There's a lot of stigma about fanfiction. For whatever reason, people have always been a little wary of it. For anyone who doesn't know, a fanfiction is a story based on another story in an already established world. It can also be an imagine about a celebrity or public figure. I'm sure there will always be people who don't agree with fanfic. Some people think it counts as plagiarism – as Cath discovers in Rainbow Rowell's novel, Fangirl – and others believe that all fanfic is trashy. I, for one, disagree, and there are plenty of reasons why I love fanfiction. These are just a few.

1. The world you enter is familiar

Nearly every child of my generation grew up with Harry Potter. My friends and I hoped and prayed that we'd receive our Hogwarts acceptance letter by owl. I remember packing my bag in hope that I could catch the train from Platform 9 ¾ on the 1st of September. As you can imagine, that didn't work out as planned. I read each book as they were released, gleaning everything I could from between those sacred pages. I cried after seeing the first-day release of the Deathly Hallows Part 2, knowing that the Potter universe was being closed off for good (pre the era of Fantastic Beasts and the Cursed Child, of course!)

When I discovered Harry Potter fanfiction, I realised the story didn't have to end after the films and the books. There are thousands of stories scattered across the internet featuring the Golden Trio and all of our other favourite characters. I even tried my hand at Potter fanfiction myself with my story, Two Become One, following George's life after Fred dies (sorry if this is a spoiler!) Being able to continue and expand the world is part of the magic of fanfic.

2. There's less pressure in fanfiction

I've been pretty serious about writing for a long time. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a novelist and share my fiction with the world. However, there's a lot of pressure when writing a novel. My first novel on Wattpad, Stripes, received a lot of attention, and along the way, a fair amount of criticism. When I write, I feel like there are a lot of writing rules to stick to which makes it even harder.

The great thing about fanfiction is that you can write it any way you want to. Parts of my Hunger Games series are in poem form and my chapters vary from very short to very long. I can do what I want in fanfiction, because for once, what matters is solely the story, not the layout.

3. Everyone can appreciate fanfic

While not everyone enjoys the same fandoms, there are fanfictions for nearly every major fan group, meaning there's something for everyone out there. From anime to band fanfiction, from Twilight to 13 Reasons Why, there are thousands of stories awaiting you online, as well as plenty of space to fill when it comes to new and exciting fanfic. Your imagination is unique, and any way you can contribute stories to the fanfic community is fantastic. There's always someone out there who ships the same people as you, or reads the same books, or likes the same controversial characters. I found that just before the Maze Runner films came out, people flocked to my fanfiction, Pasty's story, because it was rising in popularity, though it is one of the lesser known fandoms. If you look hard enough, you can always find a good fanfic somewhere for the stories you love.

4. There are guidelines, but also freedom

Each fictional world has rules. For example, when reading the Mortal Instruments series, there are facts that are original to the world it's set in, such as the abilities of the Mortal cup and the runes used by Clary and her friends. In fanfic, these rules have to be followed for the most part, or the world doesn't seem so familiar anymore. But in some ways, this is freeing. You already have the groundwork of a world and of the characters in it. You just have to mould them yourself.

When you have a world, you have a basis for something new. My Hunger Games series had characters of my own making in it, but of course, the rules of the world remained the same. The freedom and fun I found in writing fanfiction has spurred me to return to the Silence series, which I finished three years ago, with my new story, King of Chaos. Coming back to it has given me some peace of mind after writing an extremely emotionally taxing original novel.

5. Everyone has to start somewhere

For me, fanfiction was my entrance on to Wattpad. I'd been posting original work on the internet for a long time, but it wasn't until Wattpad that I found my home. My first published story was Silence, which has since won a Watty Award and accumulated over half a million reads. It also happens to be a fanfiction.

Plenty of people start out writing fanfiction. Anna Todd's success began on this site too, with her After series about Harry Styles. Rainbow Rowell wrote Harry Potter fanfiction before writing Fangirl. The infamous Fifty Shades of Grey series was originally a Twilight fanfiction too. No matter where you want your writing to take you, fanfiction is a great place to begin!

6. It connects writers and readers

After a lot of scrolling, I found my first ever comment on Silence, way back in 2012. I remember the person who made it, who I don't think is still active on Wattpad, but she, and several others, really shaped my experience on Wattpad. It was the fans of Silence that kept me writing, and therefore kept them reading and connecting with me. I considered those people friends long before Silence had any success, and that's the most important thing to be gained through fanfiction.

Whether you read or write fanfic, interacting with it will bring you closer to people you meet online. Wattpad, in particular, has such a strong sense of community, and being a part of a fandom only strengthens that bond. (Can you tell I love fanfiction yet?)

7. Why fanfiction feels like home to me

When I joined Wattpad back in 2012, I had ambitions. I wanted people to read my work and enjoy it. I wanted people to know who I was, and for my identity to be something outside of my usual social life. No one from my school knew that I wrote. But through fanfiction, my confidence grew. I learned to love being a writer. I learned that what I had to say was worth something to some people. I learned that common interests can hand you friendships from all over the world. Through fanfiction, I found happiness, success, friendship and confidence. That's why I'll always have a special place in my heart for it.

GIVEAWAY:

Hazzer123 will giveaway a paperback copy of her novel, Double Bluff, to one lucky winner! My giveaway is open internationally.

My novel will also be free to download on Kindle ALL OF TODAY! If you like YA LGBT fiction and supporting indie authors, I would be so grateful if you got yourself a copy! The link is on my profile, or it can be searched for on Amazon under the name Double Bluff, by Hayley Anderton.

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