Cards on the table: I'd honestly been dreading this article for weeks. I didn't doubt that there are some incredibly talented writers and artists and creators in fan communities, people who build upon established works adding their own personal twists, but there's something about the word "fanwork"—or, let's be honest here, fanfiction, that really tends to put people off, myself included. But being in a fandom is about having an open mind and an acceptance of those who share common passions, so I dove into it with only the slightest hesitance.

First, a quick vocab lesson

Like any community, the fanfiction community has its own slang and lingo. This varies between fandoms and writing platforms, but you can be sure that you'll see these terms on fandom Tumblrs and around online fandom hubs. 

fic: The shortened version of "fanfiction". Also "fanfic". Fanfiction is any transformative fanwork written that has adapted or been based from another original story (including but not limited to: books, plays, films, television shows, etc.) There are some common tropes, but they've been subverted and inverted and twisted upside down—one of the upsides of having hundreds of authors to choose from.

gen: A non-romantic fanfiction. Occasionally will feature one-way romance that goes unrequited or unnoticed, but generally focuses on a platonic relationship. Not all fanfictions are romantic or sexualized in nature.

(!): In order to denote specific attributes vital to the story, writers will sometimes place an adjective-exclamation point-name/term. Wing!fic features one or more characters happen to have wings. Autistic!Name denotes that the character in question will be written as autistic. "The Lion King" is basically animal!Hamlet, for example. 

crossover: any time aspects, characters, storylines or universes of two or more original works are mixed, this is called a crossover. Nearly everything seems to have a crossover; if there's not one yet, someone is probably working on it.

AU: This stands for "alternate universe". It is not a crossover. AU's keep the original work's characters but in a completely different setting or drastically changing the original plot. Setting "Macbeth" in space would be an AU as would a story in which Harry Potter take place in a world where Lord Voldemort is the headmaster of Hogwarts. Common settings for AU's tend to be future or past, different countries, post-apocalyptic universes or altering certain aspects of the characters while keeping the overarching aspects the same (such as changing characters' occupations or featuring the protagonists as or with children, which is also called kidfic). 

PWP: It stands for "porn without plot" or "Plot? What plot?" Not all fics are exclusively porn. Not all fics have sexual content at all. But some do, and some are nothing but extremely mature content, so it's best to be aware. My discovery of the definition of this term was by accident. It was a surprise, to say the least. Some things cannot be unseen, nor can they be unread. 

non-con/dub-con: Standing for non-consensual and dubious consent, respectively. Generally denotes nonconsensual sexual acts, including but not limited to sexual assault, but occasionally refers to forced drug use or other illicit actions. Dub-con refers to circumstances in which consent is questionable, usually because of alcohol or drug use. Writers are recommended to place non-con or dub-con warnings (as well as "character death", "suicide" or any other variety of warnings) at the beginnings of fics to warn readers that there is extremely mature content ahead that may be triggering.

genre terms: These are terms that describe what sort of fic it is. There's "fluff", which tends to be focused on love (platonic or romantic—not all fanfiction is shipping). "Whump" pieces tend to focus on basically breaking a character emotionally or physically because authors can be sadistic. Going right along with that is "angst", a generally unpleasant or melancholic storyline. "Hurt/comfort" tends to be a blend of the three previous, wherein a character is ill or injured and must be taken care of by another. "Crack", like its shipping counterpart, is simply improbable and bizarre, generally tending towards the humorous, but not exclusively comedic. 

kink: The definition in fandom tends to differ from its more widely known use, which denotes sexual preferences. This is a generalized term denoting a reader or author's personal preferences. Readers occasionally gravitate towards specific tropes and genres, making them their kinks.

genderswap: Exactly what it says on the tin. Changing the sexes of one or more characters from canonical story.

pre-slash: A fic that features the transition between platonic and romantic relationships. 

magical realism: This is a literary term that has lent itself well to the fanfiction world. Magical realism stories feature universes that are largely the same to the world we live in, but contain one cultural, physiological or societal difference. For example, a literal "red string of fate" that guides people to their soul mates may exist in a magical realism story. (This was the first I read in my research/wanderings, and it's actually pretty cool. I recommend looking into literature that features it, fanfiction or otherwise.)

freeform: Deviating from the traditional prose format of exposition and dialogue. Occasionally, these are written in epistolary or poetic formats, use alternative points-of-view, and use formatting to tell the story. 

