keep writing fan fic. Keep reading fic. If you're on ao3, kudos everything you even remotely liked. Comment on anything where there's even a line that moved you. Some of the best writers are in there, and I adore them. They deserve the applause.

/end

Still going, huh? Cool cool. Good Omens fans, i write weird shit on ao3, come find me. https://twitter.com/OlivierHennis/status/1288063754773630978?s=19