Confessions of a Fanfiction Addict

[blaqlives]

Discussion of the featured editorial Confessions of a Fanfiction Addict by Emily Reutlinger.

NOTE: I had originally planned to update the featured editorial/essay spot after the release of HBP, thinking that tons of great editorials would come flooding in to our email account, but I couldn't help myself. I think Emily's "confession" is a great lead-in to the pre-release hype, and I plan to post another relevant piece by another writer closer to July 16. Anyway, thought the die-hard editorial fans might want to know why this featured editorial was posted when the site said otherwise.

--Sara

[QueenLindzi]

Wow. I can totally relate. Don't worry, you're not the only one out there!

[Tonkscat724]

I thought it was just me. I love fanfiction and editorials but when I reread the books in preparation for HBP, it just didn't seem quite right. Guess we all really do need a reality check! Rats! Didn't really want one, I am really addicted to fanfiction. I don't think I could go cold turkey off of fanfiction and editorials, so good luck for you!

Note to self: Harry is not a ninja, Harry is not a ninja . . .

But I suppose I could take a bit of a break and concentrate on fanon more.

Good point and well written editorial!

cheers

~Tonkscat724

[jopotter]

Thank you, Emily! I'm not a big fanfiction reader but I do follow the love thread closely and I think the same applies there as well. I get so caught up with finding and explaining canon for respective 'ships' that sometimes I forget the real charm and camaraderie of the books. I don't want to read HBP and go "Hahah! See, I was RIGHT!". I wanna take it all in and read it the way I've read all the books. So...(takes a deep and long breath), taking a leaf from Emily's book:

I solemnly swear that as of June 16th I will be going cold-turkey off of any and all fanon and editorial writings especially those written in the Love Thread.

Yikes. I hope I have the strengh to stay away. Wish me luck!

[QueenLindzi]

I'm going to be brave and do like jopotter. Here goes. Wish me luck!

I solemnly swear that as of June 16th I will be going cold-turkey off of any and all fanon and editorial writings especially those written in the Love Thread.

I will try and taper off my addiction before July 16th so it won't be as hard when I quit.

I solemnly swear that as of June 16th I will be going cold-turkey off of any and all fanon and editorial writings especially those written in the Love Thread.

I must keep repeating it to myself....

[Songbird24601]

Thank you so much for writing this editorial! I am not quite as addicted to fan fiction, but I can relate. On days when I had a lot of time and there was not much new news on mugglenet, I used to have HP withdrawl and would go to sugarquill or some other fanfiction site. When I first started doing this I found that I got confused. Not because the writing was so much like JK Rowling's but just because the same characters were used. Then I also found that I was spending way too much time reading fanfiction, and when other people needed the computer, way too much paper printing out pages and pages of fanfiction. Like you, when I re-read the canon I kept having to remind myself that these characters were not the same ones I had just read about. I have since gone off fanfiction for the most part, and when I have HP withdrawl I just go re-read the actual canon.

In terms of editorials, they are fun to read, but I can usually keep an open mind and accept that however entertaining the theories are, many of them are probably not true.

Wow, this was a really long comment...sorry!

[Luna4991]

As I was reading your editorial I was thinking "Oh my gosh, I love you!" I know exactly how you feel. I'm addicted to fan fiction and I'm not afraid to admit it. I would give it up, but I would probably suffer with drawl symptoms and have to be treated with a major dose of "DarkHermione the uber-skank" (I love that phrase by the way). Anyways, it was a really well writen editorial, and I admire your strength to give up fanfiction. I know that a lot of people wouldn't be able to do it (like me).

[farida]

