Things I Hate About Warriors Fanfiction

Short Stories II

Oh, short stories. I'm sure we all have a lot to say on this. So let's spill some tea.

They're very creative! WarriorzLove is a genius and she deserves to be recognised for this! She invented a whole new format of writing that was extremely popular with the fandom. She had clear intent with what she was doing. It was fresh and original when she did them.

This chapter isn't going to be shitting on short stories. Okay, that's kind of a lie. I'm going to be shitting on a vast majority of short stories. I'm not a fan of "there's a right and a wrong way to write" (rip the earlier chapters in this book) but generally, there are some things that you should be doing and some things that you shouldn't be doing. So no, not all short stories are bad. I like to think my own one is okay, even if it did meet one of the major cliches. (There is a cannibalistic side plot, but at least it wasn't my protagonist going around eating people for the fun of it.) And I've read some good ones! I won't deny they're not fun to write and I'd encourage people to experiment. But if you want to become a better writer and grow your skills, this isn't the way to go about it.

I don't like to say this but I've got to do it bluntly. Short stories aren't the same as writing a full fic. This doesn't mean they don't take work. I've written one! What it means is that short stories don't require the same skill level as "normal" fanfics.

In normal fics, you do a lot more writing. You need to develop your characters a lot more. You need to work on style, on relationships between characters, on worldbuilding, proper plots and much more. In short stories, most people don't do that. For all of them, you have to put in a lot less effort than a traditional fanfic, coming from someone who's written both. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but I have to be honest. Short stories involve very little skill and a lot less effort. It doesn't be as cohesive and fit together as a full-length fic does. Your prose can be mediocre and your characters can be flat. Your plot can be basic. And people cover up all these bland and boring characters, cliche plots and dull prose with aesthetic no-caps and sentences like "Thistletail jumped into the lake"

It almost seems like a cop-out. You get more reads for shittier writing that you put less effort into. You generate a ton of output for little input. And I know so many people write them for fun. But it can be so frustrating to people like myself who write 1,000+ word chapters who get much fewer reads because we have fewer parts. And I know that isn't what most people aim to do but honestly? It seems less of a creative and stylistic choice the more people do it and more like a way to get a book popular with little effort. If someone writes a mix then I'm more understanding. As I've said multiple times, I wrote one because it seemed fun. So I know why people enjoy them. But if they're all you're writing I'm reluctant to call you a proper writer. I don't like being a gatekeeping bitch but you're not a mathematician for passing some high school tests.

The other problem is, they're all the same. Every time I begin reading a short story to find it starts out like "hi, my name is Xpaw of YClan" I just die a little more. How unoriginal and boring can you get? Imagine starting a published book and reading "hi, my name is Jessica and I live in Ohio." Wouldn't you just roll your eyes and want to put it down? It's so dull and careless.

It's not just the start. Here's an idea, let's play a drinking game (except only a few of us can play because most of you live in the u.s and the legal drinking age is like 18? 21? You're all stuck with soda.) Every time a short story has murder, take a shot. Every time a short story has pedophilia, take a shot. Every time a short story has cannibalism, take a shot. No one wants to read this! You're not a good writer if you're regurgitating the same stories over and over again. If you really want to write short stories, that's up to you. If it makes you happy, do it! But for the love of god, surely it isn't hard to try and think of an original plot. There's so many writing prompts out there. (I have a book on warriors writing prompts, free for use.) There are plenty of resources out there that helps you learn to look for inspiration.

If you want to become a better writer, challenge yourself to write a longer fic. It doesn't have to be a full-length novel. Try writing around 1000 words a chapter. But don't base your writing on length alone. And then, next thing you write, increase that! When I wrote my first fanfic on here, The Hunted (she's unpublished. It's best she stays that way) I struggled to write 1,000 words per chapter. My current project, Eyesore, has at least 3,000 per chapter and regularly exceeds 5,000 because it's that easy. And through all the fics I've written, most unpublished and abandoned, my writing has improved because traditional fics have enabled me to develop my skills. And this works for me because I want to be able to write novels one day. But that's not everyone's goal and that's okay. If you like writing short stories and want to write them, then try and write good ones, is all I'm saying. Both are valid forms of writing when done right.

Short stories have veered off the road WarriorzLove set out for them. they're not in their prime right now, but they were very popular. They have much less skill and work involved in writing them and that can irk people who put a lot of effort into their stories. This isn't anyone's fault, it's just annoying. The problem y'all have got to fix is these weird cliches that sprung up. Be original. That's a writing skill that y'all seem to get away with not using in your short stories.

___________
Just a note: I hope I seem more constructive in these recent chapters! I'm trying not to lose the essence of the original thing though. Friendly reminder you can always ask for writing tips and while I won't do proper reviews or anything, you can pop in and ask me to read your fic. I won't make any promises but I'll give it a read and give feedback if I have the time!
Also! Hi. I'm writing a fic! I need validation and attention. Feel free to give Eyesore a read. Please. My old fic Saving Sable is still getting more attention and that's horrifying.