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Explanation Essay: From Beta Reading to the Mary-Sue: The Ins and Outs of Fanfiction

I stared at the computer screen squinting my eyes as if that would allow me to understand the hidden meaning behind the reviewer's words. I had absolutely no idea what this veteran writer was speaking of as she commented on my most prevalent character. The thrill of beginning my first multi-chapter story was gone and the worry that I would create a failing narrative dawned in my mind. The beauty of the internet is instantaneous communication. The failure of the internet is no discernible terminology is used in every internet community. The fanfiction community of the internet is no different. Unknown fanfiction terminology was hindering my understanding and growth within the online community. Knowing the terminology of fanfiction authors allows new writers to actively engage in a form that will allow their writing skills to develop.

Fanfiction, as a word is a combination of two: fan and fiction. Fan is defined as, “a person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular sport, art form, or famous person.” Fans are a part of a fandom which is a specific television series, book, cartoon, and so on. In the realm of fanfiction, a fan writes or reads within the fandoms they enjoy. Fiction, then, is defined as, “literature in the form of prose, esp. short stories and novels, that describes imaginary events and people.” Fanfiction is a fan writing within their fandom by changing the storyline or adding a new storyline in some way. A fanfic is a single story within the realm of fanfiction.

For example, I am a fan of the animated movie Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. I am therefore a part of the Spirited Away fandom. Should I choose to write a story based upon Miyazaki's work, I would be writing fanfiction and the single story would be referred to as a fanfic. As a fanfiction author, I write without the permission of Miyazaki and will never receive money for the story I write. I will however borrow the characters (Chihiro, Haku, Rin, etc.) and write my own storyline based around those characters.

Fanfiction writing brings a, usually, new writer into a world of terms that are only used in the online community. It is only through trial and error, and quite possibly, a few accusations, that an author finally will understand most of the terminology of fanfiction. When authors do not understand what is expected of them they do not write their finest work. Understanding fanfiction publishing terms and concepts allows new authors to understand where they can find help and provides an opportunity for improvement. From Beta Reading to the Mary-Sue character, Internet fanfiction writers especially have created terminology that those outside the relatively small sphere of fanfiction will find unfamiliar.

The Fox television show House M.D. has a high popularity among television watchers and therefore many fanfiction writers have decided to undertake the challenge of writing a fanfic for the show. What makes the show difficult to write in the context of fanfiction is the medical terminology that the characters use constantly, but this fact of the show also gives the author a place to begin. If the author desires to stay within the general vein of the series, they will formulate a story based around a patient with a unknown disease and write towards the disease discovery and in doing so will explore the characters within the show and the new characters placed in the confines of Princeton-Plainsburo Teaching Hospital.

However, before beginning the writing the author needs to consider several possibilities. Will they accept the history of the show, or will they make a few changes and attribute them to artistic license? If the author decides to change an important part of the show that has already been accepted by the fan community the fanfic must be labeled either Alternate Reality (AR) or Alternate Universe (AU). Examples of a change that would qualify the fanfic are: a change of setting (the original characters are placed not at Princeton-Plainsburo Teaching Hospital, but in a college setting), the killing of a main character before the fanfic begins (one of the main characters has left the team of doctors central to the television show), a change in the accepted history of the show (an important event in the lives of one of the characters never happened) and the list goes on.

My own AU escapade involves the insertion of a cartoon series into the plot line of the musical Les Miserables. Alternate Universes are extremely hard to write because the author is trying to stay true to the characters they know and love while putting them in to an entirely different situation. I have repeatedly tossed out paragraph after paragraph in the search for the perfect combination of musical and cartoon. Chapter three still has yet to be written and published. This does not mean that a fanfiction writer should not endeavor to construct a fanfic outside of the series setting, but it does mean care should be taken and extra attention is required so the characters stay in character.

The other terminology the fanfiction author should know deals with the accepted premise of the fandom. Canon is the term describing the accepted premise of the fandom as it has been written by the original author or creator. For example, it is canon in the Star Wars trilogy that Qui-gon trained Obi-wan from apprentice to Jedi Knight. Obi-wan then trains Anakin (the future Darth Vader) from an apprentice till he accepts the title of Darth Vader. This is the story line of what George Lucas has written and it is accepted by the fanfiction community. Anything that deviates in some what must be labeled AU or AR. Fanon is a little different. Fanon, a combination of “fan” and “canon,” describes ideas of the show that are accepted by the fanfiction community even though they are not a part of canon or are not mentioned within the original plot. For example, it is mostly accepted among fans that Qui-gon's teacher was Master Yoda. This was disproved when it was explicitly stated within the second prequel that Count Dooku was Qui-gon's teacher. However many fanfic writers still write in the fanon vein and ignore that little part of the prequel.

