Fan Fiction Template

[Donna62]

This one is just for fun. I admit I like to read good fanfiction and most of it is horrible (Sturgeon’s Law is a vast understatement where fanfic is concerned). So, I put together this database to keep track of anything I might like to read again sometime, who the author is, if it’s part of a series, etc. Some sites will let you download fiction in an ebook format, so there is even a field to show if an ebook has been downloaded (or created, if you want to go that far). As usual, I’ve included a few sample entries, this time from a series so you can see how everything works together, and included a few of the better known fan fiction sites.

Like all my databases, this is designed for entry on a computer because it has a lot of linking. It’s great for an iPad or iPhone for looking things up, then using the link to go to the site and read, but not for data entry.

Let me know if you have any questions.

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[Donna62]

One hint that will help with this database: Enter your author names first in the Authors form, then use the picklist to enter the first author in the Stories form and it will automatically fill in the link to the author’s page near the bottom. The Authors field is joined and works from the picklist. If you don’t want it to work that way, you can change the field to a many-to-many option and then select the authors to link manually, but do that before you start entering data.

[Donna62]

There are a lot of sites devoted to fandoms, so you might have to do some searching to find sites specific to what you like. However, the two largest general sites I know of are —

1. An Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/
2. FanFiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/

If you happen to be a Doctor Who fan, you might like A Teaspoon and an Open Mind at https://www.whofic.com/. There are also sites for shows that have been off the air for a while, such as Twisting the Hellmouth, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer site at https://www.tthfanfic.org/.

These are just examples of sites that are still being updated, even if Buffy has been off the air for a long time. For sites in the fandoms you like, I suggest trying an online search for the fandom with the words “fan fiction” included in the search.

The quality of stories on all of these sites varies a lot. Most of the fan fiction I’ve found has been not great, with typos, poor grammar, poor spelling, and general poor writing abounding, but I’ve also found some gems. Far too many of the stories seem to have been written with dictation software without any effort to clean up the errors. Sturgeon’s Law (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law) applies here as much as anywhere, except it might be that 98% of it is crud instead of just 90%. I use my database to track the 2% I think is worth reading. :-)

I hope this gives you a place to start.

[Author]

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