Hi guys! :)
I thought it'd be fun to make a board where great fanfiction writers like yourselves can share some advice and give some tips on how to make a good fanfiction. Advice and tips could be on a variety of different things, but the goal here is to post something of value that another person may be able to use to improve their writing and such. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
- What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started writing fanfiction?
- Do you have a strategy to keep readers engaged in your writing?
- If you could give one piece of advice on this subject, what would it be?
- Tips on how to stay motivated while writing?
- Ideas to make a fanfiction easier to follow along
Have at it!
This is a great idea! YOU will give us advice too, won't you, Captain Leo? ;D
Keep in mind that I've got a lot to improve on in writing; take my words with a heap of salt. Also, this advice goes for any prose, not just fanfiction.
First,
grammar. Instead of having people edit out the same mistakes over and over, just learn the grammar rules! Learn how to use dialogue tags; that's a common mistake I see.
Dialogue Tags
When a character is performing an action related to speaking ("said", "yelled", "whispered"), use a comma:
"I'm pretty much a Grammar Nazi," Skyblade muttered.
When a character is performing an action unrelated to speaking ("sat down", "looked around", "punched someone in da face"), use a period:
"I'm pretty much a Grammar Nazi." Skyblade rolled her eyes.
Other than that, learn the rules! Learn how to spell, learn about commas and when to use them, learn about what is relevant. As someone who's studied grammar a bit (for the SAT Writing section :P But hey, I got a perfect score on it...), I don't really worry too much about my grammar and can focus on the story itself.
Don't waste the reader's time. I personally try to keep my writing short (believe it or not :P). Don't go on and on describing this tree, that table, and what the sky looks like unless it's relevant to the story. Of course, this is all opinion, but I personally don't have a long attention span and would like to read only what's pertinent to the story.
Characters Oh my goodness. There's so much you can do with characters, but my pet peeve is Mary-sues. I personally like relatable characters, whether they share the same background as me or a personality trait (good or bad). Nobody can relate to a Mary-sue, because nobody is perfect. Plus, where's the challenge in that? Again, this is subjective, but I WANT to see a character fall down, struggle, and fail sometimes. I want to see myself in him.
Another thing: make your antagonist cool...there are various ways to do this if you research it, but villains are an integral part of a story!
Diction Ah, eloquent writing. This takes time and practice. But one quick tip I got from Mhera a while back: vary sentence structure. Instead of always simple sentences, try throwing in compound and complex ones too. And if you have no idea what I mean by that, grab a grammar book or look it up online :P
Keeping readers interested In all honesty, I don't think I do a good job of this... :P But what I do try to do is always have something the reader is questioning. Why does she do that? What was he referring to briefly? Curiosity is an excellent motivator. Make the reader curious about something (or better yet, several things).
That's it...for now.
Good stuff, Skyblade! I was always bad with the comma versus period setup (Origins of Simon is full of those errors... whoops :-\) but I like to say that I've since learned that rule.
I suppose I should throw my 2 cents in on this, too, considering I made the thread..
How to help the reader understand what's going on
Something I'm starting to get into is the practice of putting a bullet-point summary of the story so far every few chapters. The reason I do this is because some readers don't read a fanfiction one chapter after the next on a regular basis. Some readers will take a break for a week and then come back to it. Having a brief summary of the story's events can help them remember what happened, which very well may keep them reading your story.
Story pacing
I get it, you've got that idea that's been cooking in your brain for the longest time and you just have to get it into the story because you're so excited about it and it's such a good idea! 9 times out of 10, it actually is a good idea and the readers definitely will enjoy it. However, try to refrain from rushing the first several scenes of the story to get there. You may have the whole journey laid out in your head, but the readers don't. You have to take the time to explain things to the reader so that by the time you get to that totally awesome scene you've been thinking about, the reader can appreciate it as much as you do.
Consistency
A number of fanfictions (particularly incomplete fanfictions) follow a very common pattern. See if you notice it:
Awesome/suspensful/mysterious intro --> first chapter is full of the new characters we meet and we find out what their adventure will be --> story from another character's perspective, pretty entertaining --> back to the main characters, the story is starting to slow down --> things are getting a bit dull
It is not uncommon for a fanfiction to burn out early on and never get finished. My solution to this problem, which I very strongly suggest, is to write out the whole story (or almost the whole story) before you post that first chapter. Sometimes this can be frustrating since you really want people to read your work. But trust me, finish the story first. This not only gives you as much time as you need to develop the boring spaces into segments that contribute to the story, but also allows for you to let the story sit for some time. Once you write that awesome chapter, give it a week and see if you can come up with something better or somewhere new for the story to go. Your story will take longer to finish, but I can guarantee that you will be much happier in the end.
