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heidiIt's been over five years since the first Harry Potter fanfiction
started to make its way online, and now, estimates show that there are
over two hundred thousand stories by thousands of authors of all ages
- some are the same age as Hogwarts students, while others are peers
of Minerva McGonagall.
Of course, with that many stories online, finding the good ones is
about as difficult as picking the correct door in the Department of
the Mysteries. Luckily, sites, blogs and communities cater to linking
readers with wonderful stories, which is a necessity now that the
larger fanfic sites can add a thousand new fics in a week.
FictionAlley has a collection of databases and search engines where
authors can post links to their fics, sorted by pairing, character,
era, location and language
(http://www.fictionalley.org//fictionalleypark/) ; other communities,
sites and Yahoogroups cater to readers who have more specific
intentions in searching for fics. For example, those who enjoy reading
and writing very short fics can take the weekly challenge at HP100
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/hp100/), where every Saturday,
the mods post a topic and over the course of the next seven days,
people post 100 word stories (also known as "drabbles") to the
community. HP Challenge
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/hpchallenges/) is a similarly
themed community, although without the word limit. Those who are
searching specifically for fics that delve into what happened to
Sirius after OotP read and post at 806Fiction
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/806fiction/) and others
concentrate on the wizarding world before Harry Potter's birth - and
even before his parents, James and Lily, attended Hogwarts, at
PotterPast, a community dedicated fanworks based on previous eras and
characters hinted at in the books.
In the time since the release of Order of the Phoenix, fanficcers have
tried to explore the impact of that book on the characters that we
thought we knew. NotMollyWeasley explores Percy Weasley, and imagines
a relationship between the former Head Boy and Gryffindor Prefect
Hermione Granger through the years, including those after she
graduates from Hogwarts
(http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/notmollyweasley). Madame
Pomfrey considers Remus Lupin in Alkari's A Most Unusual Student
(http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=482&chapno=1). Eslyssa's
Lost On The Border of Twilight (http://
http//www.schnoogle.com/authors/eslyssa/LOBAT01.html) explores some of
Severus Snape's past, and how his interactions with James Potter & Co.
bent the path he thought himself on.
Since there were three years between the release of Goblet of Fire and
Order of the Phoenix, many authors had the time to develop Rowling's
world in ways she probably never imagined , but with only eighteen
months between the release of book five and the announcement of book
six, it is more of a challenge to create a story that is a fully
developed alternative to The Half-Blood Prince - but some authors are
happy to take on the challenge! Myth and Legend's The Shadows of
Silence shows Harry living with the aftermath of deaths and sadness,
searching for honour in a more treacherous world than he'd previously
imagined (http://www.schnoogle.com/authors/malegend/SS01.html), and
Bored Beyond Belief's All That's Left Behind traces Harry through his
sixteenth summer and his sixth year at Hogwarts
(http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2194367/1/). Edallia Monotheer's
Legacy's Fall finds Harry roused from complete inactivity by a request
for help from the most unlikely person in the world. After a tense
summer, Draco Malfoy's gotten himself into enough trouble to have to
request the help. Meanwhile, Ginny is restless and volatile, Narcissa
is the world's most useless spy, and Remus Lupin has to shepherd
everyone on a cross-country chase from someone hellbent on revenge,
while Draco and Harry, thrust into close circumstance, learn how not
to kill each other.(http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Edallia_Monotheer/Legacys_Fall/).
RobinLady takes a different route with Promises Unbroken, which takes
place in an alternative universe where Sirius was the Potters' secret
keeper, and where James and Lily live, Harry attends Hogwarts, and
Voldemort remains in a darker world where nothing is as it seems
(http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/robinlady/PUpro.html).
But the Potter-verse is not all gloom and sorrow - Azriona's Hogwarts
Musicals turn Broadway shows like The Sound of Music, Grease and Rent
into spot-on character explorations, and she does it with a touch of
humor, too! (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Azriona/) Sam
Vimes' exploration of the process of registration at Hogwarts in the
summer of 1980 is the plot behind Registration
(http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/samvimes/registration.html) but the
story itself showcases the parents of the students we know well, which
resonates with the historical lessons of Order of the Phoenix.
Luna Lovegood has proven to be one of the most written-about new
characters, and Tonks is a close second. Michelle 31a's The Dark Lord
That Stole Christmas finds Voldemort consulting his Evil Overlord
handbook and decides to rid Hogwarts of some Christmas cheer...until
he gets discovered sneaking around the Ravenclaw common room
(http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/michelle_31a/DLTSC.html), and Lady
Draherm's The First Social Outing finds Luna and Ron on a date in
Hogsmeade (http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Lady_Draherm/First_Social_Outing/).
In FernWithy's The Doll Army
(http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1425&chapno=1) year old
Dora Tonks gets a visit from three Marauders, and her dolls get a new
mission; Pandora Culpa's Between The Bars
(http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/pculpa/BB.html) explores what
happens the first time anyone other than the Marauders cares enough to
spend a full moon night with Remus Lupin.
