Things I Hate About Warriors Fanfiction

You're Writing Shy Characters Wrong

I've noticed a lot of protagonists in Warriors fanfictions are shy. This isn't a bad thing! A lot of us are shy people (the "introverted teen writer/reader" stereotype exists for a reason!) and we tend to portray this through our characters. Everyone likes to read about characters they can relate to, which is why shy characters are so popular here.

But unfortunately, being shy is limiting. As someone with social anxiety disorder (a different thing from shyness, but similar enough to be compared) I miss a lot of opportunities because of my mental illness. I can't be independent because I'm terrified of social interaction. I struggle to make friends and speak up in any situation. Putting that in a book context, that creates a lot of limitations for the protagonist. They won't form relationships as easily, they won't be as proactive as an outgoing character would be. They're not as likely to be a leader or stand up for a cause. All things that are great in protagonists.

Does this mean a shy characters can't achieve any of these things? Absolutely not. Does this mean you shouldn't write shy characters? No! But these things will affect how the protagonist thinks, feels, and behaves.

And this is where so many writers go wrong. They describe the character as shy, but then the character is capable of standing up to a cat in power without struggle. The character is reserved and struggles in conversation with others, but miraculously is able to lead rebellions, lie to those with the ability to hurt them, and perform big social accomplishments down to determination?

It's shitty characterisation. You can't just tell the reader what a character is like, you need to show it too. Having your shy character act like a confident one is out of character; it goes against their established nature. Sure, you've told the reader that the character is shy, but you've contradicted that with their actions. That's like saying "hey, here's Oakstripe. Oakstripe is really nice." *Cuts to Oakstripe bullying apprentices.*

The thing is, it's not that hard. There are skills in writing that are generally considered difficult, like establishing character voice, but not blatantly contradicting a huge part of your character's personality. Little things that are out of character? That's easy to do. This? No. It's not hard. So why do so many people make this mistake? Am I being harsh or are so many people here not thinking about what they write?

It's just so annoying to read. Ask any shy person, can you just turn off your shyness when it's convenient for you? No. You can't. That's what really pisses me off about this trope. Having social anxiety, every little interaction is a struggle. And seeing a character having a similar fear of social situations just suddenly overcome that whenever it suits them really grinds my gears on a personal level. So not only is it bad writing, it really pisses readers off!

Remember how I said before about how your shy character can still be a leader, still stand up to others, and be proactive, but their shyness should still affect them? I don't know if I would call being shy a flaw, but I would call it restrictive. That's not to say shy people can't overcome their shyness and do the things that scares them. In fact, that's what can help shy people. Your characters should be doing this. This is where they can stand up to others. But it isn't an easy thing. It's a conscious effort, and it's hard. Your writing should reflect it. Don't just erase that shyness. Show that conflict. It makes your characters seem stronger, and gives you a great opportunity to develop your character and show them becoming less shy and more outgoing, if that's where you want to go with your character. Really, that's all you need to do. Figure out their limits. What can they overcome without too much struggle, what can they overcome with anxiety, and what is too scary for them to achieve? This is something that can (and should) change throughout the book, if you want character development points. Then you write them going through these challenges and show how some are harder than others.

So here's Puddlestalk. Puddlestalk witnesses a group of apprentices bullying another. He doesn't have too much trouble telling them off. But when other warriors start teasing him a little too seriously, he finds it pretty scary to tell them to stop, but he can accomplish it. But when higher ranking cats in positions of authority reprimand him or treat him unkindly, he can't speak up.
Fast forward to the end of his character arc, where Puddlestalk has had to expose a big conspiracy going on in the Clan. Now it's easier for him to speak up for himself and he is able to speak up against characters of authority, though it still gives him anxiety.

So yeah, when adding character development and character arcs into the mix it can get more complicated. This is something you should add in eventually, but your first worry should be about portraying shy characters accurately and not just erasing their shyness, a part of their personality, whenever it suits the narrative.