How to fix a sue (or at least help the situation)
Let's pretend that you are new to fanfiction writing and you accidentally made a character so perfect it hurts. You've posted the first three chapters and now it's too late to change them. What do you do? I found myself in this situation when I started writing the Simon trilogy. I made good ole Captain Leo and his fearless crew a whole ship-full of Mary Sues and Marty Stues. So my way of fixing this was to introduce a series of very difficult challenges to the crew and have them all make mistakes, get defeated, lose fights, starve, and, in particular, go mad! In the end, I had a story which not only highlighted, but amplified the fall from grace for some of these characters. By the time Part II of Simon rolled around, I had learned my lesson and began to keep characters in check.
If you're looking to add personal value to your story, give it a purpose
I know Brian Jacques himself wasn't a fan of symbolism and picking his stories apart piece-by-piece for analysis (he was someone who just wanted a good story). But something I try to do in my writing to make it better is to add the challenge of giving the story a central, overarching message. I tried really hard in my fanfiction to add one and its something I feel good about :)
Have fun! This is your story after all
Can't forget that ;)
Great advice, Capt. Leo! :)
QuoteBut something I try to do in my writing to make it better is to add the challenge of giving the story a central, overarching message. I tried really hard in my fanfiction to add one and its something I feel good about :)
That's fantastic. I agree. I'm honestly not interested in a story for the sake of a story. I want to get something out of it (which is why I actually prefer nonfiction :P). I implement themes in my own novel as well (perhaps even overdoing it... :P), and I try to give it meaning.
The most important part of any story is the first sentence.
That is the hook, the thing which lures the reader in to read more. From there, the next important is the first paragraph, then the first page, and lastly, the first chapter. If the first sentence doesn't catch the reader's interest, he might not want to read much more. First impressions are important. The same thing goes with the following parts. Everything must keep the reader wanting to read more, without exhausting the story, of course.
Sometimes, simple sentences are best.
The reader doesn't always want flowery sentences with twenty adjectives and adverbs, a compound clause and three semicolons. It can be hard to keep up, and can distract from the continuation and flow of the story. While sentence variety can be good, too much variety can be bad. One good rule is "no two sentences in a paragraph should start with the same word." Overuse of "the" as a sentence beginner can be avoided this way, and can also give a sense of variety even though sentence structure may not change much.
Study how plot works.
Like aforementioned, the first sentence must grab the reader. To expand on that, after the first sentence, the first paragraph must then introduce the conflict. The conflict must rise throughout the story, getting gradually more and more intense (with some small lulls in between to keep it realistic) until the climax is reached, where protagonist and antagonist must have some sort of confrontation and one comes out the victor. From there, the story winds down to the conclusion. At the simplest, story structure for fiction is as follows: Introduction of conflict, rising conflict, climax, and conclusion. One should not have too much time between the climax and the conclusion, because the conflict cannot stay at that highest of states for too long without going stale, and too much "down" time makes the story feel incomplete.
I'm not very full of advice but there is one thing I see far too often that I just have to talk about, and that is the phrase "could care less." If you're using it in the way most people use it, STOP.
"Could care less" means "I care about this thing at least a little bit."
The correct phrase is "Couldn't care less," as in, "I literally don't care at all."
This thread contains some very good advice. I'll try to keep this in mind the next time I write something.
One thing I want to add: make sure that each character's personality and behaviour matches that in the original work. Characters behaving OOC are often really annoying and distracting.
Good advice, everyone!
QuoteOne should not have too much time between the climax and the conclusion, because the conflict cannot stay at that highest of states for too long without going stale, and too much "down" time makes the story feel incomplete.
@Skarzs This is something I've worried about for a while. There are 24 chapters in my novel (excluding a prologue and epilogue). Would the last two chapters put after the climax be too much?
I think two chapters is ok. As long as it doesn't go on forever. It should show what happens afterwards and have a good conclusion, and if it's your type of writing - be wrapped up in a neat little bow. It's my type of writing to leave a few loose threads open for the reader's imagination, and maybe even create some if the book will have a sequel. It also depends on how long the chapters are.
