Fanfic writing advice

This is for those, new or veteran alike, who want to share their advice on writing fanfiction on various media (e.g. anime, TV shows, etc).

What kind of advice do you think is beneficial in the long run? Although do note that what one thinks is good advice may not be for others. For that, I ask that everyone remain civil.

For this one, I'll use an example of doing an Assassin's Creed and Sakura Taisen crossover.

• The most important is to make sure you know the stories, characters and the setting with these two franchises. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble.

• When in doubt, ask around. It never hurts to ask. In fact, asking around for help in checking the accuracy of your story can help ensure mistakes are avoided.

• If you have problems with grammar, spelling, etc., I suggest finding someone who can proofread the story for you to catch even the most obvious of mistakes.

This is all that I can think of since these generally do work for me at least. If there are other pieces of advice, feel free to input your thoughts here.

Quality is what separates good Fan Fiction from the bad. You can have the most interesting story in the world, but if it has poor spelling, bad grammar, ignores the established rules of the world you're writing in, and isn't consistent, most people will not like it.

Even if you don't have trouble with grammar or spelling, read through your fic at least once before posting it. Even a single read through can uncover typos or accidental screw-ups in the fic.

If you're ever unsure about something regarding canon, double check your information. This can range from something as simple as the spelling of a character's name to how the powers of a character in the fic work. Always double check on anything you're not completely sure about before posting the fic. If you don't, expect to be informed about your screw-up by your readers.

If you can, get a beta reader. It helps. It may slow your update speed down, but quality is more important than quantity. Which, coming from me, is kind of hypocritical, what with me not having a beta reader and trying to put out at least one chapter of something every two weeks or less. But I'm just that awesome, and most other people are not. Plus, my fics suffer quality-wise for it.

I don't consider myself a fanfic pro or anything, but I'll throw something out here too.

Adding to the above advice, getting multiple opinions on a piece you write other than just a beta helps too. More than one perspective can point out possible plot or characterization problems your readers may see once you post. Oh, and wait a day before you proofread. Fresh eyes spot grammer and spelling mistakes better. I know how exciting it feels to have just finished a new update, but having a little patience will save you a ton of irritation in the form of silly screw ups. Check the title and summary for mistakes too.

And never say "I suck at summaries". If you need help making a good one, ask someone instead.

If your fanfic's concept is considered somewhat cliche in your fandom, try to hint at an interesting twist in it, or potential readers may pass it up as the same as everything else.

If you write a multi-chapter one that's not purposely short, aim for a word count of at least 2,000 per chapter. If a chapter is too short, combine it with the next one. With chapters, quality tends to be better than quantity.

Meh. I always aim for at least 1000 words, but I've seen chapters that were just a few hundred that were good. It really depends on what type of story you're writing. Humor can be okay even if it's short, but suspense tends to require a little more length to it.

Lately, I've been doing mine for 10,000 words since RL's starting to creep up on me, especially since I may have to start wrapping up the last parts of uni life. And the kicker is whether my dad'll allow me to do it or not.

I mean, if you purposely write just 1,000 words and you feel satisfied with it, that's fine. But some people just seem to cut their stories into way smaller chapters that could have been combined as connecting scenes in a single one.

I'm just saying that shooting for a minimum number of words per chapter isn't actually a requirement for writing good fan fiction.

Also, I don't purposely write just 1000 words. I try to write at least 1000 words. However, I have written chapters that were less than 1000 words, and I have written chapters that were well over 2000. It depends on how much I need to write to finish the chapter. I don't cut scenes in half to make the chapters shorter, and I don't combine two chapters if one chapter is kind of short.

edited 5th Aug '13 11:24:12 PM by Hyp3rB14d3

Write the damned thing.

