Hi, I been thinking for a while to write a HP Fanfic, basically Im a newbie in this department. I read the little description before entering this Fanfic Discussion sub forum that it has guides on what you shouldn't do and wirite in a fic. I seached using the search engine, I looked though the forum, so this is my last resort, please dont flame me, Im new to this, can some show me the links to find these guides please.

One thing I know I will never write a Harry/Ginny or Harry/Hermione ficition, cant stand them and I see Hermione as a big sister type.

I think the paring I will use with Harry will be Fluer (My opionion, she is the only one suited to be with Harry, she is beutiful, rich and has fame in her own right, now wounder Gin!Slut was jealous of her). I also like Gabirelle/Harry pairing and Harry/Any Slytherin Girl. So when in the future I decide to write my own fanficition, these are the pairing I would use.

Also would you start of with one-short fics our just starting writing out a short novel, for beginners.

Any help will be apprecited, and if my thread is not in the right place, my applogy, its just I look every where. I mean if theres a stick thread out there somewhere, it would help.

 

Firstly, check out the Potter law thread in General Discussion. Familiarise yourself with it.

Then, wait 'til an idea you love pops into your head. This is better than sitting around waiting for an idea to come, or trying to force something. If you talk about HP with people enough, ideas will come.

Once you have your idea, and it has passed the Potter Law test, you may proceed to the planning stage.

The most important part about planning is to have an end in sight. I cannot overstate the importance of knowing your ending before you begin. If you don't know where you're going, you'll write things that you may wish you hadn't, and things that are completely superfluous to the plot. You want to avoid both.

So we now have our beginning - the idea - and our end.

We now figure out the bit in between, by thinking and brainstorming about how to get from the one to the other in an interesting, dramatic, but realistic fashion. From this you can develop a vague chapter-by-chapter outline. Don't go too detailed though, or you'll over plan the fic, which can turn you indifferent towards it and you'll lose the will to write.

You're now ready to begin writing.

Take each chapter one at a time. Before you write each chapter, look at your vague chapter outline and fill in more details. This lets you know where you're going. You should be aiming for about 3-5 scenes per chapter. Remember to include lots of description, but don't over do it. Take a look at JKR's style for pointers - it's really rather good, and flows very well indeed.

You'll need to decide whether to go for 1st or 3rd person and stick with it. Also, try to avoid switching POV too much and don't ever break immersion of the reader. That means no author to reader communication: no "FLASHBACK!" and no "A/N. Isn't this awesome!".

As for what to start out on, I'd advise a one-shot or two. They're less ambitious, more likely to get completed, will help your writing style, and can be an art form in themselves.

Most of all, have fun! Good luck.

P.S. This is jut my method. There are many others, though I do know many people use methods similar to this.

 

I always have three or four ideas for fics bouncing around in my head, no matter what I'm doing, I'm sad like that.

My tactic thus far in regards to planning my first fic has been to determine where my main players begin and where I wish them to end. Then I have decided on events which will shape them and lead them to these points. Then from their I built a workable story, imbued with its own little details and personality.

Although I've already found many of my ideas to change as I write the fic, I find that it helps to have a clear idea of where I'm aiming for.

 

Taure's points are probably the most helpful, but take your time, and use spellcheck!

Can't over estimate the importance of this. For instance, you spelt both Fleur and Gabrielle wrong in the above post. If I searched for a Harry/Fleur or Harry/Gabrielle, I wouldn't find them, and if I did, I wouldn't be as likely to read them, because mistakes like this irk me.

 

Spellcheck is also very necessary, but I don't assume that a simple forum message full of little mistakes means that you'll craft a shitty story. I think I'm one of FEW people who feel that way, though.

My advice would be not to focus solely on pairings, unless you're going for a full-on smutfest - which, IMO, doesn't make for decent reading. If it IS a smutfest, then go for it, but I hope you're picking your pairings based on YOUR opinions, not because you want to kiss ass to the loads of Ginny-haters on this forum.

 

I can't help but to amplify what has been said. Build your chops with a few one-shots before tackling something more substantial. Several of the challenges on this site and others offer the opportunity.

Others may disagree, but I find the key to quality isn't writing so much as rewriting. No matter how good you are, your first draft will likely be crap. (All of mine turn my stomach). Be bold and willing to scrap what you've done to pen something worthy. Remember: a solitary, high quality one-shot is worth ten 300k word crapfests. I probably spend 5x as much time rewriting as I do writing the first cut of my stories; for me, this feels about right.

