How Do You Write Your Fanfiction

Sort of like a "what do you do when you get ready to write a story/what's your writing space like?" kind of thread, except, this one's for fan fiction exclusively.

How do you mentally, and or physically prepare to start a work of fan fiction? Do you sit by your laptop with Netflix, a book, or a manga open? Do you write notes about your source material in a notebook, or do you keep a tab open to a Wiki for reference?

Short version. I sit down at my computer (the very same computer with which I am browsing TV tropes right now), open up Open Office (because Microsoft Office is too damn expensive) and start writing. When I get to a nice end point or when I need to think about how to continue, I stop.

If I need to research something I pull up my browser and head for the most appropriate/easiest source.

If I come up with an idea that I want to use but the story has not reached that point, I'll usually add a note at the bottom of the document I'm working on as a reminder to myself.

I talk out dialogue that I write down. Talking it out allows me to pinpoint exactly where sentences don't make sense. Better yet, if you can get someone to carry out the dialogue with you, as it talking back and forth.

Stuff like that should sound and appear natural and not forced or nonsensical.

Notes in Google docs that then get turned into actual story in Word. Typed up on an Acer Aspire, with a glass of thinkin' drink close at hand.

edit: also, shittons of wiki-ing for research.

edited 3rd Jun '14 3:14:12 PM by PRC4Eva

I run through the plot in my head, often subdividing it into "set-pieces". I usually then place a very loose "chapter map" out in google docs, showing the order of events, which means as I run through the plot in my head I can tell which story beats work at the right times, or what may need tweaking.

I find it easiest to then "stream of consciousness" it, often going through 10,000 words in a day to two days, if I'm in the right mindset. Often I'll start with only the germ of an idea, either a pairing or a situation, then extrapolate from there.

Having the end defined as well, or at least broadly laid out, helps plan the steps getting to it.

It's a changeable system - I did Nanowrimo in 12 days, but my latest bit of writing has taken the same amount of words 4 months to produce *shrug*

Bubble bubble, boil trouble...

How To Write Fanfic The Too Many Ideas Way

• 1) Get idea. Ignore the fact that you still have a million other projects that need done.
• 2) Write outline (if it's multiple chapters—if it's a oneshot, skip this step).
• 3) Start writing story/chapter. Just keep going until it's done.
• 4) Read the whole thing out loud. Edit anything that needs it.
• 5) Post on FFN, anxiously await reviews

This has worked for me in all of my time writing fanfic.

Idea Stage:

I get the idea. Cool my heels and think about it for a little bit. Walking and showering seem to be excellent ways to get my ideas formed. Sometimes, I share them with a friend on aim/trillian to get some back and forth going. Sometimes, they're completely in my head.

Materials:

Sometimes, I hand-write things down in a notebook. This usually happens when I have ideas and want to be outside. I find even a laptop with a decent battery has a screen that's hard to see in sunlight and I just feel safer with a cheap-ass notebook and pen outdoors. There is occasion when if an idea is being difficult, I need to handwrite it before I type it. Most fanfics of mine these days, however, come about straightaway on the keyboard and computer screen. The advantage of going right for the computer is that my handwriting is so scrawly, especially when I get excited that sometimes I find it hard to read off of later! In hand-writing, I favor Pilot pens with a fluid ink and fine tips. I sometimes draw in the margins.

Process:

I tend to write like fire when I have a strong idea... especially with fan ficcing. While writing an original novel takes me a year or two to get my ideas sorted out and writing and original short story can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, my fanfic one-shots usually come rapid-fire. There are times when I start an idea and put it on the back-burner for a long time. (I have an started Kid Icarus thing right now that's probably going to wait until I get my Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros. inspirations out of my blood). Usually, though, I get hot on an idea and spend two to three days writing, with the occasional really hot story I take a day/matter of hours to crank out. When I say "hot" I don't mean sexy, Im a gen-ficcer, I mean like the fire of inspiration that licks at my buttocks until I get the damn thing done.

