Complex sentence: The fan community in the English-speaking world began in the 1970s and steadily grew; its growth characterized by waves that Gilles Poitras as well as Bruce Lewis and Cathy Sterling name as specific "generations", often instigated by a singular work.
Split into simpler sentences: The fan community in the English-speaking world began in the 1970s and steadily grew. Its growth characterized by waves that Gilles Poitras as well as Bruce Lewis and Cathy Sterling name as specific "generations", often instigated by a singular work.