I'd add to what Taure said and suggest holding off posting any of your first longer fic until you've completed a draft (unless it's a Work by Author post on DLP and you're after feedback). So much of the early part of my own WiP has changed significantly since I've started that it would probably be abandoned had I had boxed myself in. Maybe this will improve with time and experience, but for my first, longer work, I'm glad I heeded this advice of someone on DLP (I forget who).

 

Planning is the key. Rowling said she let a lot of the characters develop over time and look what a load of shit that turned out to be. You don't need to go into detail with planning. Just have a basic plot (chapter by chapter works well, as said above), and maybe a small snippet on your main characters as the plot layout continues. Little excerpts of how they're reacting and stuff.

Also, don't do anything stupid. Potter Law will guide you here.

Follow the steps above (the whole thread) and once you finish a draft, post it in Work by Author as perspicacity said. Accept any critisicm and act on it. If it seems harsh, then thats just DLP, but ultimately it will help you improve you fic.

 

Just a pointer, but don't bother to materialize a story around a certain pairing. By all means, include the pairing if you so desire but don't make it a predominant focus. Relations are vastly a sidestory, over-development of said relations often leads to weaker characters.

Get a plot together, know what you want and how you want to pursue it. If you want to play mystery, decide which character is going to be your "he-did-it" character, and keep them closely veiled. If the reader can figure out the character before you explained it, you either have a very intuitive reader or a character that wasn't hidden as well as intended.

Characterization and Detailing. Probably the two most influential aspects of writing any decent type of literature. Prior to writing a story, I like to construe certain scenes that I hope will take place in the story, just to get a feel for how the characters will interact. Set a maturity level of your characters and maintain consistensy.

Detailing, is the other big pitfall of literature. Overly detailing the unnecessary slows down the fic, reduces momentum, and makes it effectively boring. Describe things that will be used, and exclude those that won't be. If you're describing a city, don't note the "luminiscent rays shining over the building that was approximately <this height> and on <this street> with <These signs>, but still plays no role in the plot. Characters are prime examples of positive description, as are motions in conversation.

There are more than five colors in the world, utilize them in descriptive analysis. Using details from the era is also much more descriptive to the reader (ex. Crysanthemum over 'flower').

 

I'll whip out two gems of advice from two of my favourite authors.

David Eddings was a believer that the best way to improve your writing was to write a lot. Crank out a few tens of thousands of words, pretend your worst enemy wrote them, and critique them like you're going to win a car if you make them cry. Be brutal.

Terry Pratchett said "too many people want to have written". Ask yourself why you want to write fanfiction. Because you've got a desire to create? Or because you want a horde of screaming fangirls of your very own heaping hyperbolic praise upon you?

 

Here is some links I used when I was new:
Post by Shezza
Dialects and Accents in HP
Slang Dictionary
The Elements of Style

/Giz

 

Thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it, I started to plan my ideals out on my booklet, like what the plot it, what the main paring is, general outline of each chapter. So far Im writing everything on paper, but eventually I start to type it up. Though I will use a spell checker, I most likely get a beta, my grammar and punctuation isn't all cracked out to be. Any thanks guys.

 

Well My first Language is English, but my native tongue is Bengali. I wasn't very good at English, terriable in High school, I had re do My GCSE English in College, one year course, somehow passed, got a B,. Not offended All-Powerful-oz. (Please ingnore the below link, accidently dragged the link there, didn't realise it until my post posted, cant get rid of it for some reason, wont delete!!)

 

Don't just write the first plot that comes to your head. Think about you awesome idea for a bit and I'm sure you'll notice several glaring pitfalls in it.

 

Three things:

1.) Show Me Don't Tell Me

2.) Reread everything you write at least three or four times. Think: Is this corny or stupid? Would a real person actually do this? If yes, proceed. If no, CTRL + A, and then press delete.

3.) If this is your first story, don't write romance. Please. If you're absolutely adamant, think again: Would a real female actually act this way? If not, again, CTRL + A, press delete, and meet some females before you start writing again. If you're writing lemon scenes before 15,000 words, you might want to turn it into a PWP instead.

 

I find your belief in the chastity of the female gender encouraging If perhaps not entirely accurate...

 

What the fuck is a PWP? Professional Women Photographer? Parent Without Partner? Pretoria Wireless Project?

 

PWP = Porn Without Plot, sometimes Plot? What Plot?
I think the names are self explaining

 

Two things. Write a lot, and find a sadistic beta who lives to tear your work to pieces. You'll either improve rapidly or kill your beta out of frustration.

 

From what I've seen, All-Powerful-Oz is a useful beta. HAHA...I wish you luck