Growing up, I was always a fan of some type of media. Sometimes it was a favorite movie; other times, a series, or a short-lived fascination with a character. Then, when I was seventeen, I discovered the wide and wild world of fanfiction. It was like stumbling upon an entirely new dimension. I quickly transitioned from casually browsing fanart to dubbing myself with a username, fully joining in on posting personal theories about my favorite fictional characters (called “headcanons”).
Fanfiction is often not considered a credible art form, as it cannot be sold or monetized. But I disagree. As a creative writer, I was drawn to fanfiction because it encouraged me to think up alternate universes and “what ifs” involving existing characters. By writing for fandoms, I have gained so many enriching experiences that have helped me improve creatively and emotionally as an original content creator.
So, what exactly does fanfiction offer us?
I like to think of fanfiction as a starter kit. The fanfiction writer is handed prepackaged characters, with preexisting backstories, inside a preexisting world. Now comes the fun part: molding this world however we see fit, and then throwing the characters into this new environment.
When I start to write fanfiction, I have to ask myself questions like: How would characters react to the main plot’s conflict? How would these characters interact with this new world that I created? How would they interact with other new characters in my story?
Notice that these are questions that we often ask ourselves when writing original stories, too. Studying preexisting characters trained me to understand how my own characters operate on a deep, complex level. When writing fanfiction, I am obligated to take a character for who they are, including their backstory, motives, and personality, and consciously determine how they would interact with a world or situation that I throw at them — while making sure I’m not writing anything “out of character.”Being hyperaware of a fictional character in this way trained my mind to pay attention to every dimension, every trait of my original characters.
Because that’s the thing about fanfiction: you can take away the world, and the character still exists. There are traits, passions, goals, and habits that make this character lovable, even if they were sitting in a blank void. As a fanfiction writer, I want to explore this character and their mind, not necessarily their world itself. I’ve learned a lot working with characters that are interesting even without a world. Notably, the most interesting aspect of my original character is the outcome. In that case, it is possible that this character is not fully “human” yet, with an internal complexity that makes them interesting enough on their own.
Now, when I tackle my own writing, I begin to see my characters as human rather than figments of imagination. I’ve taken on more of a character-centered approach, aiming for internal character arcs to communicate a theme rather than letting what happens to their world at large communicate a theme. I want to explore how a character internally rises, falls, or grows to love or even hate themself over the course of my plot. I now ask myself, “What do I want to see happen internally to this character in response to their circumstances, and what message do I want this to send?” instead of “What does this character do outwardly to their world, and what message does this send?” Exploring how a character reacts to their own head, their own hurt, passion, and motivation, teaches me about not only the complexity of my characters, but human nature too. Plus, the passion, love, and care I felt for my favorite characters in fandoms trained me to feel deeply for my own characters.
On a technical note, I adopted a writing tool while writing fanfiction that I now use to keep my original stories organized. Since I often deal with a large cast of characters with complex motives in my fanfiction, I keep a document record of their main goals and their reasons for doing so. This tool works for any type of writing; it helps me make sure I don’t run into plot holes or accidentally write character interactions that don’t make sense.
Every writer fears opening their laptop to a negative review or hate comment. It stings like nothing else. How can someone possibly degrade the work I've put so much passion and thought into? That’s why fear surged through my brain just before hitting that “publish” button on my first fanfic years ago.
I personally have a low tolerance for criticism, and tend to ruminate on every comment like it was a personal hit to everything I’ve ever done. The curse of a perfectionist, right! But negative attention is sometimes inevitable, and so it’s a reality I must make peace with if I want to make serious progress as both a fanfiction and original writer. Thus, like a muscle, I must train my tolerance to hate and criticism. In fandom spaces, the people that view my work are around my age and inside my own fandom of interest. Publishing original content is a completely different story The second I hit publish on an original work on Amazon, I am throwing my work out to the entire world, where people of all ages, backgrounds, and tastes will be able to quickly access my work That’s why, before facing every corner of the literary world, it’s helpful to train our tolerances inside our own niche fandom circle.
That being said, even fandom spaces can be hostile. As a person on the internet, I constantly see creators degrading each other, from being confrontational about others’ fan theories to labeling how someone characterizes a beloved character in their fanfiction as bad or incorrect. (This might seem strange, considering fandom spaces are all about possibility and variety, but it is surprisingly common in fandom spaces.) I know these kinds of mass fan standards can pressure creators into writing or portraying characters in a certain way just to avoid backlash. But for myself, seeing this actually taught me to remain confident in my own process and my own vision. Just knowing my creations are following a path that I personally believe in, and continuing to trust my process, is very empowering. The same goes for not altering our original content to fit modern trends or standards.
As an author, there is something that I tell myself to give peace of mind: there will always be someone with a different taste from you. There will always be a variety of opinions on one piece of work alone. And most importantly, you can’t please everyone. One must be unapologetic out there in the literary world.
It can be disheartening to scroll past fanfiction with tens of thousands of reads, while yours of similar length gets at most ten reads every few weeks. Whether fanfiction or original content, writers tend to base their worth on stats and rankings, endlessly chasing that one writer’s level of praise or that one writer’s follower count. It’s a natural feeling — after all, writers become writers because they want their stories to be read.
Do I have at most around four dedicated readers? Yes. Do I appreciate them? Infinitely. I ultimately write for myself, but getting chapters out to my four dedicated fans always adds an extra boost of motivation. Opening my notifications in the morning to a genuine comment from one of my readers expressing their love for my work will always outweigh twenty nameless reads. Or receiving fan art based on one of my scenes — that is a privilege that I will appreciate above a thousand reads. It is not worth degrading yourself chasing popularity if you forget the reason why you began writing your story in the first place. Writing is self-expression. And inspiration comes from our own minds and experiences. At its core, an idea comes from our own personal desire to create, not from our desire to please others. Popularity envy is just a sad side effect that comes with writers forgetting their own enjoyment.
I don’t depend on hits to keep writing fanfiction. Similarly, I won't stop writing my original work if I don't get many sales. At the end of the day, I just want to see my project out there. If others want to join me on my journey, that is great. If not, this is also great!
Fanfiction is a low-stakes environment in comparison to the literary world at large, a sort of training ground that can prepare authors for marketing and selling original content. At the same time, this in no way diminishes fanfiction’s merit on its own, because, like all forms of writing, authors must dive into the inner workings of their worlds and characters if they want to make a compelling story. There is boundless worth in thinking harder about who existing characters are and what we want them to become. I’ve even seen some fanfictions wield much more power and skill than books published by bestselling authors — or turn into bestselling books!
Since I began writing fanfiction two years ago, I’ve seen so much improvement in how I think about my characters’ journeys, how I enrich my storylines, and how I feel about my own self-worth as a creator. These noticeable improvements tell me that every hour dedicated to writing outlandish fan works was absolutely worth it.
About Cosmic Paradox
Cosmic Paradox is a university student studying game design, with additional focuses in film, computer science, and poetry. On Write the World, they served as a Community Ambassador and is a 2025-2026 Intern. Their work has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and they are currently working on their first full-length poetry collection, “Somewhere Stars are Exploding.” Cosmic Paradox’s favorite genres to write in are sci-fi, horror, and poetry, revolving around themes that question the absurdity of reality and human nature on a cosmic scale. Some of their favorite fandoms include Undertale, The Dragon Prince, and Wings of Fire. When not writing from 1-3 am, they enjoy astronomy, piano, and composing music.