Making Fantasy a Reality

Hess+uses+Spider-Man+and+the+Hooded+Figure+as+characters+in+her+fanfiction.++Image+created+by+Gracie+Hess.

Hess uses Spider-Man and the “Hooded Figure” as characters in her fanfiction. Image created by Gracie Hess.

Kacy Mull, Ranger Review Reporter

Fanfiction is a way for Gracie Hess 9 to make fantasy a reality, to express things that aren’t possible in real life. Basing her stories off of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hess uses her OCs (original characters) to change the course of the story or reinvent it to something more original and put her own twist on it.

When asked about the specifics about her writing, Hess said “I like to write about fantasy and just things that I know aren’t possible because whenever you write about it, it really makes it come to life.”

“One story was about Spider-Man having a new love interest, and that would be a character I made up, and introducing her to the Avengers. It’s just kind of like a whole new story based off Spider-Man and that character,” said Hess. She continued to elaborate on the incorporation of MCU characters into her stories.

Hess has started on 3 books so far with 3 to 4 chapters per book. It takes her around an hour to finish a chapter but she only writes whenever she has time to during the day. “Since school started, I usually have, for writing, about 30 minutes,” said Hess.

Hess started to write fanfictions when her friends showed her their own. Afterwards she continued to read fanfiction and even though the option for a different variety was there, she stuck with the ones where people would use their own original characters instead of ones that used “x Reader”.

Having original characters means that the writer needs a way to develop them, whether that’s drawing inspiration from other people or using his or her own life and experiences. While she said that she doesn’t use her own looks or her name, she uses her personality and along with that comes her social life as an influence for her characters.

Cover making is also a large process in making fanfictions. Hess said she got the hang of it once she tried it and that it wasn’t that hard even at first. “I feel like it’s a lot of fun making covers,” said Hess. “I make my covers using basic phone apps like Blend or Airbrush.”

She does have an app called Wattpad available for her to publish fanfictions. Not only does the app offer the option to publish her fanfictions, it also allows people to publish their own original stories, which she also writes.

Despite the regularity of Hess’s writing, she said that she’s not going to publish any soon. “Maybe in the future, but not right now,” said Hess. She continues to write, even though her stories have not been uploaded.