Warrior Cats Fanfiction Guide

introductions + plot cliches

Hey! I'm Willow, and welcome to my fanfiction guide. I made this because I've been in the warrior cats community for a while, and have read my fair share of fics that would benefit with a bit of constructive criticism which is completely fine! The aim of this book is to help, not degrade anyone or their writing. We all start from somewhere, and those great fics you've read online with tons of reads? Yeah, they all had a starting point where they couldn't tell the difference between they're, their, and there.

So, first things first is the back bone of your fanfiction. Questions like, are you going to make your own fanclan or will you use the original clans? What will your plot be?, Should be considered at this point. This is where you start brainstorming.

I'd like to add that I've seen way too many fics with the same plots, normally including a prophecy. Prophecies are a major part of the original series, and it's absolutely fine to include them in your own book! But, I've read so many amazing books that don't include prophecies. Point is, you don't have to include them and if you're like me and shit at rhyming and vague descriptions of doom, no worries!

Another thing, try to brainstorm a unique plot. You'd be surprised how many fics have almost the same plotline out there. There's so much opportunity with warriors, and what kind of stories you could incorporate. A trope I've seen way to often is:

The beautiful silver tabby she cat's ocean blue orbs widened as she heard the prophecy whispered to her by StarClan.

"M-me?" She gasped, putting her paw over her mouth and batting her long, thick eyelashes.

"Yes, Icecreampaw. You are the main character of the prophecy and entire story," Cannedcornstar purred, leaning down to touch her small, petite ears with his muzzle. "And by far, the most prettiest."

Yeah so, maybe a bit over dramatic, but you get the idea. Icecreampaw (who in this case is the beautiful, Mary Sue protagonist who can do no wrong) is the main part of some prophecy that defeats some mysterious dark tabby tom with amber eyes, and on the way, everyone falls in love with her because she's so gorgeous and likeable and perfect.

Now, my bias goes to stories without prophecies because I just get soooo bored of the books that have them since it's all about the main character. What about a misconception? Maybe Icecreampaw gets the prophecy delivered to her but it ends up being about her friend Gassyclaw? If you're going to intertwine a prophecy into your plot, write it well. And do your research on how to make your prophecy good and not extremely obvious. For example:

Groups of cats will bow down to the apprentice who's name is as cold as tundras.

We all know it's about Icecreampaw becoming a leader. But of course Icecreampaw doesn't know that because StarClan is so vague!!!1!1!!!

Okay, now. If you're creating a story without a prophecy, great! A good place to start is your setting. Do your cats live in a.. for example... Desert? Do they live in the mountains? Do they live near the ocean? Open plains? Near a Twoleg place? There's a lot of plots that you can get from the setting of your clans. For example, your clans who live in a desert could get pissy about their oasis drying up and start fighting with each other and/or assassinations happen. Think about it! Research natural disasters that can happen in your setting, and go off of those!

Maybe you're focusing on your protagonist. Maybe they do something horrible and have a hard time living with themselves. Perhaps they're struggling with their own past or soemthing (a lot of people use this one, but it can be done really well). Maybe your protagonist turns into the villain.

Perhaps your story could be set in a dystopian time. Maybe a false utopia.. you name it! There are a lot of ideas you could use from prompt books as well.

Point is, there's plenty of tropes that haven't been overused and have the potential to be written really well. And if you want to use a cliche trope, that's fine! You can always just put your unique spin on it.