Fictional Fans

I kind of thought people were more likely to label various works as 'fanfic' than not, in a sort of derogatory way. I must admit, I tend to see the world in very basic ways, so if someone says, "It's fanfic," I have no impulse to argue.

For me, fanfic would be, "Works based around the characters or universe of other works, whether written, visual, auditory, or performative." By this definition, sports teams or bands would be presenting 'performative works'.

But mostly, I don't worry about it. A fandom person knows what I mean, even if our definitions might differ in details. If a non-fandom person asks, I tell them, "Stories that fans write about the characters in TV shows or movies." They don't usually want to know more than that -- and if they do, the internet is a great research tool.

<shrug> The few non-fandom people that I've told I've written fanfic almost invariably said, "When are you going to publish?" That got old real quick, so now I only tell close friends, or people who I know are a part of fandom.