Pam Webb

Fan (of) Fiction

Caterpillar using a hookah. An illustration from Alice in Wonderland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With six days left Vera has finally started her NaNo novel.  Her inspiration is a hybrid of Hamlet and Alice in Wonderland with a bit of Lost in Austen thrown in. It’s fan fiction at it’s *finest*.  Okay, cut the kid a break–she’s only fifteen and has never written anything of length beyond the required English essay.

Actually, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to fan fiction, even though I’ve come across some which is entertaining and well-written, I can’t help but think, “Couldn’t you come up with something original?”  Then again there is something to be said for being inspired by good writing.

For example, Wide Sargasso Sea is on the AP suggested reading list and can be considered the prequel to Jane Eyre.  What?  Fan Fiction considered classic literature?  Told you I was a literary snob.

An ardent admirer of Ophelia of Hamlet and Alice of Wonderland fame, and totally grooving on the Lost in Austen premise of switching places with Elizabeth Bennett, I couldn’t help but have Vera weave all of them together.

NaNo–the most grueling, yet satisfying form of writing under pressure.  Sissies need not apply.

Related articles

• Day Twenty-Five: A Novel Start…Finally (veranano.wordpress.com)
• 5 Ways Writing Fan-Fiction Made Me A Better Writer (debravega.wordpress.com)
• Fan fiction allows teenagers to explore their sexuality freely | Sam Wolfson (guardian.co.uk)
• The New Wave of Writing? (cultofajracewood.wordpress.com)