Writing Tips

forty nine - writing fanfiction

hey guys, im here with another update, if you have any requests, dont hesitate to ask and happy new year!

alright, so ive been writing fanfiction for a long ass time. all the time ive been on this app (a little over two and a half years), my very first fanfiction, my first book, was called It Could've Been Us and it was a Colby Brock fanfiction. it's been taken down for being a disappointment to humanity, but i do still have it lying around somewhere. anyway, my point is, ive written my fair share of fanfiction. 

alright to start off, 1) even tho it's a fanficiton, still make it your own story. i hate when im so into this fanfiction, but when i start reading it, it's just restating things i already know, events that ive already seen. for example, if im reading a bucky barnes fanfiction and it's restating everything that's happened in the movies, or just showing me those scenes, im gonna be like, this is boring and i dont like it. i like reading books that tell me about a story that the author came up with, take it to a different level, make it yours. 

2) do. your. fucking. research. somethings i hate about some fanfics is that they are historically, or factually incorrect. for example, again with a bucky barnes fanfic - if theyre talking about using a phone or having some type of advanced car while theyre in the 40's, im going to be mildly confused. now im not saying that every detail needs to be perfect, im saying those big things that you bring in, they have to be accurate. small things can be overlooked, youre not in that time period and it's fine, but advanced things from this century, they dont belong there. another thing is about mental disorders or illnesses. show me you know what depression feels like, show me you know what a panic attack is like, show me you know how to deal with PTSD. dont tell me, SHOW ME. otherwise, its gonna piss me off.

3) know the person your writing about inside and out. find out every single detail you can about them. find out where they were born, find out interesting facts about them, know them to the point where you can give them dialogue that fits them. of course, it doesnt have to be super accurate, youre making up your own lines, but at least make it seem like something they would say. have them do things that fit them nicely.

4) make your own lines and memories. another thing i hate in fanfics is when the OC or whatever, fucking steals another character's lines. for example, with a bucky barnes fanfic (again) if you have your OC or your character just be like, "im with you til the end of the line, pal" to steve instead of bucky, it makes it feel cheap, like youre stealing from the original creator, and it just doesnt fit. another thing is to put your OC with bucky and steve and have your OC just be there to put in extra dialogue and nothing else. do something with that character but make it original. if you take steve and save him from the back alley at the beginning of the first avenger instead of bucky, it feels cheap, like your taking away from steve and bucky's friendship and replacing it with something fake. 

side note: im not tryna piss off people that do this, it's just somethings to help new writers bring new things to the table. i dont mean to offend people that do this. 

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