Fan fiction

So I'm reading this article about fan fiction, and they reference fanfiction.net, and I go there, and, well, there's a lot of fan fiction out there. Let me put it this way: if someone wrote something that got published, ever, regardless of how popular, then somebody else has probably added on to it. Plays, movies, TV, you name it. Some you could imagine would inevitably happen, for instance, 28,283 Star Wars pieces. But 26 for Fiddler on the Roof? 424 for The Good Wife? (But only 30 for The Andy Griffith Show? What's wrong with these Mayberry fans?)

All this bumbling around in make-believe venues can't be good.

But, apparently, it is. These folks, mostly young, presumably, are creating what are called paracosms, and in doing so, are setting themselves up nicely for a rich and productive adult life. This is from Wired:

Paracosms are the fantasy worlds that many dreamy, imaginative kids like to invent when they’re young. Some of history’s most creative adults had engaged in “worldplay” as children. ... MacArthur fellows were twice as likely as “normal” nongeniuses to have done so. Some fields were particularly rife with worldplayers: Fully 46 percent of the recipients polled in the social sciences had created paracosms in their youth.

A full and rich life of the imagination would seem to be a good thing. Read the article, Clive Thompson on the Importance of Fan Fiction, then explore a bit on the fan fiction website. You'll be surprised at what you see. And I'll bet you anything you read a bunch of them.

And maybe you'll even write one!
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