Quote from: Jet the binturong on July 11, 2016, 06:52:53 PM
I'm not very full of advice but there is one thing I see far too often that I just have to talk about, and that is the phrase "could care less." If you're using it in the way most people use it, STOP.
"Could care less" means "I care about this thing at least a little bit."
The correct phrase is "Couldn't care less," as in, "I literally don't care at all."
^
Thank you.
QuoteIt's my type of writing to leave a few loose threads open for the reader's imagination,
Oh, even with the two chapters, this would still happen ;D Especially since I'm not planning a sequel. Thanks for the advice!
Quote from: Skyblade on July 10, 2016, 03:21:18 PM
Dialogue Tags
When a character is performing an action related to speaking ("said", "yelled", "whispered"), use a comma:
"I'm pretty much a Grammar Nazi," Skyblade muttered.
When a character is performing an action unrelated to speaking ("sat down", "looked around", "punched someone in da face"), use a period:
"I'm pretty much a Grammar Nazi." Skyblade rolled her eyes.
I'd like to add just one little thing here, 'cause I've seen this mistakenly done as well. If the paragraph mentions speaking but has a direct object in it, you also use a period. Like so:
Correct vs incorrect
CORRECT: "I'm really mad." She said this with a smile on her face.
INCORRECT: "I'm really mad," she said this with a smile on her face.
The "this" (or "that", or "it") is the direct object of the sentence, so, yeah. In that situation, they shouldn't be one sentence. Split them into two or remove the direct object.
Good point, thank you!
Another question: How much emotion is too much? :P
Any.
Different people have different taste in emotional characters. But, what do you mean by emotion? There are a lot. :P Most people aren't going to be so polite that they'll let others step all over them and keep themselves totally and completely stuck within themselves. Most people feel anger and will lash out. It's not common for someone to be angry at everything and everyone because there has to be some happiness in their life, no matter how vague it might be. There's a limit to the amount of emotion one can have. (I'm just not sure what it is.)
That's an interesting thought. I meant emotional scenes, though.
Well, sometimes bluntness is best there as well. For example, I had an emotional scene in my book, and I decided to cut something down because it was too much. (That's not much help, though. . .)
Hopefully other people will give some insight.
Quote from: Skyblade on July 12, 2016, 03:17:06 AM
Another question: How much emotion is too much? :P
I think having an emotional scene is a great way to tie things together and help your reader stay involved with the story. I think it was in
Dusktail by Darkenmal that there was a scene in which a hare experiences some PTSD and it was very well done. There was no physical
action going on, but I thought it was one of the best scenes I'd read so far in that story. So emotional scenes can be a good thing!
In terms of how much emotion is needed to create the scene, I suppose the right answer would be "as much as the scene requires".
If you're talking about the number of emotional scenes in a story, I believe it would vary from story to story and with writing styles. Sometimes those emotional scenes, whether they're happy ones or sad ones, are needed to balance out all the fighting and gore of the story, and vice versa. I would suggest experimenting a little bit with that ratio and see what sits best with you. If you feel like more emotion is needed, then you're probably right!
Quote from: Jukka the Sling on July 12, 2016, 01:02:17 AM
Quote from: Skyblade on July 10, 2016, 03:21:18 PM
Dialogue Tags
When a character is performing an action related to speaking ("said", "yelled", "whispered"), use a comma:
"I'm pretty much a Grammar Nazi," Skyblade muttered.
When a character is performing an action unrelated to speaking ("sat down", "looked around", "punched someone in da face"), use a period:
"I'm pretty much a Grammar Nazi." Skyblade rolled her eyes.
I'd like to add just one little thing here, 'cause I've seen this mistakenly done as well. If the paragraph mentions speaking but has a direct object in it, you also use a period. Like so:
Correct vs incorrect
CORRECT: "I'm really mad." She said this with a smile on her face.
INCORRECT: "I'm really mad," she said this with a smile on her face.
The "this" (or "that", or "it") is the direct object of the sentence, so, yeah. In that situation, they shouldn't be one sentence. Split them into two or remove the direct object.
I'm fairly certain that "I'm really mad," she said with a smile on her face." is also a viable means of writing.
@Sagetip Yeah, that's what I said - you can leave the comma if you remove the direct object.
