the vampire diaries fanfic writing tips

✧ how to accurately portray characters

request from lovedlines: "hii! you always seem like you portray all the tvdu so accurately, how are you able to do that and do you have any tips for doing so? and how would you avoid making them stray too far from canon character? thanks sm!!"

if you are trying to write accurately based on how the characters are portrayed in the show, you have to be able to ignore your opinions for the characters.

i don't really like rebekah. rebekah is one of my oc's best friends, her roommate, and someone she calls her sister. why? because it makes sense.

i know it's not fun to write characters you don't like and in some cases, you can get away with it if there's no reason for your character to interact with them. for example, if your oc is stefan's love interest, the chance that they'll never interact with kai parker or davina claire are pretty high. them not interacting with damon or elena? very unlikely unless it takes place in an alternate universe of the show.

in most cases, you can't get away with it when it comes to the main characters. you'll have to push aside your feelings and write.

not doing so will affect your writing. it will make your story feel like it's not accurate and it is noticeable. if you're making a character perfect because you like them and then make another character terrible because you don't, it is noticeable.

speaking for myself, if i notice this, i do sometimes leave the story if it is too much or i don't take the fanfic as seriously.

it is hard to do. how we feel about characters affects how we view them and then affects how we write them. it is not easy to look away from this and it does take time.

so how do you do this?

1. ask for help if you're able to. if you know someone who also is a fan of the show, try asking them if what you've written is accurate. i wouldn't recommend asking someone who is a fan of the specific character because they might object to any flaws. someone who doesn't care about a character might help. if you don't know anyone, try looking somewhere. look up people's opinions on them.

you can also ask me!

2. ask yourself "would the character really do/say this?"

think about it. could you see what you wrote happening in the show? if it did happen, how do you think people would react? do you think their fans would like that? would they say "they wouldn't do that."

don't just give it a quick think. really think about it.

3. make a list.

when you are trying to figure out how a character would do or say something, make a list of everything that you can think of that could be the possible outcome. go through each of them and ask yourself if the character would really do or say this. think about their personality, their values, their relationships.

4. use. the. show.

i cannot stress this enough.

you have multiple examples from the show. use it.

if you are trying to figure out how a character from the show would handle a certain situation, look towards the show for proof! look for a familiar scene and see how they react.