Time to read: 3 minutes
To answer my research questions, I talked to fanfic writers themselves. Though a more rigorous approach, I decided to conduct both a survey and follow-up interviews to contextualize and provide depth to the survey responses. The survey was a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions while the interviews delved into their survey responses. My approach is similar to Warburton’s 2010 analysis of fangirls’ identity/identity formation through Harry Potter and Twilight fanfiction. Speaking to writers directly, as opposed to analyzing discourse and author’s notes, provides more direct access to the writers’ behaviors, motivations, and intentions.
The survey was kept short so that the average respondent would take no more than ten minutes. However, the response time varied greatly as did the amount of detail put into individual responses.
Distribution
The survey was distributed online in the same places these communities can be found. Though fanfiction and aro/ace communities undoubtedly exist offline, online spaces have many benefits for distribution that make them ideal for this type of research. It spreads faster and with less effort while also reaching more people with more diversity. Participants, rather than just the researcher, become vectors through which the survey spreads across online communities.
I posted the survey on Tumblr, Reddit, and Twitter using relevant hashtags where appropriate to increase visibility. My use of Tumblr will be discussed in a later section. I also posted the survey on AVEN’s Visibility and Education Projects forum which reaches internationally. By posting to both fanfic communities and aro/ace communities I maximized the amount of people eligible to participate.
While I had hoped for more racial/ethnic diversity, the results are still overwhelmingly white; though there is more gender diversity than research into fanfiction as a whole suggests. Though fandom spaces seem dominated by whiteness, people-of-color writing this fanfiction do exist. Therefore, these results are only applicable to the respondents and not entirely generalizable to the larger aro/ace fanfic writing population.
The survey targeted writers of aro/ace fanfic (fanfic with characters on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums) over the age of 18. It was not restricted to fandom/media object, geographic location, or publishing status (if they’ve posted their fanfiction online or not). However, it was limited to English-speakers because as a single researcher I am unable to incorporate other languages due to time and lack of knowledge. However, respondents were not prohibited from mentioning non-English language works.
In my recruitment materials, I emphasized my definitions of fanfiction and aromanticism/asexuality. However, I was not prescriptive; participants were allowed to self-describe their relationship to fanfiction writing in the text boxes on the survey.
To ensure accessibility and clarity, I conducted a pilot study and adjusted my wording and question flow as needed. The final survey’s questions were a mix of closed and open-ended while avoiding leading questions that might encourage respondents to choose certain answers. Questions were grouped into general categories of demographics; behaviors; motivations; and visibility in fandom/media.
The demographic questions were used to gauge the age, gender, sexual/romantic orientations, etc. of the survey respondents. The behavior section was close-ended questions about how the respondent writes their fanfic (where they post, how much they write, what they include in their writing). The motivations section delved into why the respondent writes what they write and for whom they write. Finally, the visibility in fandom/media section asks questions related to specific characters and visibility and representation of aromanticism and asexuality within fandom and in media. Following this, respondents could opt into the interview stage.
Aromanticism & Asexuality in Fanfiction Writing 