I
was surprised to read that fan fiction has been around since the 1930’s! I was oblivious to its existence before
last week and was very surprised to know I had been missing out on something
that has been around for decades. It
is also amazing to me that this has become so popular that there are two other
types of fan fiction called “Crossovers” and “Alternative Universe” fiction out
there. In these types of fiction,
several stories are blended together to create something ‘new’ in the eyes of
the author.
The
more I read about fan fiction, the more my opinions toward it keep
changing. As an avid reader of
series romance novels, I couldn’t fathom how I would enjoy reading about my
favorite characters in someone else’s words and storylines. But I am being persuaded in how this
could assist young writers who struggle to come up with an ‘original’ idea to
get them started writing. As a
teacher of writer’s workshop this past year, one of the most difficult parts of
writing for my students was coming up with their own topic (ideas) to write
about. If I had known about fan
fiction and how it is helping thousands of young writers, then I would have let
my students write about a character or storyline already in existence. It would have saved us from many class
periods of my students (and I) being frustrated because they just couldn’t seem
to get started!
I
enjoyed reading about Jandalf and Tiana and their
interactions with each other online.
It’s amazing how two people can meet online and spend so much time
together, working and creating something
so unique. Their correspondence, again, reminds me of my writer’s workshop
experiences. I pair students
together and have them read and ‘edit’ each other’s work. It has been powerful! They give each other amazing feedback,
and it has helped their writing tremendously! But now, this chapter has me rethinking those
partnerships. Instead of just
editing their partner’s original work, what if they co-authored a story together
from time to time? Wow! Powerful! Reading about fan fiction has really broadened my thinking,
and given me some amazing ideas for my classroom!
Crystal, I had never heard of fanfiction either until this class. I think about pop culture when I was young, how all my friends would talk about popular books and movies. There are a few I would change the storyline and how fun that would have been to write about it!
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was powerful how Tiana had drawn on her childhood pain to develop her character. Writing can help confront a painful experience and be therapy, even for a 5 year old. I had a kindergarten boy that had been burnt and was terribly withdrawn. One day, out of the blue, he wanted to write about getting burnt. He wrote all week about it and even shared. Very powerful!
I can see how fanfiction can be integrated into writer's workshop, especially the older kids. Great post!
I had never heard of fan fiction either until last week. It is amazing that their are so many people participating. I agree it would be a great way to get started and then to collaborate with another student to create a story. I am teaching social studies this year and it may be good to incorporate something like this using historical characters and factual information they learn in class.
ReplyDelete