How to Write a Good Fanfic

1. The Dreaded Subject of Grammar

Angeline sat in her classroom staring at the board in front of her. The teacher droned on and on about something the ninth grader knew she learned every year since... a blank drew in her mind for a few minutes before she remembered it was sometime in elementary school, but when wasn't really a time frame she could remember. Her brown eyes darted over to her friend Elizabeth as she jotted down note after note.

The bell rang, and was shortly followed by the furniture in the class moving because the students were leaving. Angeline reached down to grab her bag, only to find that her curly black locks had fallen in front of her face. She brushed back the hair wishing she had chosen to wear her locks in a hair tie rather then a hairband. She quickly caught up to Elizabeth as they walked to the lunchroom to meet up with their friends Amelia and Danni.

They pulled out their lunches and special notebooks after setting their bags onto the lunchroom tables. Angeline flipped to the latest fanfiction story and took her pen to paper. She didn't look up even when she heard the other two girls arriving. Elizabeth's chipper voice instead sounded next to her. "Amelia... could you check over my writing again for grammar errors?"

The other girl took the book from her friend and began to correct her friends work with a red pen. "You really need to learn not to end your sentence with a preposition. That is bad grammar."

"I know... but it just doesn't sound right does it?"

"I'm in the PreAP English class Elizabeth. I know what I'm talking about." Amelia's words caused Elizabeth let out a sigh. The red pen Amelia held suddenly tapped the table. "How about your guys stories? I could check and edit the grammar for you."

"No thanks. I don't see the point. What's good writing depends on the person reading." Angeline looked up just in time to see Amelia's eye twitch. She also saw Danni look up nervously from her writing.

Amelia let out a sigh. "What about you?"

"I use spell check when I type in."

"I can easily catch them for you before you type them in. Plus... spell check doesn't catch all of your spelling errors. Truth be told you should know the difference between all of those homophones. That's something we learned back in kindergarten. Your stories will never be good if you can't get the grammar right."

Danni slunk down in her seat and snapped her book shut before sticking it back into her bag. Amelia continued to correct Elizabeth's writing while Angeline continued to write her own story ignoring the others.

…

Angeline like a few writers I know doesn't see the point to any of the rules of writing. She feels they are there just to annoy writers as well as hold them back from being creative. Amelia's answer to her would likely be along the lines of, "it's not proper writing if one doesn't use proper grammar". She would also argue that she knows what she is talking about, but in reality she doesn't. Elizabeth on the other hand is infatuated with the idea of being a "proper writer" like Amelia. Danni on the other hand struggles with the issue of being dyslexic and was just told "you can't" by a good friend.

There is a point to using good grammar, spelling and formatting. The point though isn't as Amelia says to be a "proper writer". The point is to make sure that your writing is readable for your readers. All writers owe their readers that much. Poor grammar's not going to effect readers like Angeline much because she can read without poor grammar effecting her – if what she does is actually reading. It's not likely to effect Elizabeth unless it is rather noticeable.

Poor grammar is going to be a pain for Elizabeth because she's pretty much had this idea of proper grammar drilled into her head to the point it jumps out at her even when there is a reason for a writer to break the rules. Not everybody is a grammar nazi like Elizabeth either – some can actually tell when poor grammar is used on purpose, and can even over look typos. Reading something filled with grammar errors is a chore because it jumps out at them.

Poor grammar is also a problem for Danni. People with dyslexia aren't stupid – their mind just works differently then it does everybody else, and as such they end up reading differently. A person with dyslexia who isn't well read will in fact pick up bad writing habits from others. A person with dyslexia who is well read – yes, that is actually possible – will struggle even more when it comes to reading stories with poor grammar. Their mind will catch onto the fact something is wrong despite the fact they can't figure out what the issue is.

Poor grammar is also an issue for other reasons. A person whose just learning English will find themselves in the same boat someone with dyslexia finds themselves in. Certain formatting issues also will trigger a headache for some readers as well as cause a strain on the eye as the person reads. The point of using good grammar, spelling and formatting is for your readers.

Amelia also isn't as knowledgeable about grammar as she says she is. That rule about "never ending a sentence with a preposition" actually doesn't exist. It is a good idea to be wary of grammatical advice given by others unless you know said grammar advice is accurate. One of my past Beta writers actually made one of my stories worse, and the mistakes were later corrected by a later Beta.

She's also not correct in saying that you have to be perfect in your grammar in order to be a good writer. What if I were to say that Amelia's writing lacks something because she is a stickler for using this so called "proper grammar" she is talking about? A few people may not believe me, but I have come across writers like Amelia who let their proficiency with English grammar go their heads. They think knowing proper grammar means you know how to write, but it doesn't.

The first problem Amelia has is the way she was trained. As a PreAP English student she is learning to write in a strict formal manner. This type of writing is good for a good formal essay, and the rule about prepositions actually works. An informal essay though expects the writer to write in an informal manner, and creative writing is always written in an informal manner. The grammar rules are different, and the rule about prepositions she mentions just doesn't exist.

Writing in a formal manner causes Amelia's writing to lack in style and voice. One of the rules for creative writing is to know the rules of grammar, but also when to break them. Angeline would likely say the time to break the rules is all the time, but that's not true either. Any time you break a rule in creative writing it must be for a reason.

Having a learning disability doesn't mean you can't be a good writer. This is something I of all people should know as I have dyslexia. I use spell check to help me with my spelling issues, but struggle to tell homophones apart until someone is kind enough to figure out a way for me to tell the difference between the two as I write. I also find myself slowing down when it comes to words like "their" and "there" as I write, but that is honestly okay.

I'm ending this part because I am fully aware of the attitude people have taken towards those with dyslexia. People who don't understand think we're either stupid or lazy, but in reality we're neither. By treating us like we are stupid or lazy they've told us "you can't", and many of us have come to believe this to be true. Fact of the matter is "you can".

Here is my challenge for any person with a learning disability. Take the time to do an online search using the words writers with BLANK where BLANK is your learning disability. There is also a very nice article on Bachelors Degree Online called "25 Famous Authors With Learning Disabilities". Some of the things in that article may actually surprise you.