And getting out a story, finishing it, can feel... not unlike a really good, satisfying crap. I don't mean the story is crap, I mean... just that feeling of relief.

Burnt down by the fire, I rest a bit. If I complete a story late at night, I tend to wait until the next day to proofread it. As much as I like to get my stuff up on Fanfiction.net or Ao3 quickly, I need to make sure my brain is working well in regards to proofreading.

Chapter-stuff... it's kind of similar. I get hot on a chapter, get the chapter done. I tend to have a general idea of my direction, what I want to do, specific scenes in my head that I need to "write up to, but a lot of the details have me winging it. In this way, I am able and willing to take suggestions from reviewers and advice about details.

Research:

I write a lot from memory of canon. I sometimes purposefully fudge canon. For instance, I write a lot of Legend of Zelda fan fiction and don't take the great holy Timeline as seriously as a lot of fans of those games do. I can, have, and will do my own thing with it as I see fit in service to plotbunnies. I like TV Tropes for researching characterization... I've used it extensively for Super Smash Bros. stories in which I wind up writing characters belonging to games I've not played yet. That section is great for looking up a character in a specific version of the Smash series and having immediate links to their native games so I can read about them there. I have the Hyrule Historia for some Zelda-specific things now, as a good memory refresher. It's mostly an art book with production-history, but it does a good job at trying to record the Legend.

Since I write for a lot of videogames, obviously, I sometimes, if it's not much trouble to get to a certain scene I need a memory refresh on, will replay that section of the game. Kid Icarus is good for this because the game is divided into chapters that can be revisited out of order once you beat the game. Shadow of the Colossus - on a nearly complete file... all of the Colossi-remains have a "reminiscence mode" you can go into to fight a specific creature again.

If I'm writing for a book, I might go back and try to look up that portion of the book if I can remember roughly where it was. Otherwise, I look up a wiki.

I write a lot of "what I know," too, in regards to little details. I mean, I've taken care of horses in the past, so weird little tidbits of equestrian knowledge show up in my fics. I can describe deserts in detail because I grew up in southern Arizona, etc.

For shorter fics, I plan stuff in my head rather than outlining it.

I write whenever and wherever possible. I don't often have the luxury to set hours aside to get writing done, so I keep the story on Google Docs and use my smartphone to write whenever I get a bit of free time at work. I can't control creativity or inspiration, but by writing as much as possible I can "keep the pump primed"—and a few minutes writing here and there throughout the day, really adds up over time. Then when I get home from work I touch up what I wrote that day on my home computer.

Similarly, any time I realize I need to do some research (on canon or some other topic), I look it up online right then and there.

Once the story or chapter is finished, I get my pre-reader feedback, then walk away for a few days. In the immediate aftermath of writing, I'm always too defensive of what I just wrote. I need that cooldown period so I can look back and see that, yes, I do need to make changes that go beyond minor grammar fixes.

Once the feeling "Dammit I just want this to be done" overwhelms the "What if it's not good enough?", I publish it.

If there are previous chapters to the fic, I always reread my last chapter before I start writing, just to make sure I remember where I left everything. Then I write out an outline. Then I go off and do something else.

Once my attention returns to the fic, I read the chapter outline to make sure it still makes sense now that the idea is no longer jumping around like an excited puppy. Then I write the chapter.

If the chapter follows the outline, I set out proofreading, then post it.

If the chapter runs off and does its own thing, I save the file, then look it over the following day, just to make sure the chapter didn't go somewhere stupid. Then I proofread and post.

My quest, on the other hand, gets a lot less attention per update. But it also gets updated a lot more often.

similar to the above.

start with an image, scene, concept, sometimes it's like a thirty second "clip" sometimes it's just a "still" sometimes it's just a phrase.

see if it fits with the dozen or so other story scraplets floating around based on the same fandom, and if so, how many.

