Our current society likes to dance around the fact that we’re in a literacy crisis. It’s not almost here, or on its way; it’s happening. We have reality TV stars pronouncing epitome as “eh-pih-toe-mm,” and saying “emerged” when the word they were looking for was “immersed.” This crisis gets worse every day. Children aren’t provided with the proper literacy resources in or out of schools.
As someone who grew up in a family full of avid readers, I had the privilege of having access to a variety of books, ranging from fantastical fiction to educational non-fiction. However, not everybody has the same experience. This crisis is a call to action and should push society to start looking for proper solutions.Â
The internet is a big place, and when you’re a 10-year-old hearing whispers from a friend about a magical place called “Wattpad,” you have to look. In fifth grade, I learned what fan fiction was. My best friend flipped her phone and showed me an Archie Andrews x Reader— I was immediately hooked. I created an account with my mother’s email and when she asked me what I needed it for, I reassured her by saying Wattpad was an app for reading fun stories (technically true!). My growing interest quickly took me to other platforms like Archive of Our Own (AO3), Tumblr, and Quotev. Â
There are jokes among the fan fiction community that illiteracy could be remedied by adolescents rediscovering the art of reading creative stories in their favorite fandoms. But I’m not joking. A lot of well-spoken people and proficient readers were (and still are) consumers or creators of fan fiction. It is a fantastic medium of creativity, and has many facets. These platforms provide kids the freedom to use their imagination in fun ways, whether they choose to read or write.Â
At age 13, I took a stab at writing fan fiction and ended up writing about me getting cheated on by a Haikyuu character (like, what???). After that, I put my ink and quill to rest. However, my less-than-fortunate fan fiction writing skills did not put an end to my reading. I’ve gone from age 10, reading about Bakugo from My Hero Academia, to age 18, where I refuse to disclose who I spend my time reading about. There are two things you never ask a woman: 1) “How old are you?” and 2) “Who do you read fan fiction about?”
I believe my years of reading fan fiction have helped me become a better reader and writer. If there’s a place to learn 10 synonyms for the word “eyes” (orbs, globes, pools) in 10 minutes, it’s Wattpad (or Tumblr, if you’re anything like me).Â
I’m not saying parents should download these apps onto their kids’ phones, but I think fan fiction should be acknowledged as a realistic outlet for developing reading and writing skills. I can confidently say my literacy was supplemented by my many years reading this stuff. The reason I’m at UF today is definitely because of the many hours spent reading about all my favorite characters falling madly in love with me!
But seriously, fan fiction is a useful way to learn about the pillars of literacy. If you’re reading a self-insert, you get to be the main character. Usually, people find more interest in things if they’re involved. So, not only are you learning new words and phrases, but you’re reading about something individual and interesting for you. Also, since there is a large variety of fan fictions out there, it’s unlikely that you’ll read a piece of writing that teaches you the same thing as the one before.Â
In light of using fan fiction as a tool, it’s necessary to squash the stigma around it. The stories written on Wattpad, Tumblr, etc. are still stories written by real people. They were artfully created by writers with big imaginations and a passion for sharing their stories with others. Even better, fan fiction isn’t overrun by artificial intelligence. The community is more than aware that storytelling sounds better from real people.
In a literacy crisis like this one, it is integral that whatever solution we come up with is from humans, not artificial intelligence.
The next time you come across someone who is well-read and well-spoken, they might read fan fiction. And you should, too!