Big question, what is the most common mistake fanfiction writers make and how to avoid it?

Imagine I'm a noob and tell me everything

 

Not writing.

Solution: write.

 

Common fanfiction mistake: beginning a story without an end in mind.

As you're writing and getting feedback you might change your ending, but you'll never have a great story if it doesn't have an ending planned. What's more, if you have an epic (or otherwise emotionally satisfying) ending motivating you- one that you're itching to share with your readers- you're more likely to post regularly and overcome writer's block.

 

Don't get caught up in trying to avoid cliches or make your story "stand out" by throwing in features. What sets a story apart is the quality of the writing and how those cliches are used.

 

I don't agree with that. Things can develop organically, especially when you start. And sometimes it becomes a slog getting to that end that you give up writing.

However, I think the most common mistake is taking it personally, because the story is so much about you. No story is perfect. There is always room for improvement; that being said, when you get to a good stopping point, sometimes you just need to let it go.

 

Ain't that the truth! This is just one of the many reasons I try to avoid like the plague any story where the author has polls on any aspect whatsoever. It basically indicates they either have no plan for their story or aren't invested in the plot and characters... or both. :facepalm

There's probably a reason not many people write passionate articles about how a particular Choose Your Own Adventure book touched them.

Yeah but, speaking from personal experience, it's really slow going.

Or, perhaps, I just suck.

'Middling' a story without a beginning or end in mind is my particular vice.

 

Playing it safe.

This leads us to constant canon rehashes. Some can liven them up with interesting changes and characters. Most are not remotely enjoyable.

 

Don't Self-Insert, and don't project. That's not necessarily just about characters, either. Harry 'pwning' Dumbledore in the Great Hall in front of everybody = showing off = probably projecting.

Know your sentence structure. Know how to use full stops, capital letters and commas. Work on advanced sentence structure- the deliberate use of punctuation to achieve a desired effect.

Have some scenes planned out- an ending helps, but isn't that necessary. Knowing that the 'good part' is just coming out can be a big motivator.

Be logical in your writing. Suspension of Disbelief only goes so far.

Know the fandom you're writing for. If you don't know, go and research. The littlest of details makes a big difference.

Mostly importantly, characterise, characterise, characterise. If you don't have a likeable/relatable protagonist, it's going to be hard to draw readers in. Character interaction can be the best parts of a story.

Actually, if you take anything from this- it's the last part. Have a good, likable main character.


Edit: Also, be prepared to suck at first. I've met very few writers who could write great- let alone a good- story on thier first go- or even their second and third goes. It takes time. I'd also argue that it's totally worth it.

 

This is sort of just general advice that may not even apply for you, but what the hell, I'll say it anyway.

Don't write it without taking away something for yourself. If you're writing just to get some idea out there - some fluffy happy ending for your favourite pairing, some tragic death fic with some kick-ass poetry you wrote - and to just entertain, that's cool, but if you're writing fanfic to prepare yourself to write original stories one day, consciously realise that's what you're doing. Tell yourself that in being able to write this awesome fight scene with Harry and Voldemort, you could one day do one in your own work. Make an OC character that fits into the HP world comfortably, but give him some backstory and presence that allows you to know your own strengths and weaknesses in characterisation. Push the limits as far as you can go to know what you're good at while still telling the fanfic story, and you'll learn how to do the same for original. And it's a bonus if you come up with an original character or an idea in the fic that would work really well in an original story, and you can steal the fuck out of that because you created it. It's the best.

To give you some examples, my first fic - the first bad one - was basically me writing for the sake of knowing how to write, experimenting with pacing and dialogue and original characterisations. It may have not been that great, but it still taught me basics of pre-planning and banter that I use today, and the ideas I had for a kinda-sequel have been cherry picked for years for other stories. Second fic - my second bad one that's also the really really bad one unless you're on LSD then it's just really bad - taught me to never, ever, write humour-only stories again, but I picked up something. Maybe an STD, but still. My most recent two fics are the least like Harry Potter things ever, they just used what was pre-established in Harry Potter 'cause I'm not a worldbuilder guy. So I was telling my own story with just the window-dressing that would make it accessible and, you know, read by a big-ass fanbase. Incorruptible especially taught me the most 'cause I went overboard in places - pushing those limits - to see how I did. I learnt I can hit an emotional chord or two if I go for the jugular, but at the same time, I haven't quite figured out how to juggle five hundred characters interacting with one POV character. Learnt how to do some tense scenes and set an atmosphere, but realised that, damn, I use way too many words to set atmospheres that don't need to hit the reader as hard, like basic dialogue scenes or something.