RPF: real-person fiction. Occasionally, writers will create characters of real people and base stories around them. Sometimes these people interact with fictional stories. While we won't be covering this aspect of fandom here, just know it exists with varying levels of acceptance. To each his own, as they say. 

AO3: archiveofourown.org, a writing community created exclusively for fanfiction. Highly organized, writers must be invited by a member in order to create an account. This tends to be the community that features the most diverse and the most well-written fics. Others can be found on Livejournal or FFN, which stands for fanfiction.net (but beware, as the quality of fics on FFN tends to vary wildly.) AO3 is a branch off The Organization for Transformative Work.

ratings: Like films, fics have ratings that can be used to determine the type of content present. NC-17 or Explicit fics contain explicit sexual material; Mature can denote less explicit sexuality or graphic violence; Teen or Teen and Up generally denotes mild violence or non-explicit or non-sexual romantic material. The lowest level is usually something along the lines of K+, which does not feature any mature content, usually only mild language, if any. Please note that rating systems may vary depending on the format, the writing community and the author. 

About Fanfiction

And here's the thing. There's something extremely liberating about people who unabashedly pursue their creative interests regardless of stigmas. In a way, the stigma makes sense—in mainstream belief, fanfiction is written by immature and juvenile hacks who pervert storylines by sexualizing already-established characters and undermining the overall quality of the original work through poor writing and grammar. "Fifty Shades of Grey", which is adapted from a "Twilight" fanfiction, is the norm, or worse, it's the best there is. Occasionally, certain sects of fandoms will treat fanfic writers and readers as lepers and outcasts, going so far as to shame them or ridicule them.

(Remember the rules of fandom etiquette? Astonishingly, those rules still apply, regardless of what other's interests are. No one should be ridiculed or feel ashamed for enjoying what they happen to like. It's none of anyone else's business.)

There are authors who absolutely loathe fanfiction and have threatened to sue the authors of these stories for plagiarism. Others have embraced it, praising it as a legitimate creative outlet that allows fans (particularly young adults or teens) to better their writing and adapt and build upon the stories they love.

Authors have the right to assert ownership of their own works, but legally, the argument is weak. Fanfiction authors almost always put a disclaimer of non-ownership somewhere; they "publish" online either via personal blog, social network or writing community but do not ask for legal or financial compensation. Some use it as a tool to better the own writing, others use it simply to express their love of a work. Upon membership and in its terms of service, AO3 warns users of the legal consequences of plagiarism, but also provides a service that can help protect fic writers from being sued unduly.   

These people aren't just lurking in dark corners of the Internet. Every time you see an adaptation of an original work (such as turning a book into a movie), and it is not worked on by the original author, then it's a fanfiction. "Wicked" and "Oz: The Great and Powerful" are all different takes on the same story, "The Wizard of Oz". Those are fanfictions, and are enjoyed by millions. Tim Burton's and Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" films were just the same; "The Little Mermaid" was an adaptation of the short story by Hans Christian Andersen. The 2012 "Les Misérables" film is an adaptation of the musical, which is, in turn, a fanfiction of the Victor Hugo novel of the same name. The difference, however, between those aforementioned pieces of work and those put on the Internet by fans who have no desire to profit in any way, financial or otherwise, is in their acceptance by society overall. One is glorified, and the other is demonized and ridiculed. 

While it is true that those who create the Hollywood blockbusters must purchase the rights to the work, they do so in order to make a profit from it and create new copyrights. Fanfiction writers have no such protections legally, and while they can file complaints with a writing community (such as AO3) based on plagiarism, these can be extremely difficult to pursue. Because these writers are usually amateurs does not make their ideas any less valid, nor should it open them to ridicule and disrespect.

