There are lots of authors getting into fanfiction now that have problems with certain aspects of writing. Whether it be characterisation, fluidity, plannig or even updating, the standard of fanfiction has been steadily slipping. So this is basically a thread for more experienced authors, Betas or even general readers to impart pearls of wisdom and advise new or even experienced authors on writing fanfiction, and for new authors to ask questions if they're not sure about something.

Now please don't turn this into a hate thread ranting about cliches and whatnot, there's already a thread for that. It's basically just giving tips on how to write.

E.g. Top of my list would be to write as much as you can in one sitting. This means you can get into the scene and can visualise everything, therefore (hopefully) improving descriptions and fluidity. If you write a page a day, you'll always be like "Where was I? What was meant to happen?" If you can only write a page a day, make sure to leave yourself notes on how exactly the scene was going to pan out. It's excruciatingly easy to tell when a chapter is written a bit at a time. Authors like Shezza are successful with their scenes because they (seem to) sit down and write practically the whole chapter in a few hours (hence his daily updates).

Linked to this point is not writing a bit of a scene then writing the rest of it weeks or even months later. If you know it's a hard scene to write, then leave it and write the whole thing at a later date. If writer's block strikes you in the middle of the scene, rewrite the whole thing when you beat that king of curses. I found out the reprecussions of not doing this in chapter 21 (I think) when I produced a sub-standard chapter after a lengthy writer's block.

I don't want to use up every point so I'll stop there for now. I know there are a lot of very talented authors here, why not share your own advice? I'm sure it'll stop all the "I'm starting a new fic, plz help!" threads here. Once again, please don't turn this into a rant.

 

Also you have to keep at it and don't give up.

It's also a good idea to plan it out so you don't lose the plot.

I personally can't do either of those but I know it is what I should be doing.

 

Get a good beta. The one that I have is quite helpful in pointing out plotholes and such, even sent a copy of the chapter with stuff to change and other little notes.

 

Ok, this is gonna sound funny coming from me... But:

If you are going to write sex, it should not be graphic. Graphic sex is very bad, and is one of the easiest ways to ruin an otherwise good story. Unless it is absolutely critical for the advancement of your plot DO NOT! write in graphic sex. It is much more tasteful to allude to it, or use nonspecific language... It might piss off a few of your more pervy readers, but it will improve the literary value of your fanfic.

Unless your writing a gross-out parody

 

I think that describing inconsequential things helps pad out a story and help stop it from being
This happened
then this happened
Describe each new setting if there is going to be a scene there and put in adjectives describing peoples reactions.
Rather than he said this.
Instead say he said this *calmly. It adds a lot when you add a motivation or reaction too. But make sure not to always use the same adjectives as it gets dull seeing the same thing over and over again.
Also when describing something try to proceed in a natural order, as if you were looking at something top to bottom or left to right etc.
What really bugs me in most fics is when you see Harry angry, It is always overdone and makes him look like a petulant child. Don't always have angry people shout, you can talk in a low whisper and sound much more threatening and angry than you can screaming your head off.
Don't try to make your characters say cool things too much or act in a cool way. It usually makes them look like pretentious or immature. Try to have your characters act naturally above all else, picture yourself in that situation and imagine what you would say and how people would react.
I think thats all for now

 

Gio what happened to your thread for this?

 

There are people out there who are happy to help you. I am one of them.

perfect imagination

 

Ummm, I have a beta. I've already said that. Besides, you probably wouldn't get the story, as its not in the HP universe.

 

*cough* Stained - Future *cough*

Seriously good topic. I need a few advices myself.

 

Big problem: hatred of a character spoiling a story. If you have a character you hate in your story, then distance yourself from the anger. If you can't keep yourself from bashing this character, don't write them! If you hate Snape, don't have him as a main character! Simple as. So many great fics have been spoiled because the author detests a character (usually Ron). Honestly, one of the reasons why I respect Bobmin is because they have an inate ability to write about concepts and characters they really hate very well. You only realise how hard it is when you're doing it yourself. So to those who hate a character, don't over-bash (unless it's a parody or something), control the hatred and make the character unimportant.

 

It's buried somewhere... I should probably look for it.

 

Yeah, by 'you' I didn't mean you, LINKed up. I meant the wider, 'you' adressed by the topic. Sorry if that was confusing.

 

I know some don't like this but plan your ass off. I promise you you won't finish your fic unless you've got a plan written down. Go through every chapter and outline the main event in the chapter then go intot he details. Do this for every chapter start to finish and stuff like writer's block isn't as common. In addition to planning it all before you start, I would say write a good number of chapters before posting the first chapter. That way, if you have a writer's block, you have a good store to make you seem like a reliable author (bagging you a lot more reviews) when really you're just like everyone else.

 

I dunno about outlining MS. For some authors it helps, and for others (like me) it contributes to writers block.

Depends on the person really... Just do whats natural to you.

 

Hey,
Some advice for Fanfiction writers....well, the only thing I can think of is to describe everything. This always worked for me. You can tell what a really crappy story looks like with the way its structured, expcially action scenes. For instance...

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry shouted.

"CRUCIO!" Voldemort hollered.

Harry screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. Suddenly Dumbledore arrived.

"STUPEFY!" Dumbledore yelled.

"PROTEGO!" Voldemort hissed.

Now that is like writing a very quick summary of what you want to happen , like the skeleton of the fight. Now you need to go back and just add describe it in more detail. When writing a wizard/witch casting a spell, try to include at least one of the following.