Long story short, most writers of fanfic are writing to get into original writing one day. Their mistake is not learning lessons, not taking things away, not gaining enough experience to level up and evolve into a bigger, badass, beast of a writer that can stand up there. You don't learn, you may just end up with a thousand of the same fanfic story and your original works look the same, just with different names and different coloured hair for your Harry-expy or your Hermione-expy. Avoid that, but, you know, still have fun with it.

 

Following on from Matt, make sure to break up any huge paragraphs.

 

Following on from Taure, be sure not to have sex with underage women overseas.

 

Taure's first reply is the only correct answer - everything else is secondary.

But, since you asked about common fanfiction writing mistakes I'll say this: don't let your desires as a reader guide you away from what makes a good story. Pretty much all fanfiction is wish fulfilment in one way or another, but it gets really distracting when we start to see the hand of the author in a "wow, this guy really hates Ron Weasley," type of way.

This may be a personal opinion of mine, but when you put words like "bashing" and "fluff" in your summary, you are explaining to me that you don't have a proper story. Never admit to bashing or fluffing - even if you think you might be doing it.

I like to have whole stories - including endings - planned out, but not all people work like that. That's fine. I do, however, need to get a sense that the author knows where they're going. So don't write a great chapter and cap it off with saying that you have no idea what you're doing. Finally, don't be too self-deprecating in your Author's Notes. If you don't think your story is worth reading, why the hell should anyone else?

 

Don't preach. Example, the latter Terry Goodwin, Sword of Truth, books.

 

Didn't expect that many replies, you guys are awesome, gave me lot's to think about.

 

I have to disagree with Taure. If you don't write, you aren't a fanfiction writer.
But his solution to that is spot on.

I'd say one of the biggest mistakes fanfic authors make is trying to write a novel their very first story. This goes along with the problem of not having an end in mind that wordhammer mentioned. It takes a lot of skill to write a compelling story in under 2000 words, and you can learn a lot and do a lot with such short exercises.

I'd advise any new writer to start writing up short plot ideas. Try out writing from different perspectives, use different voices and styles, see what fits you and what flows.

Soon you'll find that the little plot bunny you planned to finish in 4,000 words is pushing 20,000 and you haven't even gotten to the punchline yet.

 

Know thy character(s).

This applies a lot in fanfiction writing. Your character doesn't necessary have to be likeable, but the reader must be able to relate to him. Your story automatically sucks a lot more if your characters have very little relations to their canon characters.

For example if you are writing say Dumbledore, it doesn't matter if you're going to make him evil. Just make sure that the way he talks, his mannerisms, etc still remain Dumbledorian. Your character who has a long white beard and a pointy purple hat is not Dumbledore, not matter what you say, if you have him say something like "Fuck this shit!"

If you really want him to say something like that, he's more likely to do it this way:

"It appears, and pardon my language, that the shit has indeed hit the roof."

But I digress, Dumbledore would never say shit.

In short, do your characterisation, and do it well.

Also, avoid such terms as Light, Grey, etc. Not unless your character is actually part of the color spectrum/weighs little. I've x-ed out of too many stories like this.

Unless your universe is AU, I'd say have a good understanding of the world you are writing.

Don't do hand waves/author fiat.

Read from the best, it helps your writing best. However try to find a style of your own as well, don't copy their style too closely.

My many two cents.

 

As the second or third greatest humor-multi!romance writer on the boards, I feel entitled to offer my 'many two cents'.


It is very important that you recognize dialogue goes both ways. When you do dialogue between two characters, you must show not only what the main character is thinking or feeling, but also, what the secondary character's reaction to that is. For example:

In other words, wrap descriptions around the majority of your dialogue, and your characters can even say mundane things like "I'm so disappointed in you" and give off an emotional effect that the readers can relate to. And no, that doesn't mean Dumbledore looks at Harry after he's just killed the Dursleys in cold blood, and says "I'm disappointed in you."

That scene would read like:

Hopefully you can get the gist of what I'm trying to say. As a person, you can recognize how the person speaking to you feels, regardless of what they are actually saying. If you don't want us to know what the other person is thinking, you say he or she "looked closed off" or "seemed troubled"... If you want us to know the person is very late for a movie, you say he or she "looked in a rush" or "checked the clock nervously"... etc etc etc.

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck!