Uhmm I know this is a stupid question, but I really want to give writing fanfiction a shot and I don't know if what I'm drafting is crap or not. (Sorry, I know it's a really vague question.)

There are certain tropes that I am extremely fond of (nothing kinky), and I tend to read any story from beginning to end so long as they contain that trope. The whole thing could be written without a coherent plot or formatting or be full of meaningless erotic stuff, and I'd still get stuck on it.

When it comes to writing something myself, I tend to go out of my way to make my plot fit whatever scenario I really want to see happen, even if it's not the right time or place to do so.

A trope isn't inherently a bad thing. But when I use them, I don't know if I'm using them correctly or not. I think its analogous to when someone falls in love with their own character and starts writing a Mary Sue without realizing it. Likewise, I'll alternately be trying really hard to avoid a certain scenario, or I'll be trying really hard to wedge it into the plot.

I was wondering if there's any way to objectively assess whether or not what I'm drafting is shit or not. Like, it'd be so cool if there was a 10-point checklist or something (I wish) >.>

Oh and another thing I was wondering is how detailed do you guys make your timelines, outlines, and character notes? What's an appropriate amount of framework to set down before writing the chapters themselves? I tried to do a short paragraph summary of each major "arc" I had in mind, and then fill it in with goals, e.g. things to be done or characterizations that needed to be established. Then I'd go back one more time and do maybe a 1-2 sentence summary of what I want each chapter to be about.

That was the plan, anyways. I ended up drifting way off course and wrote a ~10,000-word background that was way too detailed and inflexible, and not even part of the actual main plot. I do this every time I try to write anything. I don't want to pull stuff out of my ass; I want to foreshadow BIG things before those big things actually happen, but in order to make sure I'm not getting any of my details mixed up, those gazillion word backgrounds get written.

When I try to work with what I've written, I'll inevitably run into that problem where my ideas have evolved with the chapters, and suddenly that inflexible background is completely contradicting what I'm trying to say. Heeeelp meeeee T__T

 

I always take notice of stories that incorporate some sort of theme, the more subtle, complex, and thought provoking the better.

Here's a good thread that presents different ways of tackling this problem, as well as general writing advice.

 

Have you considered asking someone to have a look at what you're working on?

Personally what I look for in a story, beyond the obvious like good writing and whatnot, is something a bit different. I don't mind if something uses and old trope as long as it does it a bit differently. It needs something to make it stand out from other versions of the same trope.

 

OP.

Work by Author, bro... put your story in there and its guaranteed you will get feedback. Whether you like it or not, isn't guaranteed, but I promise if you take it in a positive way (even if its negative) you will learn something about writing, and you'll make progress very quickly.


Now if you don't feel it's ready for that, I'd suggest trying to at least jot down on paper the most important aspects of the story, for your own benefit. What's the main genre? If it's Adventure-oriented, focus mostly on those parts of the story - the battles, the surroundings, etc.

Next: Is your story written in first-person, third-person, what? Make sure that your narrator speaks in the correct tense, depending on what you're looking for.

Who are the main characters? If it's Harry, Ron and Hermione, then maybe you won't need to show the viewpoints of a slew of characters. That doesn't mean you can't say, halfway through a chapter show what's going on with Voldemort (as many do), but if you know you want to show a particular scene beforehand, you'll be able to do that more convincingly if you purposely pick a spot that that scene needs to be shown.

I'm quickly jotting shit down here, so bear with me if it's all over the place. Holler.

 

You definitely seem to be stuck at a certain phase in writing, getting caught-up in a lot of details I think is derailing you. And there are a lot of fundamental problems you expressed that I'm not sure how to give advice on, besides the general stuff. So I'll be lazy and give this one.

Start with a smaller story. Something like 15,000 words on a trope you like, four to five medium chapters focused on one character. Maybe a smaller contained work and try to focus on not telling the reader too much. It seems you like to give details. Drop hints, though, let the reader infer. Personally, that moment when I put the pieces together is infinitely more rewarding than when I am blatantly told something.

Besides, that I'm not sure how else to help. Good luck, though!

 

I'd say don't put your focus on a trope. Build a story around it if you want, but don't let the trope be the center of it. Let the story you are telling and the characters who are driving it be the focus. If you do it well, you can make even the most hated and clichéd tropes work, let alone a good one that you like.

As to your second point, sorry, there's no foolproof checklist we can give you that will guarantee quality. All you can do is write, keep writing and then write some more, and have your stuff be read by others. The Work By Author sub-forum should help you along for this.

And lastly, every author has his own method when it comes to plotting a story. I personally can't map out my story as much as I'd like. I can give it the bones; the opening scenario, a rough middle and a definitive end. But how I get to these points remains a mystery until I actually get to these points. Alternatively, there are other writers who know at which point their characters will fart and just how bad it will smell. It's just a matter of trying both extremes and then slowly settling into a place in between that you're comfortable with.

From what you say, I'll hesitantly suggest you might be much like me. Try putting down the bare bones of where you want to start and where you want to end. Then just start writing and don't stop even if you see your story spinning off well away from where your end point was supposed to be. Keep writing and see if you can get close to it. If you can't, change the ending.

The good (but tiresome) part about writing is that you can always go back and fix things. But you can only do this if you actually wrote something. Freezing two or three chapters into the story will kill it as surely as if you had never started.