Fanfiction refers to fictional stories written by fans of a particular television show, movie, or book. The stories contain the characters from the particular fandom as well as original characters created by the writer. A very unpopular type of original character is called a "MarySue". This character is impossibly beautiful and intelligent and the main character or characters immediately fall in love with her while the supporting characters worship her and become her BFF's. She usually is the only one smart enough to figure out how to save the day and more often than not dies or is horribly injured doing so. Fanfic readers despise this type character, and for good reason!

It's believed that fanfiction got its start back in the late 60's and early 70's by Star Trek fans. In fact, they are responsible for creating the most popular genre of fanfiction, called "slash". Slash fiction is fiction that contains a same sex relationship,usually between two of the main characters in the fandom. It gets it's name from the way the pairing is described, i.e. Kirk/Spock (the most popular pairing of Star Trek fans who enjoy the genre.). Fanfiction was shared among fans first by zines, which were printed collections of stories, and now via the web.

There is fanfiction available for just about any show or movie you can think of, and for some books too, such as the Harry Potter series. For the most part, the studios, publishers and producers behind them tolerate fanfiction and aren't bothered by it. In fact some shows have actually accepted scripts written by fans! There are some exceptions though. George Lucas is notoriously anti-fanfic and will not hesitate to send a Cease and Desist letter out to any site found to have Star Wars fanfiction on it. Anne Rice, the author of several popular vampire novels, does much the same. Anne McCaffrey, a popular science fiction/fantasy author, used to crack down hard on fanfic but now allows it as long as fans follow the rules she's laid out on her website.

Much of the fanfiction out there is very well written and obviously a labor of love for the writer. There's some bad stuff too, but you just may be surprised at what you find! Thanks to fanfic, legions of fans continue to enjoy their favorite television shows long after they've been canceled, and they keep the worlds created in many popular movies alive long after the credits fade from the screen.

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