How Not To Write A Fanfiction

Trope 5- Slow Burn

Ooooooh, I love a good slow burn fanfiction. 

A slow burn fanfiction is one where it takes a long for the main characters to get together, touch, kiss, etc. They need to be very well written and executed with care. Readers wait on the edge of their seat for that moment when the story reaches that peak of intensity. 

Slow burns are my undoing and unhealthy obsession. If you want to write a slow burn, go for it. But there are certain ways you should and should not go about it. 

You SHOULD: 

-Take legit forever. I don't want those main characters to even brush shoulders until chapter 45. The longer you draw it out, the more anticipation in the readers. 

-Keep the tension going. If the tension isn't building, your readers will get bored. You need to grow the romanticism, the longing, the emotional angst, and the sexual tension (even if you're not going to have anything explicit) 

-When your characters finally do kiss, it needs to be a big deal. The kiss itself should be drawn out. I'm talking breathless conversation before, flickering eyes, glancing at lips, super aesthetic and tense

-If you're going to have sex in your fic, that's cool (as long as there are warnings, of course, but we already covered that in chapter fifteen). But it's got to be well-written sex. And, like everything else in this kind of fic, the sex needs to be sensual and slow.

-Once your characters are together, you still need to be simmering it leisurely. There should be big gaps between important stages in their relationship. 

-Once your characters are together, you still need to be building that tension

-Include angsty issues throughout the relationship. They need to fight, tears should be shed, misunderstandings should occur, etc. This builds the tension that you all know is so essential to a slow burn. 

-Throw your audience a bone here and there. They'll psych out and love you, plus it will keep them engaged for another ten chapters. For instance, your characters bump into each other and freak out like, "Oh my god it touched them!" or one gives the other a small gift that they are both overly excited over. 

You SHOULDN'T: 

-Rush. That's the whole point of reading a slow burn. 

-Let the tension/chemistry down. You have to have it, and it needs to gradually increase.

-Make it easy. Slow burns are about the relationship being complicated. You need to explore the depts of that

-Write it like a normal fanfiction once your characters are together. You need to preserve the same tone that you had earlier

-Pick a ship that you can't flush out. The dynamic between the characters needs to be intricate enough for you to delve into it. 

The most important thing to remember is that slow burns run on tension. A slow burn without growing tension is just boring. Also, this needs to be emotional. There needs to be depth to the relationship and to the characters. 

Slow burns are great, and they're a super way to deeply explore and develop a character. Slow burns can't be held together with romance alone. Develop side characters, subplots, etc. 

Good luck, my lovelies. Happy writing!