While some writers enjoy re-examining the same pairing or the same
characters over and over again, others find an exciting challenge in
pushing the envelope - and nowhere is that done more comprehensively
than in the Shoebox Project
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/shoebox_project/), a
collaboration between Rave and Jaida. The project includes both fanfic
and fanart, as if the reader was digging through Remus Lupin's shoebox
of memories, and discovering notes, sketches, drafts of the Marauder's
Map and other bits and bobbins from the not-so-distant past.
Over the years, many fanfic readers have also become fanfic writers,
when they find themselves inspired by something about the Harry Potter
books and decide to explore that idea in a narrative form. After
putting the story on paper, some writers just upload the fic and hope
that people enjoy it - but that's not how real writers, like JK
Rowling, turn their imaginative works into books. Ms Rowling works
with a team of editors at Bloomsbury and Scholastic - they make
editorial suggestions and polish the books into the form we put on our
shelves. Beta readers fill a similar role in the fanfiction universe;
a beta reads a story before it is posted online and makes sure that
the grammar and spelling are top-notch, reminds the author of any gaps
between the fanfic and events from the books (the "canon"), and even
makes suggestions about characterization and plot. PerfectImagination
(http://www.perfectimagination.co.uk/) and FictionAlley's Lumos
Dissendium ("http://www.lumosdissendium.org) have beta reader
exchanges and services (although FictionAlley doesn't require authors
to use a beta reader), while sites like Sugarquill
(http://www.sugarquill.net) require all new authors to use one of
their official beta readers.
Some writers enjoy workshopping their fics; Dr. Catherine M.
Schaff-Stump, a creative writing teacher and founder of several online
writing workshops, used YahooGroups as a way for writers to upload
stories, exchange comments and critique each other's stories.
TapestMLP's Eshu's Daughter
(http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1589&chapno=1) and Jiminy
C's Moondance (http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1626&chapno=1)
both benefited from their authors' participation in one such workshop.
In the weeks since the JK Rowling's announcement of the July release
of Half-Blood Prince, writers have been scurrying to wrap up their
theorizing and storytelling before the release of the book throws all
of us into loops with new information, new characters and new
speculation. But there's still more than enough time to catch up on
the stories you might've missed, or even start - and, if you like,
finish - writing a story or two before July 16. And if you don't
manage to finish it in time, do what the best Sirius-Isn't-Dead
theorists have done these past two years - regardless of what happens
in The Half-Blood Prince, you can enjoy it anyway.
started to make its way online, and now, estimates show that there are
over two hundred thousand stories by thousands of authors of all ages
- some are the same age as Hogwarts students, while others are peers
of Minerva McGonagall.
Of course, with that many stories online, finding the good ones is
about as difficult as picking the correct door in the Department of
the Mysteries. Luckily, sites, blogs and communities cater to linking
readers with wonderful stories, which is a necessity now that the
larger fanfic sites can add a thousand new fics in a week.
FictionAlley has a collection of databases and search engines where
authors can post links to their fics, sorted by pairing, character,
era, location and language
(http://www.fictionalley.org//fictionalleypark/) ; other communities,
sites and Yahoogroups cater to readers who have more specific
intentions in searching for fics. For example, those who enjoy reading
and writing very short fics can take the weekly challenge at HP100
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/hp100/), where every Saturday,
the mods post a topic and over the course of the next seven days,
people post 100 word stories (also known as "drabbles") to the
community. HP Challenge
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/hpchallenges/) is a similarly
themed community, although without the word limit. Those who are
searching specifically for fics that delve into what happened to
Sirius after OotP read and post at 806Fiction
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/806fiction/) and others
concentrate on the wizarding world before Harry Potter's birth - and
even before his parents, James and Lily, attended Hogwarts, at
PotterPast, a community dedicated fanworks based on previous eras and
characters hinted at in the books.
In the time since the release of Order of the Phoenix, fanficcers have
tried to explore the impact of that book on the characters that we
thought we knew. NotMollyWeasley explores Percy Weasley, and imagines
a relationship between the former Head Boy and Gryffindor Prefect
Hermione Granger through the years, including those after she
graduates from Hogwarts
(http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/notmollyweasley). Madame
Pomfrey considers Remus Lupin in Alkari's A Most Unusual Student
(http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=482&chapno=1). Eslyssa's
Lost On The Border of Twilight (http://
http//www.schnoogle.com/authors/eslyssa/LOBAT01.html) explores some of
Severus Snape's past, and how his interactions with James Potter & Co.
bent the path he thought himself on.
