Fan Fiction: What Writes Better, Simple or Complex? (From PsycArticles)

I am reading a short book on "Simplicity" and the relationship between simplicity and complexity and thought I would also do some research on PsycNet to see what recent research existed. As it happened I found the following article on Fan Fiction (topically of interest). Turns out the more complex the fan fiction story the better it is reviewed and read!

 

APA's PsycArticles contains more than 250,000 full text research articles in psychology but many of these articles have real world business implications relevant to researchers and students in academic disciplines outside psychology and social sciences.  

 

The Diamonds and the Dross: A Quantitative Exploration of Integrative Complexity in Fan fiction by Hayley McCullough investigates the psychological and linguistic characteristics of fan fiction by analyzing its integrative complexity, measuring how well a text recognizes and integrates multiple perspectives. McCullough's research compared 45 popular and 45 unpopular fan fictions from the Archive of Our Own (AO3) platform, using "Hits" (views) and "Kudos" (community approval) as metrics for popularity.

 

Contrary to expectation, that popular fan fiction would show lower complexity—a trend observed in other pop culture domains like film—the study revealed that popular fan fiction consistently scored higher in all forms of complexity across various categories. The finding suggests fan fiction readers prefer more thought provoking and nuanced narratives, which was found regardless whether popularity was measured by views or community approval. The researchers concluded that there is a robust preference for complexity in fan fiction.

 

The article proposes several explanations for this unexpected trend:

• The text-based nature of fan fiction may encourage more complex storytelling (in the absence of visual cues).
• Fan fiction's role as a form of cultural critique. This resonates with the idea that content, including (fan) fiction, often provides insight into complex real-world issues.
• A desire among fans to explore underrepresented identities and perspectives. This can be seen in popular characters like Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander, who was potentially inspired by a "grown-up Pippi Longstocking" and represents a "dysfunctional girl" who nonetheless directs her own destiny, hinting at the appeal of complex and non-traditional identities.

I have explored the fan fiction 'marketplace' a few times on PND and the researchers also reference well known examples including Harry Potter fan websites such as MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron where fans move the Harry Potter story in new directions and different directions (sometimes, not always supported by Rowling). Many of these popular fan sites provide vigorous and unedited feedback to authors which, while potentially intimidating, creates an environment which encourages quality. 

 

The Implications for Publishers: Publishers are encouraged to "engage deeply where it matters" within fan fiction communities rather than just marketing to them as readers rather than content creators. CompletelyNovel.com uses reviews, ratings, and sales data from the social web to help authors prove market viability, demonstrate how community feedback can influence success, and model of "post-publication peer review," where readers assess content quality, aligns with the community-driven nature of fan fiction communities. The research conducted suggests that platforms and content communities that filter for complex or nuanced narratives would be highly valued by readers and creators. 

 

In summary, successful fan fiction is likely to be more complex suggesting a strong appetite for intellectually stimulating content, in turn suggesting commercialization should emphasize deeper more thought provoking story lines, character development and cultural complexity. As the authors note in their closing that there may be more to do to understand fan fiction and the implications of their research: 

As previously discussed, fan fiction as a research topic has been a largely ignored by researchers and scholars outside the qualitative humanities’ scholarship, and only a few studies focus specifically on examining and understanding the underlining psychology of fan fiction, most notably Vinney and Dill-Shackleford (2018). Alongside that article, these studies begin filling this particularly research gap and provides a strong foundation going forward. It is the responsibility of future researcher to continue filling the research gap and build up these studies.

More from APA PsycNet on "Fan Fiction":

Strange new worlds: Social content in popular Star Trek fan fiction versus commercial novels

Fan fiction as a vehicle for meaning making: Eudaimonic appreciation, hedonic enjoyment, and other perspectives on fan engagement with television.