Show us, don't tell us: My own personal tips for Fanfics

Lesson 1: A blank slate and The Flow of a story

If you are new to Fanfiction, or have several stories under your belt; it's safe to say that all of us have, at one point or another, find themselves with a blank slate. A white sheet of paper, an blank canvas, stone that has yet to be chiseled. It's important that you prepare yourself before putting anything on your blank slate. Sure you can always use the backspace button, but it's much simpler to have a basic plan of what you want to write before you start a chapter on Wattpad. I currently have a notebook in my lap with a pretty basic outline that I am following to write effectively and efficiently to you.

Fanfiction is, an art form of writing. Like most artistic talents and activities it has to be practiced, honed, analyzed, and improved upon. What most fanfic authors will agree upon is that there is nothing a reader hates more than an author who doesn't flush out their writing.

Before you jump straight into a document, think about your idea. Write it out. Ask yourself, "do I truly want to write this." And then write out details of the story or fanfic. Where does the story take place?what special properties if any are in the universe of the story? What changes can be made as the story progresses?Who are the characters? Why are they in the story? How do they interact with others? What is the story about? What called your character(s) to action?

My first three fanfics, commonly labeled by me as the dragon soul series, were written without any of the tips I'm giving you. They are my worst piece of literature and I keep it up and running because I need to remind myself to always have a plan when I writing.

Now I'm not saying that you can't improvise from time to time, that's actually healthy for your story actually. I highly recommend that you throw in something new into the plot. It's a legit writing strategy.

Now for different genres, the writing style will be different.

For smut writers I will say this: If you plan on making the sex happen sooner rather than later, be sure to compensate with detail and description. As a reader, in smut fics there is nothing I hate or despise more than a scene with smut in it that has no context or interaction between the characters and is instead a few paragraphs describing the act of sex itself. If you want more audience, do a slow burn that leads up to passionate intimacy. It's not preferred by some, but they are in the minority. You will get much more appeal with a slow burn-even if it's a oneshot smut fic.

For general writing: try your best to separate yourself, the writer, from the story. Despite what pop culture has us believing, breaking the fourth wall is a good way to ruin the entire flow and feeling of your chapter or story. This is why I don't like self-insert fics. If you give the character your name it's fine. make sure that you, the person writing this, are a separate entity from the character who shares your name. If you can avoid it however, I suggest you do.

Every story has what I like to call a flow to it. Think of a story as a river. Most rivers are unique and are beautiful. The rivers that are calm, undisturbed and flow gently down are enjoyable and relaxing, those are fics that follow a course, just like a river. By connecting chapters and character interactions and events into your plot, you get a story. The overall concept of this story manifests into a flowing collection of paragraphs that if done correctly keeps the reader entertained. The less random occurrences and obstacles, the less the river is disturbed.

Now the best authors are able to have their "river" be so undisturbed, that readers are able to envision themselves as the characters in the story. This requires one to be mindful of what they are writing. Connect with your readers on a personal level and take them through a journey down the river of your story. A journey that they can personally find themselves in. Using First Person POV helps, but you want the reader to connect to you, the author, in a metaphysical way. Use the story and your style of writing to show them not just how you write, but how you live your life day by day. You can learn a lot about someone by reading what they write.