Dr. Kris Gowen, who studies the effect of the internet on teen sexuality, has been wondering about erotic fan fiction lately and whether teens are writing and publishing it.

Teens creating ‘adult’ content

Of course they are. You shoulda seen my private writings — journals and stories — back in the day. You can tell, reading through those (yeah I kept ‘em so whatsyerpoint?), exactly when I graduated from Sweetheart Romances to Jean Auel’s The Valley of Horses, which is the first porn — scuse me, erotica — I ever read. Suddenly my characters weren’t just holding hands, and when Fonzie came to visit me in the hospital, he gave me a lot more than a glance. That woulda been around the middle of 8th grade, so I was what, 13?

I’d have been mortified if any of the adults had read my stories or journals, but I could see me publishing my stuff in a ‘closed’ forum like Live Journal, especially if my peers liked my work.