Don't care if it's shit. All writing is shit at the beginning. You're not going to fix it. You don't know how to fix it. You're not going to make that one fucking paragraph perfect. Fuck your pretentious perfection. Just write. Keep writing. Show your shit to everyone. Cup it in your hands and roll it around and hold it up to anyone who will give you two seconds and say 'This is my shit. Please, tell me how to make it better.' And you write the damned thing. And you keep writing the damned thing. Don't you pay attention to that other idea. Fuck it. You got this shit to write. Doesn't matter if it's a thousand words, a hundred, or ten you write the damned thing. You don't know what to write? Fuck you. You think your characters are going to make it easy on you? Does everyone you know give you their life and soul and fate on a silver platter? Does everything get handed to you? Fuck you. Write the damn thing. Make something happen. Make anything happen. And if the story won't tell you then you yell at it. Threaten it with ninjas or pirates or grandma dying or a pregnancy but you do it. And when your story behaves then you write it. And you go to those people and ask them 'what do you think now?' and you listen. And if they tell you your story is great then you thank them, and ask why. And if they tell you its shit then you thank them, and apologize, and ask why. And you write the damned thing. What, it's been two weeks? Fuck you. You think stories write themselves? Did you think this was going to be easy? Did you ever look at all those shitty fanfics and laugh and joke about how they gave up? Now it's your turn. So write the damned thing. And when it's finished. When the damned thing is created, you look at it. You look at it hard and you weep. And you show it to people. And you ask them what they think. And you listen. You listen like your life depended on it. And you put it out there for the world to see and go "THIS IS MY SHIT! WHAT DO YOU THINK!?" And you pray for one honest motherfucker to tell you. And they might tell you it is the god damnest stupiest gayest most boringest story they have ever read. And you thank them. And you ask why.

And then you take this thing that you create and you set it aside. What? You want to fix it? You want to make it better? Do you try and fix all your shitty ideas? Fuck it. You pick up a new idea. And you remember what you did. You remember what people said. You remember why it was good and why it sucked ass and you write. The. Damned. Thing. And you make it better than the one that came before. And this time you go through and look for the boring dialogue and the stupid characters that only make sense to you and the ideas that you thought were good at the time and you change them, if you can. If the story will allow you. But then you go back to writing. You go back and you get it done and get it created and you go to that one honest motherfucker and you say to them 'Hey, Mr. Nice person. I really respected your feedback and I was hoping you'd take a look at this story.' And you hope they read it. And when they're done, and they say it's crap and shit and what the fuck are you doing wasting your time, you thank them again. And you ask why. And you ask how you can make it better. And you listen.

Then you set it aside. And you take a new idea. And now you know better which ideas are shit. Which ideas don't deserve stories. Which ideas are too big for one story or too small or too cliche. And you push those ideas aside and you find one that's interesting. You find one that's personal. You find one with hooks for hearts and with tits and ass to ogle and explosions and motherfucking flames exploding and you go 'Okay motherfucker. Let's write you.' But this time you pay attention to all the little shit that didn't seem to matter before. Like the difference between their and there and they're or when you use a capital or a lowercase or all those fucking commas you either don't use and should or do use and shouldn't. And... you... become... aware... of... all... your... fucking... ellipsis... and you say, 'Fuck that! I'm going to write the damned thing, but I am not going to do that shit anymore!' And when the story gives you lip, you say, 'Fuck you story! Do you want me to break out the motherfucking ninjas? No. Then give me something to write.' And you think about your characters. You learn them. You listen to their childhood. You think about what they want. What they need. What they fear. What makes them horny. What's their darkest motherfucking secrets ever. And you write the damned thing. And you find the honest motherfucker, or two if you're lucky, and beg them to read it. And ask them if it's better. And how can you just make it better! And you listen. And you thank them.'

And if you get fucking readers that like you, you thank them. And if you get people willing to sacrifice their time and energy to help you, you thank them. And if fuckers give you shit, you ignore them, but if they give you shit and then tell you what you did wrong to get shit, then you thank them. And if they give you five bucks out of their wallet to help you out, or draw one of your OC's, or post some where that it was good, then you fall down on your motherfucking knees and THANK THEM LIKE JESUS! Because you're not one of those fuckers that got ten pages into a fic and then gave up. You're not one of those fuckers who thought their shit was gold and stopped listening when everyone told you to stop. You're one of those people that got advice from an honest motherfucker rather than a friend or a parent who tells you its good. Fuck good. Demand better.

And then you look at those ideas. You see those ideas in other stories. You see them in movies and real life and in friends and family and yourself and you pick the brightest, best fucking idea you have before you... and even if it's not perfect you sit down. You look it straight in its eyes...

And you write the damned thing.

