How to Write a Good Fanfic

7. AU - Not Actually Infinite

Abigail stared at her computer screen, thinking about the words she wanted to put down on paper, but her mind drew a blank. Finally, the words came, and she wrote a story about a student attending Hogwarts who was from the United States like herself. The young writer reached out for her I-pod, flipping through her music list to pick songs out that fit the character, listing them off as the characters playlist. Abigail let out a sigh, noting how the character was Harry's sister, separated from him when Voldemort destroyed the house.

One of the reviewers she received after posting read, "First, technology such as I-pods did not exist when Harry Potter went to school. Second, people from the United States don't go to school at Hogwarts. Third, why isn't his sister being raised with him? She shouldn't have been adopted like that."

"This is an AU though, so I can make whatever changes I want to the story. It's also fanFICTION, so that means not real."

"No, AU does not mean you can do whatever you want, nor does fiction mean 'not real'. "

"Yes, it does. There are an infinite number of possibilities in an AU, thus, I'm not constrained in making it realistic. Seriously, you don't know what an AU is. "

...

Is Abigail's argument a legit arguement?

I do know that quite a few of the people I critique actually put forth the same argument Abigail did in the scenario. I'll start off by admitting there is a legit basis for the argument; the theory for alternate universes dictates there is an infinite number of possibilities in regards to alternate universes. There are still problems though that the writers putting forth this argument don't consider, but then again the ones claiming the person critiquing them doesn't know what an AU is are actually the ones who don't know what they're talking about.

If they had done their research, they would actually know that there are multiple alternate universe theories. Only one theory actually covers there being an infinite number of possibilities. Even in regards to that theory one can propose that with an infinite number of possibilities there will also be an infinite number of impossibilities. All alternate universe theorists also agree that with every universe there will be rules in place dictating how the universe will work, and if there are no rules one ends up with the anti-matter universe where nothing exists, or at least in the pure sense of the anti-matter universe. In other words, an alternate universe is not an excuse for throwing out the rules of the fandom.

Here is where I admit that being told I don't know what I'm talking about in regards to AUs is aggravating. I actually spent a few months and over half a dozen drafts writing this particular part of my How to Write Good Fanfiction due to the fact I kept going off into a rant. I can't though, I think, get away with explaining what an AU actually is without explaining how slapping the AU label onto one's stories to excuse bad writing makes legit AU writers feel. By legit AU writers, I mean those who are writing actual AUs as they're supposed to be, and not this myth certain people in fandom have perpetuated.

I am an AU writer, and a good chunk of my stories fall under crossovers, AU plot lines, or theoretical work regarding where a series will end up going, meaning said works will eventually become AU in some manner. As an actual AU writer, I can personally attest to a large amount of work which goes into writing a good piece for any of the three things I mentioned. A writer slapping the AU label onto their story simply because they don't care about making their story realistic, or following the rules of the fandom, and only changing what should be changed in an AU feels like a major slap in the face; doing this tells me that the hard work I put into the AUs I write is mute, because AU is an excuse for doing whatever you want, regardless of whether it is bad writing or not. Which brings me to what an AU is not.

If you're making the changes to canon just because you can, and it sounds cool, you're actually not writing an AU or even a crackfic.

What is an AU though?

An AU is where a writer purposefully makes changes to the canon. While it is true that doing something just because you want to is a reason, purpose simply isn't just a reason. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, purpose means "the reason why something is done or used: the aim or intention of something". The intent is important, and if the intent is simply to goof around, you can't argue that you've got a legit reason for making the change.

Each change made to the canon material needs to be thought out. There are two types of changes one makes to the canon material. The first change is the "what if", the change the writer wishes to explore. Sometimes the change doesn't need to be explained, like a character being born a different gender, but others need to be explained. For example, if a character dies in a story, and you want to write an AU where they live, you need to think of a logical reason why they would end up living instead of dying.

The other changes are the changes which would logically result from the change. For example, changing a character's gender actually shouldn't change a male character whose inclined towards sports into a female character inclined towards academics - that's actually a gender-based stereotype, and should be avoided. Another example is how the plot would change if a given character lives, or why it wouldn't end up changed.

Cause and effect are very important to writing an AU, and all the effects which result from a change need to changes which would logically occur. Thus, one doesn't change the characters personalities unless there is a logical reason two. One of the prime examples I see come up is Naruto, and how Naruto would be a very different person if he had friends growing up. Changing gender though shouldn't make any drastic changes to one's personality, but instead, the changes in how-how characters react to the change in gender.

Harry Potter, for example, wouldn't suddenly become an academic just because he is now she. Petunia's attitude may change as she's now got a girl to spoil. Dudley's personality would also change as Petunia would drill into his head that it's his job as a male to protect his female cousin. Vernon, on the other hand, would be neutral change wise, and wouldn't turn into a rapist. (Seriously, people do that just to add drama to their stories, not because that's really a legit change.) He might though patronize Petunia though, and thus treat Harry in a more positive matter, or he might be out of the picture entirely. There is no reason to pull the Ron the Death Eater trope on Vernon.

Now, a few people may be thinking, there are alternate universes where the rules of cause and effect are thrown out, so why can't I throw out the rules of cause and effect.

I will not deny the fact there are going to be AUs out there which break the rules of cause and effect. However, most AUs in fanfiction will not be this type of AU - the chances of finding one that will be this type is next to none. For an AU to be classified as this type of AU, then the "what if" needs to be that change, and not something else. Crackfic comes the closest to being this type of AU, and his where one is most likely to find this particular type of AU. However, even labeling one's story as a crackfic doesn't negate criticism, as there are still rules of thumb for these type of AU, a process one goes through. That and the various types of AU are going to be another entry, though.