Sharing is Living

Aahhh, to know that the next installment of a gripping story will be posted while you sleep, ready for you to read the next morning just before getting ready for your day, now that is a good beginning indeed. Good enough to transform a late riser to an early riser.

Jane Austen’s work has becoming more and more popular these days. In the last 15 years or so, we’ve seen many adaptations of her work on TV and at the movies. Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, just to name a few. Especially now that ITV in UK is doing an ongoing project of making and remaking more of her works into films. For devoted Austen fans, these are great times indeed.

Fan fictions works, are of course the natural result of popular literary works. Harry Potter series (if you could call that literary, I certainly would) for example, has countless number of sites devoted to fictions written by its fans. It’s a perfect solution for exploring the world of
what ifs, sequels, or even just to expand more on details and those behind-the-scenes. The same applies for Jane Austen’s.

It is amazing to me that her novels are still widely read, or even more so, 200 years after she wrote them. Her topics are still relevant, the interactions and situations that she wrote could easily happen in a modern day setting, her happy endings ensures a feel-good feeling thereafter - in short, Austen’s works resonate closely with many readers. They resonate so
well, in fact, that we see more fan fiction sites being created.

One of the best out there, and one that I visit very, very regularly, is Austen.com. In their writer’s guild, you can find almost all manner of stories. Scenarios abound, from the tame to the more outrageous, from regency to modern day adaptations, from a short piece to long, you would be hard pressed to not find something to your liking.

A big bonus to all the above, of course, is that some of the stories were written exceptionally well. So very well that sometimes I feel lucky and privileged when reading a great piece of writing without buying it. And this has not gone unnoticed. Some fanfiction writers are able to sell their work for a fair price. Although this is not a novel idea (there has
been published fan fiction works since the early days), this option has become increasingly available to writers. And that, is probably the biggest bonus of all. To work and write about something that you love (writing about the what ifs of Elizabeth Bennett’s life), have a following
of fanatic readers who comments religiously (thereby a regular dose of ego boost), and get paid for it (passive income without limit), well, they sound darn good to me. As a side note, it is fortunate that Austen’s works are not copyrighted, unlike JKR’s Harry Potter. Now that would make profiting from it impossible.

Austen.com also has a Tea Room, whereby you can post almost all questions or suggestions, and the wide fan base from all walks of like, young and old, would be able to give you a response. It’s like Google, only you get more personal answers. Sort of like Yahoo! Answers then, but from a group of people, or rather, of screen names, that you recognize. Now, if that’s
not another reason for us to be grateful that we’re born in this technology age, then what is?

This site must come with a warning though, a big serious warning. You are cautioned that what you are about to see and read may cause an addiction, one that may be incurable. But then again, if you ever decided to Google ‘Austen fanfiction’, you were probably already a hopeless case. We can take solace in one thing, however, that this addiction is probably one of
many that aren’t that destructive.

Happy reading, and if you have just discovered this wonderful world of Jane Austen’s fan fiction, then you are lucky indeed. We thank you Jane, for giving us plots and characters, that could secure the happiness (if temporary) of so many.

www.austen.com