Im just gonna leave this here for when you cant think of the word you need
http://chir.ag/projects/tip-of-my-tongue/ (http://chir.ag/projects/tip-of-my-tongue/)
My gosh, there is a ton of good stuff on here to learn from!
Okay, so this info ins't necessarily just for fan-fic writers, but this can certainly help.
Disclaimer real quick. I am mostly a self-taught writer, only truly being taught anything about writing from my English books (Which that was just basic grammar rules). So this information may be suitable for you or not.
First, if you are using a lot of new elements the reader is not familiar with, such as magic or a new land, don't just stick them in there and expect them to understand it all. Ease them into it. Let them learn with the characters, or get a grasp of the concept before using it as a regular. However, one really good quote (From who I cannot remember) that I remember to use is "Explanation kills writing". Don't just sit there and explain all of it to the reader. Make it interesting, and not just a whole lot of text telling about what this is, or what a character will be doing. Show it, don't explain it. If they are going to leave a place, don't state it and tell why. Let the characters discuss it and let that be a way for a reader to see what is happening.
The other point I have is don't just type something up just to get praise for it. Writing, especially based off another's life work, should be something heartfelt rather than a quick scheme for some view and comments. Never do it for what the reward, do it because you have a passion for it.
Now, I would like to say about the "if they are going to leave a place" that Gonff said, if your story is in the (very rarely) second person or first person, this style of writing requires that the reader is being told their thoughts (because they are the protagonist- Second person), or they are actually reading the thoughts of the protagonist (first person).
Also, on those writing POVs:
First person: Very often a style that beginners choose because they can make the character to be them, and write easily because of that. However, the view is restricted to a single person and the way they think and the things they see. There is no insight into the antagonist's side, they might not know what's going on around them, they are biased, etc. This view is often used for mystery and thriller (or even super hero) because those genres benefit from the suspense the single-minded way the story is told brings. Surprises galore.
Second person: This one is tricky for fiction because the writer is telling the reader what he, the reader, is doing. It does, however, surprise the reader, make for the most personal of all the styles of writing, and tests the skill of the writer. It's limiting the freedom of mind the reader has, but it does have good control over the story. Create your own adventure books are one of the few genres that work for this style of writing, but it's a well-used style for non-fiction.
Third person: This is the most common style of writing for fiction because it offers the most freedom for both the writer and the reader. There are also several ways of writing first person, the main two being:
Third person omniscient- covering all emotions of all characters with unlimited knowledge of every decision, variable, and outcome.
Third person limited- The focus of the story is on one character, their actions, the setting around them, and the actions they do.
With these are a plethora of options. How omniscient or limited is the narration going to be? Fully omniscient is almost humanly impossible, and fully limited is just that: Limited. So there is an ability for the writer to stretch either one as far as they want, with room for some fluctuation as necessary for the story. Also, the "personality" of the narration is a useful tool. It can be very consoling and gentle with the protagonist, but also proud and heartless like the antagonist, or be wholly in line with the protagonist's goals the entire story, or even have a very neutral stance about the whole thing. As above said, this can fluctuate to help with the feel of the story at any time.
One flaw to this style is that inexperienced writers can have a tendency to head-hop, or change the character the story is focusing on too quickly, making the connection between the reader and the protagonist weaken. It's fine to change from one character to the next to help with the coverage of the story, but care must be taken that enough time is spent between the switches.
One very important thing to remember is that you must not switch from one point of view to another. This would be extremely confusing, and interrupt the flow of the story badly.
One thing I just read is that instead of writing a lot, write to improve. Specifically, to improve your weaknesses. Now, I personally think building on your strengths is crucial as well.
So I'm gonna ask: What do you all perceive to be my strengths and weaknesses in writing? And don't worry about hurting my feelings; I need to be able to take it :P
I think you're very good at making really loveable characters when you want them to be liked. You're also very good at backstories and plots. I think you have a lot of good ideas, and you should definitely keep writing - it's a talent not everyone can say they have. I always enjoy reading your stuff. Though one thing I would work on is the bad guy's motivations. I've not read a whole lot of your villains, but I did notice in the Crossover RPs and some short stuff you shared that a lot of the bad guys were bad just because the good guys were different or good. In real life, someone most likely won't be bad because they like being evil - they justify their actions instead. They believe they've been wronged, they're the victim, they deserve something, or they misunderstand a situation. Other than that, I can't say there's much to criticize. You make good characters, stories, dialogue, and I like your writing style.