1 page plot summary

semi detailed outline, plot ideas, a few snapshots of dialog I like.

write chapter one, edit, post around dawn.

spend the week detailed outlining next chapter, thinking about it on my way to classes, work, etc.

write next chapter, edit, post.

repeat.

come up with three dozen stories that would work as sequels

try to just finish this one within the year

1) Read something offensive in a fandom I am part of

2) Use the Power Of Hate as fuel for my creative process

3) Burn out

4) repeat as necessary until story is forged from concentrated anger.

There's...a meta-level aspect of this for me, in that I tend to deliberately operate at cross-purposes from much of the fandom. Everybody else writing yuri fluff or romance? I'm gonna go do something kind of military-SF, like the show. Everybody writing AUs without the giant robots? It's continuation story time, Gundams for everybody! Everyone fanboying the grunts of the villain faction? Okay, we're writing about the reddest of the red shirts I can find for the good guys.

It's usually not an attack on the existing viewpoint as such, though.

Other than that you open a vein and the words come out, eventually.

edited 28th May '15 1:42:47 AM by Night

1) Usually I need to turn an idea over in my head for some time before it is ripe enough to write (actually I need for the idea to really roll over in my head and making a lot of noise for me to decide writing it, but that's just because I'm a lazy bastard).

2) I usually begin by writing a short pitch of it on Google Docs (which allows me to complete it wherever I use a computer with an Internet connexion). The pitch is expanded until it covers a full story (not just "X and Y do stuff and eventually they fight Z"). At this point I usually browse quickly FFN to check whether a completely identical story has not been submitted the day before.

3) When I become serious, I expand my pitch into a whole summary, possibly with a chapter breakdown. The summary includes a rough description of what goes on in a scene and the topics of conversations. At this point, I usually think about specific scenes and note down ideas for turns of phrase or arguments in conversations whenever I find ones I like.

4) Then the writing begins. I try to write a few lines per day at the very least. I don't bother with sentences that look strange, more in establishing the full flow of the story. This is the point where I will find myself perusing wikis (including Wikipedia) to check specific details on the characters and the world (and Google Translate when I'm writing in English, to check if a word really means what I think it does).

5) I review what I have already written at least a day after I wrote it to be sure to have a clear head. Usually that's when I get writer's block further in the story.

6) Once the story is completed, I carefully review it multiple times, then separate the chapters and begins publishing on FFN. This is because I've written only short fics so far. When I write longer fics, I hope being able to expand step 3) to have a really detailed summary, then publish chapters as I read and preview them. The thing is that I've noticed that I tend to leave plot holes when my summaries are too short, which only become apparent when I'm further into the story and realise I need to edit a previous chapter to load a Chekovs Gun or establish a fact.

This is actually quite close to how I'd be writing a standard fiction actually, only without the part about checking wikis for details about the characters.

edited 28th May '15 2:06:09 AM by C105

I write like a lot of you, but with less time management. Currently I'm working in a small fandom with only one movie and my stories tend to be AU or mostly before/after movie time. So I don't need the source material so much (I do have the script at hand though).

Ideas: This step is kinda constantly going. Mostly small AUs, spot ideas, one-liners, or small scenes. The first couple of times an idea occurs I ignore it, but after the third or fourth I'll start a new word doc and fill in the basics (characters, short summary, plot details if any), then write up whatever scene had been bugging me. Normally that's enough, that idea won't come back. If it does...

Planning: Then I start laying out a plot outline. Fairly bare boned, just a numbered list. If it's going to be a chaptered fic, each will have two or three things to happen. If it's a one-shot and/or drabble series, then just one (maybe two). Also a bit of research round about now from: the source material, here and the work's wiki. Especially if I'm crossing-over with something I'm less familiar with.

These plans are hardly set in stone though. Often I'll get a few chapters in and the characters will decide to change direction. I generally roll with it.

