Harmonic's Guide to Writing Fan Fiction

Discussion in 'Writing' started by HarmonicRev, Sep 4, 2016.

  1. HarmonicRev

    HarmonicRev Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Greetings, and welcome to my guide to writing fan fiction, I have tips that will help beginners dive into the wonderful world of fan fiction. If you are a seasoned writer, perhaps this can refresh your memory of certain things.

    Part One: Introduction
    So, one day, you're sitting by yourself, and then sudden inspiration strikes; be it a video game, movie, TV show, or other media series, you have been struck with the desire to write a story expanding upon an established universe. In short, this form of writing is called "fan fiction". After that you decide to begin writing, and then you in turn came to me.

    But what does it take to make a good fan fiction? Well, with time and effort anyone can write a story worth reading. So let's get started:

    The first thing you will want to do is decide what type of writing your fan fiction will be. Do you want it to focus more on being character driven, or do you want it to build world lore? There are many ways you can write, more than I'll list here, but here are two main types, that denote the focus of your writing:

    Character Building : This type of fan fiction focuses on a specific character, and is written mostly with the intention of establishing a more well-defined personality or backstory of a character. If you are establishing an OC that will re-appear in your later works, this is an excellent choice for your first story. This type of story is the most common fan fiction; but also is the easiest type to mess up. Make sure your goals are clear before you begin; or else you'll go off on tangents and the reader won't gain anything substantial from your creation. In extreme cases, they may be more confused about your character at the end than when they began.

    The main points to keep in mind about a character building story is that more description should be used to explain how the character reacts to their environment, rather than the environment itself. If you use too many descriptors for both of these things, your story will become purple prose (Literature that is too ornate or romanticized to be interesting to the average person), and it will lose it's appeal. A good rule of thumb is to choose one thing to focus on explaining in real depth per paragraph, and sprinkle small descriptors throughout the rest.

    Another thing about character building is it's very important you don't lose focus; make sure the story remains centered around the protagonist and what they are doing, I commonly see stories that try to be character building but throw in sub-plots, or try to develop several characters at once in extreme detail, and the end result is unpleasant to read and too confusing to achieve the desired effect.


    A good way to ensure that you maintain consistency is to try to put yourself into the mindset of your character. If you have ever roleplayed, than this should come quite easily to you. Make sure that you write in a believable way about your character; don't have them suddenly shift personality to make a choice, remember, they are not you, you are the omniscient author who knows what consequences any choice they make will have, but the character doesn't have this knowledge, and shouldn't act like they do. If they're pursuing someone, and the villain flees right but your character didn't see them dash down the alley, it's important your character only follows if there is a reason that they know the villain went right. Your character isn't all knowing (If they are they are likely a Mary Sue, unless written tactfully by an experienced author), and should not act like they are.

    The final point to keep in mind is that while not necessary; in my experience character building stories should be short, remember, you are establishing a character, and will still get the chance to develop them further throughout your other works.

    World Building : This is my personal favorite type of story. Think of it like character building, except the character you are building is the world in which the story takes place. This type of writing is relatively easy to pull off if you are knowledgeable about the lore of the series you are writing about; but don't be afraid to take twists and turns, you do have the artistic license to interpret certain things in your own way.


    Usually world building stories are told by describing events that have taken place; and why they took place. Think of writing a world building story like you are a professor of history, lecturing people about some aspect of the fictional universe. A good idea is to focus on either historical or current events taking place in the universe, such as wars, political tensions, social divides, etc. There are an infinite number of ways to make world building interesting.

    The most important thing about world building is to keep it consistent with the lore of the work you're basing your story off of. It's a good idea to go back and re-read/watch/play the source material if it's been a while, so that you can refresh your memory on certain aspects.

    If you have written character building stories before, it may be a good idea to introduce established characters into your world building stories, this is a chance to further develop both the world and character by showing how they interact.

    If you wish to develop character for a specific faction, world building is also the place to do it.



    Part Two: Writing Tips

    Here is a bunch of little tips and tricks to keep in mind when writing.

    - Stories should not use "And then". When describing events, make sure you do not fall into the common trap of turning your story into a grocery list of actions. Instead, make sure you use things like "So," "Causing" , "Because", "Therefore" and "But".

