One of the most annoying things I've heard since I was about thirteen years old are variations of the "Fan fiction isn't real writing" statement usually followed by something along the lines of "You should be ashamed." First of all: No, no I shall not feel ashamed. I am proud of my fan fictions. Well, except for that one collaborative work that I took off of the websites, but we don't talk about that one, even if it is the source of my pen name. Anyway! Fan fiction was one of the first mediums I was able to exercise my creative writing muscles in, besides bad poetry from middle school. Writing my first novel came after fan fiction, and I give fan fiction the credit for getting me ready to write an original novel of my own. The stigma surrounding fan fiction can be frustrating for more serious writers like myself when we bring up that we do, in fact, write fan fiction. The first thing that comes to mind are fan fictions like the infamous "