Seen… well, all over the place, by now. In different variants, due to people adding their own reasons.
Bold any reasons that apply to you, strike out any that don’t (if you feel like it), and add three (or more, or less) reasons of your own to the bottom.
REASONS I WRITE FANFIC
1. To explore themes that I don’t get to see in mass media using characters I love.
2. Because it’s fun.
3. Because mass media does a crappy job of representing my race and/or gender and/or sexual orientation.4. Because I can get more people aboard my ship writing a story than a manifesto. (More of a beneficial side effect than a reason…)
5. Because TV science-fiction doesn’t explore its science-fiction premises in enough depth.
6. Because it’s a gift I can give a stranger and know they will enjoy it.
7. Because I resonate emotionally with the characters what I read and watch, and want to find out why by writing about it.
8. Because every tale is a universe, often with fascinating nooks and crannies that the original author never explored.
9. Because I’ve made some of my best and dearest friends through this very wacky hobby.
10. Because the world the creator made is vast, and I want to see more of it.
11. Because writing as a communal experience is amazing.
12. Because I can.
13. Because every time I write something, I learn more about writing. And myself. And my readers.
14. Because someone can find it and know that there are other people out there who respond to media that way.15. Because writing porn and having someone say, "this is hot!" is an empowering experience.
16. Because I get so much enjoyment from reading fan fiction that I want to contribute to the community by providing enjoyment for other fans.
17. When I become interested in particular actors and/or characters, sometimes I want to explore them in different contexts than their canons would ever allow.
18. I enjoy writing but I feel ambivalent about trying to get published; writing fan fiction frees me by removing the pressure to sell from consideration.19. Because it makes me feel powerful to take stories not about me or people like me, and make them about me or people like me.
20. Because I think ‘what if.’
21. Because sometimes you just need kitten!fic.
22. Because it isn’t the ‘heroes’ that are interesting to me a lot of the time, and secondary/minor characters usually take a back seat by definition.
23. Because I like to weave bits of canons together and know that my target audience can see those things, get the references, the catchphrases
24. Because I want to
25. Sometimes I have to write a story because no one else will.
26. I like the creative challenge.
27. Writing can be cathartic, and if it entertains someone at the same time, all the better.
And new:
28. Because it’s addictive and I can’t not do it
29. Because canon got it All Wrong, and it’s up to me to Fix It!
30. Because the stories I write are pleasing to my id.
Hmm. Clearly, writing fic is All About Me, and not so much about other people, while world betterment (or even self-improvement) is apparently the last item on my fic-writing agenda.