Nice to know that I’m not the only one. I am a terrible fanfic addict or at least I was one just three weeks ago until my final exams hit and I really had to sort out my priorities and to put everything right.
It happened one sunny day when I was bored out of my mind and thirsty for anything concerning Harry Potter I hadn’t seen or read before. But there wasn’t anything new on the net and I out of my own volition got myself into a huge black hole of a fanfiction-trap and that was it. I couldn’t get away for a very, very, very long time. I spent months and months there hungrily searching and reading and searching and reading all over again and I couldn’t stop and when I couldn’t find anything to satisfy my appetite I started writing fics of my own.
But my health started to fail with so much time spent in front of my computer and I had to do something about it. I decided to withhold from reading any fanfics during the week but as a treat as harmful as it was I let myself read a bit during week-ends. And with time I didn’t need to read anymore of them and I considered myself cured out of it. But...
one day I was bored once again and HarryPotter-related news were scarce and so once again I found myself submerged into a fanfiction realm.
But now when I am waiting anxiously for ‘a real thing’ — for HPB, I feel like I really don’t need any fanfics to satisfy me anymore and that I am more than happy to reread OotP once again.
I dearly hope that I won’t get addicted ever again. It’s not healthy. But I cannot be sure because I really have no one to talk to about Harry and my mom is screaming murder each time I open my mouth and say something about it.
The only friend just as Harry Potter-crazed as I am that I have is now in far away voyages and either I should talk to myself pretending that in reality I am talking to someone in front of me or once again (though god forbid) I am left to read fanfics.

[Runes]

Yes, this is exactly why I never read any HP fanfiction. It ruins your image of the characters, and the books themselves. After GoF came out, I really wanted more and HP, and what better way than by reading fanfiction? But probably while reading my third or fourth fic, the characters seemed so different, so bizarre, and none of them talked the way Jo's characters do. It all seemed so weird, so I stopped reading. I swore to myself, that from then on, I would never read fanfiction for a book. It seems so weird, because the way a book is written, the sentences structured and all that, it becomes so important that if you start reading fics about a book, the book loses its image and touch.
But I make one exception. After OotP, I only read fics by one author at ff.net, and those considered prequel stories about the marauders, that tried to fill in the gaps of canon, and stayed really close to canon. I feel if you read prequel fics, you could still be untarnished and okay. But reading about present day fics is just weird. Not to mention, you'd start thinking that JK isn't that good of an author, which I'm sure, none of us want to think.

[Ginevra Potter]

I have no problem reading fanfictionBut it has to be well written and as close to canon as one can get.

[lell]

I also have to thank you. One of my maor links this summer has been Sugarquill's Professor's bookshelf. With HBP coming out, I too am rereading everything, and every time I have to stop and try to figure what actually happened in cannon as opposed to fanfiction, it is another reminder that I need to stop. Snape is not a nice guy. Draco does not have any relationships beyond hating Harry and telling Crabbe and Goyle what to do. Most of all, Remus Lupin and Tonks are not married, in a relationship, or anything other than aquaintances and fellow members of the OoP as far as we know.

I solemnly swear that as of June 16th I will be going cold-turkey off of any and all fanfiction and editorial writings.

It will be painful. However, for the next three days, may I recommend (on Sugarquill) the promises series by Robin and also my favorite fanfic ever, Harry Potter and the Enemy Within by Theowyn.

[HedwigsHelper]

I couldn't believe how accurate that editorial was. See, that used to be me. I used to be addicted to fanfiction because like so many others, I was bored one day and I decided "why not?" If only I knew now what I was getting myself into. It was amazing how they sucked you in(especially the romance genre). It lasted for about a month. A very long month. I wasn't sleeping or doing anything I usually did. It was like the outside world didn't exist anymore. I knew it was getting dangerous. =) why? Because I was no longer connected to the real characters. I almost didn't want to pick up the real Harry Potter books. And when I did, I was confused...I couldn't get all the fanfiction stories out of my head and I wanted to scream. I knew I had to stop reading them before it was too late. I was slowly, but surely drifting away from JKR's universe. So it had to end because I would NOT let that happen. I finally did stop and Thank God I did. Lol. I have not read fanfiction for 6 months. I am now back with the real characters. Now...I am not saying that fanfiction is bad, because it's not. The problem is...it's too good and it will suck you in. I am not trying to convince others not to read fanfiction...but read at your own risk =) Because it is VERY addictive! Thanks Emily for the editorial. I was so hoping it wasn't only me that happened to.

