Before the post begins, please be reminded that we do take topic suggestions! I'm the only one manning the account at the moment (lostamongstars), but I'll do my best to get to every comment/suggestions as posted. Thank you for your support, and I hope you'll continue supporting the Brigade!
[ A little sidenote. The title of the book does not continue to the chapter title. It's not like this: Cliche Title: How To Not Avoiding Mistakes *blah blah blah*. Nope. The chapter titles are independent from the title of the book itself :) ]
[ Source: Valis2 from sycopanthex.com ]
[ Part 1/? ]
I was thinking about writing one day while at work, and I started putting together a LJ entry in my head. My head being fairly leaky with information, I decided to write on a teeny scrap of paper instead and expound later.
I'm still expounding, and it's been three months, off and on, and at last count it reached 8800 words.
So here are my thoughts on the pitfalls of novice fanfiction writers. Being a novice fanfiction writer myself, and having made all of these mistakes and more, I feel fairly confident about prattling on about them. We're all here to improve, right?
You Are Putting Your Work into a Public Space: There are many reasons for writing. However, if you are putting your fics out into the public by placing them on a public archive, then you are inviting people to comment on your work.
If you really are doing this to practice the skill of writing, or share your work with others, then you have to be prepared for what comes next, which is interaction from the audience. Readers are going to tell you what they think about your work. You could receive compliments; you could receive complaints; you could receive helpful constructive criticism; you could receive flames (very negative reviews). Whatever you receive, you need to take with a grain of salt. I have seen some of the most awful fics, riddled with errors, receive a comment of "Are you [the canon author] in disguise? Because I think you are!" I have seen great fics get ignored or receive lukewarm praise.
Reviewers are just like writers. There are many different kinds of them. The important thing is to analyze the comment carefully, and see if you truly think it applies to your writing or not. Don't be too quick to throw it aside. If a few people mention a flaw in your writing, you should definitely pay heed. Fanfiction writers and readers are a terrific source of inspiration and help.
If you're writing fanfiction and uploading it to a public archive, then you are writing because you want an audience to read it. Finding that audience is the first part; convincing them to try your story is the second part; keeping them reading is the third part. If they comment, that's a bonus.
Who Wants to Read That? (Summaries): For most archives, your summary is the way to attract new readers. A summary that says little or a poorly-written summary will turn people off. You want people to see your work, correct? Then spend time on the summary. Run it through a spell checker. Make it exciting, engaging, delicious. You need to make it so amazing that people will want to click on your story. There is so much competition out there that having a poor summary will hurt your chances of being read. Also, many people are turned off by authors who "beg" for reviews in their summaries, or authors who say they won't update unless they receive [x] number of reviews.
When a Snape Isn't a Snape (Staying in Character): A good rule of thumb in writing is to Remember the Audience. It doesn't matter if your audience is grandmothers, fifteen year olds, or just yourself. You need to keep them in mind when you are writing.
When you're writing fanfiction, you are writing for fans. This means you have the distinct advantage of not having to set the stage; the fans already know the stage pretty well. Fans don't need lengthy introductions; most of them know the canon characters inside and out. But it also means they're going to be less forgiving about what you do with the canon characters. Distort Clark Kent too much, make him into a nacho-eating Transylvanian with a groovy vibe, and people will click the back button and not read any further if you're serious. They want to read more about their favorite characters. They want to know why Han Solo was solo for so long. They want to know how Remus Lupin got bitten by a werewolf. Or they want to read about Harry Potter's next year, or what happened after the second Death Star exploded. There are many scenarios that you can fit right into the canon universe you're writing in.
When someone writes a canon character who acts and behaves differently from the source material, it's called Out Of Character (OOC). If you are writing them purposely OOC, then you had better explain why. If Lex is joining a hippie commune, you must furnish proper reasons. People generally don't just leave a multi-million dollar corporation to live property-free; there are reasons for their actions, and, as the author, you are the one who has to provide them.
The thing is, most fanfiction readers don't particularly want to read a story with OOC characters. Snape fans, for example, don't want to read a story where a student tells off Severus Snape in a particularly nasty manner and walks out of his class without a single point being taken or a reaction from Snape. That's fairly ridiculous. Snape fans know the character of Severus Snape pretty well, and the reason they clicked on your story is that he was in it. If he is a nervous stammering wreck for no reason at all, the Snape fans are going to roll their eyes and hit the back button. Remember the audience? Well, Snape fans are the main audience of a Snape-centric fanfiction. Lose them, and there aren't a lot of readers left.
Know the Rules: You can break the rules after you know them. Writing, like nearly everything else, takes practice. Not knowing the difference between its and it's, tenses, grammar, and all of the other mechanics of writing will bring your work down a notch in the eyes of those that care.
There are levels of sophistication in readers as well as writers. Certainly most readers will not notice your continual use of the passive voice. The ones that do, however, may hit the back button.
Once you're grounded in the rules, you can begin testing their boundaries. Breaking the rules can make interesting fics. It still means that you should do your homework first.
I Wouldn't Spell It That Way, Dave (Using a Spell checker): Using a spell checker is an important part of writing, but you should remember that it isn't foolproof. Spell checkers cannot help you with homophones. I once read a piece where the author had mistakenly written that the "mussels" of the horse flexed as she rode it. No, the horse was not an oyster/equine mix. If you have trouble with homophones, then a good beta can help. Also, programs that check grammar are notoriously suspect, because language is so complicated, so it's a good idea to double-check their suggestions.
You must know the rules yourself. You must own a dictionary and a good guide to grammar if you are serious about writing good fanfiction. A good Beta reader is important as well.
