Quote:
Originally Posted by marshies
I read Harry Potter Fanfiction on a regular basis.
There are a couple reasons why I love them:
1) I grew up anticipating the next release of the Harry Potter series, and these filled the void between releases. Authors would hypothesize and extend the story lines with their own imaginations. Fanfiction was actually really good back then! In fact, so good that when the real book 6 came out, I was dissappointed by the plots because I had already seen them in fanfiction before.
2)What if: I'm a firm believer that Hermione is blind and stupid for choosing Ron. The big wide world of fanfiction lets me live in denial forever.
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I'm another HP fanfiction aficionado and author. I'm not a teenager and haven't been for better than thirty years. I've found total drivel and sheer brilliance in HP fanfiction, though most of it is found in places other than fanfiction.net. (Try Hawthorn and Vine on LiveJournal.) While it's rare, I've found some fanfiction that has rivaled, and in a few exceptional cases outpaced, the work of the original author.
I started reading fanfiction in the mid-90's for pure escapism and another take on characters that I felt were ill-served by the writers of a TV series or two. My interest in those characters waned and I moved on to other shows, movies or books as my inspiration.
My own writing (for pay) is usually instructive, technical or reference material. Sometimes I like to stretch my creative wings a little with something that doesn't make me work too hard, but still pushes me beyond my usual boundaries.
And I, too, cannot accept on any level, that Hermione would have ended up with Ron. Ugh. Let's let the lady have a more exciting and satisfying life, shall we? It's fun to imagine what might have been.
Finally, if you look at the sheer numbers of stories published on sites like ff.net, (more than a half million HP stories alone - seriously!) it encourages me that young people do want to write. I pray, however, that their skills improve as they practice. The current trend toward giving feedback that simply reads "Awesomely Kewl!" is not helpful. When I do take the time to leave feedback, it's honest, constructive, and points out the writer's consistent errors in grammar and punctuation. Really wish others would do that, too.