Disclaimer
I want to start out by saying, there are many ways to write. Just like no person is identical (I guess except for identical twins...), there are no identical authors! What I might do or recommend may be very different from how you write. And that's completely okay! This carrd is intended for additional resources only. Want to improve? Maybe feel a bit stuck? Want to know how I write? Or just want to make fun of my primitive carrd-making skills? By all means, this carrd is your playground!I firmly believe that just like Ratatouille, ANYONE can write. I don't care if English isn't your first language, or you never went to college, or you're hated by everyone. Anyone can write literally whatever they want. Like a canvas, your word processor is blank and ready for your typed pixels! (Or your notebook is ready for your pencil lead, if you enjoy having crampy fingers and live in 1975.)This carrd is filled with things I've learned over the years. From mistakes I've made, to mistakes I've observed other people make.Therefore, this is designed around common mistakes (or, rather, "debatable prose") I see in fanfictions often. Not trying to expose anybody, and writing, like art, is completely subjective! Just because a fanfiction's dialogue is a little bit stiff, doesn't mean the fanfiction is automatically bad! But, there is always room for improvement, even for myself. As an artist, and as a grown-up, you have to learn how to take constructive criticism. I know, it hurts, it SUCKS, but life is about always improving and learning.I have tried to make every lesson in here easy and simple, and not bogged down my extraneous academic jargon. I will provide broad advice for each topic and then add my own, personal spin on it, as well as use examples from my own fanfictions.Making this carrd has been fun for me, but I do truly hope it can be some sort of help to even one person out there. ♥Let me know if I've accomplished that feat!
L-E-M-O-N-S
Let's turn lemons into lemonade!
6 things to keep in mind while writing:
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L
Learn the characters
I know, this sounds obvious. But really, how are you going to write a fanfiction if you don't know the characters? A trick to characters: Obsorb everything. How do they react in different situations? What is their MBTI? What is their hobby? Jot down every interesting thing you learn about them, and see how many you can incorporate into your fic! For more info, visit Characters!
E
Explore the emotions
Wow, another obvious one? Good thing this carrd is free...But no, seriously! Did you know memories are more strongly kept when there is a strong emotion associated with it? Anyone seen Inside Out? The same thing needs to happen in your fanfiction. Readers need to care about what's going on, and more importantly, FEEL it! Emotions aren't just inside the mind, they're also displayed outwardly too! Think of all five senses. With that in mind...What does fear taste like? What does joy sound like? What does anger look like? For more info, visit Description!
M
Mind the Reader
You shouldn't write for your reader. Never, ever. Would you shower for your reader? Well...if they like that sort of thing ;) But NO! You shower for yourself! You don't want to be all smelly and nasty. So why would you write for your reader? You write for yourself! Because you LIKE IT.
So...why does it say "Mind the Reader" then? Well, because when you shower, and you no longer smell, people want to be around you. They want to smell how good you smell. (Oh, stop, you're making me blush!) Sure, you can put on some scentless deodorant and still call it a day, but there is something about that fancy Dior perfume that really makes the women come running towards you...
Is the metaphor working? Nah...I think I lost my way. But basically, writing for yourself is still fun. It gets the job done. But isn't it more fun when people read it? And they like it? Isn't that fun too? I certainly think so! So, when you're writing, think about the reader every now and then. Would they like this? Is the Dior perfume a good choice? If not, what would be a good choice? How would that change the story?
O
Observe word order
Okay, now what the hell. Word order? What does that even mean?
Here's an example:
"The cat ran to the store."
VS.
"To the store, the cat ran."
Both of those sentences have the exact same words. Only one punctuation mark difference. And yet, why do they sound so different? If you don't think they sound different, say it out loud. Which sounds better? Which sounds weirder? Word order can make a huge difference in how narration flows. Either negatively or positively. For more info, see Word Order!
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Never give up!
Seriously. Never give up. IDGAF if you don't think your writing is that good, or if your last fanfic barely got any kudos, or if you're stuck in a writing black hole of despair. NEVER GIVE UP. Can't figure out the ending to your WIP? Shelf it for a bit and write something else. Trust me, once your writing brain has been in hibernation for too long, it is HARD to wake it back up again. Don't try to write 1k words a day if you can't. What's wrong with 1 sentence? 1 paragraph? 1 page? Rome wasn't built in a day, but it was built slowly and methodically! This is how you should write.
S
Say the dialogue
Something strange happens in that Google doc, or Word document, or whatever word processor you're using. Dialogue warps and morphs until it sounds almost inhuman. Evil word processor! However, there is a way to combat the evil word processor! If you say the dialogue out loud, you will reign victorious!
While you are in your final edits, any section with heavy dialogue, or preferably all dialogue sections, read OUT LOUD. Yes. No whispering. Use that deep sexy voice of yours. If the characters have particular accents, use those too! You're in the privacy of your own home, no one will judge you.
While you're reading that dialogue out loud, is it making sense? Does it sound how your characters, or any real human, would talk? If not, what is wrong with it? Say it over and over again until you can figure out what that evil word processor did to it. And, if you're still stuck...For more info, visit Dialogue!
characters
Think about one of your favorite characters. What do you like about them? Is it their bravery? Their humor? Their sexy face? ;)Chances are, if you're a fanfiction writer, you already have that favorite character in mind!One of the great things about being a fanfiction writer is (oftentimes) you don't have to invent your own characters. You are merely making up imaginary scenarios for already imagined characters. Easy, right? Sure, requires less creativity. But honestly...it may be harder.Before I get into why it may be harder, let me break a few things about characters down first to get us started...
