I apologize for commenting anonymously, but it is quite cumbersome going on this site with a blackberry. Just refer to me as Concerned One, if you want to refer to me by a name.
It seems that most people who have not seen fanfiction before deeply misunderstand fanfiction and yet it is not easily articulable why they misunderstand it. This may have already been mentioned before, bit I want to mention it just in case it has not yet been mentioned:
1. In response to the idea that fanfiction is not original enough, the faultiness with that objection is that the purpose of fanfiction is not to create original things to make great things; fanfiction is not about being great. Rather, it is a social activity where people share personal ideas on things. The primary value of fanfiction is not of creating great works, but rather sharing personal thoughts with a community. 2. In response to the idea that fanfiction is leeching off the popularity of another person's works, the fact is that when one writes fanfiction, one is not writing it for the sake of one's own self, but rather for the sake of the community in which one is participating; it is for the good of their community, which some call fandom. This is the reason fanfiction writers want reviews from each and every single reader, in that the purpose of fanfiction is merely to be read, because fanfiction is essentially a way to talk to others; if others would not talk back, then most would not want to continue to write. In addition, most reviews I have seen are not critical evaluations of the value of the work, but rather personal comments on the work, and telling that they want the author to continue to write, indicating that it is a way to speak of personal things, and that they write because they want to contribute to and satisfy those who want to read it.
On the purpose of fanfiction
It seems that most people who have not seen fanfiction before deeply misunderstand fanfiction and yet it is not easily articulable why they misunderstand it. This may have already been mentioned before, bit I want to mention it just in case it has not yet been mentioned:
1. In response to the idea that fanfiction is not original enough, the faultiness with that objection is that the purpose of fanfiction is not to create original things to make great things; fanfiction is not about being great. Rather, it is a social activity where people share personal ideas on things. The primary value of fanfiction is not of creating great works, but rather sharing personal thoughts with a community.
2. In response to the idea that fanfiction is leeching off the popularity of another person's works, the fact is that when one writes fanfiction, one is not writing it for the sake of one's own self, but rather for the sake of the community in which one is participating; it is for the good of their community, which some call fandom. This is the reason fanfiction writers want reviews from each and every single reader, in that the purpose of fanfiction is merely to be read, because fanfiction is essentially a way to talk to others; if others would not talk back, then most would not want to continue to write. In addition, most reviews I have seen are not critical evaluations of the value of the work, but rather personal comments on the work, and telling that they want the author to continue to write, indicating that it is a way to speak of personal things, and that they write because they want to contribute to and satisfy those who want to read it.