Writing Advice For RWBY Fanfiction

Why The Plot Matters

Most intelligent people, like myself, have wondered how these shitty fanfictions even came to exist in the first place. Why do people feel the urge to write such abysmal literature? The obvious answer would be to say that most of these writers are children, but we need to dive deeper, and after many restless nights of pondering, I've finally found the answer.

They write on a whim. The child sees something they find interesting, so they watch more of it. They start forming their own ideas, many of which are inspired by other crap they like. Eventually, this all accumulates into a half-chewed mess that somehow appeals to their fantasy. The adrenaline starts pumping, and for a short while, the child gets excited about their concept and wants to share it with other people. So, without any forethought whatsoever, they rush onto Wattpad and write to their heart's content.

Unfortunately, most of it is trash. Now, there are some decent ideas that have proved to catch my interest, but I have to dig through so much garbage to reach them. And before you mention it, the tagging system for Wattpad doesn't help out much.

The point I'm trying to make is that most authors don't think about the whole plot. They're too busy imagining all the "cool" moments during the first/midway part of the story that they don't know how to properly end it. At that point, they start improvising, which leads to plotholes and writers' block. Folks become burned out and a long ass hiatus ensues.

The number of times I've gotten invested in a book only to realize the author abandoned it aeons ago is ridiculous. This is what happens when you don't plan ahead! Besides, if you take a moment to stand back and look over your work, it gives you the chance to flesh an idea out further.

When it comes to structuring the plot, don't make it overly complicated. People read fanfiction to see the source material changed in a way that is still familiar to them. This can be problematic when it comes to alternate universe stories. People start writing crap that has nothing to do with RWBY except for the characters sharing the same names. You get Jaune motherfucking Arc being some overpowered Isekai protagonist from another world, but that is a topic for another time.

It's always a good idea to view your story from the reader's perspective. If the viewer cannot understand anything that's happening without any form of foresight, then your plot is garbage. As I've said before, keep the gimmick simple. It's much easier to focus on one thing than try to juggle a million subplots at the same time.

For the love of God, DO NOT BULLSHIT THE OC MAIN CHARACTER INTO BEACON FOR THE SAKE OF PLOT. There was this one story I remember where the main character was Salem's underling, and the premise started out okay. Sadly, the author butchered it the moment they were forced into Beacon. Listen, @ToxicRhino, the viewers don't want the OC to redeem themselves. They're more interested in their life as a criminal. Let the OC remain as a menace to society!

But if you absolutely insist on including Beacon, then make sure that something changes by the time of volume three, because what's the point of writing fanfiction if you're just going to follow the original plot? This is the biggest problem with self-inserts. You get OCs with ludicrous powers who somehow fail to make a significant impact. Their presence becomes meaningless.

This leads to my next point: understanding what the viewers want. If there is a stereotype they don't seem to like, then don't use it! I'll explain what those are in a different segment, but for now, it's time to delve into a more... uncomfortable topic.