Basic Element

The Basic Element

This page, the Basic Element, points out an important ingredient in writing a fanfic. Written by Angel Miko aka Sue Mei.

The Basic Element

The most essential point in writing a fanfic is information. Fanfiction is written by people who know every essential detail of the characters in an anime. Many people assume that characters are exactly what they seem on TV and base fanfiction on that. A dedicated fanfic writer, before starting any story, must know his/her facts. Each character has his/her own favourite food, star sign, birth date and habits. Each character has a reason for behaving in a certain way. Therefore, to help you write a story, you must first of all understand and know the character as well as you know yourself. This is especially important in character stories where little or no action occurs but focuses heavily on character development. Further explanations are found below.

The Basis of Fanfiction

Fanfiction is the way of expressing how you see the characters to the world. Many writers started because they felt that a character is grossly misunderstood in the anime, or in fanfiction which you have read. Everybody has his and her passions, hates, something you may believe in and something you may revolt against. You want to tell everybody that this is the way I think it is. This is the way it should be. Therefore, you start writing. But first, you must do your homework.

Let's take, for example, Makoto of Sailormoon, otherwise known as Sailor Jupiter. She's first seen in the series as beating up a trio who had intended to harm Usagi, the main character. You immediately think, wow. This gal is tough, cool and beats up guys for fun. I'll write about her! She's caught by a few youma (Japanese for monsters; more on lingo used later) in an alley all alone without her transformation pen. She beats them up, gets a few scratches, when the other scouts/senshi finally arrive, she brushes it off like it was nothing. The other scouts/senshi are so in awe of her, they throw out Usagi as leader and nominate Makoto on the spot, which she graciously accepts.

If you post something like that, at worst you'll get flamed, at least you'll be ignored. This piece is hypothetical, and I doubt anybody would be so stupid as to write this, but I'm just using this as an example.

First mistake; you apparently didn't watch the whole episode. Makoto, while aggressive at times, is extremely protective of Usagi and her friends, because she has had very few. She can be vulnerable when it comes to emotions. Second mistake; all the senshi carry their pens in a subspace pocket where they can reach it no matter where they are. No chance of that happening. Thirdly; youma would give any person, even a scout in normal form, a nice rip in the chest. Fourth; Makoto is not stupid, nor are the other scouts slow. She'd call for back-up immediately. Fifth; youma do not know the scout's secret identities, so the chances of them cornering one out of millions are slim. Sixth; Makoto has always been the most avid supporter of Usagi, no matter what. She has always stuck up for her, even when Rei was vying to get the position of leader.

These facts are available anywhere on the Web. Every single one of these mistakes could have been avoided with a little intuition and research. Convinced yet?

Frequently Used Japanese Phrases

Many writers who have knowledge of the Japanese series frequently drop some Japanese words and phrases into their stories regularly. The meaning and some of these phrases are listed at the beginning and end of some fanfics, but not all. If you are looking for a few to use, check out the Japanese Dictionary.

Character Development Stories

Character development stories are the most volatile, and the most flexible and involving if you are a good enough writer. First of all, even when you read a fanfic which goes against everything you believe in, you must always retain common courtesy and not flame the writer on the spot. I admit, it's sometimes hard to do. You ask yourself,"How could the writer be so stupid? Is he/she blind?" But the golden rule in this case is that you must never stoop down to the level of flaming the person. It shows lack of control for one thing, and for another, you are telling the writer that their story affected them enough that you were compelled to write a letter to him/her. They are entitled to their opinion.

Basically, most character development stories depend on information on events that occured in the character's life. When starting the story keep in mind that you should have all your facts at hand. You shouldn't put in specific dates which are hard to find and turn the reader off like a History lesson. But try your best to find out names, places and so on. When these facts are unmentioned, then most writers make up their own or use others. Note: Please ask the writer's permission if using fictional characters made up in his or her story.

Always remember; character development is from your point of view, not someone else's. You must think of what you are giving the reader; a better understanding of the character. Get your pertinent facts but know that this is a work of fiction, not a souless collection of facts. Don't worry about explaining everything to the reader; chances are that if they're reading it, they are already very familiar with the anime.

This page was created by Angel Miko, otherwise known as Sue Mei, and is under her copyright 1998. If you have any questions or comments or simply would like to talk, e-mail me at angelmiko@hotmail.com.