characterization
All this means is: what is your character? What do they look like? Talk like? Act like? You need to find that out before you start writing!Since you're here writing fanfiction, your character already exists. Instead of imagining, now you play detective.As a detective, your job is to absorb everything. Take in every detail. Have you seen or read a lot of your character's content?What is your character's MBTI? Do they have a temper? Do they have any mental illnesses? How would they react if the love of their life kissed them out of the blue?These are all questions you should be asking yourself before pen ever meets paper, because...character = storyIt's not plot, it's not setting - it's characters. How many movies can you name that involve two people from different walks of life meeting, hating each other at first, but eventually falling in love? Probably a lot. But how many Mr. Darcy's are there?This is precisely my point. Plots can be unique, yes, but nothing is more unique than an interesting character.Since your character already exists, they are immediately interesting to the reader, great! But you still need to do the work to make them feel just as real, and to keep the reader invested.The perfect exercise for this is writing a character biography. You can make your own template, or use one located here: "How to Write a Character Bio (With Examples!)" by Jules.Also, a helpful list of character traits: Click here
character arc
Oftentimes used interchangeably with "character development." Basically: does your character change/learn?The character doesn't always have to learn something. Look at horror movies. Those people die stupid, more often than not. But any meaningful character usually learns something or changes in some way.Take a fan-favorite: Darth Vader. Started a hero, became a villain, and then died a hero. He is remembered because A.) cool helmet and B.) amazing character arc.Character changes don't have to be big like becoming a villain and then dying a hero. They can even be small like Mr. Darcy changing some of his prejudices regarding the "lower-class" folk.Remember when I said that character = story? Yeah, the character arc is the story.An easy way to figure out what a character's arc should be is start looking at the character's flaws. Are they too shy? An addict? Have a sworn enemy?Now, how can that be changed?For more reading material on character arcs, learning about Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" is a must. If you can't afford his book, here is a great free source that runs down the gist pretty quickly!: "The Stages of the Hero's Journey" by Christopher Vogler
WHEW! That is all the basics of characters out of the way. Now, let's get down to the main reason why I'm here. You already have your established character whose personality and attributes you fully understand. Perfect. Now, what is the hard part?
!"out of character" characters!
Oftentimes shorted to "OOC." This is a big problem I sometimes see in fanfiction, and where writing about already established characters can become harder than creating your own characters.Imagine this: you open up a fanfiction about one of your favorite characters (or favorite real celebrities) and find that they aren't acting at all like themselves in the fic! What a bummer :(Why does this happen?Simply put: fantasy goes too far. Yes, I realize it's fantasy, so ANYTHING can happen in fantasy. If I want Darth Vader to put on a clown mask and do the Berries & Cream dance then I can make him do that and no one can stop me!Writing is up to the author! You shall do as you please.Buttt.....sometimes it can get a bit aggravating for the reader.Before you grab your pitchforks, let me explain:OOC is technically inevitable. For example, we don't know how Mr. Darcy will act at a One Direction concert because in canon, he's never been alive to go to a 1D concert. Therefore, anything I write about Mr. Darcy being at a 1D concert is going to automatically be OOC to an extent.But, if I was a betting person, I would probably imagine that Mr. Darcy wouldn't like a 1D concert very much. He'd probably be dragged to it against his will and be completely insufferable throughout the whole thing. That, would honestly be an interesting fanfiction to see. Nobody steal that AU from me! xDNow, what if I instead wrote that Mr. Darcy enjoyed the 1D concert so much that he headbanged so hard he busted an eardrum? Doesn't sound very much like something Mr. Darcy would do, even in an "alternate universe" where he was alive to see 1D.Mr. Darcy headbanging would be pretty hilarious. But, it doesn't really sound like Mr. Darcy anymore. It sounds more like an OC (original character) that I just happened to name Mr. Darcy. I'd much rather see Mr. Darcy acting all stuffy and tsundere than Mr. Darcy being a party animal. At least, that's just me.There is always going to be an audience for party animal Mr. Darcy, but, you have to be aware that oftentimes, sticking true to a character's personality and attributes can present the reader with a more aura of "realness."
what is "realness"?
If you think I'm taking fanfiction a smidge too serious, you might be right. And that's fair! Fanfiction should always be more fun than serious. But let's just say we aren't writing a "crackfic" (old FF.net lingo meaning "a fic where characters act cRAzY and OOC"), and instead we are writing a more "focused" fanfiction.This is where "realness" comes in. Or, what academics call "suspension of disbelief."Like everything else, let me explain.When you're reading a fanfiction or watching a movie, do you ever forget you're just reading or watching a work of fiction? There's psychology behind this, but basically, our brains are so willing to believe the fictional narrative that we actively ignore illogical or impossible things occurring in the story, like super-speed or the existence of vampires. If the writer is doing their job, there will be enough "realness" in the work of fiction to allow the reader or viewer to be transported into the story, despite illogical or impossible things.The "realness" comes from characters. As an example, even though the character may be a vampire, they will still exhibit "real" traits that a normal human reader can identify with like love, anger, sadness, etc.However, this "realness" can be broken by broaching into the realm of disbelief. Remember party animal Mr. Darcy? If he appeared in a non "crackfic" fanfiction, I might definitely be a bit confused. For fans of American television, you may be accustomed to the phrase "jumping the shark", which has become a layman's idiom to describe a break in "realness." Mr. Darcy being a party animal at a One Direction concert is a very good example of jumping the shark.Any broach of "realness" can pull the reader out of the fanfiction and break the trance you worked so hard to put your reader into. This is why "realness" is so important.You never want to leave your reader asking: WTF did I just read?How can breaking "realness" be prevented? Easy! Think back to the characterization we talked about earlier. What is the core of the character's personality? Ask yourself: did what I just write align with the character? If not, why? And how can I make it align with the character again?Don't change the character, change the writing.For more on "suspension of disbelief," check out this source here: TVtropes.org