Most people aren’t going to be familiar with the term “transformative fiction.” That’s because it’s better known as fan fiction, or fan works if we’re talking about the larger group of art and content that fans create for their shows. I cut my teeth writing transformative fiction, and I’ll admit that I have a personal fascination with it as a statement about what cultural groups are looking for in their media, and where mainstream media is missing the mark. I’ll discuss that in a different post than this, one, though.
With the Star Wars reboots happening right now, transformative fiction is getting put into the limelight. Both Rogue One and Episode VII: The Force Awakens have credits stating the stories are “based on characters created by George Lucas.” In the early days of fan fiction (or at least when I started writing it), statements like that would preface a story in a disclaimer. These new stories are putting transformative fiction into a legitimate and mainstream role that, I think, will drastically change how transformative fiction and the people who write it are viewed.