10 Important Elements of Writing Fanfiction
By Lady Starra
Here are 10 things that I always try to encourage people to do when they are writing a story. I hope you will find it helpful, if you have any other questions concerning fanfic, please don't hesitate to e-mail me and I will do all I can to help. Ja ne!
#1: BRAINSTORM
I don't mean to make fanfic writing sound like an English assignment, but doing this has certainly helped ME a lot. Write your ideas down on paper and write out the series of events as you would like to see them happen. If you have to, draw a chart or timeline for the story so you can get a better visual idea of how you want the story.
#2: ASK
Never be afraid to ask for help, input or advice! I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had someone give me an opinion or critique on my work. I can tell you right now that if you cannot accept constructive criticism, you WON'T get very far in the writing world, period. There are plenty of authors out there (myself included ^_^) that would be happy to read stories and give input. Ask, and you shall receive.
#3: EDIT
They invented spell check for a reason, folks. Now I'll admit that I've sent stuff in with spelling errors, but not so much that every other word is misspelled. If I come across a fic like that, I usually get annoyed and frustrated pretty quickly and quit reading half way through the story. Most of the time, quality of work is better than quantity.
#4: WRAP
This kinda goes along with our previous element. Scrolling from side to side is very annoying, so be sure to always wrap your story to 70 characters per line.
#5: REVISE
If you feel compelled to change your storyline a little, by all means, do it! Whenever I'm writing a story, 9 times out of 10 I never end the story the way I originally plan it. If you think something different will be better, don't be afraid to use it. You can always share your ideas with your editor/buds or whatever, but in the end, everything that happens is your call.
#6: SATISFACTION
Take your time when you write, and set your own pace. Don't worry over meeting posting deadlines so much that your story gets rushed and doesn't end up the way you'd like. If you're not happy with your story yet, wait until you ARE satisfied and then post it. People will live if they have to wait an extra week to read your fic, and you'll have a much better product to give them in the end.
#7: RESEARCH
Do your homework! If you don't know much about a particular character you want to write about, hit the websites! Read the translations! Watch the shows! Hitoshi Doi has an awesome website with translations on almost all of the episodes in SM. Use sites like this to your advantage. Also, read other people's fics! You'd be amazed at how much someone can learn about the series by just reading fanfiction, which is also why it's important to read up on the characters and portray them as realistically as possible. The more you read, the better.
#8: CREDIT
If someone gives you an idea, do the polite thing and THANK them! If you like someone's storyline and want to do something similar, ASK! You have no idea how irritating it is to read a story that you can easily tell was ripped off from another author. Don't plagiarize someone else's work, and remember to put in your disclaimers.
#9: IMAGINATION
Tell me if this sounds familiar: "You're so dense, Sailor Moon/Usagi/Serena! You almost got us/Rini/Chibi-Usa/Sailor Whatever killed! We don't want you as our leader anymore!" - "I can't believe I ever loved you, Serena/Usagi! We're through!" - "Oh, boo hoo hoo! Woe is me! They all hate me! I think I'll run away and jump on the next plane leaving Tokyo and never come back! But not before I write a note to minna and tell them I'm leaving and not to look for me. WAAAAH!" - "Oh, Serena/Usagi, we are SO sorry! Where are you? Please, come home, we need you!" - Are you all getting my drift? What I've just described to you, minna, is the most over-used, overrated, predictable, lame, and might I add SENSELESS storyline ever to grace the world of SM fanfic. To me, this is a perfect example of a story with no imagination. It may have been OK when the author who first had this idea wrote it, but as of now it's the most cliched storyline there is. Try not to base your story on something that has been used a lot, unless you plan on making it interesting or different somehow. There are no limits when it comes to imagination, and yet stories similar to the one above are continually being written. Ugh.
#10: FINISH
This is probably the most important element of any story. Don't START a fic unless you plan to FINISH it. I have read so many awesome fics that have no ending and probably never will, and not only is it disappointing, but it's almost a waste of good web space if you think about it. Out of everything I've mentioned, NOTHING is more irritating than reading a really good story, and not being able to read the end of it.
^_^
Home| Archives | Features | Writing Help | Miscellany | Contact