Do you write fanfics?

Even when I do research on a character, I'm never sure of how they'll act. Literally 100% of the time I'm wondering "Would it be in character for X to do Y?" And I'm totally unsure, because nothing remotely resembling Y has ever happened in canon.

Maybe you should start by writing about stuff you have seen them do in canon. In fact that's a great way to write crossovers. Say you want to write an Ben 10-Teen Titans crossover. Just take the episode of B10 where he met a group of (alien) superheroes and the episode of Teen Titans where they met preteen superkids and combine it into one, with the characters replaced appropriately!

Also, extrapolate. You will find that most characters fall into specific personality types (such as the Five-Man Band) that tend to act the same way in most situations (this is often precisely to make writing them more easily.) Most of the time, the odds are you'll guess right.

Finally, just write them any way that pleases you. Ultimately, that's the point of FAN fiction. Besides, you can always rewrite it later.

Lost me with that example since I've never seen either of those shows.

Also, what's the point of writing stuff they already do in canon? Isn't that just rehashing what's already given to you in the actual work?

What I like doing when I write fanfiction is taking peripheral characters I like and dumping them front and center into the story. It's easy to write personalities when you only have a few traits to go from. Like, I'm writing a South Park story with Terrance and Phillip as the central characters. We know they're both juvenile comedians with homoerotic tendencies and foul mouths. Everything else is literally up to me. If you like a show with Loads And Loads Of Characters, why not take an underdeveloped character from it and center a whole story around them? It's a good way to start writing.

I have almost a scientific method to write my fics:

1. I start by usually watching an episode of a show, per say, and asking myself a what if question. For crossovers, I do either a what-if or think of two characters that I would like to crossover ship together.

2. Before I start planning, I go on an episode binge, so I can keep everyone in character. I also read other fics to get some ideas if necessary. Then I make a guess on what I think would happen.

3. I begin planning after i feel ready. Then, I create a few scenes I'd be eager to write immediately. To help me along, I often use familiar elements, like references from music, movies, books, or tv shows I know well. If I see something I want to reference, I usually do it right away.

4. I pitch the idea to my mom, sister, and friends because they are always curious as to what I'm working on. They are my test subjects, so to speak. They often give me input, and if my mom wants to read when I'm done, I have a good idea what subject matter is appropriate.

5. I draw from what I have so far. If I feel I should keep going, I like to repeat 1-4 if necessary while I work.

I also find I sometimes work better with distractions. I like having the tv on or music playing, because occasionally I get inspiration from what I watch or am listening to.

Well, look them up then! (assuming you're interested that is. ) It was just an example of the idea anyway. Which is that, so many series are formula-driven, that you can often take the plot from one episode, use it for your story, and your results will often be as good if not the same.

Think of superhero stories. Most of them can be described as "the supervillains want to do something bad, the heroes find out and stop them. The end." Its the DETAILS you add each story (from a good moral to just a fun joke) that make it unique.

I'm not saying you can't be original, though in your case I'd advise you to start with more formulaic stories until you get a "feel" for the characters you want to use.

edited 25th Jul '12 8:31:58 AM by Sijo

Per SE. Per SE. (Sorry, that bugs me almost as much as using "it's" when you mean "its".) Also, I don't think most of my ideas are pitchable to my sister, since her interests have almost zero overlap with mine. (Furthermore, a lot of my ideas are NSFW.)

I've yet to see a superhero story that interests me. I do like some properties where a person with powers fights baddies (The Life And Times Of Juniper Lee for one — though it's more of a Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World), but the instant I see the word "superhero" I lose interest.

Even in a fandom I am somewhat familiar with (say, My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic), I'm at a loss because every situation I come up with is always something that's never come up on the show.

edited 25th Jul '12 1:30:21 PM by Twentington

sorry.

Unfortunately, #4 sometimes does not work on friends. I had a scene with drunk people playing twister (just a random idea) at a party, and one of my friend's keeps asking for specific information on the house, like he was planning on finding it and going to pay a visit. I didn't have specifics because the house was only used for one scene.

Grammar Nazi much? Sorry it amuses me when writers of fanfiction (which again has NO OBLIGATORY STANDARDS, unlike stuff that you have to *pay* for) act like that. IF you want to work within self-imposed standards, good for you, just don't demand them from everyone.

(Though good grammar DOES help people understand a story.)

Also, I was using superheroes *as an example* mainly because its a genre that includes most of them (from streetwise action to aliens to magic etc.) Besides you did not mention your preferences to begin with. Heck, Juniper Lee is pretty much a superhero- superhuman abilities? check. Fights evil? Check. Keeps it a secret? Check. About the only thing missing is a costume, and some might argue it isn't really needed.