This is an issue I have had to question as I write my own Star Wars fanfic. Exchange Student is another of the multi-chapter fictions that I have yet to finish, and I yet to decide whether I will write within the canon (casting Dooku as Qui-gon's teacher), or will stay within the fandom that I agree with more. Every fanfiction author has the option of deviating slightly from the canon without having to write an Alternate Universe story, as long as the deviation is very slight and does not change the outcome of the canon down the road. For example, it doesn't matter who Qui-gon's teacher was, he still dies and Obi-wan still has to train Anakin. It comes down to a matter of personal perspective. I like writing Yoda better than other Jedi. Therefore I will stay within to the fandom I have grown up in, and will write Exchange Student as if Master Yoda was Qui-gon's teacher.

The next consideration comes from writing characters. New authors creating new characters then to make them too perfect. The formal term within the fanfiction community for this kind of character is a “Mary-Sue” A Mary-Sue, or alternately Harry Sue, is a character that has no flaws, is usually meant as a love match for the main character in the fanfic the author is writing, looks perfect, and acts perfect. She, or he, is the epitome of goody-two-shoes, and makes veteran readers and writers alike want to heave.

The background story for this term is quite interesting and comes out of the Star Trek universe. “The original was Lieutenant Mary Sue ("the youngest Lieutenant in the fleet -- only fifteen and a half years old") as immortalized in Paula Smith's "A Trekkie's Tale," which she wrote and published in her 1974 fanzine Menagerie #2 The character was presumably too perfect for the other fans of the Star Trek genre, and the name was soon applied to other similar characters that appeared and became the generic term for the character that has no flaws.

It was this term that threw me for a loop when I read the first response to my first multi-chapter fanfic. Raining Hard is still the only multi-chapter fanfic that I have finished, but when it was first implied that I had written a Mary-Sue, I did not want to complete it. And in fact, I waited a long time to publish any more chapters. After stepping back from my major writing project for a while, I realized I had written a Mary Sue. Elemental was too perfect.

It then took me almost a year to finish Raining Hard after that realization. I wanted to finish it, but, as any good author wants, I needed to make Elemental believable. Two months later I wrote in some faults, a weakness or two, and set her back in the story. I also introduced other characters that balanced my strong female character and had their own faults and worries to contend with. The veteran writer who had commented on Elemental earlier left me another review: “I can see the improvement in Elemental. And Alex, wow I really like him My hard work paid off.

Another term to keep in mind is that of beta. Most likely coming from the software term “betatesting,” to beta means to edit and comment on an author's work before it is published to the internet. The author cannot beta their own work. A beta-reader is another fanfiction writer that offers a beta service to other writers. Many times this author has written fanfiction for many years and is a veteran of the fanfiction writing system themselves. Beta-reading is like proofreading. However, the main purpose of beta is to gain a fresh perspective on the fanfic. This allows the author to look at their story from a different point of view, and explore ideas that they had missed.

The finishing touch of every fanfiction is a disclaimer. This includes the “information usually placed at the top of a fanfic. Disclaimers can include legal disclaimers (i.e. who owns what in the story to follow), dedications, rating, plot summary, and various explanatory author's notes Fanfiction is written for the enjoyment of the author and the reader. Unlike published fiction, like a novel or a story story, fanfiction is never used to gain a monetary reward. The disclaimer is the author's way of acknowledging that they do not own the series they are writing about and are writing with no monetary gain for themselves.

In the fanfiction community, and everywhere else in life, no one wishes to be the “newbie.” It is not a derogatory comment, but a statement of fact, however it annoys the egocentric human in us all. For myself not to appear to be a “newbie” I needed to resort to different tactics to gain my fanfiction knowledge. It took research, and a few well placed e-mails for guidance. I conducted myself in such a way because I knew I could write well, I just needed help with fanfiction terminology and improving my style. Knowing the terminology of fanfiction authors allows new writers to actively engage in a form that will allow their writing skills to develop. I am pleased to say that I have the knowledge to carry on with my fanfiction career and my style has developed into something that fits me almost perfectly.