I've ruminated on this for a while now, because it really surprised me, and I kinda want to summarize the overwhelming sentiments that have been said here in the notes and tags vis a vis fanfiction vs. original fiction. The long and short of it is that the greater appeal of fanfiction seems to come from it's low barrier to entry.
Fanfiction is, by most accounts, easier and more accessible to read. It's more immediately engaging than original fiction because of one's established familiarity with the IP. Plus, its free on the phone in your pocket and offers an immediate dopamine hit that caters to a person's existing fixations. It's a "comfort" medium while original fiction is perceived as more challenging, draining, and requiring more intellectual effort.
For better or worse, readers tend to be drawn to fanfic when original fiction seems too great a hurdle. What's happening less is readers being drawn to original fiction because fanfic is too simple. Original works seem to be a second choice option, often only sought out as a seed for consuming more fanfiction.
Now-I wanna be clear. While I'm not a fanfiction reader myself, I think it's a great medium and have no problem with it. This is not an argument about quality or value. All art is valuable, nothing is "low" or "high" art by my standards. I've said it before, I'll continue saying it.
BUT ! I do want to assert a challenge here to a particular idea that is very popular in the notes of this post, specifically that original fiction is challenging, expensive, or inaccessible by default. It's not, not always, plain and simple. There is plenty of fiction out there JUST as easy to pick up, JUST as addictive, JUST as rewardingly candy-consumable as fanfic. A lot of it, frankly, takes an unfair reputational hit for being so accessible and having such a low barrier to entry! Which is exactly the thing about fanfic that people love so much! So the next time you find yourself reaching for Ao3, consider considering the alternatives.
Because a) the original fiction authors want your kudos just as much !!! (perhaps more since many rely on it for income and exposure)
and b) in this era of convenience and plummeting literacy rates and AI-fueled intellectual decay..... maybe it's good praxis to pick up the thing that challenges you a little bit more vs the comfort read once in a while. Maybe that extra effort will be enriching rather than exhausting. Who knows. Try it.
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