BEING CREATIVE.
How has fanfiction become a credible form of reading material?
Books, movies, and TV shows (plus everything else we are surrounded with) influence our thoughts and imagination.
For me, after seeing a good movie, or an action-packed one, then I have the urge to write a story (or chapter of my story) in which the character is put through a similar emotional conflict and must overcome that - as the character did in the movie.
Many of the time, funnily enough, it's after I see a Mission Impossible movie, or something of that similar genre that I find this need. Or if I see a really good movie that surprises me.
THEN
NOW
In 5th and 6th grade, my friends and I would pretend to have elemental powers and run around the playground, creating our characters and making up stories.
Even though I didn't read the manga or watch the anime (TV show), my friends did. The shows they watched were: Do Re Mi, Tokyo MewMew, and W.I.T.C.H. (Although I didn't watch the show, I did read the comics, W.I.T.C.H.)
I think I was most usually the water power, because I have dark hair, I like the color blue, and I was the calm, quiet one.
Fanfiction: fiction about characters from an original work of fiction created by fans.