Yes, there are, of course, bad fanfics—weak plots, poor grammar, incoherent sentences. But there are some that are exactly the opposite, and deserve praise, not admonishment. Through creativity and no small amount of time invested, fandoms can only be enriched. 

Works of art

In mainstream society, fanfiction may get the most (negative) attention, but fanartists are often the most well-known within fandoms. Nearly every fandom has a handful of extremely well-known artists whose works are popular and passed around. Some of these fans are professional artists who sell their wares, fandom-related or otherwise, online or at conventions. Fanart tends to be more positively received overall, and varies in medium and form. Recently, digital painting has become more prevalent through breakthroughs in Photoshop and other illustration softwares and a proliferation of tablet and drawing technologies.  

Fanartists can be commissioned, sometimes take requests without pay, and are often highly respected within the community. Some fans create artbooks that can be purchased and bring money back to the artists; others use sites like Redbubble, Threadless and Qwertee to design and sell their own fandom-related t-shirts. 

In many ways, fanart and fanfiction are similar—they adapt original stories and the characters within; some contain explicit or violent material and there are different genres and styles and preferences. However, while fanart can be placed on merchandise for profit, fanfiction generally cannot. Inspired artworks can be peddled and commissioned and therefore, some profit is given back to the creator of the fanwork. This is unique within fandom, as most other forms of transformative and creative fanworks do not have this privilege. 

Other forms of creativity

Fan-videos are usually short videos, generally three to six minutes long, of clips spliced from existing television or film to create an expository dialogue or storyline based on the original work. Occasionally, editors will use clips from actors' other films or will write, perform and complete their own, original pieces. Often, if a popular book has not been adapted into a movie or cast, fans will either look for actors and actresses that match their own personal view of the characters' personas and use existing clip, which is typically called "fancasting", and may or may not include adding subtitles or captions or splicing dialogue to fit more exactly to the original work. 

Musicians, artists, can occasionally sell their inspired works online. Chameleon Circuit, for example, one of the better known fan-bands, sells "Doctor Who" inspired songs on iTunes and performs them on Youtube. Others will write music and perform them for free download or will adapt existing songs' lyrics to their chosen piece.

Cosplayers, fans who dress up in costumes as characters from their pieces, do not need conventions or Halloween to use their clothes and looks to express themselves. While cosplaying can be expensive if made into an exact art, it does not necessarily need to be so. Character-inspired fashion and clothing can be available for purchase by independent artists and large companies alike, depending on the popularity of the fandom, and more common clothing can be matched or adapted with other items to create costumes. I dressed up as a Dalek from "Doctor Who", even though I look nothing like a robotic pepper shaker, I managed to design and create a costume for less than $10 through desperate use of cloth scraps, an old dress, a broken headband, two plastic cups and some broken Christmas ornaments. 

You can choose whether or not transformative and creative fanwork is a part of your fandom life, and, if you do incorporate it, it's your choice to what extent. If you decide you want to produce, then there's a niche for you somewhere. Those mentioned above are the most popular, but not necessarily the only ways, to contribute creatively. 

As I have written in nearly every week, and I will reassert now: fandoms are welcoming communities where people should be able to feel safe feeling passionate about what they enjoy. People should not have to feel ashamed of what they enjoy or the content they create. How they see the world and how they interpret and internalize stories should be no one's concern but their own, and creative impulses should be encouraged, not stifled.  

They don't sit and stare at images and let them go as soon as the channel is changed, or the movie is over, or the last page is turned. They let ideas grow; they fill in the gaps and create backstories where there previously were none. They establish headcanons, practice writing, draw masterpieces, make a living (maybe), create music, design clothes. Whether or not you choose to consume what they produce is up to you; however, let it not fall upon your shoulders to criticize. You can always look away, or stop reading, or scroll past it. We all contribute in one way or another, even if your only contribution is silent acceptance.

Reach columnist Christine Bancroft here. Follow her on Twitter here.