And that's all the advice I can give you.

edited 6th Aug '13 12:54:14 AM by Somber

My advice? Well, aside from searching for a beta reader, preferable one who isn't afraid to point out plot holes and the like, my main advisement is: 1. Before you start, know where you want to end. For example "Harry gets abused by the Dursleys" is not a plot. You also need some sort of ending, some point in which direction you want to write. For example, "Harry gets abused, Snape discovers it, they develop an understanding and Snape becomes his mentor" is a plot. 2. Don't rush it. The plot should develop in a way which makes sense. And never ever let the characters act out of character to reach your goal. To use the same example: If Snape immediately feels bad for Harry and become superdad in one chapter, you'll have a very short and very unrealistic story. 3. Know when to end it! This plays into point one. 4. Be careful when you choose your POV. And never, ever write the POV of the character over your chapter. It's insults your own writing (because if the story is well written, it should be obvious) and the reader (who is certainly not too stupid to figure the pov out). 5. Edit! It's the hardest thing to do, you have written a scene which is incredible funny, but sometimes a scene just doesn't fit into the story. 6. If you are stuck: Write! Try another angle, perhaps skip to a scene in the future, but write. You'll never overcome the block if you don't.

@ Somber: Oh my God! That post was beautiful. Have a medal, man!

As for my advice...

Start small. Don't plan on writing an epic your first few fics. One shots and two-parters are great! There is plenty of readers who just want that quick fix.

Plus, if you can't do it in small, you shouldn't try to do it in large.

Another advice: Read as much as you can, even BAD fanfiction from time to time. You can learn a lot from those who are good, but it's also helpful to see what mistakes one should avoid.

Somber... Just...

Awesome advice ever, Somber.

Know when a bad idea is a bad idea. Don't put good time after a fundamentally bad fic idea, and don't be afraid to abandon anything.

my advice, make sure you enjoy what your writing about, if you don't enjoy writing your fic, it will show in the writing and you won't be doing yourself any good, remember we do fanfic writing because it's a passion of ours and because we want to write aout our favourite stuff so make sure you are enjoying writing your work.

Something I thought of, but it's never done by me since it doesn't affect me a lot.

But if you need to quit working on your story, let your readers know why.

Accept that writing isn't always easy. Writing fics should be fun, but there are going to be moments when you just need to get some damn text on the page and shape it up later, because otherwise you're never going to write it.

But to counter that, ask why it's hard to write. Learn to tell when it's just an idea you're having problems expressing vs. something not working. Often for me "writer's block" is my mind's subconscious way of saying something's off. So, if something's just not going well, sketch an outline and see if there's a problem. This one fic was giving me problems but I knew the idea was good. Then I realized my third act was not true to the characters and did nothing to support all the build-up. The "proper" third act practically smacked me in the face soon after.

Oh, and writing is a muscle. If you haven't written in awhile, there's going to be some awkwardness until you've toned it up again. Sentences not flowing, dialogue sounding off—it's normal, just keep writing and you'll get your rhythm back.

For the love of God start with short fics./one-shots. You'll have less time for inspiration to wane, and find it easier to construct a tight narrative.

This one is a personal thing but I doubt I'm alone. When you have an idea, START WRITING. Do not start thinking up dialogue and prose unless you're in a position to jot it down. Don't "think out" the entire story past an outline. Don't gnaw at it like a dog bone while you're shopping. If a really good line comes to you, record it or type frantically into your iPhone, but don't think too hard. I find that when I do this I'm much less inspired when I actually write.

Oh, less advice and more a tip. When writing fanfics and trying to capture a character's voice, either watch a snippet of the show/film or look at GI Fs. GI Fs especially for me—I can see the character's expressions and better describe them, and it's easier to "see" in-character dialogue coming out of their mouths when you can watch them speak. For book-based fanfic, I guess read a few pages of the character's dialogue.

edited 8th Aug '13 10:55:36 AM by phoenixflame

Somber is quite right. Your first piece of writing will almost certainly be awful, but that's fine. Writing only improves with time and experience, and just the process itself of putting words on a page will help you figure out some things.

To me, it's important to write what you have a passion for. I used to only work on one project at a time, putting all others aside. It sometimes made writing very painful if I had trouble on the piece I was working on, for I was too stubborn to stop and do something else. Having a lot of ideas is good; it gives you the freedom to put something aside and harness your creativity elsewhere. If you feel passionate about something, if you feel the burning drive within you to write something else, follow it. That energy will just fizzle away instead, in my opinion.

Resist the urge to try to make things perfect, especially on the first draft. Get the words on the page; fix them later. Giving it some time between writing the draft and publishing it lets you forget some things, and that's good, because when you reread it, you're coming at it more like a prospective reader, someone who doesn't have all those little details you considered implicit in their head.

Read other fanfics. Try to understand what's good and bad about them. Is X fic written well on a technical level, but it fails in terms of plot and consistency? Does Y have good characterization, but it's otherwise too unreadable to be enjoyable?

