Daniel Wu sat down at his computer to write a story for the first time in seventh grade. The story — “Peppa Pig: Escapee” — represented the first fan fiction Daniel ever wrote and chronicled a jaded teenage Peppa Pig’s attempts to flee to London.

Fan fiction, conversationally known as “fanfic” or “fic,” includes stories written by fans about copyrighted characters from existing works. Because the characters and worlds — such as Harry Potter or Star Wars — are protected under copyright law, fan fiction cannot be for profit. Instead, fan fiction is created and consumed solely for the enjoyment of readers. 

At U-High, teen fans are extending their favorite stories through reading and writing fan fiction, finding a space of experimentation and play through this unconventional medium.

Daniel was in middle school when he discovered his love for creative writing. Without many avenues for disseminating his work to a larger audience, Daniel began writing on Wattpad, a popular site for reading fan fiction. 

´“I think that was probably my thought process back then: it gets people’s attention,” he said. “It was still a way for me to express my love for creative writing.”

Instead of choosing a piece from a book or series that he loved, Daniel picked a TV show that would let him pretend his attempts to write were unserious: “Peppa Pig.” He believes that it was slightly “insane,” yet in his mind, that was the point of writing fan fiction.

“I felt like if I had a blog or a Substack or those kinds of things, maybe I was taking myself too seriously,” he said. “I felt like with the Peppa Pig, that it was kind of silly.”

For junior Valkyrie Laurence, the appeal was not a creative outlet, but a community of other readers and writers of fanfiction.

She feels fan fiction is a more intimate reading experience because the author isn’t limited by concerns about monetization or marketing.

“Fan fiction has this personalized element that you don’t get to see in books, because in books, there’s a pressure to be able to sell,” she said. “And so in fan fiction, that means that you get to explore more niche topics and themes.”

For Daniel, the freedom to write without concern about popularity or reception gave him the courage to explore serious topics, even if it was done through a silly setup.

He said, “I realized that creative writing was the way to get serious things on paper.”

After around 10 chapters, Daniel abandoned Peppa Pig’s odyssey. However, the story is still available, standing as a digital testament to Daniel’s first foray into prose and to the creative independence fan fiction allows for.