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Fan fiction (also commonly spelled as fanfiction and frequently abbreviated to fanfic or occasionally just fic) is a broadly defined term for fiction about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creators. more...

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Fan fiction usually describes works which are uncommissioned by the owner of the work, and usually (but not always) works which are not professionally published. Fan fiction is defined against original fiction, which exists with its own discrete universe, and against canon works within the universe. Most fan fiction writers assume that their readers have knowledge of the canon universe their works are based in.

There is some debate over whether or not published novels based on an original work, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Star Wars, can be considered fan fiction. Some view them as a form of fan fiction because they were not written by the original creator, most especially when they are 'unofficial' or not considered part of canon by the work's fandom; however, debate rages on due to the fact that unlike most other modern works accepted as 'fan fiction', they are written for profit and published professionally. Also borderline on the issue are fan contributions to shared universes created by authors or a group of authors for anyone to add to, developing a whole fictional universe. A famous example of this is H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which has seen both professional and fan contributions over more than fifty years.

One of the broadest definitions of fan fiction is simply unauthorized written work based on a published one. In this interpretation, works such as the books of the Biblical Apocrypha are sometimes used as an early example of fan fiction, and unauthorized print sequels to popular novels such as Robinson Crusoe are also considered a form of fan fiction, albeit an often illegal one.

Fan fiction is also seen by many as a modern equivalent of the oral literature tradition of shared stories. In this view, retellings of fairy tales or mythology can be considered fan fiction, especially if they significantly alter the original version of the story; in this view, the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys could be considered a form of fan fiction based on the original Greek myths about Hercules.

Before about 1965, the term fan fiction was used in science fiction fandom to designate original amateur works of science fiction published in science fiction fanzines, as opposed to fiction which was professionally published. This usage is now obsolete. For the purpose of this article, 'fan fiction' will be used in its current modern context, to refer works deliberately based on a particular original work, usually without the original creator's expressed permission and usually not (legally) published professionally for profit.

History

Fan fiction as it is understood now began at least as early as the 17th century, with unauthorized published sequels to such works as Don Quixote; the turn of the 19th century also produced parodies and revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland by authors including Frances Hodgson Burnett and E. Nesbit. There were, additionally, several fan-authored versions of Sherlock Holmes stories at that time. In the 1920s and 1930s fans of Jane Austen wrote stories based on her characters and published them in fanzines. In 1945, C. S. Lewis brought in elements (mostly Numenor) of J. R. R. Tolkien's then largely unpublished lengardarium and incorporated it into the last novel, That Hideous Strength, of his Space Trilogy

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