Don't be afraid to murder your darlings; there will be lots of ideas for dialogue and scenes that you may never end up writing because, when you put everything together, they just don't have a place, or they don't fit. If you have to strain to get them worked in, it's probably not worth it.

THIS.

Especially on murdering your darlings. If it sticks out, cut it off. You can always file it away for something later. No joke is funny enough to throw off pacing or distort characterization for. Even the KKK scene in Django Unchained had a point.

Oh, this one is not for everyone, but sometimes writers/fanficcers don't quite have the "courage" to write something in their heads—something really bad happening to characters, or a protagonist doing something awful, or a steamy scene. If you drink, try a glass of wine or imbibement of choice. Not to get shitfaced, just a little bit tipsy. For me, it's a lot easier to write something half of me is saying is great and the other half is too embarrassed/hesitant. As a writer friend of mine says (a little tongue-in-cheek), "write drunk, edit sober." Eventually you won't need a crutch.

And on that note, don't be afraid to make main characters do bad things if it fits their character. If you look at shows like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and the Wire, they all have main characters who we love in spite of their controversial deeds. Readers won't bail just because the going gets rough. Just if it gets stupid.

edited 11th Aug '13 8:57:49 AM by phoenixflame

read through your work a few times before posting it. Grammar really, really matters. Also, for the love of several gods, a kitten and a duck with a typewriter PUT YOUR FIC IN THE CORRECT CATEGORIES. If it's not a "The Last Unicorn" fic in any way shape or form, it doesn't go in the "The Last Unicorn" category. So if the first line in the summary or story proper is " This isn't a "The last Unicorn" fic but I didn't know where to put it....know that you have just pissed off a bunch of people.

also, if you are going to use cliffhangers- and by all means, use cliffhangers- know what's coming next enough that you can tell your readers if you end up quiting/abandoning the fic. speaking of... please, please don't just vanish ( unless you die or sommat) at the very least put up a note in your profile saying you are leaving, saying your stories won't be finished, so we don't wait years and years and years for a chapter update that will never come.

One piece of advice I'd give is to write several chapters at once. I don't mean write tiny little snippets for chapters (1000 words, 26 chapters anyone?), unless that's your style, but have an idea where your story is going. Part of the problem I've had is that I can't sit down and outline a story from start to finish, but I hate writing by the seat of my pants. You forget things, characters, events, or the internal logic of the plot and setting. Writing your story in blocks, rather than each individual chapter, will make your writing seem more consistent, and also seem less episodic. You'll have less or a need to make every chapter have a beginning, middle, and end because you have an idea where the story will go.

It also gives you a chance to draft your actual chapters as being part of a whole. You'll get a rough idea of the continuity, and be able to change things in one chapter to make the next make more sense, and so on.

Also, never end a block on a cliffhanger. Put it in the middle of a block. Cliffhangers make readers want to continue reading. Give them something to read afterward. Write enough so that, if its not resolved, there's some meat to the story afterward to resolve it. It'll give you some scaffolding as well, to avoid making a Shocking Swerve because it's been a while since you've written.

edited 17th Jan '14 1:19:32 PM by CrimsonZephyr

@ Somber: that was fantastic.

My two cents. If for example you work at a place where you don't have access to your smartphone/tablet/whatever, buy a pocket notebook and use that to jot down things as they come to you.

That way you don't forget about it by the end of your shift.

Here's just a little thing: make sure your characters are using the units of measure they would actually be using. Don't have your Japanese characters talk about heading twenty miles down the road, for instance.

Do your research. It's not just a good tool to avoid contradictions, but if you know what a character likes and dislikes, you might get some pretty good ideas to use in the story. Time-lines are helpful. As is knowing everything about the place and the time where it is set - let's just say that a story placed in the 1980s in England doesn't work that well when the character in question drives on the right side of the road while speaking into his mobile phone and following the lead of his navigation system.

And, as a general rule: Don't upload your first story immediately to the net, especially if it is multi-chaptered. Try a little bit writing on your own before you go public with it.

All meta aspects of your story are part of your story and are part of the quality of your story. That includes your formatting and your methods of promotion.

Put at least as much work into your summary as into your story proper. Preferably more. Your readers will forgive a couple thousand words of a slow start if they think your story has promise, but how are they going to know if it has promise? By reading your hundred words or less summary.

And if you're hosting on a site that allows for cover images, get one. In nine out of ten cases, even a crappy cover is better than no cover.