Colour
Shape
Sound
Taste
Smell

Find differnt words for 'said' and 'shout', though don't forget that sometimes 'said' or 'shout' is all that you need.

said= muttered, mumbled, panted, whispered
shouted= hollered, screamed, spat out, hissed, roared,

Tell the reader how the caster is feeling at the time.

roared in anger
screamed in fury
whispred sharply
muttered coldly
spat out furiously

In a fight, anger is usually the most dominant emotion, but sometimes, especially when writing Dumbledore or Voldemort (If you are a fan), just a cold calmness can be more effective than screams of rage.

Also find different words for 'beam'. This is for visualy effects, it lets the reader imagine a much clearer fight in thier heads. Not all spells have to be a beam...

Burst of...
Slither of...
Jet of...
Orb of...
Wave of...
Ray of...

Pretend that you're writing a script for a movie, and you need to tell the actors exactely how they need to act out the fight, how to sound and how to move.

Voldemort sidestepped gracefully, the jet of sparkling crimson magic rocketting past him.

Instead of...

Voldemort dodged the Stunning Charm.

Find other words apart from 'pointed his wand'

Slashed the air with his wand
Flicked his wand
Swiped his wand
Aimed his wand
Thrust his wand
Jabbed his wand

Oh, and for god sakes, don't use capitals on spells!

REVISED SCENE:
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted in a searing burst of rage, and a streak of crimson magic burst from his wand, rocketing towards Voldemort with great force.

Voldemort stepped nimbly aside, brining his wand up swiftly and fluidily and jabbed his wand, his cold voice hissing the incantation with an icy rage. "Crucio!"

Harry screamed in a terribly agony as unbearable pain washed over him. Every nerve in his body screamed for attention, as if somebody had shoved a thousand white-hot needles into him. He dropped to the ground, withering uncontrolably as Voldemort continued holding the curse, a gleam of satanic pleasure in his eyes.

Suddenly there was a soft pop, barely loudly enough to be heard over the agonising screams of pain Harry was emitting, but it was loud enough. Voldemort broke the curse and spun around, his crimson eyes wide with shock and maybe a hint of fear.

"Stupefy!" Dumbledore muttered calmly, but coldly, and a burst of increcible blinding scarlet light erupted from his wand with the speed of a bullet. A loud roar echoed in the room as Voldemort took an involuntary step backwards, bringing his wand up with sharp flick.

"Protego!" Voldemort hissed, his crimson eyes glaring sharply at Dumbledore and hatred distorting his snake-like features. A gleaming silver shield formed around him, flickering with magic, and the scarlet busrt of magic exploded in a shower of glittery sparks as it impacted on the shield, leaving Voldemort unharmed.


That's really all I can think of. Just describe...and look at the difference. That took me an extra four minutes to do and it's longer, more enjoyable and much more reaslistic.
Of course, this is a suggestion, not an order or command. I'm not telling people what to do, just offering some advice.
Sincerely,
Shezza88

P.S- Be careful about OVER describing things. In my earlier stories, it was commented more than once that it seemed like each spell was taking minutes to complete. You should describe things, but still make it seem like it is happening in a relatively short span of time. How...well, like I said, don't over-describe.

 

Thanks for that Shezza. I think that's brilliant.

Now if we could just amass an army of Shezza's duel writing style clones, then I think fanfiction would be infinitely improved.

Agreed on the all caps for spells being annoying. But personally I appreciate italics on spells when they're used. Kind of a personal preference but if memory serves, that's how the books are. At least in demonstrating the difference between saying the words and incanting them as a spell.

/me thinks this lil primer Shezza wrote needs to be remembered and referenced. It's helped me already.

 

Hit the bullet in the head right there Shezza, I just hope people listen. There are a lot of poor duel scenes out there and very flimsy description as well.

Following on from the description, remember to describe new characters properly. Too many times have I seen:

She had beautiful blue eyes and nice long blonde hair.

A nine year old can write better than that. Try to have a smll paragraph describing them. However don't just go through the physical characteristics and ticking them off like a checklist, make it flow and fit in with the actual scene. It doesn't matter if you feel the character is perfect. Here's an example of a character who is extraordinarily beautiful:

She descended the stairs to the left and the room suddenly seemed strangely airless. She untied her hair from a tight bun and allowed her majestic blonde hair to crawl down to the small of her back. However it wasn't the pale, smooth, angelic skin or the familiar veela-like hourglass figure that ensared Harry's senses, it was the mesmerising crystalline blue eyes which held years of pain and angish within its depths.

In this way, she's doing something, it intrduces a new scene ad describes a character at the same time. Description is part of a story and should be inconspicuously weaved into the fabric of the story.

Remember the goal of description is to allow the reader to visualise a scene. If you don't write down a few quick desriptions of location, the action could be taking place in a black void for all the reader knows. I've come across so many scenes where I don't even know where the bloody hell the characters are!

Don't: Harry saw Ron and went over to him.

Do: Ron was drumming against a moth-eaten door uneasily. Defense Against the Dark Arts, thought Harry, Ron always gets picked on.

When begnning a chapter which is a few weeks after the previous, use the weather to show the reader that time has moved on.

Don't: It was 14th December 1996

Do: The bitter winds of November had finally blown themselves out to the relief of all the students.

"It's gonna be Christmas soon," said Ron, mouth full of food.

That's all for now. Oh and don't overdo it. Nobody wants to know that Harry's pale, pink index fingernail had grown 0.1cm overnight.