    It is much more interesting to the reader if a story reads like "He pressed the button to call the elevator, causing the archaic mechanisms to spring to life. So he sat in waiting for the platform to reach his level, counting the tears in the tapestry adjacent to the small stone ledge he sat upon in order to pass the time. Because of this, the lift arrived in seemingly no time at all, much to his delight."

    Many times people tend to write like this "He pressed the button to call the elevator and then sat down on the small stone ledge. Then he decided to count the tears in the adjacent tapestry to pass the time. After a while, the lift then arrived, so he stepped aboard."

    Not only is this incredibly boring and repetitive; it detracts from the amount of formats you can write in. This simple tip is one that is often forgotten, even among experienced writers.

    - Make sure that you don't use the same opening for several paragraphs, unless it's meant to be a gimmick or attention grabber.

    -Make sure that you don't use too many adjectives in the same sentence, writing is not a fighting game, there is no bonus for combos and it can make your work confusing if you overload the reader. True control over the medium means you can create a vivid image with few descriptors; using too many adjectives will often just lead to reader interest waning.

    -Make sure a paragraph doesn't change topics, if you are discussing a new topic, make sure to separate it into it's own paragraph.

    -Consistency is key; tonal shifts can be used sparingly, but in general it is not a good idea, for example, to play a horror straight until the climax and then turn it into a comedy, if you have effectively scared them then they won't be ready to laugh and will feel cheated.


    Part 3: Conclusion

    In closing I would like to say that the most important thing about writing is to have fun. If you like your own writing, that's good, and I would highly encourage you to pursue anything you enjoy. I am likely going to add additional tips and tricks to this thread over time. Perhaps it'll become a periodical.

    Additionally, I am available to review fan fiction by request, and if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or one-liners, post them below.

    Oh, as a final note: The first person who notices all of the times this post has violated the rules I established will get to make a story request to yours truly, before I've even opened my official requests thread. If that isn't exciting enough, I will also give you a pat on the back and an encouraging "Good job!". I know, it's an amazing reward, and well worth it. I too enjoy pats on my back.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2016
    Dipdoo, Lodish and Ponamis like this.
  2. Nerd-with-a-Pencil

    Nerd-with-a-Pencil Title Not Found

    Well, in part two you used "Make sure to" three times in a row to start, with the bonus of the first of these being the one to advise against repetitive openers. Other than that, I can't really see anything wrong, so...good job?
     
  3. HarmonicRev

    HarmonicRev Subatomic Cosmonaut

    There is one other thing that you missed.
     
  4. Nerd-with-a-Pencil

    Nerd-with-a-Pencil Title Not Found

    Well, the "much more interesting" bit kinda smelled of purple prose...Is that it? (I'll stop if this is wrong, don't wanna clog up your feed :cry:)
     
  5. HarmonicRev

    HarmonicRev Subatomic Cosmonaut

    That's still not it, but that's a good guess.

    And it's fine. My notifications are slow and yours is the only one I'd received in hours, so it's all good.
     
  6. Nerd-with-a-Pencil

    Nerd-with-a-Pencil Title Not Found

    Oh gosh.

    You used "and then" in the intro paragraph when a "therefore" or "so" would have worked better?
     
  7. Ponamis

    Ponamis Title Not Found

    This is an excellent, in-depth guide for not just fan fiction, but also any writing in general. Kudos to you sir, I highly recommend any aspiring writers to read this.
    Does your offer apply to fan fiction only, or are you also willing to review original stories?
     
  8. HarmonicRev

    HarmonicRev Subatomic Cosmonaut

    It applies to any literature, really. I'll review original stories as well. Did you have one in mind?

    You're right. Congratulations! PM me your story request.

    Good work, you sly dog you.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2016
  9. Ponamis

    Ponamis Title Not Found

    Indeed I did; could you give me a review on my story, "Souls of the Sun"? It's in the same forum as this thread, so it shouldn't be hard to find. If necessary, I can link it for you.
    EDIT: Also, it's probably better if we take this into a private conversation.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2016
  10. Lodish

    Lodish Black Hole Surfer

    As a novice writer, I think this guide is quite helpful. Great job ^o^
     

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