How to write fanfiction!

How to begin your fanfiction

Hello and welcome back! In today's chapter I will go over how to start your fanfiction.

Words you need to know:

Fandom- A group of people who enjoy the same content. (Ex: My Hero Academia, Teen Titans, Danganronpa, Yandere Simulator, Divergent, Hunger Games)

Ship- A relationship between people from a fandom, often indicated by a a combination of the character's names. (Ex: Tododeku, Komahina, Kataang)

Oneshot- A book full of short stories, with the story changing every chapter, usually used for ships and ends with the chosen characters getting together. (Ex: If you were to read a Bakudeku oneshot book, at the end of each chapter Bakugou and Deku would end up together, with a different story on how they got together each chapter)

Fillers- Chapters where nothing important to the story line happens, and usually happens if the author has an idea that doesn't have to do with the story but wants to include it, or the author doesn't know how to progress the story and puts in anything they can think of.

First things first, you need a platform to write on. Most likely, if you're reading this, you already have a profile on Wattpad.

Starting a fanfiction requires a couple of things. First you need an idea, and this can be anywhere from ships, to self inserts, to just writing a new adventure for the characters to go through.

Now, depending on the type of story you want to write will depend on how your ideas play out. If you don't want the pressure of writing a whole story, you could try writing a oneshot book which could be easier for people with hundreds of ideas. But for the people who can't usually come up with a lot of ideas, writing a normal story might be the choice for you.

When writing a normal story, keep in mind the length of your story. Some people won't stick around if there are too many filler episodes. On the other hand, some people won't like it if your story is too short. To combat this, think of a story that you would think to be too long, then think of a story that would be too short, and find a happy medium in between!
     (Ex: If a story with thirty chapters is too long for you, and a story with ten chapters is too short, going with fifteen would be a good number)

    
     Second you want to have a good idea of where your story is going to head. For example, a basic outline could play out something like this:

Beginning- Protagonist has feeling for Best friend

Beginning/Middle- Protagonist goes to confess, but something stops them. (In this scenario, we're going to go with good old fashioned kidnapping)

Middle- Protagonist makes plan to get back Best friend

Middle/End- Protagonist attempts plan with/without support of others

End- Protagonist wins, saves Best friend and confesses/Protagonist fails, does not save Best friend, does not confess

     Understanding where your story is going to head, will make it easier for you to write, and have less of a chance of fillers.

     Throughout this, I've been talking about fillers in a negative lighting, but fillers can be a good thing! If you want to write a romance story, fillers can be an used to show the building of the relationship of the characters. In stories where you are not shipping characters, fillers can be more difficult to pull off.
     For example, your characters have just made it through what seemed like endless woods. They see a town and decide to have a day or two to themselves. This can also be used to incorporate your characters getting new gear/weapons.

     Third up, you need to know what you're writing about! Say you want to write a Harry Potter fanfic, but you have never even read the books or watched the movies, wait until you know what you are writing about before writing! Having characters not act like themselves can be really off setting when reading fanfiction.
     I have seen this countless times in fanfics that I have read. Having a more aggressive character all of a sudden act soft, is not a good thing for the story. Also understanding the character's relationships with the side characters is extremely important to the story's likability.
     An example of this would be:

-Protagonist does not like Love interest's best friend
-Love interest fancies Protagonist's brother
-Protagonist's brother likes Protagonist's best friend

     Keeping in mind everyone's relationship with everyone will make the fanfiction seem more authentic.

     Okay, so you've got your idea, you've figured out where your story is going to go, you maybe have some filler episodes ideas. Now what?

     Well my dear readers, this is the part where you design the cover of your fanfiction!
(Did you think I was going to say "start writing"?)

     Of course this only applies to fanfiction websites that have covers for stories, but having a good cover to a story can get you more views.

     REMEMBER TO NEVER TAKE ART THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU FOR YOUR COVER!

     If the artist gives you permission to use their art, credit them! Whether it be in the story chapter itself, or in the description, do it! Give the artist the proper credits.

     I personally draw my covers, but it may be a different story for the less artistic people out there. One idea I have for this, is to get a free base online and draw your cover. (Again, give the artist credit)

     Some other important things the to do before writing:

     Determine if your fanfiction is mature or not. If you say your fanfiction is for all ages, but then you turn around and write graphic scenes about torturing a character, your fanfic is going to be shut down real quick. To make sure there is no misunderstanding with what your fanfiction is rated, go to the "edit story" page and click on "more info". After that, click on the "mature" switch.

     This will let Wattpad know your story is not for children, and you can't get in trouble for younger audiences reading it. Because you have it marked "mature" people cannot report it for being more graphic or being inappropriate for children.

     Add hashtags! This will let readers know what the general idea of the story is. For example if you are writing a Kiribaku fanfic, put the hashtag "#Kiribaku".

Write the description of the story in a way that will draw in readers! Try to do this by saying hypothetical questions that can only be answered if you read the story.

(Ex: A sinless man is sent to hell, why is he there? He's done nothing wrong. What happens to a person who hath done no evil? And most importantly, is there redemption for someone perfect?)

And lastly, before starting to write the story, be sure to put any triggers in the description or at the beginning of each chapter.

And now, you are ready to start writing.

Thank you for reading this chapter! In the next chapter, we'll go over actually writing the story, and mistakes that might happen when writing.

Bye! ~SatanMuffins