“From Obscurity to Trendsetter: How Fanfiction Ignited a Revolution in Serial Storytelling!”
Isn’t it curious how, in this age of TikTok and Instagram reels, the art of storytelling is experiencing a curious revival? Picture this: a world where serial fiction—historically a staple for captivating readers—makes a grand comeback, thanks to the ever-evolving landscape of digital platforms. The internet, in all its chaotic glory, has not only transformed how we consume stories but also ignited a fresh fascination with episodic narratives, particularly through fanfiction. This piece unravels why writers ought to take notice of this shifting reading habit and what it might mean for the future of storytelling. Intrigued? Let’s dive deeper into this narrative revival! LEARN MORE.
The Short of it
Why writers should pay attention this changing reading habit
I find it fascinating that the internet has revived serial fiction — that is, by Wikipedia’s definition: “a printing format by which a single larger work…of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential installments.”
While I haven’t completed any official research, I’ve been on the internet for a long time, and by my observation, the appetite for serial fiction can be, at least in portion, attributed to fanfiction.
Some fan-ish history
Fan spaces were one of the earliest things to proliferate during the birth of the modern internet and fanfiction has always been part of that. While it has moved from email lists to Livejournal to Fanfiction.net to Archive Of Our Own (AO3 for short) to Wattpad… Fanfiction has predominantly been published serially.
Yes, there are exceptions. There are “one-shots” — the fanfiction equivalent of a short story — and “drabbles” — perhaps the fanfiction equivalent of flash fiction and micro-fiction — which are shorter in length and completed in one entry. While there are also fanfiction authors that will write their 100,000-word epics to completion before they…
