Beginning of Research Proposal - Revised Final

There are many different forms of storytelling. With the Internet allowing various people to share their stories with the world, there seems to be a lot of writings being exchanged or posted. Should we consider works of fan fiction or role-playing works of serious fiction? To a lot of people, I imagine, fan fiction or role-playing is merely a game. A commerce of imagination amongst fellow fanatics. However, what if these fanatics are actually artisans, or perhaps authors? It is true that there are several genres of fiction, many of which have a base of fanatics of their own. What is the difference between an author fortunate enough to publish a work of vampire fiction for a group of eager admirers of the genre, and a fanatic eager to put his own spin on a television character and write a first person tale for the online community to critique and enjoy? Their differences might include background, finances, and career paths, but are they not essentially doing the same thing? What about ownership? Does an author of fan fiction have particular rights to their work online? Do people find it a useful form of writing? What about educational usage? Should authors of works used for educational purposes be in anyway compensated or otherwise credited? Fan fiction and role-playing is not only a game, but a creative approach to writing fictional works that should be protected, and used to inspire and educate others.

Fan fiction is when someone writes a story using pre-established characters that the one writing did not create. It is fairly popular with television characters and other forms of entertainment. Fan fiction is nothing new, but the Internet has allowed it to gain more popularity. There have been authors who have penned novels based on the characters of the Star Wars universe and the like, but the Internet has allowed even the minor fan to try it out. I say “try it out” because fan fiction involves the writer trying to write for characters that he or she did not create, as stated earlier. Whereas before the Internet, perhaps only people who write for a living would dare to tell a tale using someone else’s characters. Now anyone with access to the Internet can post his or her own versions of pre-established characters. Some may be good, some may be bad, but they’re all different and unique to the writer.

Role-playing can very easily be tied to fan fiction as an author could choose to take on the role of a pre-established character. Similarly to fan fiction, role-playing is nothing new, but the Internet has given it more ground to stand on. Where pretending to be a sorcerer in a board game or a superhero in your back yard can be considered role-playing, the written stories found online is what can be tied to fan fiction. Several stories have been told with a single character as the main focus. In fact it is almost a paradigm to have a central protagonist. Certain forms of role-playing could be seen as a character odyssey. Even if the character is not taken from another work and is completely invented by the author, the act of role-playing could be seen as writing the story of this character's life at a specified time period. If the author is role-playing amongst other people role-playing with different characters, the world itself could be considered a collaborative story.

I know that I personally didn't have a favorable opinion about writing until I became involved in an online role-playing site that focused on the world of professional wrestling. When writing became a competition in an environment I already enjoyed it almost became addicting. I have no idea how many pieces I wrote for the site, but I did it for 5 years on an almost weekly basis. Others have pointed out that fan fiction helps someone understand the importance of characters and other elements of fiction. While still others point out that the simple introduction of works of writing in a genre that young people are vividly interested in can help literacy in regions where it is neglected or faltering. When people are passionate about something it helps them write about it or seek out things to read about it. Fan fiction and role-playing allow us to dive into a world we enjoy, and it allows us to be creative. Creativity can allow us to grow and help us learn. For many people fan fiction or role-playing is just the creative outlet they need to become passionate about their own writing.

Bibliography:

"Fan Fiction." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_fiction. August 31, 2009.

"News: The Overlooked Art: Fanfiction." deviantART. http://news.deviantart.com/article/38278/. August 31, 2009

"Differences Between Writing and Roleplaying." The Fantasy Library. http://www.fantasylibrary.com/ir/irws14.htm. September 7, 2009.

Davis, Jennifer. "What Roleplaying and Fanficiton taught me about Writing." (Semi) Intellectual Blathering. http://www.intellectualblathering.com/?p=441. September 10, 2009.

Vosloo, Steeve. "Fan Fiction: Improving youth literacy." Thought Leader. http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/stevevosloo/2008/01/22/fan-fiction-improving-youth-literacy. September 14, 2009.