Fan fiction uses characters and worlds created by other writers to build new stories. Sometimes, these fit well, sometimes the result is…. well… laughable. Very often, it is erotic or downright pornographic — and of course there is the whole subgenre of slash fiction but I digress.
I’ve only once written a fan fiction piece and it was a “drabble” challenge — 100 words, in the West Wing world. I mentioned this to Shawn yesterday and he said he’d never read it. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if he had read it and forgotten it but, since it was nearly 7 years ago (digital excavation found it as an Open Office file from May 2006), so here it is again:
“It’s just a bill, Josh,” C.J. was putting on her jacket and Josh was standing in her way, reading.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Really. You don’t need to deal with this one.”
“Yeah. Except… there’s something here – See? On page three here.”
C.J. grabs the file out of Josh’s hands, “Josh, this memo is three years old. Leave it.”
“Really? You don’t think maybe –”
“No. I don’t. I don’t think you need it and I don’t think the President needs it. Now excuse me; I have to go and explain why we’re invading a country that didn’t exist until this morning.”
And that’s it. That is my entire foray into fan fiction and it will likely stay that way. Why? Because to me, fanfic is a little like digging through a writer’s closet and trying on their clothing. Sometimes it fits but more often you just end up looking like a nine year old playing dressup if you’re lucky, or the world’s worst cosplayer if you aren’t. I’ll let you be the judge of the West Wing piece above — brevity may be its saving grace.
If you’ve never seen The West Wing, I recommend at least the first four seasons — it got a little uneven after that. Oh, and that perfectly matched little set of screencaps is from a tumblr dedicated to Josh Lyman’s character. Too funny! In fact, if you follow through to the post that screencap is from, there is some dialogue from that scene so you can compare to my little snippet.