My intent isn't to be a grammar nazi. I try not to correct unless it's something I see ALL THE TIME.

And yeah, I just realized that about June. Maybe it's the lack of costume that makes me like her when I generally shun anything else even remotely resembling superhero stuff? I don't really know what my preferences are since my tastes have few to no common threads.

But the problem still remains in any fandom. Put them in a situation that has happened in canon, then I'm just rewriting an episode note for note. Come up with a new situation, and I have no freaking CLUE how they'd act.

edited 25th Jul '12 2:07:27 PM by Twentington

I wanted to write fanfics but I am always too afraid to actually write one down. There are quite a few shows that I want to write fanfics for but I am not really good at writing action scenes, dialogue, scenery and how the character dress. I read a lot of articles on writing and I had seen a lot of tropes but I also fear that I will fall into the very traps that I should be avoiding. I am not that good of a writer so I avoid making fanfics. I don't really know how to use my new found knowledge effectively.

I'm contemplating writing an Evangelion story which is, itself, something of a commentary on the Evangelion of the fandom. This isn't unusual (that's how In The Service started out for Nanoha), but there is one problem.

I've never watched Evangelion.

And it's dawning on me now that with what I want to do, that may not actually matter.

I had the same idea for Mass Effect, and I never played ME, though I managed to understand a lot of it just by the fandom.

x2: Admittedly, you might be able to get away with that, but I think there's a lot to be learned by actually watching the series. There is no substitute for drawing your own conclusions from canon. But, that's not to say it can't be plausibly faked.

It doesn't really matter, as long as the characterisation that YOU create is consistent. It's about the way YOU write the characters, not how someone else would.

That is good advice.

I write fanfics, which can be found here. I'm a rather slow writer, though. I write for fun and practice, which is apparent in my a little too long notes in the fics. I also love chatting about fanfiction, reviews, and other stuff that comes up.

I severely dislike publishing fics that aren't completely done, or at least planned in enough detail that I'm confident I'll complete them. Unfinished fics is one of my pet peeves, though I still read a fair few of them if I'm bored. It is, however, a significant strike against them.

Shameless self-plugging:

My Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! fic Japanese Heart, which will hopefully see a continuation published. I have written material for a few more chapters, as well as plans for a little more than that. I am however stuck on a few details.

My Touhou fic Master Spark: Da Coda, which currently has one chapter featuring Marisa. I've got more written (right now, mainly about Patchouli), but even more planned. I'm not sure it will end up as its own fic or a continuation, though.

Otherwise I have a decent Avatar The Last Airbender fic with Azula as the main character, a few Haruhi Suzumiya fics, the most popular being The Conflicts of Haruhi Suzumiya, and a Katawa Shoujo fic set after Hanako's bad end.

@GAP: If you want to write, write. If you think it's fun, just do it. You don't even have to publish anything. Write for yourself. I have a ton of written stuff that will never get published. And my first fanfic, which was published (way before Fanfiction Dot Net), but I pulled it because it contained a Mary Sue, and was overall not very well-written.

edited 12th Aug '12 8:21:38 PM by AnotherDuck

Does anyone write fanfiction that isn't some obscure anime?

Well, only one of those I wrote was an obscure anime...

On the other hand, that's basically what I think when I read most of the general threads here. Very little of what's talked about is what I care about.

But mostly, it's more fun to write in fandoms that are more obscure. There's not a sea of other stuff, or lots of other writers who've written what you want to write.

I'm writing a novel that's a Bible fanfic. Surely that's much less controversial than using characters from some obscure anime.

Which is more delicious? Writing up the big looming threat of the character who defines both chaos and void, or the big reveal afterwards? (The angels never lied to the protagonist, they just were under orders to not correct her.)

I primarily write fics for video games, but I did have a Ronin Warriors one-shot years ago. Does that count as obscure?

I have written some Batman, and also on Happy Tree Friends of all things.

@Proffessor: I write Animorphs fanfiction. Very slowly.

Hmm. I wonder what Animorphs would be like as an obscure anime.

Both of my fics don't involve the main characters of the books at all. I'm way more comfortable using my own characters, and I haven't had any ideas for stories with the canon characters. It's really the world I'm interested in.

I'll clarify: Does anyone write fanfics that aren't anime? Because to me, all anime is obscure.

Okay, only two of those I mentioned were anime.

edited 15th Aug '12 12:47:47 PM by AnotherDuck