Since there were three years between the release of Goblet of Fire and
Order of the Phoenix, many authors had the time to develop Rowling's
world in ways she probably never imagined , but with only eighteen
months between the release of book five and the announcement of book
six, it is more of a challenge to create a story that is a fully
developed alternative to The Half-Blood Prince - but some authors are
happy to take on the challenge! Myth and Legend's The Shadows of
Silence shows Harry living with the aftermath of deaths and sadness,
searching for honour in a more treacherous world than he'd previously
imagined (http://www.schnoogle.com/authors/malegend/SS01.html), and
Bored Beyond Belief's All That's Left Behind traces Harry through his
sixteenth summer and his sixth year at Hogwarts
(http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2194367/1/). Edallia Monotheer's
Legacy's Fall finds Harry roused from complete inactivity by a request
for help from the most unlikely person in the world. After a tense
summer, Draco Malfoy's gotten himself into enough trouble to have to
request the help. Meanwhile, Ginny is restless and volatile, Narcissa
is the world's most useless spy, and Remus Lupin has to shepherd
everyone on a cross-country chase from someone hellbent on revenge,
while Draco and Harry, thrust into close circumstance, learn how not
to kill each other.(http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Edallia_Monotheer/Legacys_Fall/).
RobinLady takes a different route with Promises Unbroken, which takes
place in an alternative universe where Sirius was the Potters' secret
keeper, and where James and Lily live, Harry attends Hogwarts, and
Voldemort remains in a darker world where nothing is as it seems
(http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/robinlady/PUpro.html).
But the Potter-verse is not all gloom and sorrow - Azriona's Hogwarts
Musicals turn Broadway shows like The Sound of Music, Grease and Rent
into spot-on character explorations, and she does it with a touch of
humor, too! (http://www.riddikulus.org/authorLinks/Azriona/) Sam
Vimes' exploration of the process of registration at Hogwarts in the
summer of 1980 is the plot behind Registration
(http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/samvimes/registration.html) but the
story itself showcases the parents of the students we know well, which
resonates with the historical lessons of Order of the Phoenix.
Luna Lovegood has proven to be one of the most written-about new
characters, and Tonks is a close second. Michelle 31a's The Dark Lord
That Stole Christmas finds Voldemort consulting his Evil Overlord
handbook and decides to rid Hogwarts of some Christmas cheer...until
he gets discovered sneaking around the Ravenclaw common room
(http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/michelle_31a/DLTSC.html), and Lady
Draherm's The First Social Outing finds Luna and Ron on a date in
Hogsmeade (http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Lady_Draherm/First_Social_Outing/).
In FernWithy's The Doll Army
(http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1425&chapno=1) year old
Dora Tonks gets a visit from three Marauders, and her dolls get a new
mission; Pandora Culpa's Between The Bars
(http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/pculpa/BB.html) explores what
happens the first time anyone other than the Marauders cares enough to
spend a full moon night with Remus Lupin.
While some writers enjoy re-examining the same pairing or the same
characters over and over again, others find an exciting challenge in
pushing the envelope - and nowhere is that done more comprehensively
than in the Shoebox Project
(http://www.livejournal.com/community/shoebox_project/), a
collaboration between Rave and Jaida. The project includes both fanfic
and fanart, as if the reader was digging through Remus Lupin's shoebox
of memories, and discovering notes, sketches, drafts of the Marauder's
Map and other bits and bobbins from the not-so-distant past.
Over the years, many fanfic readers have also become fanfic writers,
when they find themselves inspired by something about the Harry Potter
books and decide to explore that idea in a narrative form. After
putting the story on paper, some writers just upload the fic and hope
that people enjoy it - but that's not how real writers, like JK
Rowling, turn their imaginative works into books. Ms Rowling works
with a team of editors at Bloomsbury and Scholastic - they make
editorial suggestions and polish the books into the form we put on our
shelves. Beta readers fill a similar role in the fanfiction universe;
a beta reads a story before it is posted online and makes sure that
the grammar and spelling are top-notch, reminds the author of any gaps
between the fanfic and events from the books (the "canon"), and even
makes suggestions about characterization and plot. PerfectImagination
(http://www.perfectimagination.co.uk/) and FictionAlley's Lumos
Dissendium ("http://www.lumosdissendium.org) have beta reader
exchanges and services (although FictionAlley doesn't require authors
to use a beta reader), while sites like Sugarquill
(http://www.sugarquill.net) require all new authors to use one of
their official beta readers.
Some writers enjoy workshopping their fics; Dr. Catherine M.
Schaff-Stump, a creative writing teacher and founder of several online
writing workshops, used YahooGroups as a way for writers to upload
stories, exchange comments and critique each other's stories.
TapestMLP's Eshu's Daughter
(http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1589&chapno=1) and Jiminy
C's Moondance (http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=1626&chapno=1)
both benefited from their authors' participation in one such workshop.
In the weeks since the JK Rowling's announcement of the July release
of Half-Blood Prince, writers have been scurrying to wrap up their
theorizing and storytelling before the release of the book throws all
of us into loops with new information, new characters and new
speculation. But there's still more than enough time to catch up on
the stories you might've missed, or even start - and, if you like,
finish - writing a story or two before July 16. And if you don't
manage to finish it in time, do what the best Sirius-Isn't-Dead
theorists have done these past two years - regardless of what happens
in The Half-Blood Prince, you can enjoy it anyway.
