Writing style discussion.

I have come to minor conclusion after a bit of thinking. Quite a bit of the time Fan Fictions will add a character, or change a character. However it still will quite often follow the canon story, I think this is because of difficulty of breaking from the supports that are already laid down.

Because if our inserted hero or crossover/Original character solved the stories problems too quickly and then we have to figure out who X would do in the alternative situation AND their thoughts along with their feelings.

However a simple fix to this is to do a story in first-person sticking with the or a added character or the usual main character, along with maybe swapping to another if you want to try and explain your reasoning if X character decides to something surprising.

The reason I bring this up is because I usually see a formula when it comes to the majority of Fan Fictions.

A. The main character picks up a inserted character(s) along their journey, the ending is unchanged.

B. The OC is in their own story. This wall of text is annulled, until they meet the Main character at end or along their journey. If it is the latter it usually turns into back into A.

All the OC has done is forgotten for the canon story and they are assimilated into the main plot.

C. The inserted character/OC is too powerful. In order for the canon to be shielded a powerful antagonist is inserted to protect the canon from being too clobbered. Although that would imply the entire has already been changed if the new antagonist is aligned with the series antagonists.

D. Massive crossover, many character from many different series inserted into one other series through some magic voodoo.

However the canon continues to unfold as before, even sometimes despite the combined might of all the brought over protagonists. Sometimes excused with the bringing over of the other series antagonists.

edited 12th Apr '15 5:18:58 PM by Madrugada

We have a trope for this.

We call it The Stations of the Canon. Basically, people will stick to those no matter what. It's actually a very, VERY common problem in For Want Of A Nail fanfiction, and it's the mark of a beginner or someone who's just not very good.

Sometimes, of course, it's not that big a deal. Things that are beyond the sphere of the Nail's influence should still go off the same way, but for the most part, it's not really that. For the most part, you'll see things that SHOULD be massively different go exactly the same way as canon. It happens because the author is often not skilled enough to actually write out the consequences of their nail, so they stick to the canon as much as they can. It can also happen because the author just didn't really want to put in the effort of planning the story, or if their objective was never to explore a What If?, but more to just put an overpowered self insert into a story so they could write down a power trip fantasy of theirs.

By the by?

If we're gonna talk writing style, here's a simple bit of advise:

Paragraphs. Use them. A wall of text is a terrible idea.

@I Am Not Creative Enough I'm sorry. I added breaks with the enter key but they appear to have not made a difference. As I am cursed to write nothing but giant wall of text while writing any sort of internal monolog I've had down on to some forum somewhere on the internet no matter how apparent or obscure. For that I may never get to writing down a story out of fear of how large the walls of text may become along with all the minor grammatical errors. In reply to the actual content of your reply, I find the entire being a paradox. Why make a power trip Fan Fiction if nothing changes because of the insertion into canon? I may just take bigger notice of it because I am the person who like to see the causes and effects.

You have to double-indent between paragraphs, otherwise the software doesn't recognize the paragraph breaks.

The reason people write a powertrip without actually changing canon is because they don't want to put effort in.

It's a masturbatory fantasy, the point is self gratification. You see, they don't want to see a story in which a nail changes things. They want to write out a story in which the main character is a thinly veiled self insert who shows everyone how awesome the author wishes he was. It's also usually a way of yelling "LOOK HOW MUCH BETTER I'D BE THAN THE CANON MAIN CHARACTER! DON'T YOU WISH I WAS THE CANON MAIN CHARACTER? I BET YOU DO!", by showing how much 'better' their self insert deals with the same situations the canon MC dealt with.

I've actually tried to avoid these pitfalls in my Antipode series, since so many roleswap/nail fics become too reliant on canon events. The first fic starts in canon, and the plot structure is similar, but the changes pile up, and I've essentially thrown the canon plots to the wind after the first story.

I think it's more fun that way, both as a reader and a writer. And honestly, it's an issue I have with the KH canon as well as lots of KH fics when it comes to Disney worlds.

So many people follow KH 2's format of essentially reenacting the movie plots with new characters inserted, but I think there's room for so much more. In some scenarios, the very presence of KH characters and their magic would be enough to change the outcomes. I realize some people don't want to change the plots of these timeless films, but I think it's easy to adapt while still keeping the spirit of the films. It just takes a bit of imagination.

On writing style how do you write your story? The process and structure etc. Things along those lines.

For me, I usually do outlines before I start the actual chapters. Even if I wind up deviating fro the initial plan, I find it helpful to have an idea where a story is going, even if it's just a basic bullet points list.

I do third-person limited, but alternate viewpoint characters depending on the needs of the plot. There is a main character, but other key players who I'll write as the POV char from time to time. I think it helps create a fuller story, since ensemble casts can be tricky.

I have none of that. I write by the seat of my pants, when the fancy strikes me. I have plans for my stories, but I rarely write them down, and when I do, I find it impossible to stick to them anyway.

I generally write by the seat of my pants after coming up with a basic premise, but also will outline stories that have multiple chapters.

edited 12th Apr '15 10:13:59 AM by PPPSSC

I've got a outline in my head of where the story is going to go. I just need to write out the specifics of how the characters get there. Which can be a problem as I'm a big-picture, not a details person.

Sometimes a story that sticks to The Stations of the Canon except for one little change works out well. Or sometimes a not-so-little change; if the overall event still happens, but in a different fashion, it might not have any immediate effects.

I do agree that a lot of authors have problems with that, because once you change one little thing, that change starts having impacts and should eventually snowball into something bigger, and once you've got enough snowballs to make an avalanche it gets really hard to keep track of. Once the avalanche has set in properly, you're now really trying to write an AU that's faithful to the rules and characterization of your fandom without being faithful to the events within, and the further away you get from the canon events, some readers will walk away rather than keep reading, no matter how good you are.