[falling_cookie]

Finally! I thought that I was the only one for a long time. Reading fanfiction is an addiction with me. It started a long time ago since I joined the Potterverse a long time ago. I read one story on FF.net and I was hooked. I couldn't believe that there was so many Harry Potter stories out there and that I wouldn't have to wait for the next book to come out to get my Potter fix. It got to the point where I would be staying up to all hours of the night reading "just one more chapter." I just couldn't stop myself. But it was when I found myself dicussing the next chapter in a fanfic that I figured things were probably too much. I was actually spending more time thinking about those fanfics than about the next book. And I wasn't doing anything else. I decided to read the books over again to clear my head but I found that I was actually confusing fanon and canon. It was and still is too much. So I'm going to have to take the same vow - except with a little variations.

I solemnly swear that as of June 16th I will stop searching for new stories and read the books once more.

Like Luna4991, I don't have the strength to just stop, but at least I can decrease my fanfic reading. The books are what started it all so focusing on them for the next 32 days should not be too hard.

[squirrely_wrath]

Thanks for reading my mind, summing things up and writing it all out so neatly. I too curse...er... thank Maline for validating fanfiction. Unfortunately, i had to cut myself off a while ago.. too much rabid reading and not enough sleep.

[oxymoron]

i solemnly swear NO fanfiction till after 16th of july.....

[cherylpix]

Originally Posted by Runes

Yes, this is exactly why I never read any HP fanfiction. It ruins your image of the characters, and the books themselves. ... It all seemed so weird ...

Here, here! Ditto!

I was first introduced to the idea of fanfic from The Plot Thickens... book. I had read all five books within a week, and my husband brought this book home for me to read before I started my rereads. I got to an essay (and I can't find it right now) that just really confused me...then I realized it was a completely made up story (what I later found out to be called fanfic)! Well, that helped clear up some things for me. But it was also then and there that I decided I didn't want to have anything to do with fanfic. Suspense drives me nuts about as much as anyone else, I'm sure, and I eagerly await the next few weeks until we have HBP. I do enjoy editorials where the author takes canon and comes up with a (at least somewhat) plausible theory of what could happen in the last two books. I just didn't enjoy the "pretent HP" stories. To me, HP is fascinating enough, I don't need fanfic.

EDIT: Ok, maybe it wasn't in The Plot Thickens... book. But where ever I read it, the story stands of why I don't read it.

[tmoniez]

Only the strong can laugh at themselves, so I commend you, Emily, and the others who are planning to go cold turkey with warm hearts and self-effacing humor.

While I've never read any fanfiction and rarely stray in Madam Puddifoot's domain (does this make me a geek here?), I enjoy many of the editorials just to see what kind of mental gymnastics people can do. Somedays I can't help thinking that if our bodies are as limber as our minds, Mugglenet could put on an act to rival the Chinese National Circus!

Personally, I don't think the editorials put me in danger of disappointment come July 16th. While some theories about what is to come do sound plausible, Jo has this amazing ability to surprise us every time. I think in spite of all the speculation here, she'll be able to do it again. After the 24-72 hours necessary to read HBP will be over, I still think my first reaction will be the usual "WHOA!" She's that good, our Jo.

Going to go check that counter again to see how much time we have to wait...

[libbypotter]

I didn't realise there were so many people like me! I too am addicted & I only started reading fanfiction a month ago. However I think I may have to go cold turkey too. I have a full time job & 2 young children to look after & I need some sleep before 16 July or I will be too exhuasted to read HBP. No that is not true! But I do need a clear mind so I can take it all in & try (& fail) to spot all the plot twists. I'll just have to continue the only options left.

1 Have no sleep until 16 June reading all the fanfict I can &
2 Continue introducing my 6 year old to HP so I can have someone to talk to (unfortunately my husband isn't as obsessed as I am by HP)

Good luck everyone - hope you make it.

You're right. There are a lot of fan fics that don't follow canon very well. That's usually why I don't read HP fan fic, but, instead, I decided to write an American FF where not only can I base the world on canon but have freedom to create new things as well. I found MN after OotP too, and this is my first book release since reading HP. I'm undecided on spoilers, I don't want anything big, but I want something...


My fic: Patrick Thatcher and the Colonist's Compass on MN Fan Fiction
(Sorry for the shameless plug of my story)

[Bowtruckle]

Wow - I was only here at Mugglenet a few hours ago - before your editorial was posted. I was going to say all the same things that everybody else said. It's a credit to you that so many people have commented (and in so much detail) in such a short space of time. Wonderfully written and so, so apt. Thanks