Believable villains are definitely a must.
@Eulaliaaa! Thank you so much for the kind and helpful post.
You haven't read much about my villains because I developed them more recently, starting around winter. That's also when I became more cautious about sharing my work with others. Since then, I
think my villains have improved, but I've no other opinons to go on yet. Do you mind reading and commenting on a PM with info about my villains?
I would love to help out - you've done a lot to help me :)
There is some great advice on here. On the old forum there was a page for carry on fan fiction were different members wrote each chapter, but you couldn't write two in a row and each chapter had to be 500 words or more. That way no one person had to commit to writing a hole book. Would anyone be interested if I started a carry on fiction on this forum??
I looked around and there is already one in the making so ignore this comment.
So I learned something new when it comes to making memorable characters and side characters. The area that I want to focus on in this particular post is showing character development in a character who doesn't have much "screen time" so to speak. Now, while this is something I haven't done in my own writing yet, it is something I'm eager to try out. I think there's a fine line to be walked here, though. Because otherwise your development will come off as a rushed job.
Right now I'm reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. In this story, Stoker establishes Dracula as one of the greatest villains I've seen in a book yet! And he does so almost entirely through indirect means. The count has a strong presence in chapters 3 - 5, then disappears for about 20 chapters and reappears in chapter 25 with a single set of lines. That's it so far (I'm on chapter 26 of 27 now). We learn in those early chapters what the villain is about - he's an evil man who doesn't appear in mirrors or casts a shadow; he has harry palms; can control wolves and possesses immense strength. Oh, and he wants to suck one of our hero's blood.
But then, everything changes and we don't see much of Dracula anywhere. The characters of the story are there piecing together bits and pieces of what's going on and the reader picks up on certain hints in every-day journal entries that suggests the count's presence lurking in the background. As time goes on, the reader sees more and more of this and the tension grows. Dracula turns into a very well-developed villain that is also shrouded in mystery. A few glimpses here and there of him describe a man with seemingly red eyes, a long beard, pale skin and sharp teeth and the reader knows oh my gosh, that's him! but just as soon as you see him, he slips into a crowd or disappears somewhere.
I found it really amazing that Stoker could make a character, especially a central antagonist, so interesting while showing so little of them. There's a reason this book is a classic! Another comparable character is Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs (note that that book/movie is rated R, so it may not be appropriate if you're a younger user of this site). In that movie, Anthony Hopkins makes history as one of the greatest villains in cinema, yet only has 15 minutes of screen time in a 2hr 15min film.
So if you're looking for a way to develop a villain or a character important to the story, try this approach. Keep them mysterious, their appearances few, or show changes in how people see them over time. You may find that you've created a character that keeps the reader on their toes! There's a certain thrill in not knowing everything that is going on in the villains head!
Good tips, but don't be afraid to show their personality a bit.
One can know the character's goals and that they're mysterious, but one can drop hints and leave clues, still being mysterious, while not making the villain totally scarce.
Voldemort is like this: he is spooky, mysterious, and he has his moments where he actually gets decent chunks of screen time.
I have some advice that is hard but true: The first draft is probably going to be horrible.
Yes. Of course, I'm not saying that there are not bits and pieces that are good, but at least read back through and change some factors. For example:
"I hate cheese." Delena said.
Kinda boring, right? But if I make a few changes:
"I hate cheese!" Delena muttered.
See the difference? Engaging your readers is an important thing.
And the most important part - don't feel embarrassed to ask a question. We all need help sometimes. I hope this helps somebody!
Good advice!
Thanks Delenathe! I like the example lol. For me at least, sometimes I get carried away with the italics if I use them for emphasis. So what I usually do is avoid them unless I really, reaaaally need them for something. Then they can really make something stick out to the reader (as well as show some tone of voice and pitch variation with character dialogue)
Ahem. Just got done reading this and thought I'd revive it.
Honestly, I'm fairly new at the writing world myself. So I might give my subjective opinion on some things, but remember to take them with a grain of salt. ;) One thing that I find is very useful when writing a book (For me, at least) is to have someone that I can talk to about it. This can be extremely useful if you struggle with staying focused on your writing. It might depend on the person in question, but sometimes a second opinion can be amazing for a writer, and keep them excited to finish their work. Also, editors and proofreaders are very helpful.
Anywho, has anyone got any advice they'd like to share? :)