Writing: To counter my poor time-management I like to set a publication date in advance. Currently that's a new chapter every second Saturday. I spend a lot of time musing about the next update, and might do a bit of spot writing, but I don't really sit down to write until the day before. Generally write all afternoon (at uni) & evening (at home on the couch with my cat) Friday, which gives me a 50-50 chance of putting together approx 3,000 words. Saturday I finish up the framing device and edit. Ideally. Half the time I'm still working on Sunday though...

Publish: pretty much always immediately after finishing a chapter. Give it a cursory proofread and post it. Then go to sleep.

This is how I've written fanfiction for years:

• Get an idea for a short fic I really like, and over the course of a few hours or a couple of days, hammer it out. Post online.
• Wait for someone to comment on it. Get a fat head when someone likes it in any sort of capacity, as long as it isn't hate.
• Get an idea for a grand, 35-40 chapter Magnum Opus, and write furiously through four or five chapters. Post online.
• Enjoy responses and pageviews.
• Start burning out - the effort begins to feel like it isn't worth the return.
• Read over unfinished story and realize that it sucked.
• Stop writing for several months.
• Repeat process from Step 1.

However, the last 2 steps have been a bit different fairly recently, so:

• Read over unfinished story and feel alright about it
• Stop writing for several months, but get back on the horse when I'm ready to pick up where I left off.

1. Review Source material. (This takes a lot of my time.)

2. Pick an interesting Plot Bunny or go for the one that won't leave me alone.

3. Work the Plot Bunny into the canon as best as I can.

4. Ask fellow fans if X character would react like Y behavior in z situation here or if one of my OC's isn't overpowered or overshadowing the main characters.

5. Hoping that my laziness doesn't get to me (It usually does.)

6. Type up the rough draft and repeat 4 as much as I need.

Come with an idea, write it down imagine how it would work, then start writing.

another of my steps. tell everyone one of my friends who is in the fandom " hey, I'mma write this" so that if I don't, they keep pestering me about it until I get off my butt and actually do it.

I come up with a great, epic idea. Churn it around in my mind for several years. I end up writing several drafts 20-30+ chapters long, realize it sucks, rewrite it a year later from scratch. Realize a year later that was better but could be improved and rewrite using it as a template and a year later have 90+ chapter, 550+ page epic posted on fanfiction and 4 other sites.

edited 2nd Jun '15 2:16:40 PM by Darkflamewolf

Plan, plan, plan in my head. Open up my modding software when I feel like it and work on that. I usually leave dialogue for last (it's a pain). Sorry if modding violates what counts as "fanfic writing". If so, I'll stop talking about it and find a modding related site.

I usually get ideas from running and listening to music. Recently I've been trying to keep track of them by writing them down on Google Docs.

I'm actually trying a new method with my next fanfic. I'm actually writing it out in outline form, chapter by chapter in bullet format what the major events that happen each step of the way. That way I have a overal blueprint how I get from Point A to Point B and I just need to fill in the gaps as I'm writing.

Come up with idea and write, pretty much. May or may not contain a lot of assuming that I am awful at this, and shouldn't even bother writing anything.

Actual quality of fic could be anything from really good to really bad.

Seriously? I thought for sure I posted in this thread. But this is how it tends to go:

One-shots: Write off the seat of my pants until I hit a brick wall. If I don't, then the story is complete. If I do, I will have the unfinished story in my files to finish one day. I rarely do; the only story I knew how to finish after taking a break was "Dishonesty Policy" which I ended up following up on.

Multi-chapter stories: I will give myself a rough skeleton of the events of each chapter and work on all chapters concurrently. This is how I have done it since my stint in the TD fandom and I have not left a published unfinished story since.

In general: I may start out multitasking but will almost always end up in a zone at some point. I like to listen to music while I write, especially songs I know very well.

Work on all chapters concurrently? How does that even...? What? Don't you get lost?