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800 BCE
Homeric Epics
Interpretive, non-canonical, oral traditions. Determining authorship and ownership of this work is just as challenging as it is today. This could be considered an example of narrative that doesn't adhere to canon, with storytellers adapting details to suit their needs. -
Jan 1, 1580
Plays of Shakespeare
Retelling of tales, sourced from earlier forms of literature. -
Unauthorized sequel to Don Quixote
Miguel Cervantes' Don Quixote, one of the earliest novels of canonical Western literature, was followed up with an unauthorized sequel before Cervantes' own final installment was published. Fittingly, the author of the Don Quixote-inspired novel-length fic wrote under a pen name, Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda. While historians continue to conjecture about Avellaneda's identity, he most likely had the first confirmed fanfic pseudonym in history. -
Sherlock Holmes alternate ending.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle re-wrote the death of Sherlock Holmes in "The Final Problem" after readers pressured him to revive the famous detective. This spawned formation of fan clubs The Sherlock Holmes Society and The Baker Street Irregulars. According to the internet, Holmes fans wrote fanfic. -
"Fanfiction" is born.
The word "fanfiction" appears on the scene. Originally used as a slur by science fiction authors to indicating amateurish writing. http://fanculturesfancreativity.tumblr.com/post/133765351307/university-of-iowa-libraries-begin-to-digitize -
Fancyclopedia
Fandom handbook Fancyclopedia defines "fan fiction" as "...[sometimes] improperly used to mean fan science fiction, that is, ordinary fantasy published in a fan magazine...occasionally bringing in some famous characters science fiction stories. Fictitious elements are often interspersed in account of fan activities, which may make them more interesting, but plays hob with a truth-seeker like Thukydides. Round robins have been attempted in the fan fiction field." -
Spockanalia
In 1967 a fanzine called Spockanalia appeared in New York City. It was rumoured that this mimeographed paper zine was required reading for new writers of Star Trek: TOS by Gene Roddenberry himself. -
Period: to 800 BCE
FanFiction: The Analog Days
This is an non-canonical timeline of the history of the analog beginnings of fanfiction. The re-telling, re-mixing, and re-imagining of stories has been with us long before the digital age. Sourced from:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/70108/20150723/fan-fiction-star-trek-harry-potter-history-of-fan-fiction-shakespeare-roman-mythology-greek-mythology-sherlock-holmes.htm#sthash.WoTz5j6b.dpuf http://www.themarysue.com/none-of-this-is-new-an-oral-history-of-fanfiction/
